TERMS STARTING WITH
TERMS ANYWHERE
Aether ::: A generic, nebulous term that usually refers to the conscious aspects of reality that crystallize some of the discrete forms that we tend to think of as "conscious" or "alive". In general this is related to the Fifth Element which is Spirit.
Again, the question whether the dimensions belong to space or to material objects arises from a false separation between these two, so that we speak of objects being in space, just as we speak of life as being in matter. We think of space as an absence of matter, as we think of darkness as an absence of light, and silence as absence of sound; and having thus created vacuums we proceed to fill them. In the view of occultism it would be nearer the truth to say that light is the absence of darkness, sound the absence of silence, and matter a form of the presence of space; and this is true in the sense that those things which appear to us most real are derived from those which seem to us most unreal, because not immediately physically perceivable. In theosophy, space is the infinite, eternal background of Being, Being itself, the ever-lasting substratum of, as well as the presence of, the universe; its apparent vacuity is due only to its lack of physical qualities to which our senses respond, and also to its perfect unity and uniformity. Space is living, incomprehensibly conscious, and hence a divinity; it is the only real world, while our manifested world born from and in it is a mayavi (illusory) one.
Altair 8800 "computer" An {Intel 8080}-based machine made by {MITS}. The Altair was the first popular {microcomputer} kit. It appeared on the cover of the January 1975 "Popular Electronics" magazine with an article (probably) by Leslie Solomon. Leslie Solomon was an editor at Popular Electronics who had a knack for spotting kits that would interest people and make them buy the magazine. The Altair 8800 was one such. The MITS guys took the prototype Altair to New York to show Solomon, but couldn't get it to work after the flight. Nonetheless, he liked it, and it appeared on the cover as "The first minicomputer in a kit." Solomon's blessing was important enough that some MITS competitors named their product the "SOL" to gain his favour. Some wags suggested {SOL} was actually an abbreviation for the condition in which kit purchasers would find themselves. {Bill Gates} and Paul Allen saw the article on the Altair 8800 in Popular Electronics. They realised that the Altair, which was programmed via its binary front panel needed a {high level language}. Legend has it that they called MITS with the claim that they had a {BASIC} {interpreter} for the Altair. When MITS asked them to demo it in Albuquerque, they wrote one on the plane. On arrival, they entered the machine code via the front panel and demonstrated and sold their "product." Thus was born "Altair BASIC." The original Altair BASIC ran in less than 4K of RAM because a "loaded" Altair had 4K memory. Since there was no {operating system} on the Altair, Altair BASIC included what we now think of as {BIOS}. It was distributed on {paper tape} that could be read on a {Teletype}. Later versions supported the 8K Altair and the 16K {diskette}-based Altair (demonstrating that, even in the 1970s, {Microsoft} was committed to {software bloat}). Altair BASIC was ported to the {Motorola 6800} for the Altair 680 machine, and to other 8080-based microcomputers produced by MITS' competitors. {PC-History.org Altair 8800 page (http://pc-history.org/altair_8800.htm)}. [Forrest M. Mimms, article in "Computers and Electronics", (formerly "Popular Electronics"), Jan 1985(?)]. [Was there ever an "Altair 9000" microcomputer?] (2002-06-17)
Aspiration ::: Aspiration in everyone, no matter who it is, has the same power. But the effect of this aspiration is different. For aspiration is aspiration: if you have aspiration, in itself it has a power. Only, this aspiration calls down an answer, and this answer, the effect, which is the result of the aspiration, depends upon each one, for it depends upon his receptivity. I know many people of this kind: they say, "Oh! but I aspire all the time and still I receive nothing." It is impossible that they should receive nothing, in the sense that the answer is sure to come. But it is they who do not receive. The answer comes but they are not receptive, so they receive nothing.. . . When you have an aspiration, a very active aspiration, your aspiration is going to do its work. It is going to call down the answer to what you aspire for. But if, later, you begin to think of something else or are not attentive or receptive, you do not even notice that your aspiration has received an answer. This happens very frequently. So people tell you: "I aspire and I don't receive anything, I get no answer!" Yes, you do have an answer but you are not aware of it, because you continue to be active in this way, like a mill turning all the time.
Ref: CWM, Vol. 06, Page:115
avise ::: v. t. --> To look at; to view; to think of.
To advise; to counsel. ::: v. i. --> To consider; to reflect.
Business Process Re-engineering "business" (BPR) Any radical change in the way in which an organisation performs its business activities. BPR involves a fundamental re-think of the business processes followed by a redesign of business activities to enhance all or most of its critical measures - costs, quality of service, staff dynamics, etc. (1999-09-27)
Business Process Re-engineering ::: (business) (BPR) Any radical change in the way in which an organisation performs its business activities. BPR involves a fundamental re-think of the or most of its critical measures - costs, quality of service, staff dynamics, etc. (1999-09-27)
"By individual we mean normally something that separates itself from everything else and stands apart, though in reality there is no such thing anywhere in existence; it is a figment of our mental conceptions useful and necessary to express a partial and practical truth. But the difficulty is that the mind gets dominated by its words and forgets that the partial and practical truth becomes true truth only by its relation to others which seem to the reason to contradict it, and that taken by itself it contains a constant element of falsity. Thus when we speak of an individual we mean ordinarily an individualisation of mental, vital, physical being separate from all other beings, incapable of unity with them by its very individuality. If we go beyond these three terms of mind, life and body, and speak of the soul or individual self, we still think of an individualised being separate from all others, incapable of unity and inclusive mutuality, capable at most of a spiritual contact and soul-sympathy. It is therefore necessary to insist that by the true individual we mean nothing of the kind, but a conscious power of being of the Eternal, always existing by unity, always capable of mutuality. It is that being which by self-knowledge enjoys liberation and immortality.” The Life Divine
“By individual we mean normally something that separates itself from everything else and stands apart, though in reality there is no such thing anywhere in existence; it is a figment of our mental conceptions useful and necessary to express a partial and practical truth. But the difficulty is that the mind gets dominated by its words and forgets that the partial and practical truth becomes true truth only by its relation to others which seem to the reason to contradict it, and that taken by itself it contains a constant element of falsity. Thus when we speak of an individual we mean ordinarily an individualisation of mental, vital, physical being separate from all other beings, incapable of unity with them by its very individuality. If we go beyond these three terms of mind, life and body, and speak of the soul or individual self, we still think of an individualised being separate from all others, incapable of unity and inclusive mutuality, capable at most of a spiritual contact and soul-sympathy. It is therefore necessary to insist that by the true individual we mean nothing of the kind, but a conscious power of being of the Eternal, always existing by unity, always capable of mutuality. It is that being which by self-knowledge enjoys liberation and immortality.” The Life Divine
Closed_Virtual_Currency ::: An unregulated digital currency that is used as payment only within certain virtual communities. A Closed Virtual Currency has no connection to the real economy and cannot be converted to legal tender. Think of closed virtual currency as closed loop payment cards like the Nordstrom store credit card that can only be used in Nordstrom.
dominant paradigm: What many Sleepers think of as “just the way things are.” Mages subvert, transform, and transcend dominant paradigms simply by existing, although some work to reinforce it. (See coincidental magick, Technocracy.)
Extension Applies chiefly to the familiar attribute of physical objects or space, but can be used in a wider and more general sense. The terms space, extension, and spatial extension are to a great extent interchangeable in popular speech. The notion they convey seems essential to our mental processes, and we cannot even think of a point without having first imagined an extended space for it to be located in. When abstract space is spoken of as boundless extension, the latter word must be understood as the extension of this, that, or some other cosmic plane, and hence on each such plane resembling the spatial extension which we recognize as physical space, great or small. However, extension is not abstract space itself, for all extensions of whatever character, and on whatever plane, are contained in abstract space; so that if we speak of abstract space as boundless extension, we must enlarge the word extension to include the inner and the outer, the high and the low, and all that is visible or invisible, past, present, and future.
forget ::: v. t. --> To lose the remembrance of; to let go from the memory; to cease to have in mind; not to think of; also, to lose the power of; to cease from doing.
To treat with inattention or disregard; to slight; to neglect.
[French] ::: All usurpation has a cruel backlash and he who usurps should think of that, at least for the sake of his children who almost always pay the penalty.
Generally, :::equity ::: is the value of an asset less the amount of all liabilities on that asset. As an accounting equation, one can represent it as Assets - Liabilities = Equity. Equity can have somewhat different meanings, depending on the context and the asset type. In finance, you can think of equity as one’s degree ownership in any asset after subtracting all debts associated with that asset. For example, a car or house with no outstanding debt is entirely the owner's equity because he or she can readily sell the item for cash and pocket the resulting sum. Stocks are equity because they represent ownership in a firm, even though ownership of shares in a public company rarely come with accompanying liabilities.
Gods ::: The old pantheons were builded upon an ancient and esoteric wisdom which taught, under the guise of apublic mythology, profound secrets of the structure and operations of the universe which surrounds us.The entire human race has believed in gods, has believed in beings superior to men; the ancients all saidthat men are the "children" of these gods, and that from these superior beings, existent in the azurespaces, men draw all that in them is; and, furthermore, that men themselves, as children of the gods, arein their inmost essence divine beings linked forever with the boundless universe of which each humanbeing, just as is the case with every other entity everywhere, is an inseparable part. This is a truly sublimeconception.One should not think of human forms when the theosophist speaks of the gods; we mean the arupa -- the"formless" -- entities, beings of pure intelligence and understanding, relatively pure essences, relativelypure spirits, formless as we physical humans conceive form. The gods are the higher inhabitants ofnature. They are intrinsic portions of nature itself, for they are its informing principles. They are as muchsubject to the wills and energies of still higher beings -- call these wills and energies the "laws" of higherbeings, if you will -- as we are, and as are the kingdoms of nature below us.The ancients put realities, living beings, in the place of laws which, as Occidentals use the term, are onlyabstractions -- an expression for the action of entities in nature; the ancients did not cheat themselves soeasily with words. They called them gods, spiritual entities. Not one single great thinker of the ancients,until the Christian era, ever talked about laws of nature, as if these laws were living entities, as if theseabstractions were actual entities which did things. Did the laws of navigation ever navigate a ship? Doesthe law of gravity pull the planets together? Does it unite or pull the atoms together? This word laws issimply a mental abstraction signifying unerring action of conscious and semi-conscious energies innature.
High Ritual Magick: Formalized and elaborate mystic practice based upon discipline, accomplishment, scholarship, and control; what people typically think of as wizardry or magic(k). (See mage, shaman, technomancer, witch.)
If in a geometric visualization, we think of an ordinary derivative as the function of the gradient of tangents of points on a curve, then a partial derivative can be thought of as a function of the gradient of a tangent of points on a surface, in the direction of the chosen argument.
If the body is left insufficiently nourished, it will think of food more than otherwise.
Jhumur: “This passage always makes me think of Sri Aurobindo who is really revealing and working out these modes.”
Law of Attraction ::: A law of reality that essentially matches like archetypes with like archetypes. When applied to the human condition we find that those minds that operate on similar archetypes and within similar currents tend to find their way to one another and that those operating under different archetypes and currents tend to not intersect deeply or significantly. Think of how hetereogeneous solutions of divergent density settle at different layers when mixed together. There's a similar effect going on throughout reality.
maranānusmṛti. (P. maranānussati; T. 'chi ba rjes su dran pa; C. niansi; J. nenshi; K. yomsa 念死). In Sanskrit, "recollection of death"; one of the most widely described forms of Buddhist meditation. This practice occurs as one of the forty objects of meditation (KAMMAttHĀNA) for the development of concentration. One of the most detailed descriptions of the practice is found in the VISUDDHIMAGGA of BUDDHAGHOSA. Among six generic personality types (greedy, hateful, ignorant, faithful, intelligent, and speculative), Buddhaghosa states that mindfulness of death is a suitable object for persons of intelligent temperament. Elsewhere, however, Buddhaghosa says that among the two types of objects of concentration, the generically useful objects and specific objects, only two among the forty are generically useful: the cultivation of loving-kindness (P. mettā; S. MAITRĪ) and the recollection of death. In describing the actual practice, Buddhaghosa explains that the meditator who wishes to take death as his object of concentration should go to a remote place and repeatedly think, "Death will take place" or "Death, death." Should that not result in the development of concentration, Buddhaghosa provides eight ways of contemplating death. The first of the eight is contemplation of death as a murderer, where one imagines that death will appear to deprive one of life. Death is certain from the moment of birth; beings move progressively toward their demise without ever turning back, just as the sun never reverses its course through the sky. The second contemplation is to think of death as the ruin of all the accomplishments and fortune acquired in life. The third contemplation is to compare oneself to others who have suffered death, yet who are greater than oneself in fame, merit, strength, supranormal powers (P. iddhi; S. ṚDDHI), or wisdom. Death will come to oneself just as it has come to these beings. The fourth contemplation is that the body is shared with many other creatures. Here one contemplates that the body is inhabited by the eighty families of worms, who may easily cause one's death, as may a variety of accidents. The fifth contemplation is of the tenuous nature of life, that life requires both inhalation and exhalation of breath, requires a balanced alternation of the four postures (ĪRYĀPATHA) of standing, sitting, walking, and lying down. It requires moderation of hot and cold, a balance of the four physical constituents, and nourishment at the proper time. The sixth contemplation is that there is no certainty about death; that is, there is no certainty as to the length of one's life, the type of illness of which one will die, when one will die, nor where, and there is no certainty as to where one will then be reborn. The seventh contemplation is that life is limited in length. In general, human life is short; beyond that, there is no certainty that one will live as long as it takes "to chew and swallow four or five mouthfuls." The final contemplation is of the shortness of the moment, that is, that life is in fact just a series of moments of consciousness. Buddhaghosa also describes the benefits of cultivating mindfulness of death. A monk devoted to the mindfulness of death is diligent and disenchanted with the things of the world. He is neither acquisitive nor avaricious and is increasingly aware of impermanence (S. ANITYA), the first of the three marks of mundane existence. From this develops an awareness of the other two marks, suffering and nonself. He dies without confusion or fear. If he does not attain the deathless state of NIRVĀnA in this lifetime, he will at least be reborn in an auspicious realm. Similar instructions are found in the literatures of many other Buddhist traditions.
Moksha (Sanskrit) Mokṣa [from mokṣ to release, set free probably from the verbal root much] Freedom; freedom from sentient life for the reminder of a manvantara. Equivalent to nirvana, the absolute, mukti [from the verbal root much], the Palace of Love of the Zohar, the Gnostic Pleroma of Eternal Light, the Chinese nippang, and the Burmese neibban. “When a spirit, a monad, or a spiritual radical, has so grown in manifestation that it has first become a man, and is set free interiorly, inwardly, and from a man has become a planetary spirit or dhyan-chohan or lord of meditation, and has gone still higher to become interiorly a brahman, and from a brahman the Parabrahman for its hierarchy, then it is absolutely perfected, free, released: perfected for that great period of time which to us seems almost an eternity, so long is it, virtually incomputable by the human intellect. This is the Absolute: limited in comparison with things still more immense, still more sublime; but so far as we can think of it, ‘released’ or ‘freed’ from the chains or bonds of material existence” (Fund 183).
Moksha(Sanskrit) ::: This word comes from moksh, meaning "to release," "to set free," and is probably adesiderative of the root much, from which the word mukti also comes. The meaning of this word is thatwhen a spirit, a monad, or a spiritual radical, has so grown in evolution that it has first become a man,and is set free interiorly, inwardly, and from a man has become a planetary spirit or dhyan-chohan or lordof meditation, and has gone still higher, to become interiorly a Brahman, and from a Brahman theParabrahman for its hierarchy, then it is absolutely perfected, relatively speaking, free, released -perfected for that great period of time which to us seems almost an eternity so long is it, virtuallyincomputable by the human intellect. Now this also is the real meaning of the much abused wordAbsolute (q.v.), limited in comparison with things still more immense, still more sublime; but so far aswe can think of it, released or freed from the chains or bonds of material existence. One who is thusreleased or freed is called a jivanmukta. (See also Nirvana)
“Nor would the ways of Karma be inscrutable were men to work in union and harmony, instead of disunion and strife. For our ignorance of those ways — which one portion of mankind calls the ways of Providence, dark and intricate; while another sees in them the action of blind Fatalism; and a third, simple chance, with neither gods nor devils to guide them — would surely disappear, if we would but attribute all these to their correct cause. With right knowledge, or at any rate with a confident conviction that our neighbours will no more work to hurt us than we would think of harming them, the two-thirds of the World’s evil would vanish into thin air. Were no man to hurt his brother, Karma-Nemesis would have neither cause to work for, nor weapons to act through. . . . We stand bewildered before the mystery of our own making, and the riddles of life that we will not solve, and then accuse the great Sphinx of devouring us. But verily there is not an accident in our lives, not a misshapen day, or a misfortune, that could not be traced back to our own doings in this or in another life” (SD 1:643-4).
Number People usually think of number as merely a varying multiplicity of units, a plurality of individuals, which is correct enough. Yet “Number lies at the root of the manifested Universe: numbers and harmonious proportions guide the first differentiations of homogeneous substance into heterogeneous elements; and number and numbers set limits to the formative hand of Nature” (BCW 12:517) — a strictly Pythagorean vision and conception. Our reasoning minds lend a spurious reality to abstractions; and from this viewpoint the genuine realities appear in the guise of such abstraction. Number is such an apparent abstraction; we know it only by its effects in that world which seems to us so real, and of which we regard number as an attribute. Yet nothing can be more fundamental than number. As Balzac said, number is an entity, a divinity; the creative Logos itself is called the Number, meaning number one, arising out of no-number or the zero. After this we have the duad, triad, etc. For the Pythagoreans number was a creative, emanationally formative power, and the Hebrew Sepher Yetsirah (Numbers of Creation) gives out the whole process of evolution in numbers, while in China the I Ching speaks of celestial numbers. All esoteric systems set great store by numbers — some systems more so than others. For “we see the figures 1, 3, 5, 7, as perfect, because thoroughly mystic, numbers playing a prominent part in every Cosmogony and evolution of living Beings” (SD 2:35). See also SEPHIROTH
Occultism ::: This word meant originally only the science of things hid; even in the Middle Ages of Europe thosephilosophers who were the forerunners of the modern scientists, those who then studied physical nature,called their science occultism, and their studies occult, meaning the things that were hid or not known tothe common run of mankind. Such a medieval philosopher was Albertus Magnus, a German; and so alsowas Roger Bacon, an Englishman -- both of the thirteenth century of the Christian era.Occultism as theosophists use the term, and as it should be used, means the study of the hid things ofBeing, the science of life or universal nature. In one sense this word can be used to mean the study ofunusual "phenomena," which meaning it usually has today among people who do not think of the vastlylarger field of causes which occultism, properly speaking, investigates. Doubtless mere physicalphenomena have their place in study, but they are on the frontier, on the outskirts -- the superficialities -of occultism. The study of true occultism means penetrating deep into the causal mysteries of Being.Occultism is a generalizing term for the entire body of the occult sciences -- the sciences of the secrets ofuniversal nature; as H. P. Blavatsky phrases it, "physical and psychic, mental and spiritual; calledHermetic and Esoteric Sciences." Occultism may be considered also to be a word virtuallyinterchangeable with the phrase esoteric philosophy, with, however, somewhat more emphasis laid on theoccult or secret or hid portions of the esoteric philosophy. Genuine occultism embraces not merely thephysical, physiological, psychological, and spiritual portions of man's being, but has an equal and indeeda perhaps wider range in the studies dealing with the structure and operations as well as the origin anddestiny of the kosmos.
Patterning ::: Imbuing an idea, area, or object with a particular feeling, thought, or intent. People pattern things all the time. A song that is associated with a breakup. A smell that evokes childhood trips to the beach. The purposeful act of patterning is a work of magic though and is used throughout the occult sciences. Patterning is akin to loading; think of loading as charging an object with a particular archetype or current but patterning mediates that by flavoring it with one's own intent: thoughts or emotions. So while an object can be loaded with the raw current of Mercury, for instance, the energy might be patterned along the way with the intent to master a particular language.
Real Programmers Don't Use Pascal "humour" Back in the good old days - the "Golden Era" of computers, it was easy to separate the men from the boys (sometimes called "Real Men" and "Quiche Eaters" in the literature). During this period, the Real Men were the ones that understood computer programming, and the Quiche Eaters were the ones that didn't. A real computer programmer said things like "DO 10 I=1,10" and "ABEND" (they actually talked in capital letters, you understand), and the rest of the world said things like "computers are too complicated for me" and "I can't relate to computers - they're so impersonal". (A previous work [1] points out that Real Men don't "relate" to anything, and aren't afraid of being impersonal.) But, as usual, times change. We are faced today with a world in which little old ladies can get computers in their microwave ovens, 12-year-old kids can blow Real Men out of the water playing Asteroids and Pac-Man, and anyone can buy and even understand their very own Personal Computer. The Real Programmer is in danger of becoming extinct, of being replaced by high-school students with {TRASH-80s}. There is a clear need to point out the differences between the typical high-school junior Pac-Man player and a Real Programmer. If this difference is made clear, it will give these kids something to aspire to -- a role model, a Father Figure. It will also help explain to the employers of Real Programmers why it would be a mistake to replace the Real Programmers on their staff with 12-year-old Pac-Man players (at a considerable salary savings). LANGUAGES The easiest way to tell a Real Programmer from the crowd is by the programming language he (or she) uses. Real Programmers use {Fortran}. Quiche Eaters use {Pascal}. Nicklaus Wirth, the designer of Pascal, gave a talk once at which he was asked how to pronounce his name. He replied, "You can either call me by name, pronouncing it 'Veert', or call me by value, 'Worth'." One can tell immediately from this comment that Nicklaus Wirth is a Quiche Eater. The only parameter passing mechanism endorsed by Real Programmers is call-by-value-return, as implemented in the {IBM 370} {Fortran-G} and H compilers. Real programmers don't need all these abstract concepts to get their jobs done - they are perfectly happy with a {keypunch}, a {Fortran IV} {compiler}, and a beer. Real Programmers do List Processing in Fortran. Real Programmers do String Manipulation in Fortran. Real Programmers do Accounting (if they do it at all) in Fortran. Real Programmers do {Artificial Intelligence} programs in Fortran. If you can't do it in Fortran, do it in {assembly language}. If you can't do it in assembly language, it isn't worth doing. STRUCTURED PROGRAMMING The academics in computer science have gotten into the "structured programming" rut over the past several years. They claim that programs are more easily understood if the programmer uses some special language constructs and techniques. They don't all agree on exactly which constructs, of course, and the examples they use to show their particular point of view invariably fit on a single page of some obscure journal or another - clearly not enough of an example to convince anyone. When I got out of school, I thought I was the best programmer in the world. I could write an unbeatable tic-tac-toe program, use five different computer languages, and create 1000-line programs that WORKED. (Really!) Then I got out into the Real World. My first task in the Real World was to read and understand a 200,000-line Fortran program, then speed it up by a factor of two. Any Real Programmer will tell you that all the Structured Coding in the world won't help you solve a problem like that - it takes actual talent. Some quick observations on Real Programmers and Structured Programming: Real Programmers aren't afraid to use {GOTOs}. Real Programmers can write five-page-long DO loops without getting confused. Real Programmers like Arithmetic IF statements - they make the code more interesting. Real Programmers write self-modifying code, especially if they can save 20 {nanoseconds} in the middle of a tight loop. Real Programmers don't need comments - the code is obvious. Since Fortran doesn't have a structured IF, REPEAT ... UNTIL, or CASE statement, Real Programmers don't have to worry about not using them. Besides, they can be simulated when necessary using {assigned GOTOs}. Data Structures have also gotten a lot of press lately. Abstract Data Types, Structures, Pointers, Lists, and Strings have become popular in certain circles. Wirth (the above-mentioned Quiche Eater) actually wrote an entire book [2] contending that you could write a program based on data structures, instead of the other way around. As all Real Programmers know, the only useful data structure is the Array. Strings, lists, structures, sets - these are all special cases of arrays and can be treated that way just as easily without messing up your programing language with all sorts of complications. The worst thing about fancy data types is that you have to declare them, and Real Programming Languages, as we all know, have implicit typing based on the first letter of the (six character) variable name. OPERATING SYSTEMS What kind of operating system is used by a Real Programmer? CP/M? God forbid - CP/M, after all, is basically a toy operating system. Even little old ladies and grade school students can understand and use CP/M. Unix is a lot more complicated of course - the typical Unix hacker never can remember what the PRINT command is called this week - but when it gets right down to it, Unix is a glorified video game. People don't do Serious Work on Unix systems: they send jokes around the world on {UUCP}-net and write adventure games and research papers. No, your Real Programmer uses OS 370. A good programmer can find and understand the description of the IJK305I error he just got in his JCL manual. A great programmer can write JCL without referring to the manual at all. A truly outstanding programmer can find bugs buried in a 6 megabyte {core dump} without using a hex calculator. (I have actually seen this done.) OS is a truly remarkable operating system. It's possible to destroy days of work with a single misplaced space, so alertness in the programming staff is encouraged. The best way to approach the system is through a keypunch. Some people claim there is a Time Sharing system that runs on OS 370, but after careful study I have come to the conclusion that they were mistaken. PROGRAMMING TOOLS What kind of tools does a Real Programmer use? In theory, a Real Programmer could run his programs by keying them into the front panel of the computer. Back in the days when computers had front panels, this was actually done occasionally. Your typical Real Programmer knew the entire bootstrap loader by memory in hex, and toggled it in whenever it got destroyed by his program. (Back then, memory was memory - it didn't go away when the power went off. Today, memory either forgets things when you don't want it to, or remembers things long after they're better forgotten.) Legend has it that {Seymore Cray}, inventor of the Cray I supercomputer and most of Control Data's computers, actually toggled the first operating system for the CDC7600 in on the front panel from memory when it was first powered on. Seymore, needless to say, is a Real Programmer. One of my favorite Real Programmers was a systems programmer for Texas Instruments. One day he got a long distance call from a user whose system had crashed in the middle of saving some important work. Jim was able to repair the damage over the phone, getting the user to toggle in disk I/O instructions at the front panel, repairing system tables in hex, reading register contents back over the phone. The moral of this story: while a Real Programmer usually includes a keypunch and lineprinter in his toolkit, he can get along with just a front panel and a telephone in emergencies. In some companies, text editing no longer consists of ten engineers standing in line to use an 029 keypunch. In fact, the building I work in doesn't contain a single keypunch. The Real Programmer in this situation has to do his work with a "text editor" program. Most systems supply several text editors to select from, and the Real Programmer must be careful to pick one that reflects his personal style. Many people believe that the best text editors in the world were written at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center for use on their Alto and Dorado computers [3]. Unfortunately, no Real Programmer would ever use a computer whose operating system is called SmallTalk, and would certainly not talk to the computer with a mouse. Some of the concepts in these Xerox editors have been incorporated into editors running on more reasonably named operating systems - {Emacs} and {VI} being two. The problem with these editors is that Real Programmers consider "what you see is what you get" to be just as bad a concept in Text Editors as it is in women. No the Real Programmer wants a "you asked for it, you got it" text editor - complicated, cryptic, powerful, unforgiving, dangerous. TECO, to be precise. It has been observed that a TECO command sequence more closely resembles transmission line noise than readable text [4]. One of the more entertaining games to play with TECO is to type your name in as a command line and try to guess what it does. Just about any possible typing error while talking with TECO will probably destroy your program, or even worse - introduce subtle and mysterious bugs in a once working subroutine. For this reason, Real Programmers are reluctant to actually edit a program that is close to working. They find it much easier to just patch the binary {object code} directly, using a wonderful program called SUPERZAP (or its equivalent on non-IBM machines). This works so well that many working programs on IBM systems bear no relation to the original Fortran code. In many cases, the original source code is no longer available. When it comes time to fix a program like this, no manager would even think of sending anything less than a Real Programmer to do the job - no Quiche Eating structured programmer would even know where to start. This is called "job security". Some programming tools NOT used by Real Programmers: Fortran preprocessors like {MORTRAN} and {RATFOR}. The Cuisinarts of programming - great for making Quiche. See comments above on structured programming. Source language debuggers. Real Programmers can read core dumps. Compilers with array bounds checking. They stifle creativity, destroy most of the interesting uses for EQUIVALENCE, and make it impossible to modify the operating system code with negative subscripts. Worst of all, bounds checking is inefficient. Source code maintenance systems. A Real Programmer keeps his code locked up in a card file, because it implies that its owner cannot leave his important programs unguarded [5]. THE REAL PROGRAMMER AT WORK Where does the typical Real Programmer work? What kind of programs are worthy of the efforts of so talented an individual? You can be sure that no Real Programmer would be caught dead writing accounts-receivable programs in {COBOL}, or sorting {mailing lists} for People magazine. A Real Programmer wants tasks of earth-shaking importance (literally!). Real Programmers work for Los Alamos National Laboratory, writing atomic bomb simulations to run on Cray I supercomputers. Real Programmers work for the National Security Agency, decoding Russian transmissions. It was largely due to the efforts of thousands of Real Programmers working for NASA that our boys got to the moon and back before the Russkies. Real Programmers are at work for Boeing designing the operating systems for cruise missiles. Some of the most awesome Real Programmers of all work at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. Many of them know the entire operating system of the Pioneer and Voyager spacecraft by heart. With a combination of large ground-based Fortran programs and small spacecraft-based assembly language programs, they are able to do incredible feats of navigation and improvisation - hitting ten-kilometer wide windows at Saturn after six years in space, repairing or bypassing damaged sensor platforms, radios, and batteries. Allegedly, one Real Programmer managed to tuck a pattern-matching program into a few hundred bytes of unused memory in a Voyager spacecraft that searched for, located, and photographed a new moon of Jupiter. The current plan for the Galileo spacecraft is to use a gravity assist trajectory past Mars on the way to Jupiter. This trajectory passes within 80 +/-3 kilometers of the surface of Mars. Nobody is going to trust a Pascal program (or a Pascal programmer) for navigation to these tolerances. As you can tell, many of the world's Real Programmers work for the U.S. Government - mainly the Defense Department. This is as it should be. Recently, however, a black cloud has formed on the Real Programmer horizon. It seems that some highly placed Quiche Eaters at the Defense Department decided that all Defense programs should be written in some grand unified language called "ADA" ((C), DoD). For a while, it seemed that ADA was destined to become a language that went against all the precepts of Real Programming - a language with structure, a language with data types, {strong typing}, and semicolons. In short, a language designed to cripple the creativity of the typical Real Programmer. Fortunately, the language adopted by DoD has enough interesting features to make it approachable -- it's incredibly complex, includes methods for messing with the operating system and rearranging memory, and Edsgar Dijkstra doesn't like it [6]. (Dijkstra, as I'm sure you know, was the author of "GoTos Considered Harmful" - a landmark work in programming methodology, applauded by Pascal programmers and Quiche Eaters alike.) Besides, the determined Real Programmer can write Fortran programs in any language. The Real Programmer might compromise his principles and work on something slightly more trivial than the destruction of life as we know it, providing there's enough money in it. There are several Real Programmers building video games at Atari, for example. (But not playing them - a Real Programmer knows how to beat the machine every time: no challenge in that.) Everyone working at LucasFilm is a Real Programmer. (It would be crazy to turn down the money of fifty million Star Trek fans.) The proportion of Real Programmers in Computer Graphics is somewhat lower than the norm, mostly because nobody has found a use for computer graphics yet. On the other hand, all computer graphics is done in Fortran, so there are a fair number of people doing graphics in order to avoid having to write COBOL programs. THE REAL PROGRAMMER AT PLAY Generally, the Real Programmer plays the same way he works - with computers. He is constantly amazed that his employer actually pays him to do what he would be doing for fun anyway (although he is careful not to express this opinion out loud). Occasionally, the Real Programmer does step out of the office for a breath of fresh air and a beer or two. Some tips on recognizing Real Programmers away from the computer room: At a party, the Real Programmers are the ones in the corner talking about operating system security and how to get around it. At a football game, the Real Programmer is the one comparing the plays against his simulations printed on 11 by 14 fanfold paper. At the beach, the Real Programmer is the one drawing flowcharts in the sand. At a funeral, the Real Programmer is the one saying "Poor George, he almost had the sort routine working before the coronary." In a grocery store, the Real Programmer is the one who insists on running the cans past the laser checkout scanner himself, because he never could trust keypunch operators to get it right the first time. THE REAL PROGRAMMER'S NATURAL HABITAT What sort of environment does the Real Programmer function best in? This is an important question for the managers of Real Programmers. Considering the amount of money it costs to keep one on the staff, it's best to put him (or her) in an environment where he can get his work done. The typical Real Programmer lives in front of a computer terminal. Surrounding this terminal are: Listings of all programs the Real Programmer has ever worked on, piled in roughly chronological order on every flat surface in the office. Some half-dozen or so partly filled cups of cold coffee. Occasionally, there will be cigarette butts floating in the coffee. In some cases, the cups will contain Orange Crush. Unless he is very good, there will be copies of the OS JCL manual and the Principles of Operation open to some particularly interesting pages. Taped to the wall is a line-printer Snoopy calendar for the year 1969. Strewn about the floor are several wrappers for peanut butter filled cheese bars - the type that are made pre-stale at the bakery so they can't get any worse while waiting in the vending machine. Hiding in the top left-hand drawer of the desk is a stash of double-stuff Oreos for special occasions. Underneath the Oreos is a flowcharting template, left there by the previous occupant of the office. (Real Programmers write programs, not documentation. Leave that to the maintenance people.) The Real Programmer is capable of working 30, 40, even 50 hours at a stretch, under intense pressure. In fact, he prefers it that way. Bad response time doesn't bother the Real Programmer - it gives him a chance to catch a little sleep between compiles. If there is not enough schedule pressure on the Real Programmer, he tends to make things more challenging by working on some small but interesting part of the problem for the first nine weeks, then finishing the rest in the last week, in two or three 50-hour marathons. This not only impresses the hell out of his manager, who was despairing of ever getting the project done on time, but creates a convenient excuse for not doing the documentation. In general: No Real Programmer works 9 to 5 (unless it's the ones at night). Real Programmers don't wear neckties. Real Programmers don't wear high-heeled shoes. Real Programmers arrive at work in time for lunch [9]. A Real Programmer might or might not know his wife's name. He does, however, know the entire {ASCII} (or EBCDIC) code table. Real Programmers don't know how to cook. Grocery stores aren't open at three in the morning. Real Programmers survive on Twinkies and coffee. THE FUTURE What of the future? It is a matter of some concern to Real Programmers that the latest generation of computer programmers are not being brought up with the same outlook on life as their elders. Many of them have never seen a computer with a front panel. Hardly anyone graduating from school these days can do hex arithmetic without a calculator. College graduates these days are soft - protected from the realities of programming by source level debuggers, text editors that count parentheses, and "user friendly" operating systems. Worst of all, some of these alleged "computer scientists" manage to get degrees without ever learning Fortran! Are we destined to become an industry of Unix hackers and Pascal programmers? From my experience, I can only report that the future is bright for Real Programmers everywhere. Neither OS 370 nor Fortran show any signs of dying out, despite all the efforts of Pascal programmers the world over. Even more subtle tricks, like adding structured coding constructs to Fortran have failed. Oh sure, some computer vendors have come out with Fortran 77 compilers, but every one of them has a way of converting itself back into a Fortran 66 compiler at the drop of an option card - to compile DO loops like God meant them to be. Even Unix might not be as bad on Real Programmers as it once was. The latest release of Unix has the potential of an operating system worthy of any Real Programmer - two different and subtly incompatible user interfaces, an arcane and complicated teletype driver, virtual memory. If you ignore the fact that it's "structured", even 'C' programming can be appreciated by the Real Programmer: after all, there's no type checking, variable names are seven (ten? eight?) characters long, and the added bonus of the Pointer data type is thrown in - like having the best parts of Fortran and assembly language in one place. (Not to mention some of the more creative uses for
remember ::: v. t. --> To have ( a notion or idea) come into the mind again, as previously perceived, known, or felt; to have a renewed apprehension of; to bring to mind again; to think of again; to recollect; as, I remember the fact; he remembers the events of his childhood; I cannot remember dates.
To be capable of recalling when required; to keep in mind; to be continually aware or thoughtful of; to preserve fresh in the memory; to attend to; to think of with gratitude, affection,
spam ::: 1. (messaging) (From Hormel's Spiced Ham, via the Monty Python Spam song) To post irrelevant or inappropriate messages to one or more Usenet newsgroups, mailing lists, or other messaging system in deliberate or accidental violation of netiquette.It is possible to spam a newsgroup with one well- (or ill-) planned message, e.g. asking What do you think of abortion? on soc.women. This can be done by alt.politics.homosexuality will almost inevitably spam both groups. (Compare troll and flame bait).Posting a message to a significant proportion of all newsgroups is a sure way to spam Usenet and become an object of almost universal hatred. Canter and Siegel spammed the net with their Green card post.If you see an article which you think is a deliberate spam, DO NOT post a follow-up - doing so will only contribute to the general annoyance. Send a the apparent sender's account might have been used by someone else without his permission.The word was coined as the winning entry in a 1937 competition to choose a name for Hormel Foods Corporation's spiced meat (now officially known as SPAM Times Herald describing Public Relations as throwing a can of spam into an electric fan just to see if any of it would stick to the unwary passersby.Usenet newsgroup: news.admin.net-abuse.See also netiquette.2. (A narrowing of sense 1, above) To indiscriminately send large amounts of unsolicited e-mail meant to promote a product or service. Spam in this sense is sort of like the electronic equivalent of junk mail sent to Occupant.In the 1990s, with the rise in commercial awareness of the net, there are actually scumbags who offer spamming as a service to companies wishing to addresses, Usenet news, or mailing lists. Such practises have caused outrage and aggressive reaction by many net users against the individuals concerned.3. (Apparently a generalisation of sense 2, above) To abuse any network service or tool by for promotional purposes.AltaVista is an index, not a promotional tool. Attempts to fill it with promotional material lower the value of the index for everyone. [...] We will disallow URL submissions from those who spam the index. In extreme cases, we will exclude all their pages from the index. -- Altavista.4. (jargon, programming) To crash a program by overrunning a fixed-size buffer with excessively large input data.See also buffer overflow, overrun screw, smash the stack.5. (chat, games) (A narrowing of sense 1, above) To flood any chat forum or Internet game with purposefully annoying text or macros. Compare Scrolling.(2003-09-21)
spam 1. "messaging" (From Hormel's Spiced Ham, via the Monty Python "Spam" song) To post irrelevant or inappropriate messages to one or more {Usenet} {newsgroups}, {mailing lists}, or other messaging system in deliberate or accidental violation of {netiquette}. It is possible to spam a newsgroup with one well- (or ill-) planned message, e.g. asking "What do you think of abortion?" on soc.women. This can be done by {cross-post}ing, e.g. any message which is crossposted to alt.rush-limbaugh and alt.politics.homosexuality will almost inevitably spam both groups. (Compare {troll} and {flame bait}). Posting a message to a significant proportion of all newsgroups is a sure way to spam Usenet and become an object of almost universal hatred. Canter and Siegel spammed the net with their Green card post. If you see an article which you think is a deliberate spam, DO NOT post a {follow-up} - doing so will only contribute to the general annoyance. Send a polite message to the poster by private e-mail and CC it to "postmaster" at the same address. Bear in mind that the posting's origin might have been forged or the apparent sender's account might have been used by someone else without his permission. The word was coined as the winning entry in a 1937 competition to choose a name for Hormel Foods Corporation's "spiced meat" (now officially known as "SPAM luncheon meat"). Correspondant Bob White claims the modern use of the term predates Monty Python by at least ten years. He cites an editor for the Dallas Times Herald describing Public Relations as "throwing a can of spam into an electric fan just to see if any of it would stick to the unwary passersby." {Usenet} newsgroup: {news:news.admin.net-abuse}. See also {netiquette}. 2. (A narrowing of sense 1, above) To indiscriminately send large amounts of unsolicited {e-mail} meant to promote a product or service. Spam in this sense is sort of like the electronic equivalent of junk mail sent to "Occupant". In the 1990s, with the rise in commercial awareness of the net, there are actually scumbags who offer spamming as a "service" to companies wishing to advertise on the net. They do this by mailing to collections of {e-mail} addresses, Usenet news, or mailing lists. Such practises have caused outrage and aggressive reaction by many net users against the individuals concerned. 3. (Apparently a generalisation of sense 2, above) To abuse any network service or tool by for promotional purposes. "AltaVista is an {index}, not a promotional tool. Attempts to fill it with promotional material lower the value of the index for everyone. [...] We will disallow {URL} submissions from those who spam the index. In extreme cases, we will exclude all their pages from the index." -- {Altavista}. 4. "jargon, programming" To crash a program by overrunning a fixed-size {buffer} with excessively large input data. See also {buffer overflow}, {overrun screw}, {smash the stack}. 5. "chat, games" (A narrowing of sense 1, above) To flood any {chat} forum or {Internet game} with purposefully annoying text or macros. Compare {Scrolling}. (2003-09-21)
Sri Aurobindo: “Not likely! I would think of the French eternuer and sneeze.”“Letters on Savitri”
Synderesis: (Late Gr. synteresis, spark of conscience, may be connected with syneidesis, conscience) In Scholastic philosophy: the habitus, or permanent, inborn disposition of the mind to think of general and broad rules of moral conduct which become the principles from which a man may reason in directing his own moral activities. First used, apparently, by St. Jerome (In Ezekiel., I, 4-15) as equivalent to the scintilla conscientiae (spark of conscience), the term became very common and received various interpretations in the 13th century. Franciscan thinkers (St. Bonaventure) tended to regard synderesis as a quality of the human will, inclining it to embrace the good-in-general. St. Thomas thought synderesis a habitus of the intellect, enabling it to know first principles of practical reasoning; he distinguished clearly between synderesis and conscience, the latter being the action of the practical intellect deciding whether a particular, proposed operation is good or bad, here and now. Duns Scotus also considered synderesis a quality belonging to intellect rather than will. -- V.J.B.
..the release from subconscient ignorance and from disease, duration of life at will, and a change in the functioning of the body must be among the ultimate results of a supramental change.
Ref: CWSA Vol. 35, Page: 330 ::: .Supraphysical Worlds ::: This organisation includes, as on our earth, the existence of beings who have or take forms, manifest themselves or are naturally manifested in an embodying substance, but a substance other than ours, a subtle substance tangible only to subtle sense, a supraphysical form-matter. These worlds and beings may have nothing to do with ourselves and our life, they may exercise no action upon us; but often also they enter into secret communication with earth-existence, obey or embody and are the intermediaries and instruments of the cosmic powers and influences of which we have a subjective experience, or themselves act by their own initiation upon the terrestrial world’s life and motives and happenings. It is possible to receive help or guidance or harm or misguidance from these beings; it is possible even to become subject to their influence, to be possessed by their invasion or domination, to be instrumentalised by them for their good or evil purpose. At times the progress of earthly life seems to be a vast field of battle between supraphysical Forces of either character, those that strive to uplift, encourage and illumine and those that strive to deflect, depress or prevent or even shatter our upward evolution or the soul’s self-expression in the material universe. Some of these Beings, Powers or Forces are such that we think of them as divine; they are luminous, benignant or powerfully helpful: there are others that are Titanic, gigantic or demoniac, inordinate Influences, instigators or creators often of vast and formidable inner upheavals or of actions that overpass the normal human measure. There may also be an awareness of influences, presences, beings that do not seem to belong to other worlds beyond us but are here as a hidden element behind the veil in terrestrial nature. As contact with the supraphysical is possible, a contact can also take place subjective or objective—or at least objectivised— between our own consciousness and the consciousness of other once embodied beings who have passed into a supraphysical status in these other regions of existence. It is possible also to pass beyond a subjective contact or a subtle-sense perception and, in certain subliminal states of consciousness, to enter actually into other worlds and know something of their secrets. It is the more objective order of other-worldly experience that seized most the imagination of mankind in the past, but it was put by popular belief into a gross-objective statement which unduly assimilated these phenomena to those of the physical world with which we are familiar; for it is the normal tendency of our mind to turn everything into forms or symbols proper to its own kind and terms of experience.
Ref: CWSA Vol. 21-22 Page: 806-07
think ::: v. t. --> To seem or appear; -- used chiefly in the expressions methinketh or methinks, and methought.
To employ any of the intellectual powers except that of simple perception through the senses; to exercise the higher intellectual faculties.
To call anything to mind; to remember; as, I would have sent the books, but I did not think of it.
To reflect upon any subject; to muse; to meditate; to
transparent ::: 1. (jargon) Not visible, hidden; said of a system which functions in a manner not evident to the user. For example, the Domain Name System transparently resolves a fully qualified domain name into an Internet address without the user being aware of it.Compare this to what calls invisibility, which he illustrates from the user's point of view:You use computers when you use many modern automobiles, microwave ovens, games, CD players and calculators. You don't notice the computer because you think of yourself as doing the task, not as using the computer. [The Design of Everyday Things, New York, Doubleday, 1989, p. 185].2. (theory) Fully defined, known, predictable; said of a sub-system in which matters generally subject to volition or stochastic state change have been systems, output is a known function of the inputs, and users can both predict the behaviour and depend upon it. (1996-06-04)
transparent 1. "jargon" Not visible, hidden; said of a system which functions in a manner not evident to the user. For example, the {Domain Name System} transparently resolves a {fully qualified domain name} into an {IP address} without the user being aware of it. Compare this to what {Donald Norman (http://atg.apple.com/Norman/)} calls "invisibility", which he illustrates from the user's point of view: "You use computers when you use many modern automobiles, microwave ovens, games, CD players and calculators. You don't notice the computer because you think of yourself as doing the task, not as using the computer." ["The Design of Everyday Things", New York, Doubleday, 1989, p. 185]. 2. "theory" Fully defined, known, predictable; said of a sub-system in which matters generally subject to volition or stochastic state change have been chosen, measured, or determined by the environment. Thus for transparent systems, output is a known function of the inputs, and users can both predict the behaviour and depend upon it. (1996-06-04)
". . . what is this strongly separative self-experience that we call ego? It is nothing fundamentally real in itself but only a practical constitution of our consciousness devised to centralise the activities of Nature in us. We perceive a formation of mental, physical, vital experience which distinguishes itself from the rest of being, and that is what we think of as ourselves in nature — this individualisation of being in becoming. We then proceed to conceive of ourselves as something which has thus individualised itself and only exists so long as it is individualised, — a temporary or at least a temporal becoming; or else we conceive of ourselves as someone who supports or causes the individualisation, an immortal being perhaps but limited by its individuality. This perception and this conception constitute our ego-sense.” The Life Divine
“… what is this strongly separative self-experience that we call ego? It is nothing fundamentally real in itself but only a practical constitution of our consciousness devised to centralise the activities of Nature in us. We perceive a formation of mental, physical, vital experience which distinguishes itself from the rest of being, and that is what we think of as ourselves in nature—this individualisation of being in becoming. We then proceed to conceive of ourselves as something which has thus individualised itself and only exists so long as it is individualised,—a temporary or at least a temporal becoming; or else we conceive of ourselves as someone who supports or causes the individualisation, an immortal being perhaps but limited by its individuality. This perception and this conception constitute our ego-sense.” The Life Divine
What is this strongly separative self-experience that we call ego? It is nothing fundamentally real in itself but only a practical construction of our consciousness devised to centralise the activities of Nature in us.We perceive a formation of mental, physical, vital experience which distinguishes itself from the rest of being, and that is what we think of as ourselves in nature—this individualisation of being in becoming. We then proceed to conceive of ourselves as something which has thus individualised itself and only exists so long as it is individualised,—a temporary or at least a temporal becoming; or else we conceive of ourselves as someone who supports or causes the individualisation, an immortal being perhaps but limited by its individuality. This perception and this conception constitute our ego-sense.
Ref: CWSA Vol. 21-22, Page: 382-383
wish list "jargon" A list of desired {features} or {bug fixes} that probably won't get done for a long time, usually because the person responsible for the code is too busy or can't think of a clean way to do it. "OK, I'll add automatic filename completion to the wish list for the new interface." Compare {tick-list features}. [Does anybody call this a "want list"?] [{Jargon File}] (1998-04-28)
wish list ::: (jargon) A list of desired features or bug fixes that probably won't get done for a long time, usually because the person responsible for the code is too busy or can't think of a clean way to do it. OK, I'll add automatic filename completion to the wish list for the new interface.Compare tick-list features.[Does anybody call this a want list?][Jargon File] (1998-04-28)
X Window System "operating system, graphics" A specification for device-independent windowing operations on {bitmap display} devices, developed initially by {MIT}'s Project {Athena} and now a {de facto standard} supported by the {X Consortium}. X was named after an earlier window system called "W". It is a window system called "X", not a system called "X Windows". X uses a {client-server} protocol, the {X protocol}. The server is the computer or {X terminal} with the screen, keyboard, mouse and server program and the clients are {application programs}. Clients may run on the same computer as the server or on a different computer, communicating over {Ethernet} via {TCP/IP} protocols. This is confusing because {X clients} often run on what people usually think of as their server (e.g. a file server) but in X, it is the screen and keyboard etc. which is being "served out" to the applications. X is used on many {Unix} systems. It has also been described as over-sized, over-featured, over-engineered and incredibly over-complicated. X11R6 (version 11, release 6) was released in May 1994. {(http://x.org/)}. See also {Andrew project}, {PEX}, {VNC}, {XFree86}. {Usenet} newsgroups: {news:comp.windows.x}, {news:comp.x}, {news:comp.windows.x.apps}, {news:comp.windows.x.intrinsics}, {news:comp.windows.x.announce}, {news:comp.sources.x}, {news:comp.windows.x.motif}, {news:comp.windows.x.pex}. (1999-04-02)
KEYS (10k)
14 The Mother
8 Sri Ramana Maharshi
8 Sri Ramakrishna
4 Swami Adbhutananda
3 Sri Aurobindo
2 SWAMI SUBODHANANDA
2 Sri Ramakrishna
2 Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina
2 Marcus Aurelius
2 Jalaluddin Rumi
2 Baha-ullah: The Seven Valleys
2 Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
2 Saint Thomas Aquinas
2 Jetsun Milarepa
1 William Gibson
1 Vernon Howard
1 Tolstoy
1 Tolstoi
1 Thomas Keating
1 there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. The Earth is the only world known
1 The Mother
1 Tao Te Ching
1 Swami Vivekananda?
1 Swami Vijnanananda
1 Swami Turiyananda
1 SWAMI TRIGUNATITANANDA
1 SWAMI PREMANANDA
1 Swami Paramananda
1 SWAMI BRAHMANANDA
1 Sri Ramana Maharshi
1 Sri Chidananda
1 Saint Padre Pio
1 Saint John Vianney
1 Saint John Bosco
1 Saint Francis of Assisi
1 Saint Bernard of Clairvaux
1 Saint Augustine
1 Romans X II
1 Robert Anton Wilson
1 Robert Adams
1 Patrul Rinpoche
1 Nolini Kanta Gupta
1 Nikola Tesla
1 Malcolm X
1 Lodro Rinzler
1 Li Bai
1 Ken Wilber
1 Karen Blixen
1 Jean-Paul Sartre
1 it is astonishing.
1 Isaac Asimov
1 Gautam Dasgupta (1976:125-26)
1 Emmet Fox
1 Eleanor Roosevelt
1 Dion Fortune
1 Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche
1 Charles F Haanel
1 Carl Jung
1 Bhagavad Gita. VI. 24-26
1 a reaction will set in against this communal dissociation. You know
1 Anthony Robbins
1 Anthony de Mello
1 Anne Frank
1 Annamalai Swami
1 Anguttara Nikaya
1 Albert Einstein
1 Swami Vivekananda
1 Saint Teresa of Avila
1 Epictetus
1 Aleister Crowley
1 Abraham Maslow
1 1 Corinthians 4:1-2
NEW FULL DB (2.4M)
16 Anonymous
9 Haruki Murakami
8 Terry Pratchett
8 Cassandra Clare
7 Stephen King
7 Mahatma Gandhi
7 Frederick Lenz
7 Ernest Hemingway
7 David Levithan
6 Sri Ramana Maharshi
6 J R Ward
6 Jim Butcher
5 Rumi
5 Neil Gaiman
5 Molly Ivins
5 Holly Black
5 Ernest Agyemang Yeboah
4 Marissa Meyer
4 Joseph Joubert
4 Jojo Moyes
1:What shall we think of a well-adjusted slave? ~ Abraham Maslow, #KEYS
2:Whatever else we might think of this world ~ it is astonishing., #KEYS
3:I never think of the future - it comes soon enough." ~ Albert Einstein, #KEYS
4:Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy. ~ Anne Frank, #KEYS
5:Think of God more often than thou breathest. ~ Epictetus, #KEYS
6:Whatever you do, think of the Glory of God as your main goal. ~ Saint John Bosco, #KEYS
7:Think of patience as an act of being open to whatever comes your way." ~ Lodro Rinzler, #KEYS
8:We cannot think of being acceptable to others until we have first proven acceptable to ourselves. ~ Malcolm X, #KEYS
9:Do not think of what you have been, think only of what you want to be and you are sure to progress. ~ The Mother, #KEYS
10:It is by God's Grace that you think of God. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, [T0], #KEYS
11:You wouldn't worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt, #KEYS
12:You must think of the one who repeats the mantra. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talks, 606, #KEYS
13:Life is given that we may learn to die well, and we never think of it! To die well we must live well. ~ Saint John Vianney, #KEYS
14:Sorrow makes one think of God. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, Conscious Immortality, Ch 15, [T5], #KEYS
15:It is by God's grace that you think of God! ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talks, 29, [T5], #KEYS
16:When I think of the happiness that is in store for me, every sorrow, every pain becomes dear to me. ~ Saint Francis of Assisi, #KEYS
17:You must certainly think of God if you want to see God all round you. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
18:Tomorrow morning, if you think of it, grab your zither and come again." ~ Li Bai, (aka Li Po, 701-762), Chinese poet, Wikipedia., #KEYS
19:Learn to see God in everything about you. Smear God over everything, and your mind will think of Him alone. ~ SWAMI TRIGUNATITANANDA, #KEYS
20:If you want to assist at Mass, with devotion and with fruit, think of the sorrowful Mother at the feet of Calvary." ~ Saint Padre Pio, #KEYS
21:I meditate upon Thee, O Rama, as my Divine Master and think of myself only as Thy servant. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
22:When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love." ~ Marcus Aurelius, #KEYS
23:Anyone who will think of God, and repeat His name, will have everything intact - here and hereafter. His name is true for ever. ~ SWAMI SUBODHANANDA, #KEYS
24:One must think of one's Ishta as dearer than the dearest, as one's very Self—greater than one's kin, far more than one's own. ~ Swami Adbhutananda, #KEYS
25:If you always think of a holy person, you will become holy and pure. Pure character is formed by close association with the holy. ~ Swami Adbhutananda, #KEYS
26:... for if you were not always present in my consciousness you would be not able to think of me. ~ The Mother, Some Answers, S6, #KEYS
27:Think of yourself as momentary, without past and future, and your personality dissolves. ~ Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, #KEYS
28:In a pure body and pure mind, the power of God becomes manifest. Think and think of God; the impurities of the mind will be washed away. ~ SWAMI PREMANANDA, #KEYS
29:If the body is left insufficiently nourished, it will think of food more than otherwise. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Food, #KEYS
30:When I think of the lotus feet of the Lord, I forget myself so completely that unconsciously my cloth falls off. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
31:Think of your work only when it is being done, not before and not after. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Practical Concerns in Work, #KEYS
32:When the next day comes, he will also be called today, and then you will think of him. Always be very confident in Divine Providence." ~ Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, #KEYS
33:It is therefore senseless to think of complaining since nothing foreign has decided what we feel, what we live, or what we are.
~ Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness,#KEYS
34:Think of the Divine alone and the Divine will be with you.
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, The Divine Is with You, [13] [T0],#KEYS
35:That it may be easy for thee to live with every man, think of what unites thee to him and not of what separates. ~ Tolstoy, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
36:One must accustom oneself to say in the mind when one meets a man, "I will think of him only and not of myself. " ~ Tolstoi, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
37:That which is good and pure in you is God. That which is evil in you is your ego. The more you think of Him, the more He will increase and you will decrease. ~ Swami Turiyananda, #KEYS
38:For all who think of him with faith
The Buddha is there in front of them
And will give empowerments and blessings.
~ Patrul Rinpoche, The Words of My Perfect Teacher, [T5],#KEYS
39:I say to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly. ~ Romans X II, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
40:If you meditate on your ideal, you will acquire its nature. If you think of God day and night, you will acquire the nature of God. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
41:It is not good to say that what we ourselves think of God is the only truth and what others think is false. Can a man really fathom God's nature? ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
42:People must think of us as Christ's servants, stewards entrusted with the mysteries of God. What is expected of stewards is that each one should be found worthy of his trust. ~ 1 Corinthians 4:1-2, #KEYS
43:We rarely think of the air we breathe, yet it is in us and around us all the time. In similar fashion, the presence of God penetrates us, is all around us, is always embracing us. ~ Thomas Keating, #KEYS
44:If we think of ourselves as cattle with ropes hanging from our noses, Dharma practitioners hold that rope in their own hands, whereas ordinary people are controlled by others. ~ Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, #KEYS
45:Although it is possible to think of God without considering His goodness, it is impossible to think that God exists and is not good ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (DV 10.12ad9)., #KEYS
46:For then alone do we know God truly, when we believe that He is far above all that man can possibly think of God. ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa contra Gentiles, I, 5, par. 3, #KEYS
47: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, #KEYS
48:Humans can see God if they give up selfishness, think of Him, and call upon Him. Through His name the inauspicious turns auspicious, and peace comes out of peacelessness. One need only have faith. ~ SWAMI SUBODHANANDA, #KEYS
49:The more you think about your grievances or the injustices you have suffered, the more such trials you will receive. The more you think of the good fortune you have had, the more good fortune will come to you." ~ Emmet Fox, #KEYS
50:Q.: But the mind slips away from our control.
M.: Be it so. Do not think of it. When you recollect yourself bring it back and turn it inward. That is enough. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talks, 398,#KEYS
51:In the occult teachings you have been given certain images, under which you are instructed to think of certain things. These images are not descriptive but symbolic, and are designed to train the mind, not inform it.
~ Dion Fortune,#KEYS
52:The worst thing you can do is to put yourself down. That's blasphemy because you're putting God down. Think of yourself as a higher person, love yourself, worship yourself, bow to yourself. You are greater than you think. ~ Robert Adams, #KEYS
53:Why do you stay in prison when the door is wide open? Be empty of worrying. Think of who created thought. Move outside the tangle of fear-thinking. Live in silence. Flow down and down in always widening rings of being. ~ Jalaluddin Rumi, #KEYS
54:Do you meditate? Do you know what one feels in meditation? The mind becomes like a continuous flow of oil — it thinks of one object only, and that is God. It does not think of anything else. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
55:Think of the life you have lived until now as over and, as a dead man, see what's left as a bonus and live it according to Nature. Love the hand that fate deals you and play it as your own, for what could be more fitting?" ~ Marcus Aurelius, #KEYS
56:When you are exposed to any trial, be it physical or moral, bodily or spiritual, the best remedy is the thought of him who is our life, and not think of the one without joining to it the thought of the other. ~ Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, #KEYS
57:Do not think of anything except God; only then lust, greed, and other enemies will be automatically conquered. When these enemies are conquered and the mind is settled, that very God whose eternal nature is Truth will manifest. ~ Swami Adbhutananda, #KEYS
58:When I think of these experiences,
I cannot help but practise Dharma;
When I think of Dharma,
I cannot help but offer it to others.
When death approaches,
I shall then have no regrets. ~ Jetsun Milarepa,#KEYS
59:Yes, my brother, if we think of each world, we shall find there a hundred thousand wonderful sciences. One of these worlds is Sleep.What problems it contains! what wisdom is there concealed! how many worlds it includes! ~ Baha-ullah: The Seven Valleys, #KEYS
60:The dirt of the mind is washed away if one can think of the Lord and meditate on Him; if one can cry unto Him with repentance, saying, "Lord! forgive me. I will not do wrong in the future." At once the magnet of God draws the needle of the mind. ~ SWAMI BRAHMANANDA, #KEYS
61:Īśvara is the Atman as seen or grasped by mind. His highest name is ॐ; so repeat it, meditate on it, and think of all its wonderful nature and attributes. Repeating ॐ continually is the only true worship. It is not a word, it is God Himself. ~ Swami Vivekananda? #KEYS
62:Unless one has acquired the habit of constantly thinking of God by long practice, everything becomes confused on account of the pangs of death, and one cannot think of God even once. So what is necessary is constantly meditate on Him and pray to Him. ~ Swami Vijnanananda, #KEYS
63:Here is the secret of happiness. Forget yourself and think of others." ~ Swami Paramananda, (1884-1940), an early Indian teacher who went to the United States to spread the Vedanta philosophy. He was a mystic, a poet and an innovator in spiritual community living, Wikipedia., #KEYS
64:There was something formlessly fashioned,
That existed before heaven and earth;
Without sound, without substance,
Dependent on nothing, unchanging,
All-pervading, unfailing.
One may think of it as the mother of all
things under heaven. ~ Tao Te Ching, XXV,#KEYS
65:Think of you standing on a riverbank, watching passing ships. Some ships are bright with lights & color, others dark & dreary; but what has either to do with you? You have no connection with either brightness or dreariness - you are merely watching them come & go. ~ Vernon Howard, #KEYS
66:Our very thought, when we think of God the Trinity, falls very far short of Him of whom we think, nor comprehends Him as He is; but He is seen, as it is written, even by those who are so great as was the Apostle Paul, through "a glass and in an enigma." ~ Saint Augustine, (DT 5.1), #KEYS
67:Cyberspace is colonising what we used to think of as the real world. I think that our grandchildren will probably regard the distinction we make between what we call the real world and what they think of as simply the world as the quaintest and most incomprehensible thing about us. ~ William Gibson, #KEYS
68:Do not think of anything except God; only then lust, greed, & other enemies will be automatically conquered. When these enemies are conquered & the mind is settled, that very God whose eternal nature is Truth will manifest. Until the mind is settled, God will not manifest Himself~ Swami Adbhutananda, #KEYS
69:Yes, my brother, if we think of each world, we shall find there a hundred thousand wonderful sciences. One of these worlds is Sleep.What problems it contains! what wisdom is there concealed! how many worlds it includes! ~ Baha-ullah: The Seven Valleys, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
70:The body and the mind are only symptoms of ignorance, of misapprehension. Behave as if you were pure awareness, bodiless and mindless, spaceless and timeless, beyond 'where' and 'when' and 'how'. Dwell on it, think of it, learn to accept its reality. ~ Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, #KEYS
71:There is, however, one form of miracle which certainly happens, the influence of the genius. There is no known analogy in Nature. One cannot even think of a super-dog transforming the world of dogs, whereas in the history of mankind this happens with regularity and frequency.
~ Aleister Crowley, Liber ABA,#KEYS
72:And so now, today, one cannot think of the greats-Kant, Hegel, Spinoza, Marx, Fichte, Freud, Nietzsche, Einstein, Schopenhauer, Leibniz, Schelling-the whole Germanic sphere-without thinking, at some point, of Auschwitz and Treblinka, Sobibor and Dachau, Bergen-Belsen and Chelmno. My God, they have names, as if they were human. ~ Ken Wilber, One Taste, #KEYS
73:First of all, each one has a soul, and secondly, we have the luminously strong sup port of the Mother. It is the nature of the Divine that even if you don't think of Him He thinks of you. It is true, very true; because you are part of the Divine. Only you have to concentrate consciously on that part, that portion; then gradually it will increase. ~ Nolini Kanta Gupta, To Read Sri Aurobindo, #KEYS
74:Even if you fail to do it during your lifetime, you must think of god at least at the time of death, since one becomes what he thinks of
at the time of death. But unless all your life you have been thinking of God, unless you have accustomed yourself to dhyana of 'God
always during life, it would not at all be possible for you think of God at the time of death. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, Day by Day, 9-3-46,#KEYS
75:I think there will be a reaction ~ a reaction will set in against this communal dissociation. You know, man doesn't stand forever, his nullification. Once, there will be a reaction, and I see it setting in, you know, when I think of my patients, they all seek their own existence and to assure their existence against that complete atomization into nothingness or into meaninglessness. Man cannot stand a meaningless life. ~ Carl Jung, Face to Face BBC Interview (1959), #KEYS
76: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,#KEYS
77:Mr. Venkatakrishnayya, a lawyer-devotee, visited Sri Bhagavan ten years before and asked Him what he should do to improve himself.
Sri Bhagavan told him to perform Gayatri Japa. The young man went away satisfied. When he returned after some years, he asked:
D.: If I meditate on the meaning of the Gayatri mantra, my mind again wanders. What is to be done?
M.: Were you told to meditate on the mantra or its meaning? You must think of the one who repeats the mantra. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talks, 606,#KEYS
78:Those who really want to be yogis must give up, once for all, this nibbling at things. Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success and this is the way great spiritual giants are produced. Others are mere talking-machines. If we really want to be blessed and make others blessed, we must go deeper.
~ Swami Vivekananda, Raja-Yoga, Pratyahara and Dharana, 73, [T4],#KEYS
79:The Master always encouraged us to practise spiritual disciplines. He would tell us: "Pray unceasingly. Be sincere. Don't show your spiritual disciplines to others. If the character is not good, what good will japam do? Young women should be very careful. Be pure. The trees suck water from the earth through their roots, unperceived. Likewise, some people show a religious nature outwardly but secretly enjoy lustful things. Don't be a hypocrite."
One time he said to me: "If you cannot remember God, think of me. That will do." ~ Sri Ramakrishna, [Post#KEYS
80:(From a meditation written on the day after the Mother first saw Sri Aurobindo)
It matters little that there are thousands of beings plunged in the densest ignorance, He whom we saw yesterday is on earth; his presence is enough to prove that a day will come when darkness shall be transformed into light, and Thy reign shall be indeed established upon earth.
O Lord, Divine Builder of this marvel, my heart overflows with joy and gratitude when I think of it, and my hope has no bounds.
My adoration is beyond all words, my reverence is silent. 30 March 1914
~ The Mother,#KEYS
81:In dangers, in doubts, in difficulties, think of Mary, call upon Mary. Let not her name depart from your lips, never suffer it to leave your heart. And that you may obtain the assistance of her prayer, neglect not to walk in her footsteps. With her for guide, you shall never go astray; while invoking her, you shall never lose heart; so long as she is in your mind, you are safe from deception; while she holds your hand, you cannot fall; under her protection you have nothing to fear; if she walks before you, you shall not grow weary; if she shows you favor, you shall reach the goal. ~ Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, #KEYS
82:Abandoning without exception all desires born of the will, controlling by the mind the senses in all directions, a man should gradually cease from mental action by the force of an understanding held in the grasp of a constant will; he should fix his mind in the self and think of nothing at all, and whenever the restless and mobile mentality ranges forth he should draw it back from whatever direction it takes and bring it again under control in the self alone: for when the mind has thus been quieted, there comes to man the highest peace. ~ Bhagavad Gita. VI. 24-26, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
83:823. Should you think of God only at the time of meditation and remain forgetful of Him at all other times? Have you not noticed how during Durga Puja a lamp is kept constantly burning near the image? It should never be allowed to go out. If ever it is extinguished, the house-holder meets with some mishap. Similarly, after installing the Deity on the lotus of your heart, you must keep the lamp of remembering Him ever burning. While engaged in the affairs of the world, you should constantly turn your gaze inwards and see whether the lamp is burning or not. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
84:8. Now let us turn at last to our castle with its many mansions. You must not think of a suite of rooms placed in succession, but fix your eyes on the keep, the court inhabited by the King.23' Like the kernel of the palmito,24' from which several rinds must be removed before coming to the eatable part, this principal chamber is surrounded by many others. However large, magnificent, and spacious you imagine this castle to be, you cannot exaggerate it; the capacity of the soul is beyond all our understanding, and the Sun within this palace enlightens every part of it. ~ Saint Teresa of Avila, The Interior Castle, #KEYS
85:Four kinds of men have I found in the world, and what are the four? Men who are their own torturers, but cause no suffering to others; men who prepare suffering for others, but not for themselves; men who do evil both to themselves and to others men who are the cause of pain neither to others nor to themselves. And I have found still four other kinds of men in the world, and what are the four? Men who think only of themselves and not of others men who think of others and not of themselves; men who think of others as much as of themselves; men who think neither of themselves nor of others. ~ Anguttara Nikaya, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
86:This eternal lila is the eternal truth, and, therefore, its this eternal lila - the playful love-making of Radha and Krishna, which the Vaishnava poets desired to enjoy. If we analyse the Gitagovinda of Jayadeva we shall find not even a single statement which shows the poet's desire to have union with Krishna as Radha had,- he only sings praises the lila of Radha and Krishna and hankers after a chance just to have peep into the divine lila, and this peep into the divine lila is the highest spiritual gain which poets could think of. ~ Gautam Dasgupta (1976:125-26), quoted by Wimal Dissanayake, in Narratives of Agency: Self-making in China, India, and Japan, p. 132 #KEYS
87:Every painful event contains in itself a seed of growth and liberation. In the light of this truth return to your life now and take a look at one or another of the events that you are not grateful for, and see if you can discover the potential for growth that they contain which you were unaware of and therefore failed to benefit from. Now think of some recent event that caused you pain, that produced negative feelings in you. Whoever or whatever caused those feelings was your teacher, because they revealed so much to you about yourself that you probably did not know. And they offered you an invitation and a challenge to self-understanding, self-discovery, and therefore to growth and life and freedom. ~ Anthony de Mello, #KEYS
88:... and you, Marcus, you have given me many things; now I shall give you this good advice. Be many people. Give up the game of being always Marcus Cocoza. You have worried too much about Marcus Cocoza, so that you have been really his slave and prisoner. You have not done anything without first considering how it would affect Marcus Cocoza's happiness and prestige. You were always much afraid that Marcus might do a stupid thing, or be bored. What would it really have mattered? All over the world people are doing stupid things ... I should like you to be easy, your little heart to be light again. You must from now, be more than one, many people, as many as you can think of ...''
~ Karen Blixen, The Dreamers from Seven Gothic Tales (1934),#KEYS
89:The other day I told you the meaning of bhakti. It is to adore God with body, mind, and words. 'With body' means to serve and worship God with one's hands, go to holy places with one's feet, hear the chanting of the name and glories of God with one's ears, and behold the divine image with one's eyes. 'With mind' means to contemplate and meditate on God constantly and to remember and think of His lila. 'With words' means to sing hymns to Him and chant His name and glories.
Devotion as described by Narada is suited to the Kaliyuga. It means to chant constantly the name and glories of God. Let those who have no leisure worship God at least morning and evening by whole-heartedly chanting His name and clapping their hands. ~ Sri Ramakrishna,#KEYS
90:Turn your thoughts now, and lift up your thoughts to a devout and joyous contemplation on sage Vyasa and Vasishtha, on Narda and Valmiki. Contemplate on the glorious Lord Buddha, Jesus the Christ, prophet Mohammed, the noble Zoroaster (Zarathushtra), Lord Mahavira, the holy Guru Nanak. Think of the great saints and sages of all ages, like Yajnavalkya, Dattatreya, Sulabha and Gargi, Anasooya and Sabari, Lord Gauranga, Mirabai, Saint Theresa and Francis of Assisi. Remember St. Augustine, Jallaludin Rumi, Kabir, Tukaram, Ramdas, Ramakrishna Paramhamsa, Vivekananda and Rama Tirtha. Adore in thy heart the sacred memory of Mahatma Gandhi, sage Ramana Maharishi, Aurobindo Ghosh, Gurudev Sivananda and Swami Ramdas. They verily are the inspirers of humanity towards a life of purity, goodness and godliness. Their lives, their lofty examples, their great teachings constitute the real wealth and greatest treasure of mankind today.
~ Sri Chidananda, Advices On Spiritual Living,#KEYS
91:What do you think of the essence of Hell? Hell is when the depths come to you with all that you no longer are or are not yet capable of. Hell is when you can no longer attain what you could attain. Hell is when you must think and feel and do everything that you know you do not want. Hell is when you know that your having to is also a wanting to, and that you yourself are responsible for it. Hell is when you know that everything serious that you have planned with yourself is also laughable, that everything fine is also brutal, that everything good is also bad, that everything high is also low, and that everything pleasant is also shameful.
But the deepest Hell is when you realize that Hell is also no Hell, but a cheerful Heaven, not a Heaven in itself, but in this respect a Heaven, and in that respect a Hell.
That is the ambiguity of the God: he is born from a dark ambiguity and rises to a bright ambiguity. Unequivocalness is simplicity and leads to death. But ambiguity is the way of life. If the left foot does not move, then the right one does, and you move. The God wills this. ~ Carl Jung, The Red Book,#KEYS
92:A Community of the Spirit
There is a community of the spirit.
Join it, and feel the delight
of walking in the noisy street
and being the noise.
Drink all your passion and be a disgrace.
Close both eyes to see with the other eye.
Open your hands if you want to be held.
Consider what you have been doing.
Why do you stay
with such a mean-spirited and dangerous partner?
For the security of having food. Admit it.
Here is a better arrangement.
Give up this life, and get a hundred new lives.
Sit down in this circle.
Quit acting like a wolf,
and feel the shepherd's love filling you.
At night, your beloved wanders.
Do not take painkillers.
Tonight, no consolations.
And do not eat.
Close your mouth against food.
Taste the lover's mouth in yours.
You moan, But she left me. He left me.
Twenty more will come.
Be empty of worrying.
Think of who created thought.
Why do you stay in prison
when the door is so wide open?
Move outside the tangle of fear-thinking.
Live in silence.
Flow down and down
in always widening rings of being.
~ Jalaluddin Rumi,#KEYS
93:Find That Something :::
We can, simply by a sincere aspiration, open a sealed door in us and find... that Something which will change the whole significance of life, reply to all our questions, solve all our problems and lead us to the perfection we aspire for without knowing it, to that Reality which alone can satisfy us and give us lasting joy, equilibrium, strength, life.
All have heard it - Oh! there are even some here who are so used to it that for them it seems to be the same thing as drinking a glass of water or opening a window to let in the sunlight....
We have tried a little, but now we are going to try seriously!
The starting-point: to want it, truly want it, to need it. The next step: to think, above all, of that. A day comes, very quickly, when one is unable to think of anything else.
That is the one thing which counts. And then... One formulates one's aspiration, lets the true prayer spring up from one's heart, the prayer which expresses the sincerity of the need. And then... well, one will see what happens.
Something will happen. Surely something will happen. For each one it will take a different form.
~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1957-1958,#KEYS
94:Raise Your Standards
Any time you sincerely want to make a change, the first thing you must do is to raise your standards. When people ask me what really changed my life eight years ago, I tell them that absolutely the most important thing was changing what I demanded of myself. I wrote down all the things I would no longer accept in my life, all the things I would no longer tolerate, and all the things that I aspired to becoming.
Think of the far-reaching consequences set in motion by men and women who raised their standards and acted in accordance with them, deciding they would tolerate no less. History chronicles the inspiring examples of people like Leonardo da Vinci, Abraham Lincoln, Helen Keller, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Albeit Einstein, Cesar Chavez, Soichiro Honda, and many others who took the magnificently powerful step of raising their standards. The same power that was available to them is available to you, if you have the courage to claim it. Changing an organization, acompany, a country-or a world-begins with the simple step of changing yourself.
STEP TWO
Change Your Limiting Beliefs ~ Anthony Robbins, How to take Immediate Control of Your Mental Emotional Physical and Financial Destiny,#KEYS
95:Aspiration in everyone, no matter who it is, has the same power But the effect of this aspiration is different. For aspiration is aspiration: if you have aspiration, in itself it has a power. Only, this aspiration calls down an answer, and this answer, the effect, which is the result of the aspiration, depends upon each one, for it depends upon his receptivity. I know many people of this kind: they say, "Oh! but I aspire all the time and still I receive nothing." It is impossible that they should receive nothing, in the sense that the answer is sure to come. But it is they who do not receive. The answer comes but they are not receptive, so they receive nothing.. . . When you have an aspiration, a very active aspiration, your aspiration is going to do its work. It is going to call down the answer to what you aspire foR But if, later, you begin to think of something else or are not attentive or receptive, you do not even notice that your aspiration has received an answer. This happens very frequently. So people tell you: "I aspire and I don't receive anything, I get no answer!" Yes, you do have an answer but you are not aware of it, because you continue to be active in this way, like a mill turning all the time. ~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1954, #KEYS
96:
Sweet Mother, is the physical mind the same as the mechanical mind?
Almost. You see, there is just a little difference, but not much. The mechanical mind is still more stupid than the physical mind. The physical mind is what we spoke about one day, that which is never sure of anything.
I told you the story of the closed door, you remember. Well, that is the nature of the physical mind. The mechanical mind is at a lower level still, because it doesn't even listen to the possibility of a convincing reason, and this happens to everyone.
Usually we don't let it function, but it comes along repeating the same things, absolutely mechanically, without rhyme or reason, just like that. When some craze or other takes hold of it, it goes... For example, you see, if it fancies counting: "One, two, three, four", then it will go on: "One, two, three, four; one, two, three, four." And you may think of all kinds of things, but it goes on: "One, two, three, four", like that... (Mother laughs.) Or it catches hold of three words, four words and repeats them and goes on repeating them; and unless one turns away with a certain violence and punches it soundly, telling it, "Keep quiet!", it continues in this way, indefinitely. ~ The Mother,#KEYS
97:The human being is at home and safe in the material body; the body is his protection. There are some who are full of contempt for their bodies and think that things will be much better and easier after death without them. But in fact the body is your fortress and your shelter. While you are lodged in it the forces of the hostile world find it difficult to have a direct hold upon you.... Directly you enter any realm of this [vital] world, its beings gather round you to get out of you all you have, to draw what they can and make it a food and a prey. If you have no strong light and force radiating from within you, you move there without your body as if you had no coat to protect you against a chill and bleak atmosphere, no house to shield you, even no skin covering you, your nerves exposed and bare. There are men who say, 'How unhappy I am in this body', and think of death as an escape! But after death you have the same vital surroundings and are in danger from the same forces that are the cause of your misery in this life....
"It is here upon earth, in the body itself, that you must acquire a complete knowledge and learn to use a full and complete power. Only when you have done that will you be free to move about with entire security in all the worlds." ~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1929-1931, (12 May 1929),#KEYS
98:The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that in glory and triumph they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner. How frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity ~ in all this vastness ~ there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. The Earth is the only world known, so far, to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment, the Earth is where we make our stand. It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known. ~ Carl Sagan, #KEYS
99:People think of education as something that they can finish. And what's more, when they finish, it's a rite of passage. You're finished with school. You're no more a child, and therefore anything that reminds you of school - reading books, having ideas, asking questions - that's kid's stuff. Now you're an adult, you don't do that sort of thing any more.
You have everybody looking forward to no longer learning, and you make them ashamed afterward of going back to learning. If you have a system of education using computers, then anyone, any age, can learn by himself, can continue to be interested. If you enjoy learning, there's no reason why you should stop at a given age. People don't stop things they enjoy doing just because they reach a certain age.
What's exciting is the actual process of broadening yourself, of knowing there's now a little extra facet of the universe you know about and can think about and can understand. It seems to me that when it's time to die, there would be a certain pleasure in thinking that you had utilized your life well, learned as much as you could, gathered in as much as possible of the universe, and enjoyed it. There's only this one universe and only this one lifetime to try to grasp it. And while it is inconceivable that anyone can grasp more than a tiny portion of it, at least you can do that much. What a tragedy just to pass through and get nothing out of it. ~ Isaac Asimov, Carl Freedman - Conversations with Isaac Asimov-University Press of Mississippi (2005).pdf,#KEYS
100:Thoughts are forms and have an individual life, independent of their author: sent out from him into the world, they move in it towards the realisation of their own purpose of existence. When you think of anyone, your thought takes a form and goes out to find him; and, if your thinking is associated with some will that is behind it, the thought-form that has gone out from you makes an attempt to realise itself. Let us say, for instance, that you have a keen desire for a certain person to come and that, along with this vital impulse of desire, a strong imagination accompanies the mental form you have made; you imagine, "If he came, it would be like this or it would be like that." After a time you drop the idea altogether, and you do not know that even after you have forgotten it, your thought continues to exist. For it does still exist and is in action, independent of you, and it would need a great power to bring it back from its work. It is working in the atmosphere of the person touched by it and creates in him the desire to come. And if there is a sufficient power of will in your thought-form, if it is a well-built formation, it will arrive at its own realisation. But between the formation and the realisation there is a certain lapse of time, and if in this interval your mind has been occupied with quite other things, then when there happens this fulfilment of your forgotten thought, you may not even remember that you once harboured it; you do not know that you were the instigator of its action and the cause of what has come about. And it happens very often too that when the result does come, you have ceased to desire or care for it.
~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1929-1931,#KEYS
101:8. We all recognize the Universe must have been thought into shape before it ever could have become a material fact. And if we are willing to follow along the lines of the Great Architect of the Universe, we shall find our thoughts taking form, just as the universe took concrete form. It is the same mind operating through the individual. There is no difference in kind or quality, the only difference is one of degree.
9. The architect visualizes his building, he sees it as he wishes it to be. His thought becomes a plastic mold from which the building will eventually emerge, a high one or a low one, a beautiful one or a plain one, his vision takes form on paper and eventually the necessary material is utilized and the building stands complete.
10. The inventor visualizes his idea in exactly the same manner, for instance, Nikola Tesla, he with the giant intellect, one of the greatest inventors of all ages, the man who has brought forth the most amazing realities, always visualizes his inventions before attempting to work them out. He did not rush to embody them in form and then spend his time in correcting defects. Having first built up the idea in his imagination, he held it there as a mental picture, to be reconstructed and improved by his thought. "In this way," he writes in the Electrical Experimenter. "I am enabled to rapidly develop and perfect a conception without touching anything. When I have gone so far as to embody in the invention every possible improvement I can think of, and see no fault anywhere, I put into concrete, the product of my brain. Invariably my devise works as I conceived it should; in twenty years there has not been a single exception. ~ Charles F Haanel, The Master Key System,#KEYS
102:My method is different. I do not rush into actual work. When I get an idea, I start at once building it up in my imagination. I change the construction, make improvements and operate the device in my mind. It is absolutely immaterial to me whether I run my turbine in thought or test it in my shop. I even note if it is out of balance. There is no difference whatever; the results are the same. In this way I am able to rapidly develop and perfect a conception without touching anything. When I have gone so far as to embody in the invention every possible improvement I can think of and see no fault anywhere, I put into concrete form this final product of my brain. Invariably my device works as I conceived that it should, and the experiment comes out exactly as I planned it. In twenty years there has not been a single exception. Why should it be otherwise? Engineering, electrical and mechanical, is positive in results. There is scarcely a subject that cannot be examined beforehand, from the available theoretical and practical data. The carrying out into practice of a crude idea as is being generally done, is, I hold, nothing but a waste of energy, money, and time. My early affliction had however, another compensation. The incessant mental exertion developed my powers of observation and enabled me to discover a truth of great importance. I had noted that the appearance of images was always preceded by actual vision of scenes under peculiar and generally very exceptional conditions, and I was impelled on each occasion to locate the original impulse. After a while this effort grew to be almost automatic and I gained great facility in connecting cause and effect. Soon I became aware, to my surprise, that every thought I conceived was suggested by an external impression. Not only this but all my actions were prompted in a similar way. In the course of time it became perfectly evident to me that I was merely an automation endowed with power OF MOVEMENT RESPONDING TO THE STIMULI OF THE SENSE ORGANS AND THINKING AND ACTING ACCORDINGLY.
~ Nikola Tesla, The Strange Life of Nikola Tesla,#KEYS
103:The Absolute is beyond personality and beyond impersonality, and yet it is both the Impersonal and the supreme Person and all persons. The Absolute is beyond the distinction of unity and multiplicity, and yet it is the One and the innumerable Many in all the universes. It is beyond all limitation by quality and yet it is not limited by a qualityless void but is too all infinite qualities. It is the individual soul and all souls and more of them; it is the formless Brahman and the universe. It is the cosmic and the supracosmic spirit, the supreme Lord, the supreme Self, the supreme Purusha and supreme shakti, the Ever Unborn who is endlessly born, the Infinite who is innumerably finite, the multitudinous One, the complex Simple, the many-sided Single, the Word of the Silence Ineffable, the impersonal omnipresent Person, the Mystery, translucent in highest consciousness to its own spirit, but to a lesser consciousness veiled in its own exceeding light and impenetrable for ever. These things are to the dimensional mind irreconcilable opposites, but to the constant vision and experience of the supramental Truth-Consciousness they are so simply and inevitably the intrinsic nature of each other that even to think of them as contraries is an unimaginable violence. The walls constructed by the measuring and separating Intellect have disappeared and the Truth in its simplicity and beauty appears and reduces all to terms of its harmony and unity and light. Dimensions and distinctions remain but as figures for use, not a separative prison for the self-forgetting Spirit.
2:In the ordinary Yoga of knowledge it is only necessary to recognise two planes of our consciousness, the spiritual and the materialised mental; the pure reason standing between these two views them both, cuts through the illusions of the phenomenal world, exceeds the materialised mental plane, sees the reality of the spiritual; and then the will of the individual Purusha unifying itself with this poise of knowledge rejects the lower and draws back to the supreme plane, dwells there, loses mind and body, sheds life from it and merges itself in the supreme Purusha, is delivered from individual existence. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis of Yoga, 2.01 - The Object of Knowledge,#KEYS
104:Are there no false visions?
There are what in appearance are false visions. There are, for instance, hundreds or thousands of people who say that they have seen the Christ. Of that number those who have actually seen Him are perhaps less than a dozen, and even with them there is much to say about what they have seen. What the others saw may be an emanation; or it may be a thought or even an image remembered by the mind. There are, too, those who are strong believers in the Christ and have had a vision of some Force or Being or some remembered image that is very luminous and makes upon them a strong impression. They have seen something which they feel belongs to another world, to a supernatural order, and it has created in them an emotion of fear, awe or joy; and as they believe in the Christ, they can think of nothing else and say it is He. But the same vision or experience if it comes to one who believes in the Hindu, the Mohammedan or some other religion, will take a different name and form. The thing seen or experienced may be fundamentally the same, but it is formulated differently according to the different make-up of the apprehending mind. It is only those that can go beyond beliefs and faiths and myths and traditions who are able to say what it really is; but these are few, very few. You must be free from every mental construction, you must divest yourself of all that is merely local or temporal, before you can know what you have seen.
Spiritual experience means the contact with the Divine in oneself (or without, which comes to the same thing in that domain). And it is an experience identical everywhere in all countries, among all peoples and even in all ages. If you meet the Divine, you meet it always and everywhere in the same way. Difference comes in because between the experience and its formulation there is almost an abyss. Directly you have spiritual experience, which takes place always in the inner consciousness, it is translated into your external consciousness and defined there in one way or another according to your education, your faith, your mental predisposition. There is only one truth, one reality; but the forms through which it may be expressed are many. 21 April 1929 ~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1929-1931,#KEYS
105: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),#KEYS
106: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,#KEYS
107:How can one become conscious of Divine Love and an instrument of its expression?
First, to become conscious of anything whatever, you must will it. And when I say "will it", I don't mean saying one day, "Oh! I would like it very much", then two days later completely forgetting it.
To will it is a constant, sustained, concentrated aspiration, an almost exclusive occupation of the consciousness. This is the first step. There are many others: a very attentive observation, a very persistent analysis, a very keen discernment of what is pure in the movement and what is not. If you have an imaginative faculty, you may try to imagine and see if your imagination tallies with reality. There are people who believe that it is enough to wake up one day in a particular mood and say, "Ah! How I wish to be conscious of divine Love, how I wish to manifest divine Love...." Note, I don't know how many millions of times one feels within a little stirring up of human instinct and imagines that if one had at one's disposal divine Love, great things could be accomplished, and one says, "I am going to try and find divine Love and we shall see the result." This is the worst possible way. Because, before having even touched the very beginning of realisation you have spoilt the result. You must take up your search with a purity of aspiration and surrender which in themselves are already difficult to acquire. You must have worked much on yourself only to be ready to aspire to this Love. If you look at yourself very sincerely, very straight, you will see that as soon as you begin to think of Love it is always your little inner tumult which starts whirling. All that aspires in you wants certain vibrations. It is almost impossible, without being far advanced on the yogic path, to separate the vital essence, the vital vibration from your conception of Love. What I say is founded on an assiduous experience of human beings. Well, for you, in the state in which you are, as you are, if you had a contact with pure divine Love, it would seem to you colder than ice, or so far-off, so high that you would not be able to breathe; it would be like the mountain-top where you would feel frozen and find it difficult to breathe, so very far would it be from what you normally feel. Divine Love, if not clothed with a psychic or vital vibration, is difficult for a human being to perceive. One can have an impression of grace, of a grace which is something so far, so high, so pure, so impersonal that... yes, one can have the feeling of grace, but it is with difficulty that one feels Love.
~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1950-1951,#KEYS
108:For instance, a popular game with California occultists-I do not know its inventor-involves a Magic Room, much like the Pleasure Dome discussed earlier except that this Magic Room contains an Omniscient Computer.
To play this game, you simply "astrally project" into the Magic Room. Do not ask what "astral projection" means, and do not assume it is metaphysical (and therefore either impossible, if you are a materialist, or very difficult, if you are a mystic). Just assume this is a gedankenexperiment, a "mind game." Project yourself, in imagination, into this Magic Room and visualize vividly the Omniscient Computer, using the details you need to make such a super-information-processor real to your fantasy. You do not need any knowledge of programming to handle this astral computer. It exists early in the next century; you are getting to use it by a species of time-travel, if that metaphor is amusing and helpful to you. It is so built that it responds immediately to human brain-waves, "reading" them and decoding their meaning. (Crude prototypes of such computers already exist.) So, when you are in this magic room, you can ask this Computer anything, just by thinking of what you want to know. It will read your thought, and project into your brain, by a laser ray, the correct answer.
There is one slight problem. The computer is very sensitive to all brain-waves. If you have any doubts, it registers them as negative commands, meaning "Do not answer my question." So, the way to use it is to start simply, with "easy" questions. Ask it to dig out of the archives the name of your second-grade teacher. (Almost everybody remembers the name of their first grade teacher-imprint vulnerability again-but that of the second grade teacher tends to get lost.)
When the computer has dug out the name of your second grade teacher, try it on a harder question, but not one that is too hard. It is very easy to sabotage this machine, but you don't want to sabotage it during these experiments. You want to see how well it can be made to perform.
It is wise to ask only one question at a time, since it requires concentration to keep this magic computer real on the field of your perception. Do not exhaust your capacities for imagination and visualization on your first trial runs.
After a few trivial experiments of the second-grade-teacher variety, you can try more interesting programs. Take a person toward whom you have negative feelings, such as anger, disappointment, feeling-of-betrayal, jealousy or whatever interferes with the smooth, tranquil operation of your own bio-computer. Ask the Magic Computer to explain that other person to you; to translate you into their reality-tunnel long enough for you to understand how events seem to them. Especially, ask how you seem to them.
This computer will do that job for you; but be prepared for some shocks which might be disagreeable at first. This super-brain can also perform exegesis on ideas that seem obscure, paradoxical or enigmatic to us. For instance, early experiments with this computer can very profitably turn on asking it to explain some of the propositions in this book which may seem inexplicable or perversely wrong-headed to you, such as "We are all greater artists than we realize" or "What the Thinker thinks, the Prover proves" or "mind and its contents are functionally identical."
This computer is much more powerful and scientifically advanced than the rapture-machine in the neurosomatic circuit. It has total access to all the earlier, primitive circuits, and overrules any of them. That is, if you put a meta-programming instruction into this computer; it will relay it downward to the old circuits and cancel contradictory programs left over from the past. For instance, try feeding it on such meta-programming instructions as: 1. I am at cause over my body. 2. I am at cause over my imagination. 3.1 am at cause over my future. 4. My mind abounds with beauty and power. 5.1 like people, and people like me.
Remember that this computer is only a few decades ahead of present technology, so it cannot "understand" your commands if you harbor any doubts about them. Doubts tell it not to perform. Work always from what you can believe in, extending the area of belief only as results encourage you to try for more dramatic transformations of your past reality-tunnels.
This represents cybernetic consciousness; the programmer becoming self-programmer, self-metaprogrammer, meta-metaprogrammer, etc. Just as the emotional compulsions of the second circuit seem primitive, mechanical and, ultimately, silly to the neurosomatic consciousness, so, too, the reality maps of the third circuit become comic, relativistic, game-like to the metaprogrammer. "Whatever you say it is, it isn't, " Korzybski, the semanticist, repeated endlessly in his seminars, trying to make clear that third-circuit semantic maps are not the territories they represent; that we can always make maps of our maps, revisions of our revisions, meta-selves of our selves. "Neti, neti" (not that, not that), Hindu teachers traditionally say when asked what "God" is or what "Reality" is. Yogis, mathematicians and musicians seem more inclined to develop meta-programming consciousness than most of humanity. Korzybski even claimed that the use of mathematical scripts is an aid to developing this circuit, for as soon as you think of your mind as mind 1 , and the mind which contemplates that mind as mind2 and the mind which contemplates mind2 contemplating mind 1 as mind3, you are well on your way to meta-programming awareness. Alice in Wonderland is a masterful guide to the metaprogramming circuit (written by one of the founders of mathematical logic) and Aleister Crowley soberly urged its study upon all students of yoga. ~ Robert Anton Wilson, Prometheus Rising,#KEYS
109: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,#KEYS
110:
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],#KEYS
111:Mental Education
OF ALL lines of education, mental education is the most widely known and practised, yet except in a few rare cases there are gaps which make it something very incomplete and in the end quite insufficient.
Generally speaking, schooling is considered to be all the mental education that is necessary. And when a child has been made to undergo, for a number of years, a methodical training which is more like cramming than true schooling, it is considered that whatever is necessary for his mental development has been done. Nothing of the kind. Even conceding that the training is given with due measure and discrimination and does not permanently damage the brain, it cannot impart to the human mind the faculties it needs to become a good and useful instrument. The schooling that is usually given can, at the most, serve as a system of gymnastics to increase the suppleness of the brain. From this standpoint, each branch of human learning represents a special kind of mental gymnastics, and the verbal formulations given to these various branches each constitute a special and well-defined language.
A true mental education, which will prepare man for a higher life, has five principal phases. Normally these phases follow one after another, but in exceptional individuals they may alternate or even proceed simultaneously. These five phases, in brief, are:
(1) Development of the power of concentration, the capacity of attention.
(2) Development of the capacities of expansion, widening, complexity and richness.
(3) Organisation of one's ideas around a central idea, a higher ideal or a supremely luminous idea that will serve as a guide in life.
(4) Thought-control, rejection of undesirable thoughts, to become able to think only what one wants and when one wants.
(5) Development of mental silence, perfect calm and a more and more total receptivity to inspirations coming from the higher regions of the being.
It is not possible to give here all the details concerning the methods to be employed in the application of these five phases of education to different individuals. Still, a few explanations on points of detail can be given.
Undeniably, what most impedes mental progress in children is the constant dispersion of their thoughts. Their thoughts flutter hither and thither like butterflies and they have to make a great effort to fix them. Yet this capacity is latent in them, for when you succeed in arousing their interest, they are capable of a good deal of attention. By his ingenuity, therefore, the educator will gradually help the child to become capable of a sustained effort of attention and a faculty of more and more complete absorption in the work in hand. All methods that can develop this faculty of attention from games to rewards are good and can all be utilised according to the need and the circumstances. But it is the psychological action that is most important and the sovereign method is to arouse in the child an interest in what you want to teach him, a liking for work, a will to progress. To love to learn is the most precious gift that one can give to a child: to love to learn always and everywhere, so that all circumstances, all happenings in life may be constantly renewed opportunities for learning more and always more.
For that, to attention and concentration should be added observation, precise recording and faithfulness of memory. This faculty of observation can be developed by varied and spontaneous exercises, making use of every opportunity that presents itself to keep the child's thought wakeful, alert and prompt. The growth of the understanding should be stressed much more than that of memory. One knows well only what one has understood. Things learnt by heart, mechanically, fade away little by little and finally disappear; what is understood is never forgotten. Moreover, you must never refuse to explain to a child the how and the why of things. If you cannot do it yourself, you must direct the child to those who are qualified to answer or point out to him some books that deal with the question. In this way you will progressively awaken in the child the taste for true study and the habit of making a persistent effort to know.
This will bring us quite naturally to the second phase of development in which the mind should be widened and enriched.
You will gradually show the child that everything can become an interesting subject for study if it is approached in the right way. The life of every day, of every moment, is the best school of all, varied, complex, full of unexpected experiences, problems to be solved, clear and striking examples and obvious consequences. It is so easy to arouse healthy curiosity in children, if you answer with intelligence and clarity the numerous questions they ask. An interesting reply to one readily brings others in its train and so the attentive child learns without effort much more than he usually does in the classroom. By a choice made with care and insight, you should also teach him to enjoy good reading-matter which is both instructive and attractive. Do not be afraid of anything that awakens and pleases his imagination; imagination develops the creative mental faculty and through it study becomes living and the mind develops in joy.
In order to increase the suppleness and comprehensiveness of his mind, one should see not only that he studies many varied topics, but above all that a single subject is approached in various ways, so that the child understands in a practical manner that there are many ways of facing the same intellectual problem, of considering it and solving it. This will remove all rigidity from his brain and at the same time it will make his thinking richer and more supple and prepare it for a more complex and comprehensive synthesis. In this way also the child will be imbued with the sense of the extreme relativity of mental learning and, little by little, an aspiration for a truer source of knowledge will awaken in him.
Indeed, as the child grows older and progresses in his studies, his mind too ripens and becomes more and more capable of forming general ideas, and with them almost always comes a need for certitude, for a knowledge that is stable enough to form the basis of a mental construction which will permit all the diverse and scattered and often contradictory ideas accumulated in his brain to be organised and put in order. This ordering is indeed very necessary if one is to avoid chaos in one's thoughts. All contradictions can be transformed into complements, but for that one must discover the higher idea that will have the power to bring them harmoniously together. It is always good to consider every problem from all possible standpoints so as to avoid partiality and exclusiveness; but if the thought is to be active and creative, it must, in every case, be the natural and logical synthesis of all the points of view adopted. And if you want to make the totality of your thoughts into a dynamic and constructive force, you must also take great care as to the choice of the central idea of your mental synthesis; for upon that will depend the value of this synthesis. The higher and larger the central idea and the more universal it is, rising above time and space, the more numerous and the more complex will be the ideas, notions and thoughts which it will be able to organise and harmonise.
It goes without saying that this work of organisation cannot be done once and for all. The mind, if it is to keep its vigour and youth, must progress constantly, revise its notions in the light of new knowledge, enlarge its frame-work to include fresh notions and constantly reclassify and reorganise its thoughts, so that each of them may find its true place in relation to the others and the whole remain harmonious and orderly.
All that has just been said concerns the speculative mind, the mind that learns. But learning is only one aspect of mental activity; the other, which is at least equally important, is the constructive faculty, the capacity to form and thus prepare action. This very important part of mental activity has rarely been the subject of any special study or discipline. Only those who want, for some reason, to exercise a strict control over their mental activities think of observing and disciplining this faculty of formation; and as soon as they try it, they have to face difficulties so great that they appear almost insurmountable.
And yet control over this formative activity of the mind is one of the most important aspects of self-education; one can say that without it no mental mastery is possible. As far as study is concerned, all ideas are acceptable and should be included in the synthesis, whose very function is to become more and more rich and complex; but where action is concerned, it is just the opposite. The ideas that are accepted for translation into action should be strictly controlled and only those that agree with the general trend of the central idea forming the basis of the mental synthesis should be permitted to express themselves in action. This means that every thought entering the mental consciousness should be set before the central idea; if it finds a logical place among the thoughts already grouped, it will be admitted into the synthesis; if not, it will be rejected so that it can have no influence on the action. This work of mental purification should be done very regularly in order to secure a complete control over one's actions.
For this purpose, it is good to set apart some time every day when one can quietly go over one's thoughts and put one's synthesis in order. Once the habit is acquired, you can maintain control over your thoughts even during work and action, allowing only those which are useful for what you are doing to come to the surface. Particularly, if you have continued to cultivate the power of concentration and attention, only the thoughts that are needed will be allowed to enter the active external consciousness and they then become all the more dynamic and effective. And if, in the intensity of concentration, it becomes necessary not to think at all, all mental vibration can be stilled and an almost total silence secured. In this silence one can gradually open to the higher regions of the mind and learn to record the inspirations that come from there.
But even before reaching this point, silence in itself is supremely useful, because in most people who have a somewhat developed and active mind, the mind is never at rest. During the day, its activity is kept under a certain control, but at night, during the sleep of the body, the control of the waking state is almost completely removed and the mind indulges in activities which are sometimes excessive and often incoherent. This creates a great stress which leads to fatigue and the diminution of the intellectual faculties.
The fact is that like all the other parts of the human being, the mind too needs rest and it will not have this rest unless we know how to provide it. The art of resting one's mind is something to be acquired. Changing one's mental activity is certainly one way of resting; but the greatest possible rest is silence. And as far as the mental faculties are concerned a few minutes passed in the calm of silence are a more effective rest than hours of sleep.
When one has learned to silence the mind at will and to concentrate it in receptive silence, then there will be no problem that cannot be solved, no mental difficulty whose solution cannot be found. When it is agitated, thought becomes confused and impotent; in an attentive tranquillity, the light can manifest itself and open up new horizons to man's capacity. Bulletin, November 1951
~ The Mother, On Education,#KEYS
112: M.: Yes. When you see God in all, do you think of God or do you not?
You should certainly keep God in your mind for seeing God all round you. Keeping God in your mind becomes dhyana. Dhyana is the stage before realisation. Realisation is in the Self only. Dhyana must precede it. Whether you make dhyana of God or of Self, it is immaterial. The goal is the same. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi,#KEYS
113: MASTER: "Repeat God's name and sing His glories, and keep holy company; and now and then visit God's devotees and holy men. The mind cannot dwell on God if it is immersed day and night in worldliness, in worldly duties and responsibilities; it is most necessary to go into solitude now and then and think of God. To fix the mind on God is very difficult, in the beginning, unless one practises meditation in solitude. When a tree is young it should be fenced all around; otherwise it may be destroyed by cattle. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
*** WISDOM TROVE ***
1:I think of myself as a human being. ~ bruce-lee, @wisdomtrove 2:To think of shadows is a serious thing. ~ victor-hugo, @wisdomtrove 3:What do you think of them? Make a list. ~ byron-katie, @wisdomtrove 4:When anger rises, think of the consequences. ~ confucius, @wisdomtrove 5:Never be so busy as not to think of others. ~ mother-teresa, @wisdomtrove 6:All I think of ever is that I love you. ~ f-scott-fitzgerald, @wisdomtrove 7:Think of a man in a chronic state of anger! ~ henry-ward-beecher, @wisdomtrove 8:Always think of passing the ball before shooting it. ~ john-wooden, @wisdomtrove 9:If you don't think of the future, you won't have one. ~ henry-ford, @wisdomtrove 10:I should as soon think of contradicting a bishop. ~ samuel-johnson, @wisdomtrove 11:What other people think of me is none of my business. ~ wayne-dyer, @wisdomtrove 12:It is a fine seasoning for joy to think of those we love. ~ moliere, @wisdomtrove 13:To think is not enough, you must think of something. ~ jules-renard, @wisdomtrove 14:I never think of the future - it comes soon enough. ~ albert-einstein, @wisdomtrove 15:The truest self-respect is not to think of self. ~ henry-ward-beecher, @wisdomtrove 16:People think of education as something they can finish. ~ isaac-asimov, @wisdomtrove 17:We know nothing of religion here: we only think of Christ. ~ c-s-lewis, @wisdomtrove 18:... a man has to think of his soul before everything else. ~ leo-tolstoy, @wisdomtrove 19:Repartee is something we think of twenty-four hours too late. ~ mark-twain, @wisdomtrove 20:We think of strangers as stronger and better than we are. ~ john-steinbeck, @wisdomtrove 21:I never think of myself in relation to anyone else. I just refuse ~ ayn-rand, @wisdomtrove 22:Whenever I think of the past, it brings back so many memories. ~ steven-wright, @wisdomtrove 23:I find that when I do not think of myself I do not think at all. ~ jules-renard, @wisdomtrove 24:The more you forget yourself, the more Jesus will think of you. ~ mother-teresa, @wisdomtrove 25:Think of me as a sex symbol for the men who don't give a damn. ~ phyllis-diller, @wisdomtrove 26:If you would be wealthy, think of saving as well as getting. ~ benjamin-franklin, @wisdomtrove 27:Read a little. Meditate more. Think of God all the time. ~ paramahansa-yogananda, @wisdomtrove 28:Have faith in the Yankees my son. Think of the great DiMaggio. ~ ernest-hemingway, @wisdomtrove 29:I can’t think of you and myself apart. You and I are the same to me ~ leo-tolstoy, @wisdomtrove 30:If you think of someone enough, you’re sure to meet them again. ~ haruki-murakami, @wisdomtrove 31:I don’t think of work as work and play as play. It’s all living. ~ richard-branson, @wisdomtrove 32:The mind is the pilot. We think of things before the body does them. ~ walt-disney, @wisdomtrove 33:& 34:You could think of mindfulness as wise and affectionate attention. ~ jon-kabat-zinn, @wisdomtrove 35:I am a man and you are a woman. I can't think of a better arrangement. ~ groucho-marx, @wisdomtrove 36:I don't think of myself as an artist. I'm just a guy who can write. ~ haruki-murakami, @wisdomtrove 37:It seemed out of place to think of consequences during the fiesta. ~ ernest-hemingway, @wisdomtrove 38:Man cannot always think of matter, however pleasurable it may be. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 39:I'm in a position where it doesn't matter what people think of me now. ~ j-r-r-tolkien, @wisdomtrove 40:Dig a little deeper. Think of something that we've never thought of before. ~ a-a-milne, @wisdomtrove 41:Think of what a paradise this world would be if men were kind and wise. ~ kurt-vonnegut, @wisdomtrove 42:What we think of Christ influences our thinking and controls our actions. ~ billy-graham, @wisdomtrove 43:If the world despises a hypocrite, what must they think of him in heaven? ~ josh-billings, @wisdomtrove 44:It's nice, I think, when people use your music for things you didn't think of. ~ brian-eno, @wisdomtrove 45:When we are crushed like grapes, we cannot think of the wine we will become. ~ henri-nouwen, @wisdomtrove 46:Not seeing people allows you to think of them as perfect in all kinds of ways. ~ victor-hugo, @wisdomtrove 47:Do not think of to-day's failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. ~ hellen-keller, @wisdomtrove 48:If you sit on the doorstep long enough, I daresay you will think of something ~ j-r-r-tolkien, @wisdomtrove 49:When you are dissatisfied and would like to go back to youth, think of Algebra. ~ will-rogers, @wisdomtrove 50:I am in the present. I don't think of the past. I don't think of the future. ~ thich-nhat-hanh, @wisdomtrove 51:The populace may hiss me, but when I go home and think of my money, I applaud myself. ~ horace, @wisdomtrove 52:I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying. ~ nelson-mandela, @wisdomtrove 53:Politicians can do more funny things naturally than I can think of to do purposely ~ will-rogers, @wisdomtrove 54:We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible. ~ vince-lombardi, @wisdomtrove 55:Don't think of God in terms of forms, because forms are limited and God is unlimited. ~ c-s-lewis, @wisdomtrove 56:The only people we can think of as normal are those we don't yet know very well. ~ alain-de-botton, @wisdomtrove 57:I can think of no more stirring symbol of man's humanity to man than a fire engine. ~ kurt-vonnegut, @wisdomtrove 58:If you can't think of an enlightened person positively, don't think of them at all. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 59:My friend, let's not think of tomorrow, but let's enjoy this fleeting moment of life. ~ omar-khayyam, @wisdomtrove 60:Never think of pain or danger or enemies a moment longer than is necessary to fight them. ~ ayn-rand, @wisdomtrove 61:Think of nothing that happens as either good or bad. Stop judging, and stop expecting. ~ leo-babauta, @wisdomtrove 62:To increase your level of self acceptance, think of your unique talents and abilities. ~ brian-tracy, @wisdomtrove 63:What we like to think of ourselves and what we really are rarely have much in common. ~ stephen-king, @wisdomtrove 64:I loved it. And for a long time, I would think of myself, of my whole body, as an ear. ~ maya-angelou, @wisdomtrove 65:Think of yourself as a resource to your clients;an advisor,counselor,mentor and friend. ~ brian-tracy, @wisdomtrove 66:Sometimes when I think of life, I feel like a piece of driftwood washed up on shore. ~ haruki-murakami, @wisdomtrove 67:The more I think of it, the more I realize there are no answers. Life is to be lived. ~ marilyn-monroe, @wisdomtrove 68:Most people think of poise as calm, self-assured dignity; but I call it “just being you”. ~ john-wooden, @wisdomtrove 69:I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection. ~ sigmund-freud, @wisdomtrove 70:Live so that when your children think of fairness and integrity, they think of you. ~ h-jackson-brown-jr, @wisdomtrove 71:Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and angels know of us. ~ thomas-paine, @wisdomtrove 72:The most important thing about you is what comes to your mind when you think of God. ~ aiden-wilson-tozer, @wisdomtrove 73:When you think of what you are, and despair; think also of what He is, and take heart. ~ charles-spurgeon, @wisdomtrove 74:If you don't get everything you want, think of the things you don't get that you don't want. ~ oscar-wilde, @wisdomtrove 75:I think of reading a book as no less an experience than travelling or falling in love. ~ jorge-luis-borges, @wisdomtrove 76:It is better to think of church in the ale-house than to think of the ale-house in church. ~ martin-luther, @wisdomtrove 77:Madness is to think of too many things in succession too fast, or of one thing too exclusively. ~ voltaire, @wisdomtrove 78:The more we simplify our material needs the more we are free to think of other things. ~ eleanor-roosevelt, @wisdomtrove 79:When I think of all the books still left for me to read, I am certain of further happiness. ~ jules-renard, @wisdomtrove 80:Most people think of success in terms of getting; success, however, begins in terms of giving. ~ henry-ford, @wisdomtrove 81:They say that God is everywhere, and yet we always think of Him as somewhat of a recluse. ~ emily-dickinson, @wisdomtrove 82:Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that. ~ george-carlin, @wisdomtrove 83:Everything has been thought of before, but the problem is to think of it again. ~ johann-wolfgang-von-goethe, @wisdomtrove 84:Poetry is play. I'd even rather have you think of it as a sport. For instance, like football. ~ robert-frost, @wisdomtrove 85:When you see a good man, think of emulating him; when you see a bad man, examine your own heart. ~ confucius, @wisdomtrove 86:I don't think of the past. The only thing that matters is the everlasting present. ~ william-somerset-maugham, @wisdomtrove 87:The more highly we think of ourselves-our abilities and talents-the less God can use us. ~ aiden-wilson-tozer, @wisdomtrove 88:When I think of vision, I have in mind the ability to see above and beyond the majority. ~ charles-r-swindoll, @wisdomtrove 89:Think of these things, whence you came, where you are going, and to whom you must account. ~ benjamin-franklin, @wisdomtrove 90:We could all use a little coaching. When you're playing the game, it's hard to think of everything. ~ jim-rohn, @wisdomtrove 91:When I think of all the harm the Bible has done, I despair of ever writing anything equal to it. ~ oscar-wilde, @wisdomtrove 92:Why think of liberation at some future time? Liberation is in the little things, here and now. ~ b-k-s-iyengar, @wisdomtrove 93:High school is closer to the core of the American experience than anything else I can think of. ~ kurt-vonnegut, @wisdomtrove 94:If we know God is for us, then it shouldn't matter how we feel, or what other people think of us. ~ joyce-meyer, @wisdomtrove 95:If you know how to worry, you know how to meditate. It means to think of something over and over. ~ joyce-meyer, @wisdomtrove 96:I like to think of my shining tombstone. It gives me, as you might say, something to live for. ~ dorothy-parker, @wisdomtrove 97:I think of discipline as the continual everyday process of helping a child learn self-discipline. ~ fred-rogers, @wisdomtrove 98:I think of my life as a kind of music, not always good music but still having form and melody. ~ john-steinbeck, @wisdomtrove 99:Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with that there is ~ ernest-hemingway, @wisdomtrove 100:I don't think of myself as a character actress - that's become a phrase which means you've had it. ~ bette-davis, @wisdomtrove 101:Live so that when your children think of fairness, caring, and integrity, they think of you. ~ h-jackson-brown-jr, @wisdomtrove 102:Think not of the sinner or the greatness of his sin, but think of the greatness of the Savior! ~ charles-spurgeon, @wisdomtrove 103:I think of a hero as someone who understands the degree of responsibility that comes with his freedom. ~ bob-dylan, @wisdomtrove 104:If you think of spiritual practice as unpleasant work - it is not spiritual practice as I know it. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 105:My notion's to think of the human beings first and let the abstract ideas take care of themselves. ~ virginia-woolf, @wisdomtrove 106:The tonal is also endless and limitless. We like to think of it as being finite so we feel better. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 107:We manage to swallow flesh, only because we do not think of the cruel and sinful thing we do. ~ rabindranath-tagore, @wisdomtrove 108:Later he had seen the things that he could never think of and later still he had seen much worse. ~ ernest-hemingway, @wisdomtrove 109:Think of yourself as a role model for others-showing that you can be kind, generous, loving, and rich! ~ t-harv-eker, @wisdomtrove 110:We should not think of conversion as the acceptance of a particular creed, but as a change of heart. ~ hellen-keller, @wisdomtrove 111:Whatever people think of you is really about the image they have of you, and that image isn't you. ~ don-miguel-ruiz, @wisdomtrove 112:Don't be too concerned about what others think of you. It's what you think about yourself that matters! ~ joyce-meyer, @wisdomtrove 113:I don't think of my life as a career. I do stuff. I respond to stuff. That's not a career - it's a life! ~ steve-jobs, @wisdomtrove 114:Think of a star. A star burns its very substance to give light to others. You need to be like a star. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 115:When a man says he does not want to speak of something he usually means he can think of nothing else. ~ john-steinbeck, @wisdomtrove 116:Can you think of anything more permanently elating than to know that you are on the right road at last? ~ vernon-howard, @wisdomtrove 117:I can never think of promoting my convenience at the expense of a friend's interest and inclination. ~ george-washington, @wisdomtrove 118:I do not believe a man can ever leave his business. He ought to think of it by day and dream of it by night. ~ henry-ford, @wisdomtrove 119:It is mere rubbish thinking, at present, of origin of life; one might as well think of origin of matter. ~ charles-darwin, @wisdomtrove 120:Do not think of yourself as the body, but as the joyous consciousness and immortal life behind it. ~ paramahansa-yogananda, @wisdomtrove 121:If you have to set up on the East Coast somewhere, I can't think of anywhere better than Cape Canaveral. ~ richard-branson, @wisdomtrove 122:If, when you wake up in the morning, you can think of nothing but writing . . . then you are a writer. ~ rainer-maria-rilke, @wisdomtrove 123:I never think of myself as an icon. What is in other people's minds is not in my mind. I just do my thing. ~ audrey-hepburn, @wisdomtrove 124:The more we think of others, the happier we are. The more we think of ourselves, the more suffering we feel. ~ dalai-lama, @wisdomtrove 125:Think of spoiled cat food and ulcerated cankers and expired donor organs. That's how beautiful she looks. ~ chuck-palahniuk, @wisdomtrove 126:Great men should think of opportunity and not of time. That is the excuse of feeble and puzzled spirits. ~ benjamin-disraeli, @wisdomtrove 127:I think of compassion as the fundamental religious experience and, unless that is there, you have nothing. ~ joseph-campbell, @wisdomtrove 128:Think of the most amazing thing you could possibly do with your life. Then say out loud, & 129:but isn't there always one good thing to look back on? think of how many cups of coffee we drank together. ~ charles-bukowski, @wisdomtrove 130:Good breeding consists in concealing how much we think of ourselves and how little we think of the other person. ~ mark-twain, @wisdomtrove 131:The mind that is full of God is empty of anxiety. Are you troubled, restless, sleepless? Then think of God more! ~ max-lucado, @wisdomtrove 132:The more grace we have, the less we shall think of ourselves, for grace, like light, reveals our impurity. ~ charles-spurgeon, @wisdomtrove 133:An anniversary says, "Think of the dreams you have weathered together. They are intimate accomplishments." ~ charles-r-swindoll, @wisdomtrove 134:I never think of stories as made things; I think of them as found things. As if you pull them out of the ground. ~ stephen-king, @wisdomtrove 135:I sit beside the fire and think of people long ago, and of people who will see a world that I shall never know. ~ j-r-r-tolkien, @wisdomtrove 136:My father gave me free run of his library. When I think of my boyhood, I think in terms of the books I read. ~ jorge-luis-borges, @wisdomtrove 137:Next to meditation itself, I really can't think of anything more important than the development of your career. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 138:Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent. ~ george-orwell, @wisdomtrove 139:People are in a hurry to magnify themselves by imitating what is popular- and too lazy to think of anything better. ~ thomas-merton, @wisdomtrove 140:Think of me as a fellow patient in the same hospital who, having been admitted a little earlier could give some advice. ~ c-s-lewis, @wisdomtrove 141:Where we might think of sin as slip-ups or missteps, God views sin as a godless attitude that leads to godless action. ~ max-lucado, @wisdomtrove 142:You must think of failure and defeat as the spring boards to new achievements, and to the next level of accomplishment. ~ les-brown, @wisdomtrove 143:Never think of any right effort as being fruitless. All right effort bears fruit, whether we see the results or not. ~ peace-pilgrim, @wisdomtrove 144:I think of rock & 145:When you talk and think of the Absolute, you have to do it in the relative; so all these logical arguments apply. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 146:At times to think of one's outer helplessness is good, but to think always of one's inner strength is infinitely better. ~ sri-chinmoy, @wisdomtrove 147:Fear can be used to get into your attention. Any way a person can get you to think of them, allows them to drain you. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 148:If you think of standardization as the best that you know today, but which is to be improved tomorrow; you get somewhere. ~ henry-ford, @wisdomtrove 149:Humility has tremendous power. Think of Gandhi. That was humility in action. He changed the shape of an entire nation. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 150:If I'm going to merely ramble, maybe I should just snuggle under the warm covers, think of Miu, and play with myself. ~ haruki-murakami, @wisdomtrove 151:When I hear artists or authors making fun of businessmen, I think of a regiment in which the band makes fun of the cooks. ~ h-l-mencken, @wisdomtrove 152:I care not what others think of what I do, but I care very much about what I think of what I do! That is character! ~ theodore-roosevelt, @wisdomtrove 153:If ordinary people complain that I speak too much of myself, I complain that they do not even think of themselves. ~ michel-de-montaigne, @wisdomtrove 154:Dear, don't think of getting out of bed yet. I've always suspected that early rising in early life makes one nervous. ~ f-scott-fitzgerald, @wisdomtrove 155:Speak in French when you can't think of the English for a thing. Turn out your toes as you walk. And remember who you are! ~ lewis-carroll, @wisdomtrove 156:When you see a good person, think of becoming like her/him. When you see someone not so good, reflect on your own weak points. ~ confucius, @wisdomtrove 157:Don't lose faith in humanity; think of all the people in the United States who have never played you a single nasty trick. ~ elbert-hubbard, @wisdomtrove 158:To pace about, looking to obtain status, looking to attain & 159:When I think of what life is, and how seldom love is answered by love; it is one of the moments for which the world was made. ~ e-m-forster, @wisdomtrove 160:Ask nothing; want nothing in return. Give what you have to give; it will come back to you, but do not think of that now. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 161:In any situation you can think of, impatience is a source of weakness and fear, while patience represents substance and strength. ~ jim-rohn, @wisdomtrove 162:I think of rivers, of tides. Forests and water gushing out. Rain and lightning. Rocks and shadows. All of these are in me. ~ haruki-murakami, @wisdomtrove 163:Nothing in progression can rest on its original plan. We may as well think of rocking a grown man in the cradle of an infant. ~ edmund-burke, @wisdomtrove 164:It is almost impossible to think of something no one has thought of before, but it is always possible to add different frills. ~ isaac-asimov, @wisdomtrove 165:When you think of yourself as a women, do you mean that you are a women, or that your body is described as female? ~ sri-nisargadatta-maharaj, @wisdomtrove 166:Think of your life as a field. The field is the field of action. What a mystic does is set up their life as a field of power. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 167:Why does Samuel Butler say, & 168:Men often take their imagination for their heart; and they believe they are converted as soon as they think of being converted. ~ blaise-pascal, @wisdomtrove 169:A man who tells secrets or stories must think of who is hearing or reading, for a story has as many versions as it has readers. ~ john-steinbeck, @wisdomtrove 170:America is a nation that conceives many odd inventions for getting somewhere but it can think of nothing to do once it gets there. ~ will-rogers, @wisdomtrove 171:Customers shouldn't just think of your business as a place to buy a product or use a service - it should be a fun place to be. ~ richard-branson, @wisdomtrove 172:Man can think of divine things only in his own human way, to us the Absolute can be expressed only in our relative language. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 173:When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love. ~ marcus-aurelius, @wisdomtrove 174:I think of death only with tranquility, as an end. I refuse to let death hamper life. Death must enter life only to define it. ~ jean-paul-sartre, @wisdomtrove 175:I think of myself as more the non-turn-on type. so when I do get turned on, I don’t trust it, I have to investigate the source. ~ haruki-murakami, @wisdomtrove 176:The prospect of music being detachable from time and place meant that one could start to think of music as a part of one's furniture. ~ brian-eno, @wisdomtrove 177:Think of yourself as on the threshold of unparalleled success. A whole, clear, glorious life lies before you. Achieve! Achieve! ~ andrew-carnegie, @wisdomtrove 178:It is therefore senseless to think of complaining since nothing foreign has decided what we feel, what we live, or what we are. ~ jean-paul-sartre, @wisdomtrove 179:He did not think of himself as a writer for the simple reason that the world had never allowed him to think of himself in this way. ~ kurt-vonnegut, @wisdomtrove 180:I think there is no culture in which music is not very important and central. That's why I think of us as a sort of musical species. ~ oliver-sacks, @wisdomtrove 181:As a monk you have a responsibility to meditate many hours a day. Not just to sit there but to think of the ten thousand radiances. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 182:As you think of yourself living in abundance, you are powerfully and consciously determining your life through the law of attraction. ~ rhonda-byrne, @wisdomtrove 183:If you meditate on your ideal, you will acquire its nature. If you think of God day and night, you will acquire the nature of God. ~ sri-ramakrishna, @wisdomtrove 184:Studies show that suppressing your thoughts makes them stronger and more frequent. Think of it this way: The thoughts you resist persist. ~ tim-freke, @wisdomtrove 185:Suffering is a great favor. Remember that everything soon comes to an end . . . and take courage. Think of how our gain is eternal. ~ teresa-of-avila, @wisdomtrove 186:But think of the glory of the choice! That makes a man a man. A cat has no choice, a bee must make honey. There's no godliness there. ~ john-steinbeck, @wisdomtrove 187:Think of the patience God has had for you and let it resonate to others. If you want a more patient world, let patience be your motto ~ steve-maraboli, @wisdomtrove 188:When I think of ages past That have floated down the stream Of life and love and death, I feel how free it makes us To pass away. ~ rabindranath-tagore, @wisdomtrove 189:Let us think of people as starting life with an experience they forget and ending it with one which they anticipate but cannot understand. ~ e-m-forster, @wisdomtrove 190:Remember that all is One... and what you do to your neighbor, your friend or your foe, is a reflection of what you think of your Creator. ~ edgar-cayce, @wisdomtrove 191:Exert your talents, and distinguish yourself, and don't think of retiring from the world, until the world will be sorry that you retire. ~ samuel-johnson, @wisdomtrove 192:But I don't think of the future, or the past, I feast on the moment. This is the secret of happiness, but only reached now in middle age. ~ virginia-woolf, @wisdomtrove 193:If you picture Time as a straight line along which we have to travel, then you must think of God as the whole page on which the line is drawn. ~ c-s-lewis, @wisdomtrove 194:Anyone who knows the marketing world knows that ideas come and go, and people latch onto things and think of them as a kind of solution. ~ malcolm-gladwell, @wisdomtrove 195:See your later years as becoming your treasure years. Sit quietly and think of all the times you were joyful, and let your body feel this joy. ~ louise-hay, @wisdomtrove 196:The heart can think of no devotion Greater than being shore to the ocean- Holding the curve of one position, Counting an endless repetition. ~ robert-frost, @wisdomtrove 197:Well I thought my razor was dull until I heard his speech, and that reminds me of a story that's so dirty I'm ashamed to think of it myself. ~ groucho-marx, @wisdomtrove 198:I don't want the 35-year-olds in my audience to think of me as as & 199:There is only one class in the community that thinks more about money than the rich, and that is the poor. The poor can think of nothing else. ~ oscar-wilde, @wisdomtrove 200:Be Grateful to the Man you help, think of Him as God. Is it not a great privilege to be allowed to worship God by helping our fellow men? ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 201:This world, after all our science and sciences, is still a miracle; wonderful, inscrutable, magical and more, to whosoever will think of it. ~ thomas-carlyle, @wisdomtrove 202:I prefer to think of the creation or construction of happiness, because research shows that it's in our power to fashion it for ourselves. ~ sonja-lyubomirsky, @wisdomtrove 203:The only time I really become discouraged is when I think of all the things I would like to do and the little time I have in which to do them. ~ thomas-edison, @wisdomtrove 204:When we see men of worth, we should think of equaling them; when we see men of a contrary character, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves. ~ confucius, @wisdomtrove 205:I'm tired, can't think of anything and want only to lay my face in your lap, feel your hand on my head and remain like that through all eternity. ~ franz-kafka, @wisdomtrove 206:Many people think of perfectionism as striving to be your best, but it is not about self-improvement; it's about earning approval and acceptance. ~ brene-brown, @wisdomtrove 207:Since women are better at producing babies, presumably Nature has given men some talent to compensate. But for the moment I can't think of it. ~ arthur-c-carke, @wisdomtrove 208:For the moment I can think of nothing‚Äî except that I am a sentient being stabbed by the miracle of these waters that reflect a forgotten world. ~ henry-miller, @wisdomtrove 209:Last time I tried to make love to my wife nothing happened, so I said to her, & 210:Always think of yourself as everyone's servant; look for Christ Our Lord in everyone and you will then have respect and reverence for them all. ~ teresa-of-avila, @wisdomtrove 211:Enjoy your body, use it every way you can. Don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own. ~ kurt-vonnegut, @wisdomtrove 212:People still think of me as a cartoonist, but the only thing I lift a pen or pencil for these days is to sign a contract, a check, or an autograph. ~ walt-disney, @wisdomtrove 213:What do you think of that? It’s stopped raining." I’m glad Jay." Her throat, full of aching, grieving beauty, told only of her unexpected joy. ~ f-scott-fitzgerald, @wisdomtrove 214:In the midst of a world of light and love, of song and feast and dance, [Lucifer] could find nothing to think of more interesting than his own prestige. ~ c-s-lewis, @wisdomtrove 215:Is there nothing to sing about to-day? Then borrow a song from tomorrow; sing of what is yet to be. Is this world dreary? Then think of the next. ~ charles-spurgeon, @wisdomtrove 216:When we would think of God, how many things we find which turn us away from Him, and tempt us to think otherwise. All this is evil, yet it is innate. ~ blaise-pascal, @wisdomtrove 217:As men are not able to fight against death, misery, ignorance, they have taken it into their heads, in order to be happy, not to think of them at all. ~ blaise-pascal, @wisdomtrove 218:It's just what people do when they're getting old, when they're sick of themselves and their life; they think of money and take care of themselves. ~ jean-paul-sartre, @wisdomtrove 219:When we see persons of worth, we should think of equaling them; when we see persons of a contrary character, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves. ~ confucius, @wisdomtrove 220:When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive—to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love—then make that day count! ~ steve-maraboli, @wisdomtrove 221:With a philosophy education, one can infuriate his peers, intimidate his date, think of obscure, unreliable ways to make money, and never regret a thing. ~ criss-jami, @wisdomtrove 222:When we think of his lone effort to live and its bleak reward, the mind turns to the myth "for His mercy endureth forever," with confiding revulsion. ~ emily-dickinson, @wisdomtrove 223:Don't think of us as separate beings. Imagine that we are one body and it's been split into millions. When we sit in the mediation hall - that is unity ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 224:Even when we are quite alone, how often do we think with pleasure or pain of what others think of us - of their imagined approbation or disapprobation. ~ charles-darwin, @wisdomtrove 225:Dayodhuam: I have heard the key Turn in the door once and turn once only We think of the key, each in his prison Thinking of the key, each confirms a prison. ~ t-s-eliot, @wisdomtrove 226:For simplicity one can think of the + class as having one extra base at some point or other in the genetic message and the - class as having one too few. ~ francis-crick, @wisdomtrove 227:When you're truly awesome, you know that it's actually a burden and wish day after day to be relieved of such a curse. Think of about 95% of the superheroes. ~ criss-jami, @wisdomtrove 228:I am never indifferent, and never pretend to be, to what people say or think of my books. They are my children, and I like to have them liked. ~ henry-wadsworth-longfellow, @wisdomtrove 229:Think of working forever at something you love to do, for one you love with all your heart, and never getting tired! We will never know weariness in heaven. ~ billy-graham, @wisdomtrove 230:Toohey: "Mr. Roark, we're alone here. Why don't you tell me what you think of me? In any words you wish. No one will hear us." Roark: "But I don't think of you. ~ ayn-rand, @wisdomtrove 231:People think of these eureka moments and my feeling is that they tend to be little things, a little realisation and then a little realisation built on that. ~ roger-penrose, @wisdomtrove 232:Some people probably think of the Resurrection as a desperate last moment expedient to save the Hero from a situation which had got out of the Author's control. ~ c-s-lewis, @wisdomtrove 233:As you get older, you have more and more layers of experience to forgive, more layers of heartbreak, more layers of what you might think of as failure. ~ marianne-williamson, @wisdomtrove 234:What causes us to think of prayer as the last option rather than the first? I can think of two reasons: feelings of independence and feelings of insignificance. ~ max-lucado, @wisdomtrove 235:Do not think of yourself as a small, compressed, suffering thing. Think of yourself as graceful and expanding, no matter how unlikely it may seem at the time. ~ b-k-s-iyengar, @wisdomtrove 236:People don't get better, they just get smarter. When you get smarter you don't stop pulling the wings off flies, you just think of better reasons for doing it. ~ stephen-king, @wisdomtrove 237:I do not think of myself as unusually creative. I think we all come from the creator, each human being streaming with the glory. So, each one of us is creative. ~ maya-angelou, @wisdomtrove 238:There are some who speak well and write badly. For the place and the audience warm them, and draw from their minds more than they think of without that warmth. ~ blaise-pascal, @wisdomtrove 239:Think of the fierce energy concentrated in an acorn! You bury it in the ground, and it explodes into an oak! Bury a sheep, and nothing happens but decay. ~ george-bernard-shaw, @wisdomtrove 240:We become forgetful of the ego when we think of the body as dedicated to the service of others - the body with which most complacently we identify the ego. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 241:When you are doing any work, do not think of anything beyond. Do it as worship, as the highest worship, and devote your whole life to it for the time being. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 242:At some stage, we're going to need an East Coast base. If you have to set up on the East Coast somewhere, I can't think of anywhere better than Cape Canaveral. ~ richard-branson, @wisdomtrove 243:Each had his own business to think of. Each had his past shut in him like the leaves of a book known to him by heart; and his friends could only read the title. ~ virginia-woolf, @wisdomtrove 244:She forced herself once more to think of nothing, to keep her consciousness immersed, as a little dog that one keeps under water until he has stopped struggling ~ william-faulkner, @wisdomtrove 245:It is quite easy for me to think of a God of love mainly because I grew up in a family where love was central and where lovely relationships were ever present. ~ martin-luther-king, @wisdomtrove 246:Think of the shadow in a more approachable way as simply the ‘unloved self’. The shadow is that part of ourselves that we regard as unlovable, so we seek to repress it. ~ tim-freke, @wisdomtrove 247:Whenever I think of something but can't think of what it was I was thinking of, I can't stop thinking until I think I'm thinking of it again. I think I think too much. ~ criss-jami, @wisdomtrove 248:& 249:How then did it work out, all this? How did one judge people, think of them? How did one add up this and that and conclude that it is liking one felt, or disliking? ~ virginia-woolf, @wisdomtrove 250:So, I sit at the hotel at night and I think of something that's funny. Or, If the pen is too far away, I have to convince myself that what I thought of wasn't funny. ~ mitch-hedberg, @wisdomtrove 251:Think of your work life therefore, not as separate from your spiritual life but as central to your spiritual life. Whatever your business, it is your ministry. ~ marianne-williamson, @wisdomtrove 252:Sometimes I think of myself as a little bee. I go from one area of the studio to another and gather pollen and sort of stimulate everybody. I guess that's the job I do. ~ walt-disney, @wisdomtrove 253:I could not think of being unkind, even to a mortal enemy. It would hurt me. I see so much unkindness in the world, and there is no excuse for me to add to it. ~ paramahansa-yogananda, @wisdomtrove 254:I don't think of myself as a guru but as a teacher. If one means & 255:Give all your attention to the question: ‘What is it that makes me conscious?’, until your mind becomes the question itself and cannot think of anything else. ~ sri-nisargadatta-maharaj, @wisdomtrove 256:I have now come to the conclusion never again to think of marrying, and for this reason; I can never be satisfied with anyone who would be blockhead enough to have me. ~ abraham-lincoln, @wisdomtrove 257:The ten thousand states of mind that we talk about in Zen are all levels of perception. You can think of each of the ten thousand states of mind as a dimensional plane. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 258:I consider myself kind of a reporter - one who uses words that are more like music and that have a choreography. I never think of myself as a poet; I just get up and write. ~ mary-oliver, @wisdomtrove 259:If you think of this world as a place intended simply for our happiness, you find it quite intolerable: think of it as a place of training and correction and it's not so bad. ~ c-s-lewis, @wisdomtrove 260:Honest to God, Bill, the way things are going, all I can think of is that I'm a character in a book by somebody who wants to write about somebody who suffers all the time. ~ kurt-vonnegut, @wisdomtrove 261:People assume that the meaning of a song is vested in the lyrics. To me, that has never been the case. There are very few songs that I can think of where I remember the words. ~ brian-eno, @wisdomtrove 262:So long as you are still worried about what others think of you, you are owned by them. Only when you require no approval from outside yourself can you own yourself. ~ neale-donald-walsch, @wisdomtrove 263:I think of a child's mind as a blank book. During the first years of his life, much will be written on the pages. The quality of that writing will affect his life profoundly. ~ walt-disney, @wisdomtrove 264:I would rather like to think of God as being a kind of adventurer - even as Wells thought about him - or perhaps as something within us making for some unknown purpose. ~ jorge-luis-borges, @wisdomtrove 265:My sweetheart! When I think of you, it's as if I'm holding some healing balm to my sick soul, and although i suffer for you, i find that even suffering for you is easy. ~ fyodor-dostoevsky, @wisdomtrove 266:Our sacred contract is not a literal document. That's the first thing to understand. We could think of our sacred contract as a spiritual document that our soul recognizes. ~ caroline-myss, @wisdomtrove 267:If you think of thoughts of success and back them up with hard work, then you will be a winner. If you cherish doubts, negative thoughts, then you won't be a winner at all. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 268:Existence was not only absurd, it was plain hard work. Think of how many times you put on your underwear in a lifetime. It was appalling, it was disgusting, it was stupid. ~ charles-bukowski, @wisdomtrove 269:I can think of nothing more boring for the American people than to have to sit in their living rooms for a whole half hour looking at my face on their television screens. ~ dwight-eisenhower, @wisdomtrove 270:Harmony with nature will bring you a happiness known to few city dwellers. In the company of other truth seekers it will be easier for you to meditate and think of God. ~ paramahansa-yogananda, @wisdomtrove 271:Meditation is a sort of prayer and prayer is meditation. The highest meditation is to think of nothing. If you can remain one moment without thought, great power will come. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 272:Let no one think of me that I am humble or weak or passive; let them understand I am of a different kind: dangerous to my enemies, loyal to my friends. To such a life glory belongs. ~ euripedes, @wisdomtrove 273:No sooner had I stepp'd into these pleasures Than I began to think of rhymes and measures: The air that floated by me seem'd to say & 274:The longer I live the more I think of the quality of fortitude... men who fall, pick themselves up and stumble on, fall again, and are trying to get back up when they die. ~ theodore-roosevelt, @wisdomtrove 275:Gordon eyed them with inert hatred. At this moment he hated all books, and novels most of all. Horrible to think of all that soggy, half-baked trash massed together in one place. ~ george-orwell, @wisdomtrove 276:What we think of as Halloween is really the product of media barons, city mayors, and candy-makers. You know, before the 1920s, Halloween was really a terrible, terrible night. ~ chuck-palahniuk, @wisdomtrove 277:Our sacred contract is not a literal document. That's the first thing to understand. We could think of our sacred contract as a spiritual document that our soul recognizes. ~ norman-vincent-peale, @wisdomtrove 278:The body is only a tool of the mind. What the mind dictates the body will have to obey. Now I do not even think of water. I do not miss it at all... . I see I can do anything. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 279:The more you think of yourself as shining immortal spirit, the more eager you will be to be absolutely free of matter, body, and senses. This is the intense desire to be free. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 280:There is only one way under high heaven to get anybody to do anything. Did you ever stop to think of that? Yes, just one way. And that is by making the other person want to do it. ~ dale-carnegie, @wisdomtrove 281:I don't think of myself as a poor deprived ghetto girl who made good. I think of myself as somebody who from an early age knew I was responsible for myself, and I had to make good. ~ oprah-winfrey, @wisdomtrove 282:Me can't be prejudice. Me can't me no think of life that way. Because, me figure if you prejudice, that mean you have a hate. If you have a hate inside of you, you can't be righteous. ~ bob-marley, @wisdomtrove 283:We rarely think of the air we breathe, yet it is in us and around us all the time. In similar fashion, the presence of God penetrates us, is all around us, is always embracing us. ~ thomas-keating, @wisdomtrove 284:Consider the fellow. He never spends his time telling you about his previous night's date. You get the idea he has eyes only for you and wouldn't think of looking at another woman. ~ marilyn-monroe, @wisdomtrove 285:He who least likes courting favour, ought also least to think of resenting neglect; to feel wounded at being refused a distinction can only arise from an overweening appetite to have it. ~ plutarch, @wisdomtrove 286:It is a grand mistake to think of being great without goodness and I pronounce it as certain that there was never a truly great man that was not at the same time truly virtuous. ~ benjamin-franklin, @wisdomtrove 287:... to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life-daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. ~ viktor-frankl, @wisdomtrove 288:When one comes to think of it, there are no such things as divine, immutable, or inalienable rights. Rights are things we get when we are strong enough to make good our claim on them. ~ hellen-keller, @wisdomtrove 289:& 290:For now she need not think of anybody. She could be herself, by herself. And that was what now she often felt the need of - to think; well not even to think. To be silent; to be alone. ~ virginia-woolf, @wisdomtrove 291:I think of love, and you, and my heart grows full and warm, and my breath stands still... I can feel a sunshine stealing into my soul and making it all summer, and every thorn, a rose. ~ emily-dickinson, @wisdomtrove 292:Everybody has their own idea of what's a poet. Robert Frost, President Johnson, T.S.Eliot, Rudolf Valentino - they're all poets. I like to think of myself as the one who carries the light bulb. ~ bob-dylan, @wisdomtrove 293:You'll be bothered from time to time by storms, fog, snow. When you are, think of those who went through it before you, and say to yourself, & 294:I read in a periodical the other day that the fundamental thing is how we think of God. By God Himself, it is not! How God thinks of us is not only more important, but infinitely more important. ~ c-s-lewis, @wisdomtrove 295:I tell ya, sex is getting harder all the time. Me and my wife were trying to have sex for hours last night and I finally gave up. I asked her, "what, you can't think of anybody either?" ~ rodney-dangerfield, @wisdomtrove 296:.. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that in glory and in triumph they could become the & 297:About weak points [of the Origin] I agree. The eye to this day gives me a cold shudder, but when I think of the fine known gradations, my reason tells me I ought to conquer the cold shudder. ~ charles-darwin, @wisdomtrove 298:I think of mythology as the homeland of the muses, the inspirers of art, the inspirers of poetry. To see life as a poem and yourself participating in a poem is what the myth does for you. ~ joseph-campbell, @wisdomtrove 299:It's a full moon here tonight, which makes me think of you. Because, I know that no matter what I am doing or where I am, this moon will always be the same size as yours, half a world away. ~ nicholas-sparks, @wisdomtrove 300:My writing is very organic. It's what I am. My mother says I was writing before I was crawling. I wrote in the dirt with a twig. So I think of it as something that's very essential to my being. ~ alice-walker, @wisdomtrove 301:All of us have special ones who have loved us into being. Would you just take, along with me, ten seconds to think of the people who have helped you become who you are... .Ten seconds of silence. ~ fred-rogers, @wisdomtrove 302:It is impossible to think of a man of any actual force and originality, universally recognized as having those qualities, who spent his whole life appraising and describing the work of other men. ~ h-l-mencken, @wisdomtrove 303:If you think of others in a jealous way or if you become angry, immediately pause for a moment. It's going to pull you down and send negative energy. At that moment, pause and correct yourself. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 304:Think of everything you've ever experienced that was painful; that's the meaning of Good Friday. Think of all the ways that love ultimately healed your heart; that's the meaning of Easter. ~ marianne-williamson, @wisdomtrove 305:When I think of mystery, I don't think about myself. I think of the universe, like why does the moon rise when the sun falls? Caterpillars turn into butterflies? I really haven't remained a recluse. ~ bob-dylan, @wisdomtrove 306:My mom was a terrible parent of young children. And thank God - I thank God every time I think of it - I was sent to my paternal grandmother. Ah, but my mother was a great parent of a young adult. ~ maya-angelou, @wisdomtrove 307:Please think of me like an endangered species and just observe me quietly from far away. If you try to talk to me or touch me casually, I may get intimidated and bite you. So please be careful. ~ haruki-murakami, @wisdomtrove 308:Think of your woods and orchards without birds! Of empty nests that cling to boughs and beams As in an idiot's brain remembered words Hang empty & 309:There are in fact 100 billion galaxies, each of which contain something like a 100 billion stars. Think of how many stars, and planets, and kinds of life there may be in this vast and awesome universe. ~ carl-sagan, @wisdomtrove 310:What do we value most? What would we most hate to lose? What do our thoughts turn to most frequently when we are free to think of what we will? And finally, what affords us the greatest pleasure? ~ aiden-wilson-tozer, @wisdomtrove 311:I am, when you stop to think of it, a member of a fairly select group: the final handful of American novelists who learned to read and write before they learned to eat a daily helping of video bullshit. ~ stephen-king, @wisdomtrove 312:Oh, I don’t mean you’re handsome, not the way people think of handsome. Your face seems kind. But your eyes - they’re beautiful. They’re wild, crazy, like some animal peering out of a forest on fire. ~ charles-bukowski, @wisdomtrove 313:Chakras really are dimensions. We think of them as objects, but they're not really. They're dimensional access points, whereby we can enter into different levels of mind, and that happens automatically. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 314:Hang that question up in your houses, "What would Jesus do?" and then think of another, "How would Jesus do it?" for what he would do, and how he would do it, may always stand as the best guide to us. ~ charles-spurgeon, @wisdomtrove 315:There is never any pressure, jealousy or competition but only a quiet calmness when they are around. You can be yourself and not worry about what they will think of you because they love you for who you are. ~ bob-marley, @wisdomtrove 316:I learned that we can do anything, but we can't do everything... at least not at the same time. So think of your priorities not in terms of what activities you do, but when you do them. Timing is everything. ~ dan-millman, @wisdomtrove 317:This was my only and my constant comfort. When I think of it, the picture always rises in my mind, of a summer evening, the boys at play in the churchyard, and I sitting on my bed, reading as if for life. ~ charles-dickens, @wisdomtrove 318:We seem to gain wisdom more readily through our failures than through our successes. We always think of failure as the antithesis of success, but it isn't. Success often lies just the other side of failure. ~ leo-buscaglia, @wisdomtrove 319:I am no more annoyed when I think of the expression, than I should be annoyed by a man's opinion of a picture of mine, who had no eye for pictures; or of a piece of music of mine, who had no ear for music. ~ charles-dickens, @wisdomtrove 320:In most instances, the driving force behind the action is the mood, the personality, the attitude of the character - or all three. Therefore, the mind is the pilot. We think of things before the body does them. ~ walt-disney, @wisdomtrove 321:To me there is no difference between one person and another; I behold all as soul-reflection s of the one God. I can't think of anyone as a stranger, for I know that we are all part of the One Spirit. ~ paramahansa-yogananda, @wisdomtrove 322:Enter any moment devoid of agenda, with an absence of posturing, and with your only intention being to send love to everyone you meet or even think of... Happiness, miracles and inner peace will follow. ~ marianne-williamson, @wisdomtrove 323:He sniggered. He didn't like to think of himself as the sort of person who giggled or sniggered, but he had to admit that he had been giggling and sniggering almost continuously for well over half an hour now. ~ douglas-adams, @wisdomtrove 324:I've never been very fully employed either but just think of what it's like, you know, to go home with a mortgage payment you know and kids and everything else. My dad had that happen to him in the early '30s. ~ warren-buffet, @wisdomtrove 325:I have no right, by anything I do or say, to demean a human being in his own eyes. What matters is not what I think of him; it is what he thinks of himself. To undermine a man's self-respect is a sin. ~ antoine-de-saint-exupery, @wisdomtrove 326:I came to the idea of how fine it would be to think of an encyclopedia of an actual world, and then of an encyclopedia, a very rigorous one of course, of an imaginary world, where everything should be linked. ~ jorge-luis-borges, @wisdomtrove 327:I can't think of any poet-recluses outside of one dead Jeffers. [Robinson Jeffers] The rest of them want to slobber over each other and hug each other. It appears to me that I am the last of the poet-recluses. ~ charles-bukowski, @wisdomtrove 328:The day that a woman who is passing before you sheds a light upon you as she goes, you are lost, you love. You have then but one thing to do: to think of her so earnestly that she will be compelled to think of you. ~ victor-hugo, @wisdomtrove 329:We sometimes think of being good at mathematics as an innate ability. You either have it or you don't. But to Schoenfeld, it's not so much ability as attitude. You master mathematics if you are willing to try. ~ malcolm-gladwell, @wisdomtrove 330:Then he [The Star Child] waited, marshaling his thoughts and brooding over his still untested powers. For though he was master of the world, he was not quite sure what to do next. But he would think of something. ~ arthur-c-carke, @wisdomtrove 331:Give up all desire for enjoyment in earth or heaven. Control the organs of the senses and control the mind. Bear every misery without even knowing that you are miserable. Think of nothing but spiritual freedom. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 332:In fact, now I come to think of it, do we decide questions, at all? We decide answers, no doubt: but surely the questions decide us? It is the dog, you know, that wags the tail& 333:We the living, should not think of the dead as lonely because if they could speak to us, they would say: "Do not weep for me, earth was not my true country, I was an alien there: I am at Home where everyone comes." ~ hellen-keller, @wisdomtrove 334:When I think of talking, it is of course with a woman. For talking at its best being an inspiration, it wants a corresponding divine quality of receptiveness, and where will you find this but in a woman? ~ oliver-wendell-holmes-sr, @wisdomtrove 335:Think not forever of yourselves, O Chiefs, nor of your own generation. Think of continuing generations of our families, think of our grandchildren and of those yet unborn, whose faces are coming from beneath the ground. ~ t-s-eliot, @wisdomtrove 336:What we think of as physical reality is an intermingling of appropriate realities, a fluid massive consciousness in which each of us exists independently of each other and yet coexists interdependently with each other. ~ gary-zukav, @wisdomtrove 337:The way to happiness: Keep your heart free from hate, your mind from worry. Live simply, expect little, give much. Scatter sunshine, forget self, think of others. Try this for a week and you will be surprised. ~ norman-vincent-peale, @wisdomtrove 338:We see a hearse; we think sorrow. We see a grave; we think despair. We hear of a death; we think of a loss. Not so in heaven. When heaven sees a breathless body, it sees the vacated cocoon & the liberated butterfly. ~ max-lucado, @wisdomtrove 339:Healing is a coming to terms with things as they are, rather than struggling to force them to be as they once were, or as we would like them to be, to feel secure or to have what we sometimes think of as our own way. ~ jon-kabat-zinn, @wisdomtrove 340:Who will bring light to the poor? Who will travel from door to door bringing education to them? Let these people be your God-think of them, work for them, pray for them incessantly. The Lord will show you the way. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 341:There’s a concept in Taoism, wei wu wei', which is often translated as action without action' or effortless doing'. I prefer to think of it more in the sense of action that does not involve struggle or excessive effort'. ~ leo-babauta, @wisdomtrove 342:When you are a Bear of Very Little Brain, and you Think of Things, you find sometimes that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it. ~ a-a-milne, @wisdomtrove 343:Being nothing, I am all. Everything is me, everything is mine. Just as my body moves by my mere thinking of the movement, so do things happen as I think of them. Mind you, I do nothing. I just see them happen. ~ sri-nisargadatta-maharaj, @wisdomtrove 344:I'm no wizard, and I don't like being thought of in that light at all. I think of a wizard as being some sort of magician or something, doing something on the sly or something, and I don't want to be thought of in that way. ~ john-wooden, @wisdomtrove 345:There are people who will think of you in negative ways. You will feel it sometimes. It can actually be physically painful if they're somewhat powerful. You simply have to remove yourself inwardly from these individuals. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 346:Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves; vanity, to what we would have others think of us. ~ jane-austen, @wisdomtrove 347:He was a man who was charged with the work he did in life because he was not one to ask questions ‚ not so much on account of any natural quality of discretion as because he simply could never think of any questions to ask. ~ douglas-adams, @wisdomtrove 348:How does personality, come into being? By memory. By identifying the present with the past and projecting it into the future. Think of yourself as momentary, without past and future and your personality dissolves. ~ sri-nisargadatta-maharaj, @wisdomtrove 349:No parent is perfect; we all can look back and think of things we could've done to help our children be better prepared for adulthood. And sometimes it's best to admit it to them and encourage them to learn from our mistakes. ~ billy-graham, @wisdomtrove 350:You know what I want to think of myself? As a human being. Because, I mean I don't want to be like As Confucius say, but under the sky, under the heavens there is but one family. It just so happens man that people are different. ~ bruce-lee, @wisdomtrove 351:I never promise a woman anything nor let her know what I'm going to give her. That's the only way to manage them. Always keep them guessing. If you cant think of any other way to surprise them, give them a bust in the jaw. ~ william-faulkner, @wisdomtrove 352:When you understand that you will die to-morrow, if not to-day, and nothing will be left, then everything is so unimportant!... So one goes on living, amusing oneself with hunting, with work - anything so as not think of death ~ leo-tolstoy, @wisdomtrove 353:& 354:People don't think of their office as a workplace anymore. They think of it as a stationary store with Danish. You want to get your pastry, your envelopes, your supplies, your toilet paper, six cups of coffee, and you go home. ~ jerry-seinfeld, @wisdomtrove 355:I decided very early that I wanted to write. But I didn't think of it as a career. I didn't even think of it as a profession... It was the most exciting thing, the most powerful thing, the most wonderful thing to do with my life. ~ mary-oliver, @wisdomtrove 356:Immortality is freedom from the feeling: & 357:Someone asked me what home was and all I could think of were the stars on the tip of your tongue, the flowers sprouting from your mouth, the roots entwined in the gaps between your fingers, the ocean echoing inside of your ribcage. ~ e-e-cummings, @wisdomtrove 358:I sit beside the fire and think of all that I have seen, of meadow-flowers and butterflies in summers that have been; Of yellow leaves and gossamer in autumns that there were, with morning mist and silver sun and wind upon my hair. ~ j-r-r-tolkien, @wisdomtrove 359:Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength of the nation. ~ john-f-kennedy, @wisdomtrove 360:Doesn't one always think of the past, in a garden with men and women lying under the trees? Aren't they one's past, all that remains of it, those men and women, those ghosts lying under the trees ... one's happiness, one's reality? ~ virginia-woolf, @wisdomtrove 361:Women are so useless and unimaginative, aren't they? All they ever think of planting in the dirt is the seed of something beautiful or edible. The only missile they can ever think of throwing at anybody is a ball or a bridal bouquet. ~ kurt-vonnegut, @wisdomtrove 362:For the [innate] general principles enter into our thoughts, of which they form the soul and the connection. They are as necessary thereto as the muscles and sinews are for walking, although we do not at all think of them. ~ gottfried-wilhelm-leibniz, @wisdomtrove 363:These words dropped into my childish mind as if you should accidentally drop a ring into a deep well. I did not think of them much at the time, but there came a day in my life when the ring was fished up out of the well, good as new. ~ john-steinbeck, @wisdomtrove 364:Think of a country where people were admired for running away in battle, or where a man felt proud of double-crossing all the people who had been kindest to him. You might just as well try to imagine a country where two and two made five. ~ c-s-lewis, @wisdomtrove 365:It used to be I thought of death as a man something like Grandfather a friend of his a kind of private and particular friend like we used to think of Grandfather's desk not to touch it not even to talk loud in the room where it was. ~ william-faulkner, @wisdomtrove 366:I write jokes for a living, man. See I sit in my hotel at night, I think of something that's funny and then I go get a pen and I write it down. Or if the pen's too far away, I have to convince myself that what I thought of ain't funny. ~ mitch-hedberg, @wisdomtrove 367:Amid the discords of this life, it is blessed to think of heaven, where God draws after him an everlasting train of music; for all thoughts are harmonious and all feelings vocal, and so there is round about his feet eternal melody. ~ henry-ward-beecher, @wisdomtrove 368:Q: When I look into myself, I find my strongest desire is to create a monument, to build something which will outlast me. Even when I think of a home, wife and child, it is because it is a lasting, solid, testimony to myself. ~ sri-nisargadatta-maharaj, @wisdomtrove 369:That's the kind of death that frightens me. The shadow of death slowly, slowly eats away at the region of life, and before you know it everything's dark and you can't see, and the people around you think of you as more dead than alive. ~ haruki-murakami, @wisdomtrove 370:I must be wanting to be President. Every young man does. But I won't let myself think of it; I must not, because if I do, I will begin to work for it; I'll be careful, calculating, cautious in word and act, and so - I'll beat myself. ~ theodore-roosevelt, @wisdomtrove 371:It's very important to write things down instantly, or you can lose the way you were thinking out a line. I have a rule that if I wake up at 3 in the morning and think of something, I write it down. I can't wait until morning-it'll be gone. ~ mary-oliver, @wisdomtrove 372:When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it& 373:When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it& 374:Just as an unborn child cannot know life after birth, for it has nothing in its mind with which to form a valid picture, so is the mind unable to think of the real in terms of the unreal, except by negation: ‘Not this, not that’. ~ sri-nisargadatta-maharaj, @wisdomtrove 375:Man prefers to blame himself for all possible sins and crimes rather than come to the conclusion that God is capable of the most flagrant injustice. I still blush every time I think of the way God makes fun of human beings, his favorite toys. ~ elie-wiesel, @wisdomtrove 376:I find it very difficult to think of mistakes; not that I don't make any but because I was brought up to look only at the good things in life ... As for what lost the most money, probably Virgin Cola. It is still No 1 in Bangladesh though. ~ richard-branson, @wisdomtrove 377:Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 378:When it seems that our sorrow is too great to be borne, let us think of the great family of the heavy-hearted into which our grief has given us entrance. And inevitably, we will feel about us their arms, their sympathy and their understanding. ~ hellen-keller, @wisdomtrove 379:Anyone who falls in love is searching for the missing pieces of themselves. So anyone who's in love gets sad when they think of their lover. It's like stepping back inside a room you have fond memories of, one you haven't seen in a long time. ~ haruki-murakami, @wisdomtrove 380:If you think of yourselves as helpless and ineffectual, it is certain that you will create a despotic government to be your master. The wise despot, therefore, maintains among his subjects a popular sense that they are helpless and ineffectual. ~ frank-herbert, @wisdomtrove 381:George Orwell is half journalist, half fiction writer. I'm 100 percent fiction writer... I don't want to write messages. I want to write good stories. I think of myself as a political person, but I don't state my political messages to anybody. ~ haruki-murakami, @wisdomtrove 382:I kept this to remind me of you trying to brush away the Villa Rossa from your teeth in the morning, swearing and eating aspirin and cursing harlots. Every time I see that glass I think of you trying to clean your conscience with a toothbrush. ~ ernest-hemingway, @wisdomtrove 383:Mr Edison gave America just what was needed at that moment in history. They say that when people think of me, they think of my assembly line. Mr. Edison, you built an assembly line which brought together the genius of invention, science and industry. ~ henry-ford, @wisdomtrove 384:One can often hear from the young people:" I do not want to live according to others` mind. I can think of it myself. " Why should one think of something, when it is already thought about. Take it and go farther, this is the strength of the mankind. ~ leo-tolstoy, @wisdomtrove 385:We're here to make a dent in the universe. Otherwise, why even be here? We're creating a completely new consciousness, like an artist or a poet. That’s how you have to think of this. We're rewriting the history of human thought with what we're doing. ~ steve-jobs, @wisdomtrove 386:I believe that when you think of the negative, and you get up discouraged - & 387:The words "Think and Thank" are inscribed in many of the Cromwellian churches of England. These words ought to be inscribed in our hearts, too: "Think and Thank". Think of all we have to be grateful for, and thank God for all our boons and bounties. ~ dale-carnegie, @wisdomtrove 388:Life is fleeting. And if you're ever distressed, cast your eyes to the summer sky when when the stars are strung across the velvety night. And when a shooting star streaks through the blackness, turning night into day... make a wish and think of me. ~ robin-williams, @wisdomtrove 389:Many people have thought of me as a thinker, as a philosopher, or even as a mystic. Well the truth is that though I have found reality perplexing enough - in fact, I find it gets more perplexing all the time - I never think of myself as a thinker. ~ jorge-luis-borges, @wisdomtrove 390:Have you ever wondered... how religious movements get started? Usually, we think of them as a product of highly charismatic evangelists... but the spread of any new and contagious ideology also has a lot to do with the skillful use of group power. ~ malcolm-gladwell, @wisdomtrove 391:I don't know if I call myself a poet or not. I would like to, but I'm not really qualified to make that decision, because I come in on such a back door, that I don't know what a Robert Frost or a [John] Keats or a T.S. Eliot would really think of my stuff. ~ bob-dylan, @wisdomtrove 392:If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. ~ c-s-lewis, @wisdomtrove 393:Don't think of retiring from the world until the world will be sorry that you retire. I hate a fellow whom pride or cowardice or laziness drive into a corner, and who does nothing when he is there but sit and growl. Let him come out as I do, and bark. ~ samuel-johnson, @wisdomtrove 394:For love of domination we must substitute equality; for love of victory we must substitute justice; for brutality we must substitute intelligence; for competition we must substitute cooperation. We must learn to think of the human race as one family. ~ bertrand-russell, @wisdomtrove 395:& 396:Love is to fear as light is to dark; in the presence of one, the other cannot exist. So wherever there is a place of fear in your life, think of one thing - even if it's just a thought you can think-where you can generate love to cast out the fear. ~ marianne-williamson, @wisdomtrove 397:Over there you think of nothing but becoming President of the United States some day. Potentially every man is Presidential timber. Here it's different. Here every man is potentially a zero. If you become something or somebody it is an accident, a miracle. ~ henry-miller, @wisdomtrove 398:You tell yourself that noise is what defines silence. Without noise, silence would not be golden. Noise is the exception. Think of deep outer space, the incredible cold and quiet where your wife and kid wait. Silence, not heaven, would be reward enough. ~ chuck-palahniuk, @wisdomtrove 399:It is strange how little sharpsightedness women possess; they only notice whether they please, then whether they arouse pity, and finally, whether you look for compassion from them. That is all; come to think of it, it may even be enough, generally speaking. ~ franz-kafka, @wisdomtrove 400:I don't feel that I'm explaining the world or teaching people anything. And I'm not trying to be a mirror, showing them what's really going on the world. All I'm trying to do is think of stuff that's funny, just like when I'm kidding around with my friends. ~ steven-wright, @wisdomtrove 401:Don't be afraid to borrow if someone else has said it well. Winston Churchill said, The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it and ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. That's so well said. You could stay up all night and not think of that. ~ jim-rohn, @wisdomtrove 402:If you will think of ourselves as coming out of the earth, rather than having been thrown in here from somewhere else, you see that we are the earth, we are the consciousness of the earth. These are the eyes of the Earth. And this is the voice of the earth. ~ joseph-campbell, @wisdomtrove 403:The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste. They have absolutely no taste. And I don't mean that in a small way, I mean that in a big way, in the sense that they don't think of original ideas, and they don't bring much culture into their products. ~ steve-jobs, @wisdomtrove 404:When you meet anyone, remember it is a holy encounter. As you see him, you will see yourself. As you treat him, you will treat yourself. As you think of him, you will think of yourself. Never forget this, for in him you will find yourself or lose yourself. ~ marianne-williamson, @wisdomtrove 405:It made her think of Laika, the dog. The man-made satellite streaking soundlessly across the blackness of outer space. The dark, lustrous eyes of the dog gazing out the tiny window. In the infinite loneliness of space, what could the dog possibly be looking at? ~ haruki-murakami, @wisdomtrove 406:If I ask you to plunge into the Ganga or to jump from the roof of a house, meaning it all for your good, could you do even that without any hesitations Just think of it even now; otherwise don't rush forward on the spur of the moment to accept me as your Guru. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 407:I am beginning now to see how radically the character of my spiritual journey will change when I no longer think of God as hiding out and making it as difficult as possible for me to find him, but instead as the one who is looking for me while I am doing the hiding. ~ henri-nouwen, @wisdomtrove 408: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 409:I can't even think of the right word, but it's not "help." It's more like a prerequisite. I think connection is why we're here, it's what gives purpose and meaning to our lives, and belonging is in our DNA. And so "tribe" and "belonging" are irreducible needs, like love. ~ brene-brown, @wisdomtrove 410:I did once seriously think of embracing the Christian faith. The gentle figure of Christ, so full of forgiveness that he taught his followers not to retaliate when abused or struck, but to turn the other cheek - I thought it was a beautiful example of the perfect man. ~ mahatma-gandhi, @wisdomtrove 411:I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of your knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long run- in the long run, I say! - success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think of it. ~ viktor-frankl, @wisdomtrove 412:The legendary French aviation pioneer and author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote: I have no right to say or do anything that diminishes a man in his own eyes. What matters is not what I think of him, but what he thinks of himself. Hurting a man in his dignity is a crime. ~ dale-carnegie, @wisdomtrove 413:The way to happiness: keep your heart free from hate, your mind from worry. Live simply, expect little, give much. Fill your life with love. Scatter sunshine. Forget self, think of others. Do as you would be done by. Try this for a week and you will be surprised. ~ norman-vincent-peale, @wisdomtrove 414:Early on in your career, find someone better than yourself to run the business on a day-to-day basis. Remove yourself, maybe even from the building, and from the nitty-gritty. That way, you're going to be able to see the bigger picture and think of new areas to go into. ~ richard-branson, @wisdomtrove 415:But I give you my word, in the entire book there is nothing that cannot be said aloud in mixed company. And there is, also, nothing that makes you a bit the wiser. I wonder& 416:Those that only take a nibble here and a nibble there will never attain anything ... Those who really want to be yogis must give up, once and for all, this nibbling at things. Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 417:I do not need the world. Nor am I in one. The world you think of is in your own mind. I can see it through your eyes and mind, but I am fully aware that it is a projection of memories; it is touched by the real only at the point of awareness, which can be only now. ~ sri-nisargadatta-maharaj, @wisdomtrove 418:In a sense, the story, or poem or verse or whatever it is you're writing, you can kind of think of it as a kind of projectile. Imagine it is a kind of projectile which has been specially shaped to be aerodynamic, and that your target is the soft grey putty of the reader's brain. ~ alan-moore, @wisdomtrove 419:Learn to feel yourself in other bodies, to know that we are all one. Throw all other nonsense to the winds. Spit out your actions, good or bad, and never think of them again. What is done is done. Throw off superstition. Have no weakness even in the face of death. Be free. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 420:Let me get one thing straight; I'm not an authority on sex, I'm more of a fan. I think sex is nice; no family should be without it. Of course, there are other things that are just as important as sex, like uh . . . like uh . . . like . . . uh . . . well, I'll think of it later. ~ george-burns, @wisdomtrove 421:I bet the reason people are afraid of going bald is because it makes them think of the end of life. I mean, when your hair starts to thin, it must feel as if your life is being worn away ... as if you've taken a giant step in the direction of death, the last Big Consumption. ~ haruki-murakami, @wisdomtrove 422:Every little bit, every atom inside the universe, is in a constant state of change and motion, but the universe as a whole is unchangeable, because motion or change is a relative thing; we can only think of something in motion in comparison with something which is not moving. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 423:Any time you are with anyone or think of anyone you must say to yourself: I am dying and this person too is dying, attempting the while to experience the truth of the words you are saying. If every one of you agrees to practice this, bitterness will die out, harmony will arise. ~ anthony-de-mello, @wisdomtrove 424:When we lose one blessing, another is often most unexpectedly given in its place [if we anticipate and look for it, rather than wallow in our & 425:When the body sinks into death, the essence of man is revealed. Man is a knot, a web, a mesh into which relationships are tied. Only those relationships matter. The body is an old crock that nobody will miss. I have never known a man to think of himself when dying. Never. ~ antoine-de-saint-exupery, @wisdomtrove 426:I can't talk about my books. I have written them and tried to forget them. I have written once, and readers have read me many times, no? I try to think of what I wrote, it's very unhealthy to think about the past, the case of elegies is very sad, as much as the case of complaints. ~ jorge-luis-borges, @wisdomtrove 427:It is not humility to underrate yourself. Humility is to think of yourself as God thinks of you. It is to feel that if we have talents God has given them to us. And let it be seen that, like freight in a vessel, they tend to sink us low. The more we have, the lower we ought to lie. ~ charles-spurgeon, @wisdomtrove 428:It isn’t what you have or who you are or where you are or what you’re doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It’s what you think of it. Two people may in the same place doing the same thing, and yet one may be miserable and the other happy. Why? Because of a different mental attitude. ~ dale-carnegie, @wisdomtrove 429:The essential thing in religion is making the heart pure; the Kingdom of Heaven is within us, but only the pure in heart can see the King. While we think of the world, it is only the world for us; but let us come to it with the feeling that the world is God, and we shall have God. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 430:Once it happened, as I lay awake at night, that I suddenly spoke in verses, in verses so beautiful and strange that I did not venture to think of writing them down, and then in the morning they vanished; and yet they lay hidden within me like the hard kernel within an old brittle husk. ~ hermann-hesse, @wisdomtrove 431:This world is nothing. It is at best only a hideous caricature, a shadow of the Real. We must go to the Real. Renunciation will take us to It. Renunciation is the very basis of our true life; every moment of goodness and real life that we enjoy is when we do not think of ourselves. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 432:Fools! You think of "god" as a sentient being. God is the word used to represent a force. This force created nothing, it just helps things along. It does not answer prayers, although it may make you think of a way to solve a problem. It has the power to influence you, but not decide for you. ~ diogenes, @wisdomtrove 433:How idle a boast, after all, is the immortality of a name! Time is ever silently turning over his pages; we are too much engrossed by the story of the present to think of the character and anecdotes that gave interest to the past; and each age is a volume thrown aside and forgotten. ~ washington-irving, @wisdomtrove 434:Think of Divine Abundance as a mighty, refreshing rain. Whatever receptacle you have at hand will receive it. If you hold up a tin cup, you will receive only that quantity. If you hold up a bowl, that will be filled. What kind of receptacle are you holding up to Divine Abundance? ~ paramahansa-yogananda, @wisdomtrove 435:Run down the list of those who felt intense anger at something: the most famous, the most unfortunate, the most hated, the most whatever: Where is all that now? Smoke, dust, legend... or not even a legend. Think of all the examples. And how trivial the things we want so passionately are. ~ marcus-aurelius, @wisdomtrove 436:That we can now think of no mechanism for astrology is relevant but unconvincing. No mechanism was known, for example, for continental drift when it was proposed by Wegener. Nevertheless, we see that Wegener was right, and those who objected on the grounds of unavailable mechanism were wrong. ~ carl-sagan, @wisdomtrove 437:Think of a space in your heart, and in the midst of that space think that a flame is burning. Think of that a flame is burning. Think of that flame as your own soul and inside the flame is another effulgent light, and that is the Soul of your soul, God. Meditate upon that in the heart. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 438:I believe the single most significant decision I can make on a day-to-day basis is my choice of attitude. It is more important than my past, my education, my bankroll, my successes or failures, fame or pain, what other people think of me or say about me, my circumstances, or my position. ~ charles-r-swindoll, @wisdomtrove 439:The mind can go either direction under stress toward positive or toward negative: on or off. Think of it as a spectrum whose extremes are unconsciousness at the negative end and hyperconsciousness at the positive end. The way the mind will lean under stress is strongly influenced by training. ~ frank-herbert, @wisdomtrove 440:The vapour becomes snow, then water, then Ganga; but when it is vapour, there is no Ganga, and when it is water, we think of no vapour in it. The idea of creation or change is inseparably connected with will. So long as we perceive this world in motion, we have to conceive will behind it. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 441:When they saw me walking down the street smoking a cigar, they'd say, & 442:Over at our place, we're sure of just one thing: everybody in the world was once a child. So in planning a new picture, we don't think of grown-ups, and we don't think of children. But just of that fine, clean, unspoiled spot down deep in every one of us, that maybe the world has made us forget. ~ walt-disney, @wisdomtrove 443:Research suggests that what we think of as free will is largely an illusion: much of the time, we are simply operating on automatic pilot, and the way we think and act – and how well we think and act on the spur of the moment – are a lot more susceptible to outside influences than we realize. ~ malcolm-gladwell, @wisdomtrove 444:Usually I think of awareness as existing inside my head. But this simply isn't true. If I asked someone to crack open my skull and take a look, they'd never find awareness. Not even if they looked with a microscope. It's just not there. My head is full of brains, but awareness is nowhere to be found. ~ tim-freke, @wisdomtrove 445:As soon as you think of fishing you think of things that don't belong to the modern world. The very idea of sitting all day under a willow tree beside a quiet pool - and being able to find a quiet pool to sit beside- belongs to a time before the war, before radio, before aeroplanes, before Hitler. ~ george-orwell, @wisdomtrove 446:[Research] suggests that what we think of as free will is largely an illusion: much of the time, we are simply operating on automatic pilot, and the way we think and act – and how well we think and act on the spur of the moment – are a lot more susceptible to outside influences than we realize. ~ malcolm-gladwell, @wisdomtrove 447:Fight with all the strength at your disposal against the idea that you are nameable and describable. You are not. Refuse to think of yourself in terms of this or that. There is no other way out of misery, which you have created for yourself through blind acceptance without investigation. ~ sri-nisargadatta-maharaj, @wisdomtrove 448:One way for attaining Bhakti is by repeating the name of God a number of times. Mantras have effect: the mere repetition of words... . To obtain Bhakti, seek the company of holy men who have Bhakti, and read books like the Gita and the Imitation of Christ; always think of the attributes of God. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 449:When you build a building, you finish a building. You don't finish a garden; you start it, and then it carries on with its life. So my analogy was really to say that we composers or some of us should think of ourselves as people who start processes rather than finish them. And there might be surprises. ~ brian-eno, @wisdomtrove 450:It is difficult to think of anything more important than providing the best education possible for our children. They will develop the next technologies, medical cures, and global industries, while mitigating their unintended effects, or they will fail to do these things and consign us all to oblivion. ~ sam-harris, @wisdomtrove 451:Say, this new home building idea of President Hoover's sounds good. They are working out a lot of beneficial things. The only thing is it took 'em so long to think of any of 'em. We ought to have plans in case of depression, just like we do in case of fire, & 452:When I think of anything properly describable as a beautiful idea, it is always in the form of music. I have written and printed probably 10,000,000 words in English but all the same I shall die an inarticulate man, for my best ideas beset me in a language I know only vaguely and speak only as a child. ~ h-l-mencken, @wisdomtrove 453:People talk sometimes of a bestial cruelty, but that's a great injustice and insult to the beasts; a beast can never be so cruel as a man, so artistically cruel. The tiger only tears and gnaws, that's all he can do. He would never think of nailing people by the ears, even if he were able to do it. ~ fyodor-dostoevsky, @wisdomtrove 454:I've been thinking about you constantly since I left, wondering why the journey I'm on seemed to have led through you. I know my journey's not over yet, and that life is a winding path, but I can only hope it somehow circles back to the place I belong. That's how I think of it now. I belong with you. ~ nicholas-sparks, @wisdomtrove 455:You may not instantly see why I bring the subject up, but that is because my mind works so phenomenally fast, and I am at a rough estimate thirty billion times more intelligent than you. Let me give you an example. Think of a number, any number. Er, five, said the mattress. Wrong, said Marvin. You see? ~ douglas-adams, @wisdomtrove 456:Be of good cheer. Do not think of today's failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. You have set yourselves a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere, and you will find a joy in overcoming obstacles... Remember, no effort that we make to attain something beautiful is ever lost. ~ hellen-keller, @wisdomtrove 457:I myself am pursuing the same instinctive course as the veriest human animal you can think of I am, however young, writing at random straining at particles of light in the midst of a great darkness without knowing the bearing of any one assertion, of any one opinion. Yet may I not in this be free from sin? ~ john-keats, @wisdomtrove 458:Young people have many pleasures and many sorrows, because they only have themselves to think of, so every wish and every notion assume importance; every pleasure is tasted to the full, but also every sorrow, and many who find that their wishes cannot be fulfilled, immediately put an end to their lives. ~ hermann-hesse, @wisdomtrove 459:Breathe in deeply to bring your mind home to your body. Then look at, or think of, the person triggering this emotion: With mindfulness, you can see that she is unhappy, that she is suffering. You can see her wrong perceptions. You can see that she is not beautiful when she says things that are unkind. ~ thich-nhat-hanh, @wisdomtrove 460:In doing zazen it is desirable to have a quiet room. You should be temperate in eating and drinking, forsaking all delusive relationships. Setting everything aside, think of neither good nor evil, right nor wrong. Thus having stopped the various functions of your mind, five up even the idea of becoming a Buddha. ~ dogen, @wisdomtrove 461:Were the stars out when I left the house last evening? All I could remember was the couple in the Skyline listening to Duran Duran. Stars? Who remembers stars? Come to think of it, had I even looked up at the sky recently? Had the stars been wiped out of the sky three months ago, I wouldn’t have known. ~ haruki-murakami, @wisdomtrove 462:You wish to be great, begin from the least. You are thinking to construct some mighty fabric in height; first think of the foundation of humility. And how great soever a mass of building one may wish and design to place above it, the greater the building is to be, the deeper does he dig his foundation. ~ saint-augustine, @wisdomtrove 463:Things that never interested you before become fascinating because you know they are important to this person who is so special to you. You think of this person on every occasion and in everything you do. Simple things bring them to mind like a pale blue sky, gentle wind or even a storm cloud on the horizon. ~ bob-marley, @wisdomtrove 464:I think of myself as being an ethical man, but I don't try to teach ethics. I have no message. I know little about contemporary life. I don't read a newspaper. I dislike politics and politicians. I belong to no party whatever. My private life is a private life. I try to avoid photography and publicity. ~ jorge-luis-borges, @wisdomtrove 465:We shall probably get nearest to the truth if we think of the conscious and personal psyche as resting upon the broad basis of an inherited and universal psychic disposition which is as such unconscious, and that our personal psyche bears the same relation to the collective psyche as the individual to society. ~ carl-jung, @wisdomtrove 466:What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God. We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and work flow. ~ martin-luther, @wisdomtrove 467:Those who give themselves to prayer should in a special manner have always a devotion to St. Joseph; for I know not how any man can think of the Queen of the angels, during the time that she suffered so much with the Infant Jesus, without giving thanks to St. Joseph for the services he rendered them then. ~ teresa-of-avila, @wisdomtrove 468:A second thing that an individual must do in seeking to love his enemy is to discover the element of good in his enemy, and everytime you begin to hate that person and think of hating that person, realize that there is some good there and look at those good points which will over-balance the bad points. ~ martin-luther-king, @wisdomtrove 469:They wouldn't understand, and I don't feel the need to explain, simply because I know in my heart how real it was. When I think of you, I can't help smiling, knowing that you've completed me somehow. I love you, not just for now, but for always, and I dream of the day that you'll take me in your arms again ~ nicholas-sparks, @wisdomtrove 470:I really think that the planet is growing a new nervous system. I mean, when you think of Facebook as the third largest nation in the world, that's so unprecedented, so amazing. Think of how many people are texting and twittering. The planet has created a nervous system for massive, rapid connectivity. ~ barbara-marx-hubbard, @wisdomtrove 471:It is never a good practice to continue to sleep after sunrise. We should not think of staying in bed once we are awake; it increases laziness and dullness. Those who cannot decrease the amount of sleep quickly may do it in gradual stages. Those who do regular spiritual practice do not need much sleep. ~ mata-amritanandamayi, @wisdomtrove 472:The Christian church was designed to make sinners sweat. I have always believed that, and I still believe it. The messages preached in our churches should make backslidden Christians sweat. And if I achieve that objective when I preach, I thank God with all of my heart, no matter what people think of me. ~ aiden-wilson-tozer, @wisdomtrove 473:What heart has not acknowledged the influence of this hour, the sweet and soothing hour of twilight, the hour of love, the hour of adoration, the hour of rest, when we think of those we love only to regret that we have not loved them more dearly, when we remember our enemies only to forgive them. ~ henry-wadsworth-longfellow, @wisdomtrove 474:In the face of suffering, one has no right to turn away, not to see. In the face of injustice, one may not look the other way. When someone suffers, and it is not you, that person comes first. One's very suffering gives one priority. . . . To watch over one who grieves is a more urgent duty than to think of God. ~ elie-wiesel, @wisdomtrove 475:The very best way in all the world to overcome self-consciousn ess and shyness is to get interested in other people and to think of them and, almost miraculously, your timidity will pass. Do something for other people. Practice deeds of kindness, acts of friendliness, and you'll be surprised to see what happens. ~ dale-carnegie, @wisdomtrove 476:Whenever we think of Christ, we should recall the love that led Him to bestow on us so many graces and favors, and also the great love God showed in giving us in Christ a pledge of His love; for love calls for love in return. Let us strive to keep this always before our eyes and to rouse ourselves to love Him. ~ teresa-of-avila, @wisdomtrove 477:Methinks I am like a man, who having struck on many shoals, and having narrowly escap'd shipwreck in passing a small frith, has yet the temerity to put out to sea in the same leaky weather-beaten vessel, and even carries his ambition so far as to think of compassing the globe under these disadvantageous circumstances. ~ david-hume, @wisdomtrove 478:When you need encouragement, think of the qualities the people around you have: this one's energy, that one's modesty, another's generosity, and so on. Nothing is as encouraging as when virtues are visibly embodied in the people around us, when we're practically showered with them. It's good to keep this in mind. ~ marcus-aurelius, @wisdomtrove 479:You may have success in life, but then just think of it - what kind of life was it? What good was it - you've never done the thing you wanted to do in all your life. I always tell my students, go where your body and soul want to go. When you have the feeling, then stay with it, and don't let anyone throw you off. ~ joseph-campbell, @wisdomtrove 480:If I had a brother who had been murdered, what would you think of me if I... daily consorted with the assassin who drove the dagger into my brother's heart; surely I too must be an accomplice in the crime. Sin murdered Christ; will you be a friend to it? Sin pierced the heart of the Incarnate God; can you love it? ~ charles-spurgeon, @wisdomtrove 481:Think of something you really care about. Then add hour to hour and calculate the fraction of your life that you've actually spent in doing it. And then calculate the time you've spent on things like shaving, riding to and fro on buses, waiting in railway junctions, swapping dirty stories, and reading the newspapers. ~ george-orwell, @wisdomtrove 482:Every act of charity, every thought of sympathy, every action of help, every good deed, is taking so much of self-importance away from our little selves and making us think of ourselves as the lowest and the least, and, therefore, it is all good. Here we find that Jn√¢na, Bhakti, and Karma - all come to one point. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 483:I think that hell essentially is separation from God forever. And that is the worst hell that I can think of. But I think people have a hard time believing God is going to allow people to burn in literal fire forever. I think the fire that is mentioned in the Bible is a burning thirst for God that can never be quenched. ~ billy-graham, @wisdomtrove 484:Every time you think of doing some charity, you think there is some beggar to take your charity. If you say, "O Lord, let the world be full of charitable people!" - you mean, let the world be full of beggars also. Let the world be full of good works - let the world be full of misery. This is out-and-out slavishness! ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 485:No one would think of bringing a dog into church. For though a dog is all very well on a gravel path, and shows no disrespect to flowers, the way he wanders down an aisle, looking, lifting a paw, and approaching a pillar with a purpose that makes the blood run cold with horror ... a dog destroys the service completely. ~ virginia-woolf, @wisdomtrove 486:What I learned constructive about women, not just ethics like never blame them if they pox you because somebody poxed them and lots of times they don't even know they have it ‚Äî that's in the first reader for squares ‚Äî is, no matter how they get, always think of them the way they were on the best day they ever had. ~ ernest-hemingway, @wisdomtrove 487:You will write if you will write without thinking of the result in terms of a result, but think of the writing in terms of discovery, which is to say that creation must take place between the pen and the paper, not before in a thought or afterwards in a recasting... It will come if it is there and if you will let it come. ~ gertrude-stein, @wisdomtrove 488:Think of how many religions attempt to validate themselves with prophecy. Think of how many people rely on these prophecies, however vague, however unfulfilled, to support or prop up their beliefs. Yet has there ever been a religion with the prophetic accuracy and reliability of science? ... No other human institution comes close. ~ carl-sagan, @wisdomtrove 489:Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin. It is, as far as he knows, the only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he feels that there really is another way, if only he could stop bumping for a moment and think of it. And then he feels that perhaps there isn't. ~ a-a-milne, @wisdomtrove 490:People at CDC [Centers for Disease Control] who cut their teeth on diseases over the last 10 years have started to think of crime as another disease, and using some of these same concepts. It was something that was in the air in that world, but it was time to bust it out and apply it to any number of different social epidemics. ~ malcolm-gladwell, @wisdomtrove 491:I know that when I think of myself as being utterly worn out, when I think that somehow I have nothing more to write, then something is happening within me. And, in due course, it bubbles up; it comes to the surface, and then I do my best to listen. But there's nothing mystical about all this. I suppose all writers do the same. ~ jorge-luis-borges, @wisdomtrove 492:Think of yourself by all means. Only don't bring the idea of a body into the picture. There is only a stream of sensations, perceptions, memories and ideations. The body is an abstraction, created by our tendency to seek unity in diversity - which again is not wrong. Limiting oneself to one body only is a mistake. ~ sri-nisargadatta-maharaj, @wisdomtrove 493:In Asian languages, the word for & 494:I remember that throughout history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they can seem invincible. But in the end they always fall. Think of it always... whenever you are in doubt that that is God's way - the way the world is meant to be. Think of that and then try to do His way. ~ jean-vanier, @wisdomtrove 495:For many people, God is a frightening idea. Asking God for help doesn't seem very comforting if we think of Him as something outside ourselves, or capricious, or judgmental. But God is love and He dwells within us. We are created in His image, or mind, which means that we are extensions of His love, or Sons and Daughters of God. ~ marianne-williamson, @wisdomtrove 496:The presence of a grandparent confirms that parents were, indeed, little once, too, and that people who are little can grow to be big, can become parents, and one day even have grandchildren of their own. So often we think of grandparents as belonging to the past; but in this important way, grandparents, for young children, belong to the future. ~ fred-rogers, @wisdomtrove 497:The two important facts I should say, are emotion, and then words arising from emotion. I don't think you can write in an emotionless way. If you attempt it, the result is artificial. I don't like that kind of writing. I think that if a poem is really great, you should think of it as having written itself despite the author. It should flow. ~ jorge-luis-borges, @wisdomtrove 498:Think of your career as your ministry. Make your work an expression of love, in service to mankind. Within the worldly illusion, we all have different jobs. Some of us are artists, some of us are business people, some of us are scientists. But in the real world that lies beyond all this, we all have the same job: to minister to human hearts. ~ marianne-williamson, @wisdomtrove 499:To be so bent on Marriage - to pursue a man merely for the sake of situation - is a sort of thing that shocks me; I cannot understand it. Poverty is a great Evil, but to a woman of Education and feeling it ought not, it cannot be the greatest. I would rather be a teacher at a school (and I can think of nothing worse) than marry a man I did not like. ~ jane-austen, @wisdomtrove 500:Actually if a writer needs a dictionary he should not write. He should have read the dictionary at least three times from beginning to end and then have loaned it to someone who needs it. There are only certain words which are valid and similes (bring me my dictionary) are like defective ammunition (the lowest thing I can think of at this time). ~ ernest-hemingway, @wisdomtrove *** NEWFULLDB 2.4M ***
1:Think of me like crazy. ~ Katy Evans, #NFDB
2:I think of Dean Moriarty. ~ Jack Kerouac, #NFDB
3:You can't think of nothing. ~ Eric Rohmer, #NFDB
4:Sometimes I think of Abraham ~ Rich Mullins, #NFDB
5:Think of suffering as being washed. ~ Hafez, #NFDB
6:trying to think of a plan. ~ Landry Q Walker, #NFDB
7:I think of myself as an actor. ~ Oliver Platt, #NFDB
8:think of that? Maybe I want to ~ Elle Kennedy, #NFDB
9:I think of myself as a human being. ~ Bruce Lee, #NFDB
10:Think of the moment you count ~ Hilda Doolittle, #NFDB
11:Think of the pain before the pain ~ Andr Aciman, #NFDB
12:Everything you can think of is true. ~ Tom Waits, #NFDB
13:Never think of results, just do! ~ G I Gurdjieff, #NFDB
14:Think of the pain before the pain. ~ Andr Aciman, #NFDB
15:Whatever I think of, I dismember. ~ Jack Shadbolt, #NFDB
16:I think of dieting, then I eat pizza. ~ Lara Stone, #NFDB
17:Think of God oftener than you breathe. ~ Epictetus, #NFDB
18:yesterday made me think of something. ~ Kiera Cass, #NFDB
19:But I don't think of you. - Howard Roark ~ Ayn Rand, #NFDB
20:I think of myself as a global citizen. ~ Bill Gates, #NFDB
21:Won't SOMEONE think of the PUDDING? ~ Lisa Mantchev, #NFDB
22:Heaven is for those who think of it. ~ Joseph Joubert, #NFDB
23:I am trying not to think of endings. ~ David Levithan, #NFDB
24:Think of me. Remember me. Love me. ~ Jennifer McMahon, #NFDB
25:think of nothing things think of wind ~ Truman Capote, #NFDB
26:To think of shadows is a serious thing. ~ Victor Hugo, #NFDB
27:I don't think of myself as a writer. ~ James Patterson, #NFDB
28:I think of myself as a very lazy author. ~ Neil Gaiman, #NFDB
29:I think of New York City lost in stars ~ Gregory Corso, #NFDB
30:Just think of dick as pussy on a stick. ~ Edmund White, #NFDB
31:Love having another world to think of! ~ Margaret Weis, #NFDB
32:Think of me as Robin Hood in a suit. ~ Sylvain Reynard, #NFDB
33:Whenever it rains you will think of her. ~ Neil Gaiman, #NFDB
34:When turkeys mate they think of swans. ~ Johnny Carson, #NFDB
35:I’d rather just think of everything positively. ~ Minzy, #NFDB
36:I still think of myself as the new kid. ~ Rachel Maddow, #NFDB
37:I think of me being a painter eventually. ~ Syd Barrett, #NFDB
38:I think of you so often you have no idea. ~ James Joyce, #NFDB
39:I've got an age that I do think of myself. ~ Clive Owen, #NFDB
40:Look at me and think of Schwarzenegger. ~ David Cameron, #NFDB
41:Promise you'll think of me every second? ~ Toni Gonzaga, #NFDB
42:Think of the solution, not the problem ~ Terry Goodkind, #NFDB
43:Whenever it rains, you will think of her. ~ Neil Gaiman, #NFDB
44:I care what people who know me think of me. ~ Jenna Bush, #NFDB
45:I think of friendship in terms of love. ~ David Levithan, #NFDB
46:Think of God more often than thou breathest. ~ Epictetus, #NFDB
47:Think of tomorrow, the past can't be mended. ~ Confucius, #NFDB
48:When anger rises, think of the consequences. ~ Confucius, #NFDB
49:When you think of love do you think of pain? ~ Vance Joy, #NFDB
50:You don't think of the devil who's inside. ~ Celine Dion, #NFDB
51:I really don't care what people think of me. ~ Chris Kyle, #NFDB
52:I still think of myself as from Illinois. ~ Alison Krauss, #NFDB
53:I think of myself as still being about five. ~ Demi Moore, #NFDB
54:Think of God more often than thou breathest. ~ Epictetus, #NFDB
55:Think of it as you want it, not as it is! ~ Larry Ellison, #NFDB
56:Be empty of worrying. Think of who created thought! ~ Rumi, #NFDB
57:he winks at her. The wink makes me think of ~ Lisa Wingate, #NFDB
58:How does anybody ever think of anything? ~ Stanley Kubrick, #NFDB
59:I always think of myself as a working girl. ~ Dolly Parton, #NFDB
60:I can't think of it now. It costs too much. ~ Parke Godwin, #NFDB
61:I don't think of myself as a singer really. ~ Graham Coxon, #NFDB
62:I think of language as our first music. ~ Yusef Komunyakaa, #NFDB
63:I think of myself as just another consumer. ~ Roelof Botha, #NFDB
64:Just...keep calm and think of Chris and Liam. ~ Linda Kage, #NFDB
65:People are only what they think of themselves. ~ Ai Yazawa, #NFDB
66:Think of RepRap as a China on your desktop. ~ Chris DiBona, #NFDB
67:"When anger rises, think of the consequences." ~ Confucius, #NFDB
68:But mostly I think of the things I didn’t do. ~ Mary Kubica, #NFDB
69:Don't think OF your goals, think FROM them. ~ Chris Weidman, #NFDB
70:If you're optimistic, think of it as bronze. ~ Markus Zusak, #NFDB
71:I wouldn't even think of playing music if I was ~ Bob Dylan, #NFDB
72:Just close your eyes—and think of England. ~ Queen Victoria, #NFDB
73:Never be so busy as not to think of others. ~ Mother Teresa, #NFDB
74:The truth doesn't care what we think of it. ~ Anne Michaels, #NFDB
75:All I think of ever is that I love you. ~ F Scott Fitzgerald, #NFDB
76:I can't think of anybody worse to live with. ~ John le Carre, #NFDB
77:I don't think of myself as a powerful person. ~ Anna Wintour, #NFDB
78:I let myself be sad. I let myself think of him. ~ Kiera Cass, #NFDB
79:I like to think of myself as a storyteller. ~ Kate DiCamillo, #NFDB
80:I Simply think of you. You are everything. ~ Sylvain Reynard, #NFDB
81:I think of myself as a really happy person. ~ David Guterson, #NFDB
82:It’s Adria’s face I see when I think of home. ~ Nalini Singh, #NFDB
83:Whatever people think of me is none of my business. ~ RuPaul, #NFDB
84:You’ll think of something,”, FADE by Kailin Gow ~ Kailin Gow, #NFDB
85:Be empty of worrying.
Think of who created thought! ~ Rumi,#NFDB
86:But can you think of anyone who's not hazy with smoke? ~ Rumi, #NFDB
87:I like to think of bread as really bland cake. ~ Jim Gaffigan, #NFDB
88:I see a schoolboy when I think of him, ~ William Butler Yeats, #NFDB
89:...i think of friendship in terms of love... ~ David Levithan, #NFDB
90:I think of moving as a kind of saving grace. ~ Martin Puryear, #NFDB
91:Most of all, I hate you because I think of you. ~ Holly Black, #NFDB
92:Think of me as Demon: The Next Generation. ~ Katie MacAlister, #NFDB
93:Think of the ills from which you are exempt. ~ Joseph Joubert, #NFDB
94:To forget someone means to think of him. ~ Jean de la Bruyere, #NFDB
95:When I think of your kisses my mind see-saws. ~ Joni Mitchell, #NFDB
96:Don’t cry for me. When you think of me, be happy. ~ Kim Holden, #NFDB
97:From now on .... When it rains .... Think of me ~ Lisa De Jong, #NFDB
98:Horsemeat is the most male meat you can think of. ~ Gaspar Noe, #NFDB
99:I didn't really think of myself as being a muse. ~ Jane Birkin, #NFDB
100:I like to think of myself as a physical actor. ~ David Oyelowo, #NFDB
101:I must think of something foolproof for a fool. ~ Aristophanes, #NFDB
102:In bringing up a child, think of its old age. ~ Joseph Joubert, #NFDB
103:I still think of Heaven as a liberal-arts school. ~ Mike White, #NFDB
104:I think of myself as a freewheeling bisexual ~ Cassandra Clare, #NFDB
105:It's what we think of ourselves that matter! ~ Kendall Schmidt, #NFDB
106:To not think of dying, is to not think of living. ~ Jann Arden, #NFDB
107:What shall we think of a well-adjusted slave? ~ Abraham Maslow, #NFDB
108:Don't think of yourself as a woman in business. ~ Carly Fiorina, #NFDB
109:He couldn't think of anything to think about. ~ Haruki Murakami, #NFDB
110:I don't like to think of anything as hopeless ~ Sylvain Reynard, #NFDB
111:I don't think of sex as a self-destructive impulse. ~ Thom Gunn, #NFDB
112:I just think of myself as a comedian, really. ~ Sarah Silverman, #NFDB
113:I think of my body as a side effect of my mind. ~ Carrie Fisher, #NFDB
114:I think of poets as outlaw visionaries in a way. ~ Jim Jarmusch, #NFDB
115:Life works best when we think of people as people. ~ John Green, #NFDB
116:mother. Think of how humiliated she would be. And ~ Stacy Green, #NFDB
117:Only think of my being alive with a reputation! ~ Winslow Homer, #NFDB
118:think of innocent Icarus who is doing quite well: ~ Anne Sexton, #NFDB
119:wasn’t ready to think of colored people in ~ Zora Neale Hurston, #NFDB
120:What shall we think of a well-adjusted slave? ~ Abraham Maslow, #NFDB
121:Writing is my job. I don't think of it as art. ~ Isabel Allende, #NFDB
122:Does what you think of you determine your worth? ~ Janet Jackson, #NFDB
123:Don't think of it as art, think of it as work. ~ Paddy Chayefsky, #NFDB
124:Heaven is the place where you think of nowhere else. ~ Pico Iyer, #NFDB
125:I don't think of death in a romantic way anymore. ~ Robert Smith, #NFDB
126:I like to think of it as, my parents live with me, ~ Jeff Strand, #NFDB
127:I think of fans like a barbershop. I want that debate. ~ Pitbull, #NFDB
128:I think of myself as a highly sexual creature. ~ Charlize Theron, #NFDB
129:I think of myself as a storyteller, and that is it. ~ Tanith Lee, #NFDB
130:I think of reading as like a medicine cabinet. ~ Sandra Cisneros, #NFDB
131:I think of someone like Mariah Carey as a singer. ~ Graham Coxon, #NFDB
132:The moment you think of a joke is the best moment. ~ Judd Apatow, #NFDB
133:Think of a man in a chronic state of anger! ~ Henry Ward Beecher, #NFDB
134:Think of strangers as friends you not met yet. ~ Abraham Lincoln, #NFDB
135:We got to think of something for people to do. ~ Hillary Clinton, #NFDB
136:Whatever you do, think of next morning's headlines. ~ Eric Berne, #NFDB
137:When I don’t want a man, I don’t think of him at all. ~ R S Grey, #NFDB
138:didn't think of it.” She supposed she should have ~ Iris Johansen, #NFDB
139:Don't think OF the market. Think AS the market. ~ Michael Fishman, #NFDB
140:Every time I think of you, I always catch my breath. ~ John Waite, #NFDB
141:I don't really think of myself as a folk singer. ~ Ray LaMontagne, #NFDB
142:I don't think of my music as being about something. ~ Paul Lansky, #NFDB
143:I like to think of myself as a natural gardener. ~ Clive Anderson, #NFDB
144:I like to think of myself more as an outcome engineer. ~ J R Ward, #NFDB
145:I should as soon think of contradicting a bishop ~ Samuel Johnson, #NFDB
146:I think of a film as being like a toy train. ~ Jean Pierre Jeunet, #NFDB
147:I think of myself as an enormously lucky person. ~ Kate DiCamillo, #NFDB
148:It is by God’s Grace that you think of God. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #NFDB
149:I've come to think of myself as a writer of books. ~ Richard Hell, #NFDB
150:Mexicans don't think of ghosts as haunting you. ~ Sandra Cisneros, #NFDB
151:Perhaps I feel safest when I think of nothing. ~ Samantha Shannon, #NFDB
152:...The less I think of it the more certain I am. ~ Samuel Beckett, #NFDB
153:What other people think of me is not my business. ~ Michael J Fox, #NFDB
154:Do not even think of doing what ought not to be done. ~ Pythagoras, #NFDB
155:If you deal with a fox, think of his tricks. ~ Jean de La Fontaine, #NFDB
156:If you don't think of the future, you won't have one. ~ Henry Ford, #NFDB
157:I like to think of myself as delightfully complex. ~ Leigh Bardugo, #NFDB
158:I'm not focused on what other people think of me. ~ Cate Blanchett, #NFDB
159:I think of the chimp, the one with the talking hands. ~ Amy Hempel, #NFDB
160:...[I]t is pain to think of innocence in ruin. ~ Richard Llewellyn, #NFDB
161:Lying in bed, he would think of Heaven and London. ~ Aldous Huxley, #NFDB
162:Managements, you know, often think of themselves. ~ Walter Schloss, #NFDB
163:Maybe I want a black eye. Did you think of that? ~ Cassandra Clare, #NFDB
164:Most of us tend to think of the second half of life ~ Richard Rohr, #NFDB
165:The moment you think of others, your mind widens. ~ Dalai Lama XIV, #NFDB
166:Think of the man who first tried German sausage. ~ Jerome K Jerome, #NFDB
167:Think of this as the most screwed-up love letter ever. ~ Nick Lake, #NFDB
168:we are all supposed to think of reasons to live. ~ Stephen Chbosky, #NFDB
169:What people think of you is none of your business. ~ Deepak Chopra, #NFDB
170:When I think of normality I think of mediocrity ~ Gillian Anderson, #NFDB
171:You can think of creativity as applied imagination. ~ Ken Robinson, #NFDB
172:You only think of the best comeback when you leave. ~ Jimmy Fallon, #NFDB
173:After you play a part, you think of it as your own. ~ Gena Rowlands, #NFDB
174:But think of the violence, it could happen to your kids. ~ Yoko Ono, #NFDB
175:Don't think of 60 as ten years older than 50. ~ John Walter Bratton, #NFDB
176:I always think of moments of love with someone I love. ~ Gaspar Noe, #NFDB
177:I'd like to think of myself as the flavor of the decade. ~ Ron Paul, #NFDB
178:I don’t think of dying, I think of being here now. ~ Valerie Harper, #NFDB
179:I don't think of myself as being invincible anymore. ~ Curtis Sliwa, #NFDB
180:I like to think of music as an emotional science. ~ George Gershwin, #NFDB
181:I like to think of myself as a quiet revolutionary. ~ Carl R Rogers, #NFDB
182:I’m trying to think of the last time I had onions. ~ Karl Lagerfeld, #NFDB
183:I think of Grace and feel a sharp pain in my chest. ~ Lauren Oliver, #NFDB
184:It is a fine seasoning for joy to think of those we love. ~ Moliere, #NFDB
185:It's too late and it's too bad, don't think of me. ~ Dido Armstrong, #NFDB
186:I wasn’t even sure what to think of Marissa anymore either. ~ Tijan, #NFDB
187:She’d seen too many dead to think of that bitch, Fate. ~ Hugh Howey, #NFDB
188:Sing your life; any fool can think of words that rhyme. ~ Morrissey, #NFDB
189:Sometimes I think of Paris not as a city but as a home. ~ Anais Nin, #NFDB
190:The truly fearless think of themselves as normal. ~ Margaret Atwood, #NFDB
191:To go to war, you must always think of, can you win? ~ John Dingell, #NFDB
192:What other people think of me is none of my business. ~ Gary Oldman, #NFDB
193:What other people think of me is none of my concern. ~ S K McCauley, #NFDB
194:What those people think of me is none of my business. ~ Anne Lamott, #NFDB
195:Better not think of it at all. Eat a pastry instead. ~ Mariko Tamaki, #NFDB
196:Hold me, Gerty, hold me, or I shall think of things. ~ Edith Wharton, #NFDB
197:I can't think of anything I'm not grateful for. ~ Melissa de la Cruz, #NFDB
198:I think of feminism as more of a political ideology. ~ Callie Khouri, #NFDB
199:I think of Texas as the laboratory for bad government. ~ Molly Ivins, #NFDB
200:What other people think of you is none of your business. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
201:When I think of my wife, I always think of her head. ~ Gillian Flynn, #NFDB
202:Be empty of worrying. Think of who created thought! ~ Jalaluddin Rumi, #NFDB
203:Don't think of me too often... Just live well. Just live ~ Jojo Moyes, #NFDB
204:I'm mad, you know? I don't think of retiring at all. ~ Paul McCartney, #NFDB
205:I never think of myself as different from anyone else. ~ Jerusha Hess, #NFDB
206:I never think of the future - it comes soon enough. ~ Albert Einstein, #NFDB
207:I think of being an actor as a blue-collar profession. ~ Joe Mantegna, #NFDB
208:I think of my job on television as explaining things. ~ Rachel Maddow, #NFDB
209:It's impossible for one person to think of everything. ~ David Brooks, #NFDB
210:I wonder what Adam and Eve think of it by this time. ~ Marianne Moore, #NFDB
211:money I could hardly think of it. “Go on, take it. ~ Patrick Rothfuss, #NFDB
212:Sometimes I think of movie acting as advanced pretend. ~ Jeff Bridges, #NFDB
213:The truest self-respect is not to think of self. ~ Henry Ward Beecher, #NFDB
214:Think of the computer as a spiritual space for thinking. ~ John Maeda, #NFDB
215:Want to know what men think of you? Take a wound. ~ Christian Cameron, #NFDB
216:Why can no one here think of anything but chocolates? ~ Joanne Harris, #NFDB
217:I hope that one day you will think of me as your friend. ~ Mitch Albom, #NFDB
218:In this cage, behind these bars, I think of you and me. ~ Kenya Wright, #NFDB
219:I think of people more kindly when I am away from them. ~ Thomas Hardy, #NFDB
220:I think of the Sixties as being every man for himself. ~ Penelope Tree, #NFDB
221:It is stupid on my part to think of banning the media. ~ Shahrukh Khan, #NFDB
222:People think of education as something they can finish. ~ Isaac Asimov, #NFDB
223:The world you think of is in your own mind. ~ Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, #NFDB
224:We know nothing of religion here: we only think of Christ. ~ C S Lewis, #NFDB
225:Whenever I think of this attack, my stomach turns over. ~ Adolf Hitler, #NFDB
226:When you can’t go on, think of something that relaxes you. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
227:Be what I think? But I think of being so many things! ~ Fernando Pessoa, #NFDB
228:Everything I think of now is too rude to actually say. ~ Craig Ferguson, #NFDB
229:GEORGE 2048: We like to think of it as one civilization. ~ Ray Kurzweil, #NFDB
230:I choose not to think of my life as surviving, but coping. ~ Lorna Luft, #NFDB
231:If I told you God was black, what would you think of that? ~ Ray Davies, #NFDB
232:I like to think of murder-suicide as extreme multitasking. ~ Dana Gould, #NFDB
233:I'm not sure people even think of me as an actor at all. ~ James Corden, #NFDB
234:I never like to think of anything from an ending point. ~ John O Hurley, #NFDB
235:I never think of death: I am too busy thinking of life. ~ David O McKay, #NFDB
236:I sort of think of myself as part priest, part clown. ~ Richard Simmons, #NFDB
237:I think of Gisele Bundchen to get myself on the treadmill ~ Emmy Rossum, #NFDB
238:Silence is golden when you can't think of a good answer. ~ Muhammad Ali, #NFDB
239:What other people think of you is none of your business! ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
240:Yes, but I don't think of the Teen Angel as of an age. ~ Frankie Avalon, #NFDB
241:... a man has to think of his soul before everything else. ~ Leo Tolstoy, #NFDB
242:Caring about what people think of me decreases everyday. ~ Rashida Jones, #NFDB
243:Grobanite makes me think of a type of harmless crustacean. ~ Josh Groban, #NFDB
244:I cannot think of permanent enmity between man and man. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
245:I don't think of myself as a particularly nostalgic person. ~ Bill Ayers, #NFDB
246:I mean, I don't even think of myself as a musician, really. ~ Kim Gordon, #NFDB
247:I must think of him as vanished utterly and gone forever. ~ Iris Murdoch, #NFDB
248:I think of a poem as being deeper than headline news. ~ Naomi Shihab Nye, #NFDB
249:I think of making a movie in such a romantic way. ~ Alexandra Cassavetes, #NFDB
250:I think of myself as a freewheeling bisexual,” added Magnus. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
251:I think of you now mare than ever. It's raining today. ~ Haruki Murakami, #NFDB
252:It was easy not to think of my future; I didn't have one. ~ James Ellroy, #NFDB
253:I wince to think of the price willingly paid for loving me. ~ Robin Hobb, #NFDB
254:Make it sing, Charlotte, and maybe think of me when you do. ~ Emma Scott, #NFDB
255:Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy. ~ Anne Frank, #NFDB
256:Think of something to make the ridiculous look ridiculous. ~ Molly Ivins, #NFDB
257:think of the cold sweat when you’re stressed about money, ~ Ryan Holiday, #NFDB
258:Think of yourself as a warrior on a great adventure, ~ Angela J Townsend, #NFDB
259:When I think of the Crucifixion, I commit the sin of envy. ~ Simone Weil, #NFDB
260:But enough of me. Lets talk about you. What do you think of me? ~ Ed Koch, #NFDB
261:Come to think of it, I don't want to be my friend either. ~ Julie Buxbaum, #NFDB
262:If you dont respect me what must you think of yourself? ~ Cormac McCarthy, #NFDB
263:I know it’s weird, but I like to think of God as my homeboy. ~ Kim Holden, #NFDB
264:I like to think of climate action as a three-legged stool. ~ David Titley, #NFDB
265:I like to think of myself as an equal opportunity offender. ~ Rick Mercer, #NFDB
266:I think of images as an immune system and a transit system. ~ Lynda Barry, #NFDB
267:It is throwing our life away, to think of the wrong things. ~ Hugh Nibley, #NFDB
268:I try to write the most embarrassing thing I can think of. ~ John Wieners, #NFDB
269:I want people to look at a checkerboard and think of me! ~ Chubby Checker, #NFDB
270:No, I realize that you didn’t think of it! But I did. ~ Stephen E Ambrose, #NFDB
271:Something like that, yeah. Just think of it as watching a ~ Ernie Lindsey, #NFDB
272:Those who never think of money need a great deal of it. ~ Agatha Christie, #NFDB
273:What will they think of me? Must be put aside for bliss ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
274:When you a 'has-been', just think of where you HAS-BEEN. ~ Nipsey Russell, #NFDB
275:A loyal servant does not think of things outside of his control. ~ Ken Liu, #NFDB
276:I like to think of this as ecological journalism: I recycle. ~ Molly Ivins, #NFDB
277:I really like working. I can't think of a job I didn't like. ~ Jenny Slate, #NFDB
278:I think of myself as a meat-and-potatoes kind of director. ~ Stanley Donen, #NFDB
279:I think of the world when I hurt, and keep on existing in the now ~ Eyedea, #NFDB
280:It's hard to think of yourself as a loser at 2 years old. ~ Jeff Foxworthy, #NFDB
281:Its more fun to think of the future than dwell on the past. ~ Sara Shepard, #NFDB
282:Lots of little Bigwigs, Hazel! Think of that, and tremble! ~ Richard Adams, #NFDB
283:My painting occurs when I think of two disparate elements. ~ Alex Colville, #NFDB
284:Repartee is something we think of twenty-four hours too late. ~ Mark Twain, #NFDB
285:Tak does not require we think of him, only that we think ~ Terry Pratchett, #NFDB
286:We think of strangers as stronger and better than we are. ~ John Steinbeck, #NFDB
287:What business had I to think of one that never thought of me? ~ Anne Bront, #NFDB
288:("what danger is there if you don't think of any?"), ~ Henry David Thoreau, #NFDB
289:First wish it. Then think of yourself doing it. Then do it. ~ Milly Johnson, #NFDB
290:I couldn't think of anywhere I'd rather be. In the middle. ~ Megan McDonald, #NFDB
291:I'm not anorexic, bullimic, or any other “ic” you can think of. ~ Mikey Way, #NFDB
292:I understand the very definition of "hate" when I think of you. ~ Anne Rice, #NFDB
293:JUST THINK OF THIS AS MY LITTLE GIFT TO YOU," says Owen Meany ~ John Irving, #NFDB
294:On a boat, you must think of every amp and where it comes from. ~ Rick Page, #NFDB
295:People think of education as something that they can finish. ~ Isaac Asimov, #NFDB
296:Perhaps. But it is childish to think of what might have been. ~ Chaim Potok, #NFDB
297:Rules are for those who can't think of a better way. ~ Catherynne M Valente, #NFDB
298:Think of giving not only as a duty but as a privilege. ~ John D Rockefeller, #NFDB
299:When you think of famous New Zealanders, there aren't many. ~ Bret McKenzie, #NFDB
300:Don't think of words when you stop but to see picture better. ~ Jack Kerouac, #NFDB
301:If you must have motivation, think of your paycheck on Friday. ~ Noel Coward, #NFDB
302:I prefer to think of marriage as an equality of give and take. ~ Mary Balogh, #NFDB
303:I think of a man and I take away reason and accountability. ~ Jack Nicholson, #NFDB
304:I think of him in certain lights, dawn, late afternoon,... ~ Carol Ann Duffy, #NFDB
305:It is terrifying to think of what a commodity art has become. ~ Audrey Flack, #NFDB
306:Jason Lee is the most famous actor from Hawaii I can think of. ~ Tia Carrere, #NFDB
307:Never think of the surface except as an extension of a volume. ~ Henry Moore, #NFDB
308:Odd that a broken heart can beat at all, come to think of it. ~ Kerstin Gier, #NFDB
309:Think of denial as an acronym for Don't Even Notice I Am Lying ~ Debbie Ford, #NFDB
310:Think of people as people, not problems that need to be solved. ~ Hank Green, #NFDB
311:Think of this book as a new genre altogether—a when-to book. ~ Daniel H Pink, #NFDB
312:When you are reluctant to change, think of the beauty of autumn. ~ V V Brown, #NFDB
313:An inspiring word for me is to think of myself as limitless. ~ Rachael Taylor, #NFDB
314:Consciousness... I think we should think of it as something we do. ~ Alva Noe, #NFDB
315:Don't even mention losing to me. I can't stand to think of it ~ Bobby Fischer, #NFDB
316:Don't think of introversion as something that needs to be cured. ~ Susan Cain, #NFDB
317:drew the blankets over my head and tried to think of Christmas. ~ James Joyce, #NFDB
318:Every day, I wake up, and the first thing I think of is my kids. ~ Nikki Sixx, #NFDB
319:Everything in life is a bit odd, when you come to think of it. ~ William Boyd, #NFDB
320:Fundamentally, I think of myself as a storyteller, not a writer. ~ Tom Clancy, #NFDB
321:I never think of the future. I never imagine what comes next. ~ Jessica Lange, #NFDB
322:I seldom think of politics more than eighteen hours a day. ~ Lyndon B Johnson, #NFDB
323:I think of customer service as an offense and not a defense ~ Gary Vaynerchuk, #NFDB
324:I think of horror films as art, as films of confrontation. ~ David Cronenberg, #NFDB
325:Think of me as deep music. You can always hear me if you try. ~ Julia Cameron, #NFDB
326:Think of your communication in terms of telling a larger story. ~ Dan Portnoy, #NFDB
327:Tidiness makes me think of held breath, of suspended animation. ~ Anne Lamott, #NFDB
328:We sit in a room for months trying to think of funny things. ~ David Walliams, #NFDB
329:Whatever we think of the past, we must not be prisoners to it. ~ Barack Obama, #NFDB
330:Before you attack the porcupine, think of its quills! ~ Ernest Agyemang Yeboah, #NFDB
331:Dieting makes women think of ourselves as sick, religious babies. ~ Naomi Wolf, #NFDB
332:Don’t even mention losing to me. I can’t stand to think of it. ~ Bobby Fischer, #NFDB
333:Everything you think of that keeps you occupied is a friend. ~ Natalie Portman, #NFDB
334:How can I think of leaving Liverpool after a night like this? ~ Steven Gerrard, #NFDB
335:I don't think of myself as a star. An actress is nothing remarkable. ~ Gong Li, #NFDB
336:If you want to be rich, think of the savings and get them. ~ Benjamin Franklin, #NFDB
337:I like to think of myself as the Rod Blagojevich of television. ~ Mindy Kaling, #NFDB
338:In order to be happy, think of the ills you have been spared. ~ Joseph Joubert, #NFDB
339:I think of myself as a freewheeling bisexual,' - Magnus Bane ~ Cassandra Clare, #NFDB
340:Just think of the tragedy of teaching children not to doubt. ~ Clarence Darrow, #NFDB
341:Men aspiring to be free can hardly think of enslaving others. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
342:Only when I came to America did I think of myself as British. ~ Naveen Andrews, #NFDB
343:People think of me as a mannequin. All show and no substance. ~ Brooke Shields, #NFDB
344:So let us no more think of being compared to women as an insult.” It ~ Ken Liu, #NFDB
345:think of anything to say to them. They talk incessantly about the ~ Harper Lee, #NFDB
346:Think of what is and don't let what might have been distract you. ~ Robin Hobb, #NFDB
347:When you think of the good old days, think one word: dentistry. ~ P J O Rourke, #NFDB
348:All I want to do is sit on my ass and fart and think of Dante. ~ Samuel Beckett, #NFDB
349:Anything and everything you can think of can turn your life around. ~ Nik Halik, #NFDB
350:Don't ever think of playing the game of draft with God ~ Ernest Agyemang Yeboah, #NFDB
351:I can't think of a better model for Haiti rebuilding than Rwanda. ~ Paul Farmer, #NFDB
352:I can't think of a better place to be than Scottsville, Virginia. ~ Robert Hurt, #NFDB
353:I didn't dare think of the future; the past was still happening. ~ John Grisham, #NFDB
354:I don't walk down the street and think of myself as a sex symbol. ~ Luke Bracey, #NFDB
355:If you can't think of what to write, tough luck; write anyway. ~ Philip Pullman, #NFDB
356:I'm beginning to think of hope as a dangerous, terrifying thing. ~ Tahereh Mafi, #NFDB
357:I must cease to think of living for pleasure or self-gratification, ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
358:I think of quotes as mini–instruction manuals for the soul. It ~ Cheryl Strayed, #NFDB
359:Just think of all the billions of coincidences that don't happen. ~ Dick Cavett, #NFDB
360:Maybe you should be a lawyer.” “I can’t think of anything worse. ~ John Grisham, #NFDB
361:The more you forget yourself, the more Jesus will think of you. ~ Mother Teresa, #NFDB
362:Think of me as a sex symbol for the men who don't give a damn. ~ Phyllis Diller, #NFDB
363:What do you think of the criticism that you're not very good? ~ George Harrison, #NFDB
364:What other people think of you is none of your business. ~ Suzanne Woods Fisher, #NFDB
365:You think of stars as ambitious or aggressive or self-oriented. ~ John Turturro, #NFDB
366:I can’t think of a single guy I know that’s good enough for you. ~ Jamie McGuire, #NFDB
367:I'd like people to think of me as someone who cares about them. ~ Princess Diana, #NFDB
368:If you are to be Hercule Poirot, you must think of everything. ~ Agatha Christie, #NFDB
369:If you would be wealthy, think of saving as well as getting. ~ Benjamin Franklin, #NFDB
370:I like Michael Moore, but I think of him more as a rabble-rouser. ~ P J O Rourke, #NFDB
371:I'm so pretty, it's hard for me to think of myself as intelligent. ~ Jim Butcher, #NFDB
372:I’m so pretty, it’s hard for me to think of myself as intelligent. ~ Jim Butcher, #NFDB
373:It does not matter what people think of a man after his death. ~ Rudyard Kipling, #NFDB
374:I think of Alan Thicke as Perry Como without the excitement. ~ Gilbert Gottfried, #NFDB
375:I think of dance as a constant transformation of life itself. ~ Merce Cunningham, #NFDB
376:I think of myself as a young prince from a long line of royalty. ~ Wesley Snipes, #NFDB
377:I think of us as journalists; the medium we work in is blogging. ~ Josh Marshall, #NFDB
378:Listening to Mozart, we cannot think of any possible improvement. ~ George Szell, #NFDB
379:Opinions aren't facts. Stop worrying about what people think of you. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
380:Read a little. Meditate more. Think of God all the time. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda, #NFDB
381:Whatever you do, think of the Glory of God as your main goal. ~ Saint John Bosco, #NFDB
382:When I think of myself, I'm definitely... I'm not like a comedian. ~ Dave Franco, #NFDB
383:When one is at play, one should not think of one's learning. ~ Lord Chesterfield, #NFDB
384:Where can one think of fleeing, if the cell is everything? And ~ Fernando Pessoa, #NFDB
385:Who has ever stopped to think of the divinity of Lamont Cranston? ~ Amiri Baraka, #NFDB
386:You no longer think of suicide as a house you will build one day. ~ Neil Hilborn, #NFDB
387:[A]ll I want to do is sit on my ass and fart and think of Dante. ~ Samuel Beckett, #NFDB
388:And I think of how time passes so differently for different people. ~ Nina LaCour, #NFDB
389:Have faith in the Yankees my son. Think of the great DiMaggio. ~ Ernest Hemingway, #NFDB
390:I can’t think of you and myself apart. You and I are the same to me ~ Leo Tolstoy, #NFDB
391:I don't think of myself as a jazz musician but a medicine man. ~ Abdullah Ibrahim, #NFDB
392:If we think of the field as being removed, there is no 'space' ~ Albert Einstein, #NFDB
393:If you think of someone enough, you're sure to meet them again. ~ Haruki Murakami, #NFDB
394:If you think of someone enough, you’re sure to meet them again. ~ Haruki Murakami, #NFDB
395:I think of the thrill of an intelligent woman talking just to me. ~ Henry Rollins, #NFDB
396:Probably we'll think of Bush in years to come as an American hero. ~ Tommy Franks, #NFDB
397:Ruth Varnum was always as nervous as a rat; and, come to think of ~ Edith Wharton, #NFDB
398:The only thing that I could think of to do was to be an actress. ~ Sally Kirkland, #NFDB
399:These aren't my rules. Come to think of it. I don't have any rules. ~ Beetlejuice, #NFDB
400:To be a celebrity, I couldn't think of anything more cringe-worthy. ~ Bryan Adams, #NFDB
401:We often think of prayer as a means to an end. Prayer is the goal. ~ Francis Chan, #NFDB
402:We seldom think of what we have but always of what we lack. ~ Arthur Schopenhauer, #NFDB
403:What are some words that come to mind when you think of flowers? ~ Colleen Hoover, #NFDB
404:Whatever you do, think of the Glory of God as your main goal. ~ Saint John Bosco, #NFDB
405:When I think of the most beautiful women, they're not supermodels. ~ Becki Newton, #NFDB
406:When you're on camera, you can't think of all the technical things. ~ Harry Lloyd, #NFDB
407:When you think of it that way, every murderer is a Gate of Heaven. ~ Stephen King, #NFDB
408:You make people think of you for a living. You remind them you exist. ~ C D Reiss, #NFDB
409:All problems begin when we start worrying what others think of us. ~ Bryant McGill, #NFDB
410:A lot of beginners in business think of marketing merely as selling. ~ Dave Ramsey, #NFDB
411:A pun is the lowest form of humor—when you don't think of it first. ~ Oscar Levant, #NFDB
412:Do not worry about winning or losing; think of what you will gain. ~ M F Moonzajer, #NFDB
413:I can never think of you as a friend. You can do without a friend. ~ Graham Greene, #NFDB
414:I can't think of enough expletives to perfectly capture this moment. ~ Nina LaCour, #NFDB
415:I don't even think of chimps as animals. I think of them as beings. ~ Jane Goodall, #NFDB
416:I don't think of all the misery but of the beauty that still remains. ~ Anne Frank, #NFDB
417:I don’t think of work as work and play as play. It’s all living. ~ Richard Branson, #NFDB
418:I like to think of home as a verb, something we keep recreating. ~ Madeleine Thien, #NFDB
419:I never think of photographs as being individual. Always as a group. ~ Martin Parr, #NFDB
420:I think of music as a menu. I can't eat the same thing every day. ~ Carlos Santana, #NFDB
421:It is a wonderful seasoning of all enjoyments to think of those we love. ~ Moli re, #NFDB
422:Never think of failure, for what we think will come about. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, #NFDB
423:respond to possible comebacks. If I think of something, I practice ~ Gregory Koukl, #NFDB
424:The less people speak of their greatness, the more we think of it. ~ Francis Bacon, #NFDB
425:The mind is the pilot. We think of things before the body does them. ~ Walt Disney, #NFDB
426:We all think of ourselves as our subjectivity, our consciousness. ~ Vijay Seshadri, #NFDB
427:We seldom think of what we have, but always of what we lack. ~ Arthur Schopenhauer, #NFDB
428:We think of immigration as a Western issue but, of course, it isn't. ~ Kiran Desai, #NFDB
429:But she could not think of any herb that would heal his broken heart. ~ Erin Hunter, #NFDB
430:I also try to think of ways to articulate the joke more economically. ~ David Cross, #NFDB
431:I care about what people think of my heart, my music, my passion. ~ Jessica Simpson, #NFDB
432: I like to think of love as being slightly more forgiving than time. ~ Cath Crowley, #NFDB
433:I shall always think of myself first and foremost... as a hunter. ~ Abraham Lincoln, #NFDB
434:I think of desire as the essence that brings forth the whole universe. ~ Tara Brach, #NFDB
435:I think of painting without subject matter as music without words. ~ Kenneth Noland, #NFDB
436:Love is a conquest. Love is a war.
Here is what I think of love. ~ Marissa Meyer,#NFDB
437:The hope in her voice now made me think of a flower growing in shadow. ~ Gene Wolfe, #NFDB
438:Think of how they must have loved when all they had was each other. ~ Ellen Hopkins, #NFDB
439:Think of what you could be, not what everyone else wants you to be. ~ Viola Shipman, #NFDB
440:Think of your freedom, every time you see UNCLE TOM’S CABIN ~ Harriet Beecher Stowe, #NFDB
441:to live and leave indelible footprints, think of the rocks ~ Ernest Agyemang Yeboah, #NFDB
442:We think of Starbucks not as a coffee company but a media company. ~ Howard Schultz, #NFDB
443:You could think of mindfulness as wise and affectionate attention. ~ Jon Kabat Zinn, #NFDB
444:Brilliant people never think of the lives they smash, being brilliant. ~ Don DeLillo, #NFDB
445:Broadcasting is easy; you just talk until you think of something to say. ~ Lou Holtz, #NFDB
446:Don't think of people in the mass. That gives you a blurred view. ~ Claude C Hopkins, #NFDB
447:I am limited by what I can think of to do-my choices are not so great. ~ Lyle Lovett, #NFDB
448:I enjoy slaughtering beasts, and I think of my relatives constantly. ~ Roger Zelazny, #NFDB
449:I like to think of myself as a 'live life to its fullest' type of guy. ~ Shaun Sipos, #NFDB
450:I like to think of poetry as statements made on the way to the grave. ~ Dylan Thomas, #NFDB
451:I think of how Grandma makes fun of love. And maybe that’s the key. ~ Heidi W Durrow, #NFDB
452:I think of my business and investments as extension of my family. ~ Barbara Corcoran, #NFDB
453:I think the most beautiful inventions are the ones you don't think of. ~ Diane Arbus, #NFDB
454:It is so much easier to talk of poverty than to think of the poor. ~ Walter Lippmann, #NFDB
455:It's the apocalypse. Just text me if you think of anything else. ~ Maggie Stiefvater, #NFDB
456:Maybe a nickname,” Maryse proposed. “What would you think of Jace? ~ Cassandra Clare, #NFDB
457:Most liberals think of civil liberties as their Achilles heel. It isn't. ~ Joe Biden, #NFDB
458:None of us should think of ourselves as the keepers of absolute truth. ~ Mick Mooney, #NFDB
459:The best way of getting into something is to think of it as mischief. ~ Steve Aylett, #NFDB
460:The best way way to get a visual image is not to think of a visual image. ~ Bob Gill, #NFDB
461:The important thing is not to be defined by what others think of you. ~ Steve Coogan, #NFDB
462:The truth of a thing is in the feel of it, not in the think of it. ~ Stanley Kubrick, #NFDB
463:The wiser course is to think of others when pursuing our own happiness. ~ Dalai Lama, #NFDB
464:Think of it, Dad. What if I have it in me to do that, and I don't try? ~ Kim Edwards, #NFDB
465:Think of mass immigration into America as a global 'right of return.' ~ Ilana Mercer, #NFDB
466:Who would ever think of learning to live out of an English novel? ~ Anthony Trollope, #NFDB
467:You can think of faith simply as a kind of path from your heart to God. ~ Ay e Kulin, #NFDB
468:You just need to think of what you have instead of what you don’t. ~ Ruth Ann Nordin, #NFDB
469:You must think of the one who repeats the mantra. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talks, 606, #NFDB
470:But I don't think of any particular viewer in mind other than myself. ~ Richard Serra, #NFDB
471:God, I always just think of myself as a jeans and T-shirt kind of person. ~ Joan Jett, #NFDB
472:Goodness, think of what trouble they’d be in if Folly hadn’t practiced. ~ Jim Butcher, #NFDB
473:Hell, yes. Keep calm and carry on. God save the Queen. Think of England. ~ Jana Aston, #NFDB
474:I am a man and you are a woman. I can't think of a better arrangement. ~ Groucho Marx, #NFDB
475:I can think of no concept more abused in modern Africa than sovereignty ~ Tim Butcher, #NFDB
476:I can't think of anything better in the world to be but a vegan. ~ Alicia Silverstone, #NFDB
477:I can't think of a single area where [Barack] Obama is not destructive. ~ Nat Hentoff, #NFDB
478:I don't even think of going to Europe as going to another country now. ~ Michael Kors, #NFDB
479:I don't think of myself as an artist. I'm just a guy who can write. ~ Haruki Murakami, #NFDB
480:I don't think of myself as being funny. But life takes strange turns. ~ Frank Gorshin, #NFDB
481:I don’t think of work as work or play as play. It’s all just living. ~ Taylor Pearson, #NFDB
482:I guess that's the business of devotees - to make you think of God. ~ George Harrison, #NFDB
483:I make presents to the mother but think of the daughter. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, #NFDB
484:I'm a very private person, regardless of what the world may think of me. ~ Joe Arpaio, #NFDB
485:I met you soon after and i could never think of touching anyone else. ~ Katie McGarry, #NFDB
486:I’m sure I have faults, too. I just can’t think of any at the moment. ~ Ashlan Thomas, #NFDB
487:I think of architecture as a piece of clothing to wrap around human beings ~ Toyo Ito, #NFDB
488:It is impossible to think of France except in terms of individuals. ~ Andre Siegfried, #NFDB
489:It seemed out of place to think of consequences during the fiesta. ~ Ernest Hemingway, #NFDB
490:It was very natural that people just think of me as a comic actor. ~ Curtis Armstrong, #NFDB
491:love is tied to truth. I think of them as unhappily conjoined twins. ~ David Levithan, #NFDB
492:Man cannot always think of matter, however pleasurable it may be. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
493:Mentors are selfless and think of themselves in the context of others. ~ Nancy Duarte, #NFDB
494:Sarcasm helps keep you from telling people what you really think of them. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
495:So, what did you think of your present? Was it everything you hoped for? ~ Eva Simone, #NFDB
496:There is, come to think of it, a kind of Judi Dench quality to McCain. ~ Daniel Craig, #NFDB
497:Think of your problems as a gift – get out there and fix them. ~ Rita Gunther McGrath, #NFDB
498:To think of him in the middle of the day lifts me out of ordinary living. ~ Anais Nin, #NFDB
499:To think of him in the middle of the day lifts me out of ordinary living. ~ Ana s Nin, #NFDB
500:When I think of God I feel like an ant crawling into a computer. ~ Richard Paul Evans, #NFDB
501:will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think of it. ~ Viktor E Frankl, #NFDB
502:You don't normally think of Los Angeles as a place to go to get away. ~ Brooke Fraser, #NFDB
503:Disruptive companies often pick fights they can’t win. Think of Napster: ~ Peter Thiel, #NFDB
504:Great men never look at a person’s exterior. They think of his heart. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
505:I can't think of any relatives that ever went into science. ~ William Standish Knowles, #NFDB
506:If it helps, you can think of magic as technology yet to be understood, ~ Stephen Cole, #NFDB
507:I have a lot of regrets, but I'm not going to think of them as regrets. ~ Debbie Harry, #NFDB
508:...I, like Borges, think of heaven as something very like a library ~ Ursula K Le Guin, #NFDB
509:I love N.Y.C.! I cant think of any individual that hates New York. ~ Theophilus London, #NFDB
510:Imagination is the capacity to think of things as if they could be otherwise. ~ Maxine, #NFDB
511:India is a youthful nation. Can't we think of exporting good teachers? ~ Narendra Modi, #NFDB
512:I think of animals in cages, pressed close against each other. ~ Will Christopher Baer, #NFDB
513:I think of a writer as a river: you reflect what passes before you. ~ Natalia Ginzburg, #NFDB
514:New York has inspired more remarkable music than any other city I can think of. ~ Moby, #NFDB
515:Our woal life is a idear we dint think of nor we dont know what it is. ~ Russell Hoban, #NFDB
516:Sometimes when I sleep at night I think of (Dr. Seuss's) 'Hop on Pop.' ~ George W Bush, #NFDB
517:surprise he turned and spat into the ditch. ‘That’s what I think of him! ~ Enid Blyton, #NFDB
518:They can’t even think of freedom because they don’t have the language to. ~ M K Asante, #NFDB
519:Thinking of nothing. Trying to think of nothing. Thinking of everything. ~ Kate Morton, #NFDB
520:Think of the elements as dangerous, radioactive, short-lived Pokémon. ~ Randall Munroe, #NFDB
521:Think of the road as a kind of zone and a site of incredible diversity. ~ Anne Waldman, #NFDB
522:We always think of our own profit, but not in connection to others. ~ Marina Abramovic, #NFDB
523:Whatever people think of us is between them and God and not our concern. ~ Joyce Meyer, #NFDB
524:Whatever you think of Facebook, you cannot fault it for lack of ambition. ~ Joe Greene, #NFDB
525:What people in the world think of you is really none of your business. ~ Martha Graham, #NFDB
526:What we really are matters more than what other people think of us. ~ Jawaharlal Nehru, #NFDB
527:You have to do anything you can think of that gets you excited. ~ Downtown Julie Brown, #NFDB
528:You know, I always think of myself as sort of ready for every criticism. ~ Lena Dunham, #NFDB
529:Dig a little deeper. Think of something that we've never thought of before. ~ A A Milne, #NFDB
530:Fuck the entire world. All that matters is what you think of me. ~ Michelle A Valentine, #NFDB
531:I always think of the word 'abandonment' when I think of the character. ~ Tilda Swinton, #NFDB
532:I can't think of anything I'd rather have more than somebody lovin' me. ~ Sue Monk Kidd, #NFDB
533:I can't think of anything worse than being brought up by two gay dads. ~ Rupert Everett, #NFDB
534:I don't think of myself as being a woman and having anything to prove. ~ Eileen Collins, #NFDB
535:I keep myself busy with things to do but every time I pause I think of you. ~ T J Klune, #NFDB
536:I'm in a position where it doesn't matter what people think of me now. ~ J R R Tolkien, #NFDB
537:It isn't what you know that counts,it's what you think of in time”. ~ Benjamin Franklin, #NFDB
538:It's hard for me to think of writing a novel, because it takes so long. ~ Jonathan Ames, #NFDB
539:Novels help us to resist the temptation to think of the past as deficient. ~ Ian Mcewan, #NFDB
540:Perhaps it was more painful to think of a guilty man than of a dead man. ~ Albert Camus, #NFDB
541:The only religious way to think of death is as part and parcel of life. ~ Thomas E Mann, #NFDB
542:Think of what a paradise this world would be if men were kind and wise. ~ Kurt Vonnegut, #NFDB
543:What's gone will never come back, but it exists when you think of it. ~ John Frusciante, #NFDB
544:when
I think of all the things I’ve been thinking of
I feel insane ~ Frank O Hara,#NFDB
545:You are not to think of painting as something separate from drawing. ~ Kimon Nicolaides, #NFDB
546:you need to think of the destination you want, and then work out the road. ~ David Hair, #NFDB
547:And so we turn the page over. To think of starting. This is all there is. ~ John Ashbery, #NFDB
548:Do not read so much, look about you and think of what you see there. ~ Richard P Feynman, #NFDB
549:I am in the present. I don't think of the past. I don't think of the future. ~ Nhat Hanh, #NFDB
550:I can't think of any more powerful moment than when you stand on a stage. ~ Irving Azoff, #NFDB
551:If you think of paying court to those in power, your eternal ruin is assured. ~ Stendhal, #NFDB
552:I think of myself as a plain human being who happens to be an American. ~ Laura Z Hobson, #NFDB
553:It's funny, because I never think of myself as Little Miss All-Together. ~ Courteney Cox, #NFDB
554:I've gone through my whole life caring deeply what people think of me. ~ Andrew Garfield, #NFDB
555:I wish people didn't just think of me in the '60s. I'm not any era. ~ Marianne Faithfull, #NFDB
556:So long as we fear the outside world, we must cease to think of Swaraj. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
557:There is no end to one's faults. To think of them makes one humble. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan, #NFDB
558:There is no end to one’s faults. To think of them makes one humble. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan, #NFDB
559:Think of a word you associate with power. /Your/ safeword, angel. Choose it ~ Sylvia Day, #NFDB
560:Think of learning as storing up supplies you may need for a harsh winter. ~ Shannon Hale, #NFDB
561:Think of successful creative collaborations are dreams with deadlines. ~ Warren G Bennis, #NFDB
562:Think of your head as an unsafe neighborhood; don't go there alone. ~ Augusten Burroughs, #NFDB
563:What we think of Christ influences our thinking and controls our actions. ~ Billy Graham, #NFDB
564:When I think of myself in the third person, many things become clearer. ~ Gretchen Rubin, #NFDB
565:Dancing allows me to go away and not have to think of what I'm doing next. ~ Selena Gomez, #NFDB
566:Frances had come to think of gift-giving as a polite form of witchcraft. ~ Patrick deWitt, #NFDB
567:I am not a healer, i do not heal anyone,i juzt think of my self-discovery. ~ Louise L Hay, #NFDB
568:If you are not using your mind for self-torture, why would you think of peace? ~ Sadhguru, #NFDB
569:I had an indie pop phase, I had just about every phase you could think of. ~ Caitlin Rose, #NFDB
570:I like to think of my good decisions today as investments in my future self. ~ Hugh Howey, #NFDB
571:I like to think of the word FOCUS as Follow One Course Until Successful. ~ Donald J Trump, #NFDB
572:I'm always looking to play the part that people don't think of me in. ~ Laura Vandervoort, #NFDB
573:I started to think of Grace of Monaco as a metaphor for women in general. ~ Olivier Dahan, #NFDB
574:I think bears and worms aren't very similar... until you think of gummy. ~ Demetri Martin, #NFDB
575:I think of myself as Special Forces, clearing the path for the infantry. ~ Geraldo Rivera, #NFDB
576:I think people think of Oregon as such a granola, hippie kind of a place. ~ Kaitlin Olson, #NFDB
577:It is strange to have everybody in the world still think of you as a child. ~ Mara Wilson, #NFDB
578:Most of us think of government as them. Yet government isn't Them: It's us. ~ Molly Ivins, #NFDB
579:Never mind speak of the devil — I couldn’t even think of him or he’d appear. ~ Staci Hart, #NFDB
580:People should make up their own mind about what they think of me. ~ Arnold Schwarzenegger, #NFDB
581:People think of me in the same breath as Robert Redford and Robert De Niro. ~ Geena Davis, #NFDB
582:Rejoice that you are in prison. Here you can think of your soul. ~ Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, #NFDB
583:some things you will think of yourself,...some things God will put into your mind ~ Homer, #NFDB
584:Sorrow makes one think of God. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, Conscious Immortality, Ch 15, [T5], #NFDB
585:The big picture is a nice way to think of things if you have the freedom to. ~ Jack White, #NFDB
586:Think of it this way: if the practice is enjoyable, then you aren’t growing. ~ Jeff Goins, #NFDB
587:Try princess?" He smirked up at her. "I can't seem to think of much else. ~ Marissa Meyer, #NFDB
588:When we think of our work as a gift, it radically changes what we create. ~ James Victore, #NFDB
589:You know, technology CEOs like to think of themselves as rock 'n roll stars. ~ James Daly, #NFDB
590:You must begin to think of yourself as becoming the person you want to be ~ David Viscott, #NFDB
591:Your ‘brand’ is what your customers think of you, not what you think of you. ~ Jon Taffer, #NFDB
592:A bit of coke too. I can think of three meth labs that have blown up since ~ Kendra Elliot, #NFDB
593:Anyone who thinks must think of the next war as they would of suicide. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt, #NFDB
594:But when I think of superchicks, I think of the roles, not the variety. ~ Adrienne Barbeau, #NFDB
595:Can you think of anyone less likely than me to listen to an angel, Snorri? ~ Mark Lawrence, #NFDB
596:Do not think of todays failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. ~ Helen Keller, #NFDB
597:I can't think of one person I've ever met who didn't like some type of music. ~ Billy Joel, #NFDB
598:I could think of nothing, nothing to say, nothing to feel. My mind was empty. ~ S J Watson, #NFDB
599:I didn't necessarily set out to think of a show to make fun of reality shows. ~ Jon Glaser, #NFDB
600:If you think of paying court to the men in power, your eternal ruin is assured. ~ Stendhal, #NFDB
601:I hate you because I think of you. Often. It’s disgusting, and I can’t stop. ~ Holly Black, #NFDB
602:I like to think of characters in relation to other cinematic characters. ~ Leslye Headland, #NFDB
603:I'm not defined by what people think of me. My happiness comes from within. ~ Jill Shalvis, #NFDB
604:I need to know what you think of me so I can form an opinion about myself. ~ Henry Rollins, #NFDB
605:I never think of policemen's wives; their beauty maddens me like wine. ~ Kyril Bonfiglioli, #NFDB
606:It is a terrible thing to think of the grace that is wasted in this world, ~ Thomas Merton, #NFDB
607:It's nice, I think, when people use your music for things you didn't think of. ~ Brian Eno, #NFDB
608:It's so good for you to think of nothing. I wish you could do it more often. ~ Barbara Pym, #NFDB
609:I've always taken risks, and never worried what the world might really think of me. ~ Cher, #NFDB
610:I won't think of it now. I can't stand it now. I'll think of it later. ~ Margaret Mitchell, #NFDB
611:Love is a conquest. Love is a war.
Here is what I think of love. ~ Marissa Meyer,#NFDB
612:No matter what anybody says, what matters most is what you think of yourself. ~ India Arie, #NFDB
613:Of course I think of the past and of Paris, what else is there to remember? ~ Djuna Barnes, #NFDB
614:periods are the only thing i can think of where its a problem if you don’t bleed ~ Tao Lin, #NFDB
615:Peyton, I’m not married and you’re not a lesbian. Think of the possibilities. ~ Robyn Carr, #NFDB
616:Think of it! A second chamber selected by the Whips. A seraglio of eunuchs. ~ Michael Foot, #NFDB
617:Think of the press as a great keyboard on which the government can play. ~ Joseph Goebbels, #NFDB
618:This is Karma. I’m a bitch. Can you think of anyone who deserves a bitch slap? ~ Jenny Han, #NFDB
619:When I am in the darkness, I want to think of it in the light, with you. ~ Cassandra Clare, #NFDB
620:When you look at me, when you think of me, I am in paradise. ~ William Makepeace Thackeray, #NFDB
621:Women are very funny. Some of the funniest people I can think of are women. ~ Rachel Bloom, #NFDB
622:You are a manipulator.” “I like to think of myself more as an outcome engineer. ~ J R Ward, #NFDB
623:You must begin to think of yourself as becoming the person you want to be. ~ David Viscott, #NFDB
624:As usual when asked to think of something, Malcolm’s mind went completely blank. ~ Tom Holt, #NFDB
625:But there was something about you that made me think of sparks and motion. ~ David Levithan, #NFDB
626:Don’t think of me too often. I don’t want to think of you getting all maudlin. ~ Jojo Moyes, #NFDB
627:Failure is an event, not a person. Think of failure as 'it' and not 'me'. ~ Jeffrey Gitomer, #NFDB
628:Hardly even does one think of oneself, but only how to escape from oneself. ~ Marcel Proust, #NFDB
629:How others think of us matters hugely. We are profoundly social animals. ~ Chris J Anderson, #NFDB
630:I couldn’t think of a better purpose for the universe than for her to be in it. ~ Matt Haig, #NFDB
631:I didn’t even think of that. These guys have really scrambled my brain. ~ Michelle Leighton, #NFDB
632:I didn't think of myself as a tart, but I wouldn't argue with anyone who did ~ Julian Clary, #NFDB
633:It is by God's grace that you think of God! ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talks, 29, [T5], #index, #NFDB
634:It is seldom men think of death in the pride of their health and strength. ~ James F Cooper, #NFDB
635:Just promise me you'll think of me everytime you look up in the sky and see a star ~ Eminem, #NFDB
636:Never think of your car as a cold machine, but as a hot-blooded horse. ~ Juan Manuel Fangio, #NFDB
637:People with ambition don't give a damn what other people think of them. ~ Diane Setterfield, #NFDB
638:There was rock and roll across the dial, when I think of her it makes me smile. ~ Tom Petty, #NFDB
639:When we are crushed like grapes, we cannot think of the wine we will become. ~ Henri Nouwen, #NFDB
640:When you think of hockey, when you think of Canada, you think of Wayne Gretzky. ~ Joe Sakic, #NFDB
641:You are a manipulator.
I like to think of myself more as an outcome engineer. ~ J R Ward,#NFDB
642:You must certainly think of God if you want to see God all round you. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #NFDB
643:Do not think of to-day's failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. ~ Helen Keller, #NFDB
644:Even in your darkest moments, you'll think of something that'll crack you up. ~ Brad Paisley, #NFDB
645:I can’t think of anyone else I’d travel around the universe with than Amy Pond. ~ Matt Smith, #NFDB
646:I can't think of anything that people probably wouldn't already have heard of. ~ Davey Havok, #NFDB
647:I couldn’t think of any response that did not involve high pitched screaming. ~ Rick Riordan, #NFDB
648:I do not live for what the world thinks of me, but for what I think of myself. ~ Jack London, #NFDB
649:I don't think of myself as a dissident, and I'm more of an immigrant than an exile. ~ Ha Jin, #NFDB
650:I refuse to think of them as chin hairs. I think of them as stray eyebrows. ~ Janette Barber, #NFDB
651:I think not knowing what to think of your paintings is a good place to be. ~ Julian Schnabel, #NFDB
652:I think of color as being seen in and throughout, not solely on the surface. ~ Jules Olitski, #NFDB
653:I think of the New York City Ballet as the Yankees without George Steinbrenner. ~ John Guare, #NFDB
654:I think when people think of something as basic, they think that it's boring. ~ Jeremy Scott, #NFDB
655:It is difficult to think of an origin without wanting to go back beyond it. ~ Terry Eagleton, #NFDB
656:It’s not nice to think of children growing up like mushrooms, in the dark. ~ Shirley Jackson, #NFDB
657:I watch a film and the most important thing to me is what I think of the movie. ~ Clive Owen, #NFDB
658:know. There’s nothing else I can think of.” “You were his fiancé. If anyone ~ Tess Gerritsen, #NFDB
659:Life has trained many of us to think of love as temporary and conditional. ~ Craig Groeschel, #NFDB
660:Most people think of death as the end, when in fact, death can be the beginning. ~ Gabrielle, #NFDB
661:Mye, do you ever think of the future?’
‘Do I get to have a future? ~ Frances Hardinge,#NFDB
662:My position on what other people think of me is, fuck what other people think. ~ Lauren Dane, #NFDB
663:Not seeing people allows you to think of them as perfect in all kinds of ways. ~ Victor Hugo, #NFDB
664:The important thing is not what they think of me, but what I think of them. ~ Queen Victoria, #NFDB
665:Think of what makes you smile; makes you happy... and do more of that shit. ~ Steve Maraboli, #NFDB
666:What you think of a name depends so much on the people you know by that name. ~ Doug McClure, #NFDB
667:When people think of dance films, they don't really think of good stories. ~ Marques Houston, #NFDB
668:You can get pigeonholed in Hollywood and people think of you in a certain way. ~ Luke Wilson, #NFDB
669:You must certainly think of God if you want to see God all round you. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #NFDB
670:You must not be angry with me. You must think of me as an incomplete person. ~ Julian Barnes, #NFDB
671:A happy moment can last a lifetime if you remember to smile when you think of it. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
672:And because what we are doing is so horrifying, we tend not to think of it much. ~ Carl Sagan, #NFDB
673:Artists should always think of themselves as cosmic instruments for storytelling. ~ Ted Lange, #NFDB
674:Close your eyes, and think of someone you physically admire, and let me kiss you. ~ Morrissey, #NFDB
675:Every time that I think of the crucifixion of Christ, I commit the sin of envy. ~ Simone Weil, #NFDB
676:Fuck the entire world. All that matters is what you think of me.--Noel ~ Michelle A Valentine, #NFDB
677:I can think of nothing less pleasurable than a life devoted to pleasure. ~ John D Rockefeller, #NFDB
678:I couldn't think of anything that didn't sound trivial, so I just nodded. ~ Maggie Stiefvater, #NFDB
679:I don't in any sense think of myself as a celebrity, which of course I'm not. ~ Peter Ackroyd, #NFDB
680:If you care about what others think of you, then you will always be their slave. ~ James Frey, #NFDB
681:If you sit on the doorstep long enough, I daresay you will think of something ~ J R R Tolkien, #NFDB
682:I have no clue what a 'hottie' is. To think of myself in those terms is absurd. ~ Drew Fuller, #NFDB
683:I like to think of myself as a naturalist - insofar as that term is at all clear. ~ Tim Crane, #NFDB
684:I like to think of myself as a very passionate person, and as very determined. ~ Lily Collins, #NFDB
685:It's a lot of fun to play someone you don't normally think of yourself as. ~ Harvey Fierstein, #NFDB
686:It's easy to create a country, all you have to do is to think of a name for it ~ Robert Stone, #NFDB
687:It's very hard to go to Monument Valley and not think of John Ford's films. ~ Janusz Kaminski, #NFDB
688:Life is a bitch when the only woman you can think of belongs to someone else. ~ Chetan Bhagat, #NFDB
689:Of the two, I would think of my work as closer to Science Fiction than Fantasy. ~ Jean M Auel, #NFDB
690:So many of our problems begin when we start worrying what others think of us. ~ Bryant McGill, #NFDB
691:Think of a hypothesis as a card. A theory is a house made of hypotheses. ~ Marilyn vos Savant, #NFDB
692:Think of all the fine men we should lose is suicide were not so cowardly ~ F Scott Fitzgerald, #NFDB
693:Think of how many mistakes you made at 22 years old. Like, I made a million. ~ Daniel Cudmore, #NFDB
694:Think of me as an impetuous Hegel, drunk with power, and also, regular drunk. ~ Eugene Mirman, #NFDB
695:think of others first by being willing to serve and exhibit kindness and love, ~ Wayne W Dyer, #NFDB
696:Wait. You work for me?" "I prefer to think of it as managing your incompetence. ~ Jim Butcher, #NFDB
697:We tend to think of meditation in only one way. But life itself is a meditation. ~ Raul Julia, #NFDB
698:We think of first love as sweet and valuable, a blessed if hazardous condition. ~ Roger Ebert, #NFDB
699:Whatever evil a man may think of women, there is no woman but thinks more. ~ Nicolas Chamfort, #NFDB
700:You need a window into another world to work out what you think of your own. ~ Naomi Alderman, #NFDB
701:Anyone who can only think of one way to spell a word obviously lacks imagination. ~ Mark Twain, #NFDB
702:Because If you ever think of me in the future I want you to remember me smiling ~ Eiichiro Oda, #NFDB
703:I always try to think of a vocabulary to match different musical situations. ~ Roscoe Mitchell, #NFDB
704:I am willing to release that part of me that irritates me when I think of you. ~ Doreen Virtue, #NFDB
705:I came to think of it as a kind of zen practice: the Zen of not fucking up. ~ Sebastian Junger, #NFDB
706:I can't think of anything more horrible than sharing what I'm doing all day! ~ Renee Zellweger, #NFDB
707:I can't think of anything that I turned down that became big and successful. ~ Christina Ricci, #NFDB
708:I don't consider myself a cynic. I think of myself as a skeptic and a realist. ~ George Carlin, #NFDB
709:I don't dream. Come to think of it, i haven't had any dreams in a long time. ~ Haruki Murakami, #NFDB
710:I do really crazy things all the time, but I can't think of anything offhand ~ Casper Van Dien, #NFDB
711:I like to think of myself less like 'an adult' and more like a 'former fetus.' ~ Anna Kendrick, #NFDB
712:I think of myself as a serious professor who, during the weekend, writes novels. ~ Umberto Eco, #NFDB
713:I think of the Roundabout as my musical theater family here in New York City. ~ Jane Krakowski, #NFDB
714:I think that Van Gogh is really the ultimate crazy artist that we all think of. ~ Ellen Forney, #NFDB
715:It is done. I will think of them no more. I cast them out and I am finished. ~ Madeline Miller, #NFDB
716:I was a woman and did not yet think of myself as a writer. I was a mapmaker. ~ Shay Youngblood, #NFDB
717:Live so when your children think of fairness and integrity they think of you. ~ Dalai Lama XIV, #NFDB
718:Really, I think of fame as distracting; it's something you have to get around. ~ Terry O Quinn, #NFDB
719:The populace may hiss me, but when I go home and think of my money, I applaud myself. ~ Horace, #NFDB
720:Think of the press as a great keyboard
on which the government can play. ~ Joseph Goebbels,#NFDB
721:We knew right off how to think of them but not precisely how to feel about them. ~ Jane Smiley, #NFDB
722:We like to think of life as a constant ... Yet it can be ended in a heartbeat. ~ David Gemmell, #NFDB
723:We may think of ourselves as civilized, but there is always a wildness within. ~ John Matthews, #NFDB
724:What did our mothers think and what do we, as mothers, think of our daughters? ~ Jane Meredith, #NFDB
725:When you think of the debonair, ridiculously good-looking guy, you think of me. ~ Scott Disick, #NFDB
726:Are you sexually active?’ ‘No. I usually just lie back and think of the Spartans. ~ Jodi Taylor, #NFDB
727:Can't think of anything I'd rather do than dine with you under the crystal moon. ~ Rachel Hauck, #NFDB
728:Don't indulge your theories, think of your children and listen to the experts. ~ Stephen Harper, #NFDB
729:I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying. ~ Nelson Mandela, #NFDB
730:I am sorry I cannot think of a compliment to pay you-without lying, that is. ~ George MacDonald, #NFDB
731:I couldn't even think of it as a beginning when Jared had forever been my always. ~ A L Jackson, #NFDB
732:I don’t think of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains. Anne Frank ~ Joyce Meyer, #NFDB
733:I don't think of myself as an American; I see myself as a human being. ~ Terry Tempest Williams, #NFDB
734:I have a tendency to think of myself as the mutt of the litter. I'm not purebred. ~ Sally Field, #NFDB
735:I like to think of The Falls as my own personal encyclopedia Greenaway-ensis. ~ Peter Greenaway, #NFDB
736:I often think of that when I hear people say that they haven't time to read. ~ David McCullough, #NFDB
737:[I read news] because no one's going to tell me what they really think of something. ~ Ed Helms, #NFDB
738:I tend to think of all the songs the same - I give them all kind of equal rights. ~ Jules Shear, #NFDB
739:Its easy to gauge the worth of a man, just ask them what they think of Yoko Ono. ~ Owen Pallett, #NFDB
740:Just think of the work you've set yourself to do, and do it as well as you can. ~ Chinua Achebe, #NFDB
741:Much of the activity we think of as writing is, actually, getting ready to write. ~ Gail Godwin, #NFDB
742:Never worry what other people think of you, because no one ever thinks of you ~ Brian K Vaughan, #NFDB
743:Resolved, when I feel pain, to think of the pains of martyrdom, and of hell. ~ Jonathan Edwards, #NFDB
744:Schopenhauer said: "We seldom think of what we have but always of what we lack. ~ Dale Carnegie, #NFDB
745:Schopenhauer said: “We seldom think of what we have but always of what we lack. ~ Dale Carnegie, #NFDB
746:...she sometimes makes me think of a planet rocketing along in a parallel universe ~ Meg Rosoff, #NFDB
747:The sea which we think of separating the two island actually joins them. ~ Conor Cruise O Brien, #NFDB
748:Well...you're a martyr and I'm a patron saint-I can't think of anyone better! ~ Neal Shusterman, #NFDB
749:We must not think of this merely as a theological or metaphysical question. For ~ Roger Scruton, #NFDB
750:We’ve shown we can do it; now we need to think of how we want to do it. ~ Alexander Osterwalder, #NFDB
751:What do I think of Western civilization? I think it would be a very good idea. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
752:When we are crushed like grapes, we cannot think of the wine we will become. ~ Henri J M Nouwen, #NFDB
753:When you think of Buddhism, you're likely to think of peace and tranquility. ~ Aung San Suu Kyi, #NFDB
754:A love that cannot be requited. I can think of nothing more painful than that. ~ Cassandra Clare, #NFDB
755:Before you cut down the tree, think of the birds that take refuge on it ~ Ernest Agyemang Yeboah, #NFDB
756:But do you ever think of me, when you lie? Lie down in your bed, your bed of lies. ~ Skylar Grey, #NFDB
757:For a thing to remain undone nothing more is needed than to think of it done. ~ Baltasar Gracian, #NFDB
758:I can`t think of an election that is more important, certainly in my lifetime. ~ Hillary Clinton, #NFDB
759:I can't think of another writer who can move me as surreptitiously as Vian does ~ Julio Cortazar, #NFDB
760:I can't think of anything I can't stand the taste of less than brussels sprouts. ~ Michael Welch, #NFDB
761:I don't think of myself as a director or writer. I think of myself as a filmmaker. ~ Conrad Hall, #NFDB
762:I don't think of the note in technical terms. I sing the emotion that I am feeling. ~ Geoff Tate, #NFDB
763:If you can't think of anything nice to say, come sit here beside me. ~ Alice Roosevelt Longworth, #NFDB
764:If you think of a school drawing while you work, your drawing will look like one. ~ Robert Henri, #NFDB
765:I have a mind to think, Lord; help me to think of You and for You. You ~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon, #NFDB
766:I like to think of myself as the middleman between Fred Allen and Henny Youngman. ~ Milton Berle, #NFDB
767:In my own writing, I think of myself as a realist who exaggerates a little. ~ Michel Houellebecq, #NFDB
768:In what we think of as bad dialogue, the characters talk directly to each other. ~ Diane Johnson, #NFDB
769:I shudder to think of that God would do something like that through me. ~ George Frideric Handel, #NFDB
770:I suspect that a lot of studio executives still think of me as 'what's-his-name'. ~ Chris Cooper, #NFDB
771:I think of myself in the oral tradition-as a troubadour, a village tale-teller, ~ Louis L Amour, #NFDB
772:It is bitter to think of one's best years disappearing in this unpolished country. ~ Greta Garbo, #NFDB
773:I was a day late and a dollar short, and every other cliché I could think of. ~ Armand Rosamilia, #NFDB
774:I was doing everything I could think of to protect my husband and keep him alive. ~ Nancy Reagan, #NFDB
775:I was perfectly content before I was born, and I think of death as the same state. ~ Roger Ebert, #NFDB
776:I will insist on a military so powerful no one would ever think of challenging it. ~ Mitt Romney, #NFDB
777:Maybe, just maybe, I don’t want to be someone less than you. You ever think of that? ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
778:Never worry what other people think of you, because no one ever thinks of you. ~ Brian K Vaughan, #NFDB
779:The less people think of you, the more they will reveal to you or in your presence. ~ Lian Hearn, #NFDB
780:The way I think of the psychedelics is, they are catalysts to the imagination. ~ Terence McKenna, #NFDB
781:Think of it. To go down to posterity as a 'man who lived among the cannibals.' ~ Herman Melville, #NFDB
782:Think of me like Yoda, but instead of being little and green I wear suits. ~ Neil Patrick Harris, #NFDB
783:Think of you! I do not think of you; you are always before my soul. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, #NFDB
784:Think of yourself as an insensitive, nitpicking, irritable fool to use the product. ~ Ma Huateng, #NFDB
785:This is Karma. I’m a bitch. Can you think of anyone who deserves a bitch slap? - Kat ~ Jenny Han, #NFDB
786:Wait. You work for me?"
"I prefer to think of it as managing your incompetence. ~ Jim Butcher,#NFDB
787:We are immortal life. Think of the opportunity of self-realization. What a gas! ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
788:We like to think of our character in the same way it is written in our obituaries. ~ Ijeoma Oluo, #NFDB
789:We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible. ~ Vince Lombardi, #NFDB
790:WE WOULD WORRY LESS ABOUT WHAT OTHERS THINK OF US IF WE REALIZED HOW SELDOM THEY DO. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
791:When we think of coconuts or pigs, there are no coconuts or pigs in the brain. ~ Gregory Bateson, #NFDB
792:When we think of memetic culture, it is the sausage factory of the old days. ~ Christopher Poole, #NFDB
793:Who has gone hungry learns to think of the future and of the children. ~ Carolina Maria de Jesus, #NFDB
794:You should feel free to feel how you want and don't think of what people think. ~ Kristen Ashley, #NFDB
795:A conquered nation is like a man with cancer: he can think of nothing else. ~ George Bernard Shaw, #NFDB
796:Attacking People With Disabilities is the Lowest Display of Power I Can Think Of ~ Morgan Freeman, #NFDB
797:Did you ever think of me?"
"Yes, did you ever think of me?"
"All the time. ~ Lauren Gibaldi,#NFDB
798:Don't think of God in terms of forms, because forms are limited and God is unlimited. ~ C S Lewis, #NFDB
799:I can't think of a man more worthy of the presidency then my good friend Sam Nunn. ~ Jimmy Carter, #NFDB
800:I could not think of anything but his fingers on my neck, his thumb on my lips. ~ Tracy Chevalier, #NFDB
801:I don't think of myself as a lion. You might as well, though, I have a mighty roar. ~ Jubal Early, #NFDB
802:I’m a comedian who got into movies, so I don’t really think of myself as an actor. ~ Eddie Murphy, #NFDB
803:I never directly think of certain films. I know I am influenced by all the films I see. ~ Tom Six, #NFDB
804:I often think of a poem as a door that opens into a room where I want to go. ~ Minnie Bruce Pratt, #NFDB
805:I think of myself as no more than 60. What I could do at 60, I can still do now. ~ Oscar Niemeyer, #NFDB
806:It's interesting how young poets think of death while old fogies think of girls. ~ Bohumil Hrabal, #NFDB
807:I've been as bad an influence on American literature as anyone I can think of. ~ Dashiell Hammett, #NFDB
808:I've come to think of Europe as a hardcover book, America as the paperback version. ~ Don DeLillo, #NFDB
809:Often I think of personal behavior and judgment errors as being superficial wounds. ~ Steve Tisch, #NFDB
810:Tak does not require that you think of him, but he does require that you think, ~ Terry Pratchett, #NFDB
811:Take all the hype out of the exercise and think of it as brushing your teeth. ~ Nicole Ari Parker, #NFDB
812:Time enough to think of the future when you haven't any future to think of. ~ George Bernard Shaw, #NFDB
813:To build a road is so much simpler than to think of what the country really needs. ~ Aldo Leopold, #NFDB
814:Why didn’t I think of that?” “Because your dick’s not out to think for you,” Katon ~ Tim Marquitz, #NFDB
815:As I get older, I'm more relaxed and less concerned with what people think of me ~ Natalie Portman, #NFDB
816:Beatrice. We should think of our family. But. But we must also think of ourselves. ~ Veronica Roth, #NFDB
817:Don't think of it as a lie, think of it as the truth under imaginary circumstances. ~ Paul Hoffman, #NFDB
818:Fashion has always been very generous. Think of what it has done for curing AIDS. ~ Franca Sozzani, #NFDB
819:Fathers left distinctive footprints; sons should think of noble footsteps ~ Ernest Agyemang Yeboah, #NFDB
820:I can’t think of anything I want to do more than take you for a ride twice a day.” He ~ Penny Reid, #NFDB
821:I can't think of anything you might say about Irish people that is absolutely true. ~ Anne Enright, #NFDB
822:I do not think of type as something that should be readable. It should be beautiful. ~ Ed Benguiat, #NFDB
823:i keep myself busy with things to do, but everytime i pause i still think of you.. ~ Cecelia Ahern, #NFDB
824:I like to think of multicultural fiction as a flavor rather than a genre of its own. ~ Emlyn Chand, #NFDB
825:I like to think of my son as having an extra puzzle piece rather than missing one. ~ Stuart Duncan, #NFDB
826:Isn’t it interesting how we think of grace as something less than the law? ~ Erwin Raphael McManus, #NFDB
827:I think of myself as a realistic writer, not a creator of soap opera or melodrama. ~ Joyce Maynard, #NFDB
828:I think of myself as a very lazy writer, though other people see it differently. ~ Samuel R Delany, #NFDB
829:I think of myself as being Jewish and Irish, despite the fact that I'm English. ~ Daniel Radcliffe, #NFDB
830:I thought I might have to give up art, but I couldn't think of anything else to do. ~ Bruce Nauman, #NFDB
831:I try to get to those peculiar and particular things that you never think of to say. ~ Carly Simon, #NFDB
832:It's simple to be wise. Just think of something stupid to say and say the opposite. ~ Sam Levenson, #NFDB
833:It was harder to work out that there was a question than to think of the answer. ~ Richard Dawkins, #NFDB
834:Look on the happy side, think of the good things. Hadn't it been clever? Yes, it had. ~ Iain Banks, #NFDB
835:Not to think of yourself / as someone who did not count -- / Festival of the Souls. ~ Matsuo Basho, #NFDB
836:Rincewind tried not to think of World Turtles mating. It wasn't completely easy. ~ Terry Pratchett, #NFDB
837:The only people we can think of as normal are those we don't yet know very well. ~ Alain de Botton, #NFDB
838:Think of your mind as a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it will become. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
839:We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible ~ Vince Lombardi Jr, #NFDB
840:What do you think of the human mind? I mean, in case you think there is a human mind. ~ Mark Twain, #NFDB
841:When you ask people what affects their wellbeing most, they think of health and wealth. ~ Tom Rath, #NFDB
842:You live. And you throw yourself into everything and try not to think of the bruises. ~ Jojo Moyes, #NFDB
843:Can you think of anything worse one can do to anybody than take away their worship? ~ Peter Shaffer, #NFDB
844:Don’t think of online dating as dating—think of it as an online introduction service. ~ Aziz Ansari, #NFDB
845:Humility does not mean to think yourself less, but to less think of yourself. ~ Bhakti Tirtha Swami, #NFDB
846:I don't like to think of laws as rules you have to follow, but more as suggestions. ~ George Carlin, #NFDB
847:If you can’t know the truth,” said Isolde, “live the most awesome lie you can think of. ~ Dan Wells, #NFDB
848:I refuse to be anyone’s survivor because I prefer to think of myself as a winner. ~ Gabourey Sidibe, #NFDB
849:I think being on Weeds, in general, makes it hard to think of me as Nemo anymore. ~ Alexander Gould, #NFDB
850:I think of my best poems as vessels that I can or hope to fill with everything I have. ~ Alex Lemon, #NFDB
851:I think of myself as a funny guy but nobody thinks I'm funnier than my daughters. ~ Jerry O Connell, #NFDB
852:I think of New York as a puree and the rest of the United States as vegetable soup. ~ Spalding Gray, #NFDB
853:I think of Steely Dan as being of its time, and it may be inseparable from its time. ~ Donald Fagen, #NFDB
854:It is better to go skiing and think of God, than go to church and think of sport. ~ Fridtjof Nansen, #NFDB
855:I used to think of you as a villain, but you’re not my villain. You’re your own villain. ~ L J Shen, #NFDB
856:My philosophy is: It's none of my business what people say of me and think of me. ~ Anthony Hopkins, #NFDB
857:Nostalgia is something we think of as fuzzy. But it's pain. Pain concerning the past. ~ Peter Carey, #NFDB
858:Not being able to think of a reply is not the same thing as accepting another's words. ~ Robin Hobb, #NFDB
859:Only the dead can be forgiven; But when I think of that my tongue's a stone. ~ William Butler Yeats, #NFDB
860:She had come to think of the poet as song-maker, not as scholar with her head ~ Linda Wagner Martin, #NFDB
861:The day you stop caring what other people think of you is the day your life begins. ~ Aaron Eckhart, #NFDB
862:The dead don’t think of the living,” Ethan said. “That part of their life is over. ~ Bentley Little, #NFDB
863:The pervert."
"He prefers to think of himself as sexual deviant."
"Semantics. ~ Ilona Andrews,#NFDB
864:This is how we tend to think of democracies dying: at the hands of men with guns. ~ Steven Levitsky, #NFDB
865:Why should I care what other people think of me? I am who I am. And who I wanna be. ~ Avril Lavigne, #NFDB
866:You are not a murderer. I find it difficult to think of that as a personality flaw. ~ Marissa Meyer, #NFDB
867:Your identity is so much more. Think of the people you’ve helped. That’s who you are. ~ Harry Kraus, #NFDB
868:All I could think of was what a privilege it was to give my life away for love's sake. ~ Heidi Baker, #NFDB
869:All I could think of was what a privilege it was to give my life away for love’s sake. ~ Heidi Baker, #NFDB
870:And he wrote, "When the moon rises tonight think of me and I'll think of you. ~ Lucy Maud Montgomery, #NFDB
871:Come to think of [a handsome young carpenter], Harrison Ford used to be a carpenter. ~ Carrie Fisher, #NFDB
872:he now began to think of the church as called by God to “stand with those who suffer. ~ Eric Metaxas, #NFDB
873:I can't think of a greater legacy than, "Because you lived, another species survived." ~ Paul Watson, #NFDB
874:I can't think of anyone who has done anything remotely useful after the age of 80. ~ Peter Greenaway, #NFDB
875:I didn't go out of my way to get into this movie stuff. I think of myself as a writer. ~ Sam Shepard, #NFDB
876:I don't think of myself as anyone special, and I would not know how to define myself. ~ Rei Kawakubo, #NFDB
877:If you can't think of an enlightened person positively, don't think of them at all. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
878:I like to think of myself as a positive person. Otherwise I wouldn't have had a child. ~ Grace Jones, #NFDB
879:I like to think of myself as 'hot-larious' I'm cute, but I'm totally approachable. ~ Sarah Silverman, #NFDB
880:I never think of the completed film, rather the adventure of what I'm about to live. ~ Jean Dujardin, #NFDB
881:In my opinion, our downfall began when we started to think of ourselves as ‘individuals’. ~ Ruby Wax, #NFDB
882:I think of myself as an explorer who has spent his life on a long voyage of discovery. ~ Paul Strand, #NFDB
883:It is on December nights, with the thermometer at zero, that we most think of the sun. ~ Victor Hugo, #NFDB
884:It’s not hard. You just need to think of what you have instead of what you don’t. ~ Ruth Ann Nordin, #NFDB
885:My friend, let's not think of tomorrow, but let's enjoy this fleeting moment of life. ~ Omar Khayyam, #NFDB
886:My ultimate goal is to drive people back to the books, when I think of an adaptation. ~ Lev Grossman, #NFDB
887:Never think of pain or danger or enemies a moment longer than is necessary to fight them. ~ Ayn Rand, #NFDB
888:So think of the American Great Plains as one more reminder that we can find home again. ~ Dan Flores, #NFDB
889:Terrorism is everywhere. You think of the tribal terrorism of some African countries. ~ Pope Francis, #NFDB
890:They had this large, cluttered room—come to think of it, they called it the war room. ~ John Grisham, #NFDB
891:think of nothing that happens as either good or bad. Stop judging, and stop expecting. ~ Leo Babauta, #NFDB
892:We don't come here for our health. We can think of other ways of enjoying ourselves. ~ Prince Philip, #NFDB
893:What we like to think of ourselves and what we really are rarely have much in common, ~ Stephen King, #NFDB
894:What we like to think of ourselves and what we really are rarely have much in common. ~ Stephen King, #NFDB
895:When I go to bed at night and I think of humanity at large, I think of all those things. ~ Sean Penn, #NFDB
896:When you reduce a woman to writing, she makes you think of a thousand other women ~ Gustave Flaubert, #NFDB
897:Yes, I still think of him as that, call him that. It's as real as any of his other names. ~ Mal Peet, #NFDB
898:You think of beauty only as a blessing, Majesty, but it brings its own punishments. ~ Erika Johansen, #NFDB
899:And everyone still swore the rose candies made them think of their first loves. ~ Sarah Addison Allen, #NFDB
900:And here I still think of you as the woman I loved more than I’ve ever loved anyone ~ Kristan Higgins, #NFDB
901:An unwillingness to accept risk has swamped more leaders than anything I can think of. ~ Andy Stanley, #NFDB
902:A writer's occupational hazard: I think of eavesdropping as minding my business. ~ Barbara Kingsolver, #NFDB
903:Cocaine made me talk forever. The most nonsensical rubbish that you could ever think of. ~ Elton John, #NFDB
904:Dying men think of funny things-and that's what we all are here, aren't we? Dying men. ~ Tad Williams, #NFDB
905:For every sad thing you think of, you should think of three happy things to chase it away. ~ Zoe Sugg, #NFDB
906:He peopled my young mind with unclean images, such as only a vile monster could think of. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
907:I can’t think of a single thing more important than driving around a woman who loves me. ~ Penny Reid, #NFDB
908:I don't know what it is about me, but I don't think of myself as sexy; I never have. ~ Tamsin Egerton, #NFDB
909:I don't know [what things are forever]. Friendship. I can think of lots of things. ~ Robert Pattinson, #NFDB
910:I don't really think of myself as quirky; I have sort of an unusual sense of humor. ~ Kyle MacLachlan, #NFDB
911:I don't think of myself as a grading barometer and I doubt if any climber could be one. ~ Fred Nicole, #NFDB
912:I don't think of the ashram world as being any more spiritual than the corporate world. ~ Karan Bajaj, #NFDB
913:I don’t think of work as work and play as play. It’s all living. —SIR RICHARD BRANSON ~ Carmine Gallo, #NFDB
914:If you think of love, you see the beauty.
If you feel love, you are the beauty itself. ~ Toba Beta,#NFDB
915:I'm a guitar player. Actually, I think of myself as a songwriter/rhythm-guitar player. ~ Rick Nielsen, #NFDB
916:Is listening important? I can't think of a single walk of life where it wouldn't be. ~ Morgan Freeman, #NFDB
917:I think a lot of people are afraid of being happy because of what others might think of it. ~ Rihanna, #NFDB
918:I think of my photographs as being obviously symbolic, but not symbolically obvious. ~ Jerry Uelsmann, #NFDB
919:It's so simple to be wise. Just think of something stupid to say and say the opposite. ~ Sam Levenson, #NFDB
920:I've always wanted to act and I can't think of anything else I'd want to do, honestly. ~ Alanna Ubach, #NFDB
921:Only mothers can think of the future - because they give birth to it in their children. ~ Maxim Gorky, #NFDB
922:On Twitter at last, and can't think of a thing to say. Some writer I turned out to be. ~ Stephen King, #NFDB
923:There’s nothing worth less than what men think of you after you’re back in the mud. ~ Joe Abercrombie, #NFDB
924:The world is what YOU think of it, so think of it DIFFERENTLY and your life will change. ~ Paul Arden, #NFDB
925:Think of it as a parallel universe. But maybe it’s the real one, and we’re in a dream. ~ Joe Haldeman, #NFDB
926:We can think of wisdom as the ability to get the important things approximately right. ~ Nick Bostrom, #NFDB
927:What people think of as the moment of discovery is really the discovery of the question. ~ Jonas Salk, #NFDB
928:What you think of as the past is a memory trace, stored in the mind, of a former Now. ~ Eckhart Tolle, #NFDB
929:When I’m with You, I Think of All the Great Things I Could Be If I Were Without You. ~ Colleen Hoover, #NFDB
930:When I'm with you, I think of all the great things I could be if I were without you. ~ Colleen Hoover, #NFDB
931:When I think of 'influence', I think of 'influenza', like somebody's picked up a germ. ~ Tom Verlaine, #NFDB
932:Which animal do you see when you hold me and close your eyes and think of animals? ~ Bernhard Schlink, #NFDB
933:You think of yourselves as human beings, but I think of you as 99 percent bacterial. ~ Bonnie Bassler, #NFDB
934:A girl likes to be crossed a little in love now and then.
It is something to think of ~ Jane Austen,#NFDB
935:a light that made me think of long hours in dusty libraries, and old books, and silence. ~ Donna Tartt, #NFDB
936:He’s summertime and his kisses warm sunlight. He makes me think of popsicles and laughter. ~ Mia Asher, #NFDB
937:I am sure there are things that can't be cured by a good bath but I can't think of one. ~ Sylvia Plath, #NFDB
938:I can think of plenty of writers whose work I revere and whose lives I know little about. ~ Brad Listi, #NFDB
939:I couldn't think of anything less appealing than molding the minds of tomorrow's leaders. ~ Al Franken, #NFDB
940:I don't consciously think of how parenthood has changed me but I'm sure it must have. ~ Cate Blanchett, #NFDB
941:I don't like the word 'alcoholic'. I like to think of myself as an advanced drinker. ~ Chelsea Handler, #NFDB
942:I don't think being an athlete is unfeminine. I think of it as a kind of grace. ~ Jackie Joyner Kersee, #NFDB
943:If God is incomprehensible to man, it would seem rational never to think of Him at all. ~ Jean Meslier, #NFDB
944:I look at him [son Eric] and I think of my dad all the time.... I was born to be a dad. ~ Simon Cowell, #NFDB
945:I still think of my mum as being kind of a dork - a cooler one, but still a dork. ~ Georgia May Jagger, #NFDB
946:I tend to think of writing as a more collaborative project than I think some people do. ~ Emily Barton, #NFDB
947:It frightens him to think of her this way. It makes her seem, in terms of love, so vast. ~ John Updike, #NFDB
948:I think of the Catholic worker movement and Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin and others. ~ Shane Claiborne, #NFDB
949:It is hard to think of another composer who so perfectly marries form and passion. ~ Leonard Bernstein, #NFDB
950:It is the man who can think of no alternative to his enslavement who is truly a slave. ~ Wendell Berry, #NFDB
951:It's hard to think of a 16-month child being anything other than a delight to be around. ~ Gerry Adams, #NFDB
952:It’s mighty hard right now to think of anything that’s precious that isn’t endangered. ~ Wendell Berry, #NFDB
953:Perceptions are key. Your representation to society dictates what people think of you. ~ Jessica Brody, #NFDB
954:Psychopaths only think of their own needs and how to manipulate others to attain them. ~ Melinda Leigh, #NFDB
955:Sometimes when I think of life, I feel like a piece of driftwood washed up on shore. ~ Haruki Murakami, #NFDB
956:The more I think of it, the more I realize there are no answers. Life is to be lived. ~ Marilyn Monroe, #NFDB
957:The only part of an argument that really matters is what we think of the people arguing. ~ Kim Stanley, #NFDB
958:There are many things one can think of when one needs someone to vent one’s wrath on. ~ sne Seierstad, #NFDB
959:There are some actors who are my contemporaries who I think of as purebreds and I'm not. ~ Sally Field, #NFDB
960:There's a thousand reasons why I shouldn't drink... but I can't think of one right now. ~ Shemp Howard, #NFDB
961:think of nothing that happens as either good or bad. Stop judging, and stop expecting. ~ Leo Babauta, #NFDB
962:To determine not to think of it was but to think of it still, to suffer from it still. ~ Marcel Proust, #NFDB
963:We just want her to know that we miss her, and we think of her, and she was special. ~ Stephen Chbosky, #NFDB
964:What would a nontoxic god think of your creative goals? Might such a god really exist? ~ Julia Cameron, #NFDB
965:What you think about yourself is much more important than what others think of you. ~ Seneca the Elder, #NFDB
966:What you think of Jesus Christ Will thoroughly color how you think about everything else. ~ Max Lucado, #NFDB
967:When we think of other people as our center and fulfillment, we live frustrated lives. ~ Mary E DeMuth, #NFDB
968:Because I couldn't think of anything nonprofane to say at that moment, I said nothing. ~ Rebecca Makkai, #NFDB
969:Confound my genteel upbringing! I could not think of any name foul enough to call him. ~ Nancy Springer, #NFDB
970:Every big company and brand that you can think of has indulged in imaginative storytelling. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
971:Experts say men think of sex every 10 seconds... What do they think of in the other nine? ~ Clive James, #NFDB
972:His eyes made her think of water at night—full of mysteries and hints, revealing little. ~ Eileen Wilks, #NFDB
973:Humility does not mean you think less of yourself. It means you think of yourself less. ~ Ken Blanchard, #NFDB
974:I cannot think of the results of your labors without shame at the little we do. ~ Saint Vincent de Paul, #NFDB
975:I can think of no one more qualified to write about the modern South than Curtis Wilkie ~ Willie Morris, #NFDB
976:I didn't think of rap with that type of south feel and that look and the hay and all that. ~ Kool Keith, #NFDB
977:I don't think of myself as a policy expert. I think education is the most important thing. ~ Jenna Bush, #NFDB
978:I don't think of the past. The only thing that matters is the everlasting present. ~ W Somerset Maugham, #NFDB
979:If he couldn't be alone, then he couldn't think of anyone he'd rather have irritating him. ~ John Marco, #NFDB
980:If you think of music as a universal language, it still has some very powerful dialects. ~ Jerry Garcia, #NFDB
981:I'm not going to get an Oscar at 30 - that's done. So I'll think of something else. ~ Shirley Henderson, #NFDB
982:I relax completely when I'm at rest. I don't think of numbers; I don't think of work. ~ Shakuntala Devi, #NFDB
983:I think of myself as a singer. The acting is just something I have to do between songs. ~ Deanna Durbin, #NFDB
984:It seemed absurd even to think of it, foolish and improbable as a dream is by dinner. ~ Madeline Miller, #NFDB
985:Most of all, I hate you because I think of you. Often. It's disgusting, and I can't stop. ~ Holly Black, #NFDB
986:Most of all, I hate you because I think of you. Often. It’s disgusting, and I can’t stop. ~ Holly Black, #NFDB
987:Sometimes I think of myself as a savior of the lost, a caretaker to the found. ~ Shaun David Hutchinson, #NFDB
988:Take a deep breath and think of the three things you are grateful for, right in this moment. ~ M J Ryan, #NFDB
989:Think of all the hate there is in Red China, then take a look around to Selma, Alabama. ~ Barry McGuire, #NFDB
990:think of daily life as an ever-moving three-dimensional painting with you as the artist, ~ Jane Roberts, #NFDB
991:Think of things not as they are, but as they might be. Don't merely dream- but create. ~ Robert Collier, #NFDB
992:We still think of a powerful man as a born leader and a powerful woman as an anomaly. ~ Margaret Atwood, #NFDB
993:What other people think of you has nothing to do with you and everything to do with them. ~ Jen Sincero, #NFDB
994:What we like to think of ourselves and what we really are rarely have much in common.... ~ Stephen King, #NFDB
995:When I think of folk music, I think of topical songs. And I don't write topical songs. ~ Ray LaMontagne, #NFDB
996:When you look in the mirror and cringe as a result of how people think of you, it is ego. ~ Laura Bates, #NFDB
997:"A flower does not think of competing to the flower next to it. It just blooms." ~ Sensei Ogui, Zen Shin, #NFDB
998:Extra-marital sex is as overrated as pre-marital sex. And marital sex, come to think of it. ~ Simon Gray, #NFDB
999:fiction is founded on truth....unless things did happen,people couldn't think of them. ~ Agatha Christie, #NFDB
1000:I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection. ~ Sigmund Freud, #NFDB
1001:I have to think of moderation, which is not a word that's in my vocabulary. But I try. ~ Pamela Anderson, #NFDB
1002:I like to think of it less as embezzling and more as an involuntary goodwill contribution. ~ Jim Butcher, #NFDB
1003:I like to think of myself as a character actor, though there's some redundancy in that... ~ Jeff Bridges, #NFDB
1004:Imagine smiling after a slap in the face. Then think of doing it twenty-four hours a day. ~ Markus Zusak, #NFDB
1005:I'm trying to think of what I'm ashamed of. But, damn, I don't really have any shame. ~ Leighton Meester, #NFDB
1006:I never think of poetry or the poetry scene, only separate poems written by individuals. ~ Philip Larkin, #NFDB
1007:I think everyone is wounded in their sex,” I said. “I can’t think of one person who isn’t. ~ Andr Aciman, #NFDB
1008:I think of myself as a writer who happens to be doing his writing as an anthropologist ~ Clifford Geertz, #NFDB
1009:It is a damn poor mind indeed which can't think of at least two ways to spell any word. ~ Andrew Johnson, #NFDB
1010:It is always consoling to think of suicide; it’s what gets one through many a bad night. ~ Gillian Flynn, #NFDB
1011:It seems like only the real good stuff comes to mind. I don't think of all the tragedies. ~ Gregg Allman, #NFDB
1012:Live so that when your children think of fairness and integrity, they think of you. ~ H Jackson Brown Jr, #NFDB
1013:Most people plan by disaster. They think of what can go wrong and then they master it. ~ Richard Bandler, #NFDB
1014:Never to have to think of yourself as white is a luxory that makes you deeply stupid. ~ Leonard Michaels, #NFDB
1015:People with humility don't think less of themselves, they just think of themselves less. ~ Ken Blanchard, #NFDB
1016:Sydney! Stop. Think of something else. Conjugate Latin verbs. Recite the periodic table. ~ Richelle Mead, #NFDB
1017:Think of Instagram. Journalism will continue to exist, but communication is now visual. ~ Franca Sozzani, #NFDB
1018:Think of what we could accomplish if we were not focused on murdering each other. ~ Cinda Williams Chima, #NFDB
1019:Think of writing on a consistent basis as something that you get a pass/fail grade on. ~ Monica Leonelle, #NFDB
1020:Try to think of writing as a gift - more complexly put: it is the curse and the cure. ~ Julianna Baggott, #NFDB
1021:We can't think of changing our skin color. Change the world - that's how we gotta think. ~ Sue Monk Kidd, #NFDB
1022:When I think of flavours, I think colour, so lemon should be yellow and orange is orange. ~ Dylan Lauren, #NFDB
1023:who could think of nothing more embarrassing than being anywhere without an invitation) he ~ Neil Gaiman, #NFDB
1024:You suffer because you try to fulfill yourself. You think of yourself in a limited way. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
1025:you talk too much
he whispers into my ear
i can think of better ways to use that mouth ~ Rupi Kaur,#NFDB
1026:0880For every sad thing you think of, you should think of three happy things to chase it away. ~ Zoe Sugg, #NFDB
1027:But there is this peculiarity about heat: it appears to affect only those that think of it. ~ R K Narayan, #NFDB
1028:fiction is founded on truth... unless things did happen, people couldn't think of them. ~ Agatha Christie, #NFDB
1029:He made me think of home—perhaps home is not a place but simply an irrevocable condition. ~ James Baldwin, #NFDB
1030:I always like to think of the audience when I am directing. Because I am the audience. ~ Steven Spielberg, #NFDB
1031:I don’t want to think of you having to spend a lifetime with someone who doesn’t deserve you. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1032:If you think of music as a language, the space part is where you throw out all the syntax. ~ Jerry Garcia, #NFDB
1033:I never think of my age, never. I could be 20 or 100. I never think about it, I'm just me. ~ Jack LaLanne, #NFDB
1034:I see my face in the mirror and go, 'I'm a Halloween costume? That's what they think of me?' ~ Drew Carey, #NFDB
1035:I sometimes think of people’s personalities as the negative space around their insecurities. ~ Lindy West, #NFDB
1036:I think of a designer as a processor of information — like a scriptwriter or a novelist. ~ Freeman Thomas, #NFDB
1037:I think of love, and you, and my heart grows full and warm, and my breath stands still. ~ Emily Dickinson, #NFDB
1038:I think of the amazing things that were going on. So it's so rich. The doors keep opening. ~ Anne Waldman, #NFDB
1039:It is tragic that many in America think of us - Christians - as being people who hate others. ~ Anne Rice, #NFDB
1040:I want people to think of Hawaii and think of palm trees and magical islands and Bruno Mars. ~ Bruno Mars, #NFDB
1041:People with humility don’t think less of themselves; they just think of themselves less. ~ John C Maxwell, #NFDB
1042:Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and angels know of us. ~ Thomas Paine, #NFDB
1043:(...) so that I could only be near you, and get glimpses of you, and think of you as mine. ~ Thomas Hardy, #NFDB
1044:Think of a rainbow. It's one arc of light, but also seven differently colored arcs of light. ~ John Green, #NFDB
1045:Think of Frank Capra and Preston Sturges. They used the same actors over and over again. ~ Matthew Modine, #NFDB
1046:Think of the poorest person you know and see if your next act will be of any use to him. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
1047:Thus we might think of consciousness as intentionally ordered information. This ~ Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, #NFDB
1048:To think of your creations in terms of better or worse- big mistake. They are your children. ~ Jay Sankey, #NFDB
1049:We may prefer to think of ourselves as fallen angels, but in reality we are rising apes. ~ Desmond Morris, #NFDB
1050:When you get older you think of sadness in a different way. You don't judge it so harshly. ~ Lori Lansens, #NFDB
1051:When you think of what you are, and despair; think also of what He is, and take heart. ~ Charles Spurgeon, #NFDB
1052:You cannot really shame a man who sincerely does not care what others think of him. ~ Mokokoma Mokhonoana, #NFDB
1053:A lot of people dont think of my work as being all that funny, but I think its hilarious! ~ Fred Tomaselli, #NFDB
1054:Do not let what you think they think of you make you stop and question everything you are. ~ Carrie Fisher, #NFDB
1055:Don't care what people gonna think of you, do what you wanna do and seek just your happiness. ~ Katy Perry, #NFDB
1056:Don’t ever worry what the boys who don’t appreciate originality think of you. They’re fools. ~ Cat Winters, #NFDB
1057:DON’T THINK OF IT AS DYING, said Death, JUST THINK OF IT AS LEAVING EARLY TO AVOID THE RUSH. ~ Neil Gaiman, #NFDB
1058:Don't think of it as losing a boyfriend. Think of it as gaining a stalker."
-Dan Cahill ~ Gordon Korman,#NFDB
1059:Do you, like Hector, think of your family above all and weaken your resolve by doing that? ~ Adam Nicolson, #NFDB
1060:Even when I write a song, lots of times I think - I wonder what my dad would think of this song. ~ SonReal, #NFDB
1061:He considered using the time to think, but he couldn't think of anything to think about. ~ Haruki Murakami, #NFDB
1062:I always think of myself not so much as a painter but as a medium for accident and chance. ~ Francis Bacon, #NFDB
1063:I can think of a lot of things to do," he said, "and none of them involve standing up. - Al ~ Kim Harrison, #NFDB
1064:I don't really see the point in making a film unless you can think of a good reason to do it. ~ Ben Barnes, #NFDB
1065:I don't think of myself as unbreakable. Perhaps I'm just rather flexible and adaptable. ~ Aung San Suu Kyi, #NFDB
1066:If you don't get everything you want, think of the things you don't get that you don't want. ~ Oscar Wilde, #NFDB
1067:I have begun to think of life as a series of ripples widening out from an original center. ~ Seamus Heaney, #NFDB
1068:I hope people think of me as a bit older. I do have a beard. That makes me look very old. ~ Jack Whitehall, #NFDB
1069:Instead of thinking of you working for Microsoft, think of how Microsoft can work for you. ~ Satya Nadella, #NFDB
1070:I often plagiarize from myself. I like to think of this as ecological journalism: I recycle. ~ Molly Ivins, #NFDB
1071:I think of how and why and what happened and the thoughts come easily, but the answers don't. ~ James Frey, #NFDB
1072:I think of L.A. as truly the melting pot. It’s basically a mini country unto itself. ~ Patrick Soon Shiong, #NFDB
1073:I think of my peace paintings as one long poem, with each painting being a single stanza. ~ Robert Indiana, #NFDB
1074:I think of reading a book as no less an experience than travelling or falling in love. ~ Jorge Luis Borges, #NFDB
1075:It is better to think of church in the ale-house than to think of the ale-house in church. ~ Martin Luther, #NFDB
1076:I tried to think of something to say. Excuse me? Hello? Marry me? Anything would have done. ~ Rick Riordan, #NFDB
1077:Madness is to think of too many things in succession too fast, or of one thing too exclusively. ~ Voltaire, #NFDB
1078:Men who don’t care about what the other men think of them aren’t dependable or trustworthy. ~ Jack Donovan, #NFDB
1079:Motto for a research laboratory: what we work on today, others will first think of tomorrow. ~ Alan Perlis, #NFDB
1080:My curiosity is not a choice. It's always been part of me. I think of it as a vital organ. ~ Lizz Winstead, #NFDB
1081:Next time you think of me like that , say my name when you come. It'll get you off even better. ~ J R Ward, #NFDB
1082:No matter what your choices are, you truly have no control about what people think of you. ~ Neve Campbell, #NFDB
1083:One can't live on love alone; and I am so stupid that I can do nothing but think of him. ~ Sophia Tolstaya, #NFDB
1084:People in Britain always think of 'Jesus Christ Superstar' as a musical - it wasn't. ~ Andrew Lloyd Webber, #NFDB
1085:The more we simplify our material needs the more we are free to think of other things. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt, #NFDB
1086:The shortest feedback loop I can think of is doing improvisation in front of an audience. ~ Demetri Martin, #NFDB
1087:They say that God is everywhere and yet we always think of him as somewhat of a recluse. ~ Emily Dickinson, #NFDB
1088:Think of many things. Never place your happiness in one person's power. Be just to yourself. ~ Vikram Seth, #NFDB
1089:Think of mission like the paddles of a defibrillator applied to the chest of a dying church. ~ Alan Hirsch, #NFDB
1090:think of sex as the vital antagonist to death—isn’t the orgasm the primal spark of life? I ~ Irvin D Yalom, #NFDB
1091:Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now take what’s left and live it properly ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1092:Were you always this much trouble?"
"I like to think of myself as delightfully complex. ~ Leigh Bardugo,#NFDB
1093:When I think of all the books still left for me to read, I am certain of further happiness. ~ Jules Renard, #NFDB
1094:When I think of grass I think of something to walk on, pot as something to put a plant in. ~ Judy Woodruff, #NFDB
1095:When you get older, you think of sadness in a different way. You don't judge it so harshly. ~ Lori Lansens, #NFDB
1096:You may forget but
let me tell you
this: someone in
some future time
will think of us ~ Sappho,#NFDB
1097:Be soft in your practice. Think of the method as a fine silvery stream, not a raging waterfall. ~ Sheng yen, #NFDB
1098:Christian, beware how you think of sin. Take heed lest you fall little by little. ~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon, #NFDB
1099:Don’t think of me too often. I don’t want to think of you getting all maudlin. Just live well. ~ Jojo Moyes, #NFDB
1100:Good people can't out-think evil, cause evil thinks of things good folks can't think of. ~ Orson Scott Card, #NFDB
1101:Green is a process, not a status. We need to think of 'green' as a verb, not an adjective. ~ Daniel Goleman, #NFDB
1102:He gave the tiniest of smiles and it made me want to think of ways to see it more often. ~ Christina Garner, #NFDB
1103:I am terribly shy, but of course no one believes me. Come to think of it, neither would I. ~ Carol Channing, #NFDB
1104:I am trying not to think of what will happen next.
I am trying not to think of endings. ~ David Levithan,#NFDB
1105:I blush to think of her beholding my work," Verl confessed.
So do we," Newel assured him. ~ Brandon Mull,#NFDB
1106:I don't have anything to prove anymore. What other people think of me is not my business. ~ Jessica Simpson, #NFDB
1107:I don't think of Maria Schneider like idol anymore, because I worshipped her when I was young. ~ Nan Goldin, #NFDB
1108:If you want to be miserable, think of yourself. If you want to be happy, think of others. ~ Sakyong Mipham, #NFDB
1109:I like that you think of me as yours to be stolen. I'm already under your skin, Mia Page. ~ C J Fallowfield, #NFDB
1110:I like to think of myself as being fashion-conscious without being a slave to fashion. ~ Anni Frid Lyngstad, #NFDB
1111:I like to think of myself as the girl that no one can get, that no one can keep in their hand ~ Miley Cyrus, #NFDB
1112:I'll be a Winterborne," Helen said calmly. "They should worry about that I'll think of them. ~ Lisa Kleypas, #NFDB
1113:in now, whenever I think of something.” She smiled and he smiled and they went back into ~ Michael Connelly, #NFDB
1114:I think of drug dealers like I think of my father— never really there when you want them to be. ~ Kris Kidd, #NFDB
1115:It is always consoling to think of suicide;
it's what gets one through many a bad night. ~ Gillian Flynn,#NFDB
1116:It's a lot easier to think of an app and write it than it is to convince people to want it. ~ Steve Wozniak, #NFDB
1117:I've never really been the type of person who worries much about what people think of me. ~ Stephen Baldwin, #NFDB
1118:Most artists like to think of themselves as rugged individualists, as independent characters. ~ Jack Levine, #NFDB
1119:Most people think of success in terms of getting; success, however, begins in terms of giving. ~ Henry Ford, #NFDB
1120:Sally...can no longer think of love as a reality, or even as a possibility, however remote. ~ Alice Hoffman, #NFDB
1121:Start a huge, foolish project, like Noah…it makes absolutely no difference what people think of you. ~ Rumi, #NFDB
1122:There are many vampires in the world today - you only have to think of the film business. ~ Christopher Lee, #NFDB
1123:They say that God is everywhere, and yet we always think of Him as somewhat of a recluse. ~ Emily Dickinson, #NFDB
1124:Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that. ~ George Carlin, #NFDB
1125:think of nothing that happens as either good or bad. Stop judging, and stop expecting. It’s ~ Leo Babauta, #NFDB
1126:Think of something finite molded into the infinite, and you think of man. ~ Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel, #NFDB
1127:Think of the funniest story from your life. Chances are, it was something awful at the time. ~ Gina Barreca, #NFDB
1128:This is a matter of freedom, not price, so think of ‘free speech,’ not ‘free beer.’ ” For ~ Walter Isaacson, #NFDB
1129:Vengeance to God alone belongs; But, when I think of all my wrongs My blood is liquid flame! ~ Walter Scott, #NFDB
1130:When you think of the woman's power, you forget the power of the woman's God. I shall go on. ~ Mary Slessor, #NFDB
1131:Write, write, & write some more. Think of writing as a muscle that needs lots of exercise. ~ Jane Yolen, #NFDB
1132:Yes, I sounded like a pathetic weenie. I prefer to think of it as showing my softer side. ~ James Patterson, #NFDB
1133:You know, sloth is a sin," he says softly.
"I prefer to think of it as an adorable animal. ~ Ella James,#NFDB
1134:You'll like LA a little better once we're outside. Think of New Jersey with palm trees. ~ Richard Stevenson, #NFDB
1135:You might not think of me as your friend,' Kestrel told Arin, 'but I think of you as mine. ~ Marie Rutkoski, #NFDB
1136:You must think of neither victory nor of defeat, but only of cutting and killing your enemy. ~ Barry Eisler, #NFDB
1137:Artists should never think of themselves as an idol. Fame is a side effect of one's work. ~ Marina Abramovic, #NFDB
1138:Everything has been thought of before, but the problem is to think of it again. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, #NFDB
1139:I did the only thing I could think of to get him to stop talking. I leaned over and kissed him. ~ J S Cooper, #NFDB
1140:I don’t understand how people can believe in God, even when I myself think of him everyday. ~ Emile M Cioran, #NFDB
1141:If your identity is found in Christ, then it matters less and less what people think of you. ~ Leonard Sweet, #NFDB
1142:If you think of something, do it. Plenty of people often think, “I’d like to do this, or that. ~ Lydia Davis, #NFDB
1143:I haven't had a family, but I don't think of that as a sacrifice: my dancers are my family. ~ Judith Jamison, #NFDB
1144:I like to think of myself as the girl that no one can get, that no one can keep in their hand. ~ Miley Cyrus, #NFDB
1145:I never tell the audience what to think of me. When I talk, how you consume it is up to you. ~ Colin Cowherd, #NFDB
1146:I personally can't think of anything less sacrosanct than a bad book or even a mediocre book. ~ Helene Hanff, #NFDB
1147:I think of success as reaching beyond ourselves and helping other people in specific ways. ~ Benjamin Carson, #NFDB
1148:It is difficult to think of diversity as a strength when Old Glory is treated as gang colors. ~ Jared Taylor, #NFDB
1149:I tried not to think of this as an omen, but unwelcome thoughts enter my head all the time. ~ Abigail Thomas, #NFDB
1150:I wish I could think of a positive point to leave you with. Will you take two negative points? ~ Woody Allen, #NFDB
1151:Many women are so gripped with fear over the loss of a man that they think of him constantly. ~ Sherry Argov, #NFDB
1152:Most people think of leadership as a position and therefore don't see themselves as leaders. ~ Stephen Covey, #NFDB
1153:Normally when I'm writing, in the beginning I don't think of lyrics at all. I'm just improvising. ~ St Lucia, #NFDB
1154:Now- I don't know what you think of when I say dragon. Whatever it is- it's not scary enough. ~ Rick Riordan, #NFDB
1155:One should not think of embracing another religion before one had fully understand his own. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
1156:Only men would think of cutting themselves to determine who the packleader is. Idiots. ~ Christopher Paolini, #NFDB
1157:Plans must be made for men. We cannot think of making men, and binding nature to our designs. ~ Edmund Burke, #NFDB
1158:Poetry is play. I'd even rather have you think of it as a sport. For instance, like football. ~ Robert Frost, #NFDB
1159:Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves; vanity to what we would have others think of us. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1160:Say to Yourself when Someone Else is Criticizing U, 'What U Think of Me is None of My Business' ~ Wayne Dyer, #NFDB
1161:The people who think of themselves as White have the choice of becoming human or irrelevant. ~ James Baldwin, #NFDB
1162:Think of something that you can do as opposed to all the things you can't do - and do that. ~ Kathleen Hanna, #NFDB
1163:Think of the egotism of a man who believes that an infinite being wants his praise! ~ Robert Green Ingersoll, #NFDB
1164:Think of things not as they are, but as they might be... Don't merely dream... but create.. ~ Robert Collier, #NFDB
1165:What wealth is it to have such friends that we cannot think of them without elevation! ~ Henry David Thoreau, #NFDB
1166:Whenever you see the words "fat free" or "low-fat," think of the words "chemical shit storm. ~ Rory Freedman, #NFDB
1167:When I am in the darkness, I want to think of it in the light, with you. - James Carstairs ~ Cassandra Clare, #NFDB
1168:When you see a good man, think of emulating him; when you see a bad man, examine your own heart. ~ Confucius, #NFDB
1169:Women are brought up to think of others. [...] When I start to think of myself I feel sick. ~ Hanif Kureishi, #NFDB
1170:You can’t be close to the mortality of friends without being brought to think of your own. ~ Wallace Stegner, #NFDB
1171:Always think of what is useful and not what is beautiful. Beauty will come of its own accord. ~ Nikolai Gogol, #NFDB
1172:And think of our poor doctor, all alone among them damned trees – why, there might be owls. ~ Patrick O Brian, #NFDB
1173:Children forget that sometimes. They think of themselves as a burden instead of a wish granted. ~ Mitch Albom, #NFDB
1174:Christmas moves us to think of others rather than of ourselves & directs our thoughts to giving. ~ B C Forbes, #NFDB
1175:Come on! Think of Miandad hitting that six off Sharma. If he could do that, you can do this. ~ Kamila Shamsie, #NFDB
1176:Do not even think of putting your things away until you have finished the process of discarding. ~ Marie Kond, #NFDB
1177:Don’t think of me as a librarian. Think of me as a mad scientist; this is my secret laboratory. ~ Kami Garcia, #NFDB
1178:I am not a person of nature. I love to think of myself as one, but I've never even gone camping. ~ Mila Kunis, #NFDB
1179:I can't think of any better representation of beauty than someone who is unafraid to be herself. ~ Emma Stone, #NFDB
1180:I couldn't think of one clever way to stop this guy, so I just trusted to mindless violence. ~ Grant Morrison, #NFDB
1181:I don't think of literature as an end in itself. It's just a way of communicating something. ~ Isabel Allende, #NFDB
1182:If you think of the King James Bible as the greatest creation of seventeenth-century England, ~ Adam Nicolson, #NFDB
1183:I have short-term memory loss, though I'd like to think of it as Persidential eligibility. ~ Paula Poundstone, #NFDB
1184:I like to think of making cancer a chronic disease rather than focus just on curing cancer. ~ Laurie Glimcher, #NFDB
1185:In a nutshell, when life is pleasant, think of others. When life is a burden, think of others. ~ Pema Ch dr n, #NFDB
1186:In a nutshell, when life is pleasant, think of others. When life is a burden, think of others. ~ Pema Chodron, #NFDB
1187:Indeed, now I come to think of it, nearly everything in the world is relevant to my situation. ~ Iris Murdoch, #NFDB
1188:Instead of harboring fear and suspicion we need to think of other people not as ‘them’ but ‘us’. ~ Dalai Lama, #NFDB
1189:I think of myself as writing for one person, that one perfect reader who understands and loves. ~ Anne Sexton, #NFDB
1190:I want them to bite into a cookie, and think of me, and smile. Food is love. Food has a power. ~ Jael McHenry, #NFDB
1191:I want to write a film. I need to think of the right idea and focus on that; I love writing. ~ Jack Whitehall, #NFDB
1192:I wouldn't say I'm the best," she said, "but I can't think of anyone better, I have to say. ~ Terry Pratchett, #NFDB
1193:People tend to think of their lives as having a dramatic arc, because they read too much fiction. ~ Will Self, #NFDB
1194:Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity towhat we would have others think of us. ~ Jane Austen, #NFDB
1195:pushing them to think of “wrong” as a first, positive, and often critical step toward getting it ~ Doug Lemov, #NFDB
1196:The only thing I could think of was turkey neck and turkey gizzards and I felt very depressed. ~ Sylvia Plath, #NFDB
1197:This does not mean, of course, that we must think of waiting for the age of universal harmony. ~ Leon Pinsker, #NFDB
1198:We cannot think of being acceptable to others until we have first proven acceptable to ourselves. ~ Malcolm X, #NFDB
1199:We like to think of film and music as art, but actually art is something that is not restricted. ~ Ahmed Best, #NFDB
1200:whatever we frequently think of and ponder, that will become the inclination of our minds. ~ Joseph Goldstein, #NFDB
1201:When I think of black television and history, I always use The Cosby Show as the bar. ~ Wendy Raquel Robinson, #NFDB
1202:You must think of neither victory nor of defeat, but only of cutting and killing your enemy. I ~ Barry Eisler, #NFDB
1203:Almost all civilized peoples have been brought up to think of themselves as ghosts in machines, ~ Alan W Watts, #NFDB
1204:DON'T THINK OF IT AS DYING, said Death. JUST THINK OF IT AS LEAVING EARLY TO AVOID THE RUSH. ~ Terry Pratchett, #NFDB
1205:DON’T THINK OF IT AS DYING, said Death, JUST THINK OF IT AS LEAVING EARLY TO AVOID THE RUSH. ~ Terry Pratchett, #NFDB
1206:Fear for your life sharpens your edge. Dread dulls it, think of the creep instead, stopping him. ~ Dean Koontz, #NFDB
1207:How can you blame others for disrespecting you when you think of yourself as unworthy of respect? ~ Elif Safak, #NFDB
1208:I am afraid to think of what I might have done, on requirement, in the secrecy of my terror. ~ Charles Dickens, #NFDB
1209:I don't think of it as procrastination. I think of it as allowing my work to accumulate urgency. ~ Maud Newton, #NFDB
1210:I don't think of it at the moment, but the roles that interest me are those of young people. ~ Isabelle Adjani, #NFDB
1211:I forget it's Shane Warne and just think of him as any old bowler lobbing down a lump of leather. ~ Brian Lara, #NFDB
1212:I have no control over what people think of me but I have 100% control of what I think of myself. ~ Beth Ditto, #NFDB
1213:I just don't think of myself as an actor much at all, so I don't lust after any particular roles. ~ Ron Howard, #NFDB
1214:I kind of do think of myself as a superhero and just flying high, and doing these crazy flips. ~ Gabby Douglas, #NFDB
1215:I'm absolutely delighted if people think of me as a reliable purveyor of quality period stuff. ~ Andrew Davies, #NFDB
1216:I'm a pretty quiet guy, but if people want to think of me as a lady killer, I guess that's good. ~ James Woods, #NFDB
1217:I think of 'crazy' as what happens when we love the other person more than we love ourselves. ~ Tracy McMillan, #NFDB
1218:I think of my life as a kind of music, not always good music but still having form and melody ~ John Steinbeck, #NFDB
1219:It is very important to think of your future Perry because at some point it becomes your past. ~ Patricia Wood, #NFDB
1220:It's interesting, though, that in daily life, I think of myself as being relatively unobservant. ~ Ann Beattie, #NFDB
1221:Language. I loved it. And for a long time I would think of myself, of my whole body, as an ear. ~ Maya Angelou, #NFDB
1222:Most wives think of their husbands as bumbling braggarts with whom they happen to be in love. ~ Jackie Gleason, #NFDB
1223:Never forget posterity when devising a policy. Never think of posterity when making a speech. ~ Robert Menzies, #NFDB
1224:pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us. ~ Jane Austen, #NFDB
1225:Sometimes you have to show a little skin. This reminds boys of being naked, and then they think of sex. ~ Cher, #NFDB
1226:The funny thing is, I don't actually think of myself as fat at all. I don't think I am. Not really. ~ Jo Brand, #NFDB
1227:Think of love as a state of grace not as a means to anything... but an end in itself. ~ Gabriel Garc a M rquez, #NFDB
1228:Think of these things, whence you came, where you are going, and to whom you must account. ~ Benjamin Franklin, #NFDB
1229:Transgender women do not think of themselves as men wearing women's clothing, they ARE women. ~ Cheryl B Evans, #NFDB
1230:We cannot think of being acceptable to others until we have first proven acceptable to ourselves. ~ Malcolm X, #NFDB
1231:We could all use a little coaching. When you're playing the game, it's hard to think of everything. ~ Jim Rohn, #NFDB
1232:When I think of God, I think of all these magical, inexplicable things, multiplied by infinity. ~ Leylah Attar, #NFDB
1233:When I think of my God, my heart dances within me for joy, and then my music has to dance, too. ~ Joseph Haydn, #NFDB
1234:Why think of liberation at some future time? Liberation is in the little things, here and now. ~ B K S Iyengar, #NFDB
1235:You usually find me writing what I like to think of as intelligent summer action and genre films. ~ Max Landis, #NFDB
1236:A painter must think of everything he sees as being there entirely for his own use and pleasure. ~ Lucian Freud, #NFDB
1237:As a biologist, I can't think of myself as anything but an animal among animals and plant. ~ Barbara Kingsolver, #NFDB
1238:As a Jewish thinker, I don't think of myself in relationship to the dominant culture's religion. ~ Emily Barton, #NFDB
1239:Come! Let us make that bargain. Think of me at my best, if circumstances should ever part us! ~ Charles Dickens, #NFDB
1240:Did you think of party dresses
and high school plays
or hallways full of lovers not yet met? ~ Rod McKuen,#NFDB
1241:High school is closer to the core of the American experience than anything else I can think of. ~ Kurt Vonnegut, #NFDB
1242:I also think of some books as my friends and i like to have them around. They brighten my life. ~ Michael Dirda, #NFDB
1243:I guess I always think of myself as more of the people. I always feel like a bit of an outsider. ~ Jeremy Scott, #NFDB
1244:I know I ain't too old. I always think of my fans about 10 years older and 10 years younger than me. ~ Ice Cube, #NFDB
1245:I like to think of Doritos as emotional packing material to safeguard the feelings I've swallowed. ~ Dana Gould, #NFDB
1246:I like to think of my shining tombstone. It gives me, as you might say, something to live for. ~ Dorothy Parker, #NFDB
1247:In general, writers shouldn't be killed for what they write, though I can think of exceptions. ~ Salman Rushdie, #NFDB
1248:I think if actors don't think of themselves as funny in real life they think they can't do comedy. ~ Ben Barnes, #NFDB
1249:I think of my life as a kind of music, not always good music but still having form and melody. ~ John Steinbeck, #NFDB
1250:Let the man, who would be grateful, think of repaying a kindness, even while receiving it. ~ Seneca the Younger, #NFDB
1251:Master programmers think of systems as stories to be told rather than programs to be written. ~ Robert C Martin, #NFDB
1252:My doctor is nice; every time I see him, I'm ashamed of what I think of doctors in general. ~ Mignon McLaughlin, #NFDB
1253:Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with that there is ~ Ernest Hemingway, #NFDB
1254:She couldn’t actually think of a time when Colton Brooks hadn’t owned a little piece of her heart. ~ Laura Kaye, #NFDB
1255:She smiled a little. “You are a manipulator.” “I like to think of myself more as an outcome engineer ~ J R Ward, #NFDB
1256:Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.” ― Anne Frank, The Diary of Anne Frank ~ Penny Reid, #NFDB
1257:Women complain about PMS, but I think of it as the only time of the month when I can be myself. ~ Roseanne Barr, #NFDB
1258:You had to see yourself poor and think of yourself as being poor, or you never would have been poor. ~ Al Koran, #NFDB
1259:America has been conditioned to think of pasta as the never-ending pasta bowl and Olive Garden. ~ Joe Bastianich, #NFDB
1260:Don't think of your website as a self-promotion machine, think of it as a self-invention machine. ~ Austin Kleon, #NFDB
1261:He could think of the world beyond Akron, which wasn't such a bad place but was, you know, Akron. ~ Stephen King, #NFDB
1262:I don't think of anyone as a 'groupie.' People who connect with my music are just inspiring and amazing. ~ BANKS, #NFDB
1263:I don't think of myself as a character actress - that's become a phrase which means you've had it. ~ Bette Davis, #NFDB
1264:I have terrible short-term memory loss, which I like to think of as Presidential eligibility. ~ Paula Poundstone, #NFDB
1265:In order not to think of the world which science describes, man gets drunk on technology. ~ Nicol s G mez D vila, #NFDB
1266:i prefer to think of the good times. Like when you held my hair as I was vomiting into a bucket. ~ Leigh Bardugo, #NFDB
1267:I probably have become more infamous from two misdemeanors than probably anyone I could think of. ~ Paul Reubens, #NFDB
1268:It creeps me out sometimes to think of the person I was. I was a terrible person. I was mean to people. ~ Eminem, #NFDB
1269:i think of all the things we could be if we were not told our bodies were not made for them. ~ Elizabeth Acevedo, #NFDB
1270:I think of John every day. I do try to block it, but December 8th is not the only day I think of him. ~ Yoko Ono, #NFDB
1271:I think of myself as a real writer, not just someone who dabbles in it, so I deserve some credit. ~ Harold Ramis, #NFDB
1272:It is always consoling to think of suicide: in that way one gets through many a bad night. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche, #NFDB
1273:It is hard to think of something as a gift when you have been tormented and imprisoned for it. ~ Cassandra Clare, #NFDB
1274:I want to reach the point where people hear my name and immediately think of real country music. ~ George Strait, #NFDB
1275:Just think of the acclaim! The feelings of satisfaction! The vastly increased dating opportunities! ~ Chris Baty, #NFDB
1276:Let us come together and think of ways India does not have to import but we export to the world. ~ Narendra Modi, #NFDB
1277:Liar's such a strong word. I prefer to think of it as me omitting some of the details" - Alex ~ Jessica Sorensen, #NFDB
1278:Like adults throughout history Jebel then just stood there unable to think of anything else to say. ~ Neal Asher, #NFDB
1279:Locke has the idea that men were free to think of god in their own way, not as any religion told them to… ~ Rius, #NFDB
1280:No matter how sophisticated our lives may be we need to think of ourselves as creative children. ~ Julia Cameron, #NFDB
1281:Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is. ~ Ernest Hemingway, #NFDB
1282:Originally, I wanted to be a composer. I always tell people, 'I think of myself as a composer. ~ Ornette Coleman, #NFDB
1283:She is the weakness you think of as strength while I am the strength you have no idea is there. ~ David Levithan, #NFDB
1284:The best way to proceed with a shared endeavor is to think of yourself as your only competition ~ Anamika Mishra, #NFDB
1285:There are more people in the world who make things than there are people who think of things to make. ~ Syd Mead, #NFDB
1286:Think of me sometimes," he returned. "When the snowdrops have bloomed and the snow has melted. ~ Katherine Arden, #NFDB
1287:Think of the Earth as a turning point in eternity. Think of the Earth as a meeting point in infinity. ~ Yoko Ono, #NFDB
1288:Whatever people think of you is really about the image they have of you, and that image isn’t you. ~ Miguel Ruiz, #NFDB
1289:Whatever you may think of Judaism, Lyuba, in the end it’s just a codified system of anxieties. ~ Gary Shteyngart, #NFDB
1290:What you think of me is none of my business. What is most important is what I think of myself. ~ Robert Kiyosaki, #NFDB
1291:When I think of all the harm [the Bible] has done, I despair of ever writing anything to equal it. ~ Oscar Wilde, #NFDB
1292:When I think of some of my earlier work, it really seems a fortunate coincidence that I succeeded. ~ Helmut Jahn, #NFDB
1293:When I think of you my heart beats fast, the blood burns in my veins and I can hardly breathe. ~ Alexandre Dumas, #NFDB
1294:When the grandmothers of today hear the word 'Chippendales,' they don't necessarily think of chairs. ~ Jean Kerr, #NFDB
1295:When the representatives of "Big Business" think of the people, they do not include themselves. ~ Woodrow Wilson, #NFDB
1296:When you’re planning what to do, always think of doing nothing first, see where that gets you. ~ Joe Abercrombie, #NFDB
1297:You're the one (Kanin) wants to kill. Come to think of it, you're the one everyone wants to kill. ~ Julie Kagawa, #NFDB
1298:Also, I just think of Draco and he gets me in the right mood. He just keeps getting worse and worse. ~ Tom Felton, #NFDB
1299:A man of spirit must not think of the word difficulty as so much as existing. Away with it! ~ Georg C Lichtenberg, #NFDB
1300:Close your eyes, think of the year ahead. This is your chance. This can be the day it all changes. ~ Gayle Forman, #NFDB
1301:Do not let adversity break you. Think of it as a learning experience that will make you stronger. ~ Gloria Allred, #NFDB
1302:Everyday I receive a lesson that teaches me that I can’t let what others think of me define me. ~ Trisha R Thomas, #NFDB
1303:Foreigners who think of Japan as a polite society have never ridden the Yamanote at rush hour. The ~ Barry Eisler, #NFDB
1304:For many, the point of marriage isn't so much to be in love as to stop having to think of love. ~ Alain de Botton, #NFDB
1305:Hard to think of others when you’re feeling trapped, feeling you’re spinning in a vicious circle. ~ Irvin D Yalom, #NFDB
1306:I don't think of myself as a dancer. I think of myself as a singer-actress who moves really well. ~ Sutton Foster, #NFDB
1307:If we think of what's up ahead, with climate change and wars over water, it's very frightening. ~ Carol Ann Duffy, #NFDB
1308:I like to think of power back in its Latin root, its meaning comes from posse - to be able. ~ Frances Moore Lappe, #NFDB
1309:I love stories. When I tell a story, I try to think of people sitting around a crackling campfire. ~ Phil Keoghan, #NFDB
1310:I'm very 'spur of the moment'. I'm always trying to think of fun things to do to create a memory. ~ Josh Hartnett, #NFDB
1311:I never have any trouble playing anything I can think of. The trouble is in thinking of what to play. ~ Stan Getz, #NFDB
1312:In fact, I’ve come to think of making stone soup as the only way an entrepreneur can succeed. ~ Peter H Diamandis, #NFDB
1313:I put my money in the bank: I have to think of life after modeling, when I'm not famous any more. ~ Eva Herzigova, #NFDB
1314:I still think of myself
as a broken place, a drifting isle
with no home.
—Quebrado ~ Margarita Engle,#NFDB
1315:It grieved him to think of that paltry, guarded, nut-like thing that was his artistic reputation. ~ Carol Shields, #NFDB
1316:I think of life as a good book. The further you get into it, the more it begins to make sense. ~ Harold S Kushner, #NFDB
1317:It would take a while for me not to think of the Greek language as the father who walked out on me ~ Deborah Levy, #NFDB
1318:Maybe it's useful to think of forests as enormous spreading, branching, underground super-trees. ~ Richard Powers, #NFDB
1319:Most people think of love as a feeling but love is not so much a feeling as a way of being present. ~ David Richo, #NFDB
1320:Someday, you may think of marrying. Pick someone who thinks you're the only person in the room. ~ Gabrielle Zevin, #NFDB
1321:So you’re a parasite?” We like to think of it as symbiotic, but we can discuss biology another time. ~ Wesley Chu, #NFDB
1322:The answers I remember longest are the ones that answer questions that I didn't think of asking. ~ Jonathan Kozol, #NFDB
1323:The best way to not think of something is to possess it fully, and then cultivate indifference. ~ Douglas Preston, #NFDB
1324:Think not of the sinner or the greatness of his sin, but think of the greatness of the Savior! ~ Charles Spurgeon, #NFDB
1325:Think of the Republican Party as the opposition to the Democrats. It doesn't exist in California! ~ Rush Limbaugh, #NFDB
1326:Think of what you love most in this world. This is what you will come back to in your next life. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
1327:Think of your pain like a bunch of red roses, a beautiful thorn necklace. Everyone has one. ~ Francesca Lia Block, #NFDB
1328:Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now take what's left and live it properly. ~ Marcus Aurelius, #NFDB
1329:Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now take what’s left and live it properly. ~ Marcus Aurelius, #NFDB
1330:To think of humans as freedom-loving, you must be ready to view nearly all of history as a mistake. ~ John N Gray, #NFDB
1331:We are in the throes of a transition where every publication has to think of their digital strategy. ~ Bill Gates, #NFDB
1332:When I think of those who have influenced my life the most, I think not of the great but of the good. ~ John Knox, #NFDB
1333:when you’re writing, don’t think about all the people who may read your words. Think of one person. ~ Jason Fried, #NFDB
1334:Which is weird. But not the craziest thing I can think of Rose doing.ʺ I appreciated the support. ~ Richelle Mead, #NFDB
1335:Y’all can think of me as the voice of God. I say it, you obey it, or there’ll be hell to pay. ~ Suzanne Brockmann, #NFDB
1336:Young people have many pleasures and many sorrows, because they have only themselves to think of. ~ Hermann Hesse, #NFDB
1337:You wouldn't worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt, #NFDB
1338:You wouldn’t worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt, #NFDB
1339:And will knowing what she reads make you know who she is?”
“Can you think of a better way to tell? ~ Donna Leon,#NFDB
1340:An important step in escaping mediocrity is to stop worrying about what other people think of you. ~ Bryant McGill, #NFDB
1341:'Don't think of it as dying,' said Death. 'Just think of it as leaving early to avoid the rush.' ~ Terry Pratchett, #NFDB
1342:Don't think of yourself as having a past, don't think of yourself as having a future. What's left? ~ Eckhart Tolle, #NFDB
1343:Everybody that you can think of that does comedy, I have met or worked with almost all of them. ~ Cameron Esposito, #NFDB
1344:For I am not so enamoured of my own opinions that I disregard what others may think of them. ~ Nicolaus Copernicus, #NFDB
1345:I am not aware...that to think of any person is to make a great claim upon that person, my dear. ~ Charles Dickens, #NFDB
1346:...I can think of other forms of worship than loving you, but none that make me feel so fulfilled... ~ John Geddes, #NFDB
1347:I'd like to think of my self as not melancholic at all, I think I'm a pretty cheerful person, really. ~ Celeste Ng, #NFDB
1348:I don't think of myself as overly prissy, but it bothered me to find a finger on my bedroom floor. ~ David Sedaris, #NFDB
1349:IF YOU DON’T THINK OF YOUR TEAM AS A FAMILY, WHY SHOULD THE TEAM THINK OF YOU AS HEAD OF THE FAMILY? ~ John Wooden, #NFDB
1350:If you think of love as a win, you will always lose. Such is the mysterious way of the universe. ~ Krassi Zourkova, #NFDB
1351:I think of a hero as someone who understands the degree of responsibility that comes with his freedom. ~ Bob Dylan, #NFDB
1352:I think of all those who believed in a Latin American paradise and died in a Latin American hell. ~ Roberto Bola o, #NFDB
1353:I think of how and where all the horrible people I've come across in my life ended up, and I smile. ~ Corey Taylor, #NFDB
1354:It is strange to think of a goddess needing friends.” “All creatures that are not mad need them. ~ Madeline Miller, #NFDB
1355:I tried to think of puns that might make my father laugh one more time, and I looked at the stars. ~ Morgan Matson, #NFDB
1356:Most people think of love as a feeling, but love is not so much a feeling as a way of being present. ~ David Richo, #NFDB
1357:Mrs. Wiggins, “Mr. Boomschmidt! Of course—he’s just the person. Now, why didn’t I think of that? ~ Walter R Brooks, #NFDB
1358:Now is no time to think of what you do not have.
Think of what you can do with that there is ~ Ernest Hemingway,#NFDB
1359:People who think of themselves as exiles, I find, can never really put their lives together, really. ~ Jane Jacobs, #NFDB
1360:Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have
others think of us. ~ Jane Austen,#NFDB
1361:She shrugged: just like him to think of all the bad things that could happen. “Someday is not today, ~ Imbolo Mbue, #NFDB
1362:She smiled a little. "You are a manipulator"
"I like to think of myself more as an outcome engineer. ~ J R Ward,#NFDB
1363:The air had a soft, golden aroma that made him think of a calm breakfast in a well-lighted kitchen. ~ Stephen King, #NFDB
1364:The more I see of what you call civilization, the more highly I think of what you call savagery! ~ Robert E Howard, #NFDB
1365:There is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is. ~ Ernest Hemingway, #NFDB
1366:Think of that, ye loyal Britons! we whalemen supply your kings and queens with coronation stuff! ~ Herman Melville, #NFDB
1367:To give emphasis only to beauty makes me think of a mathematics that deals with positive numbers only. ~ Paul Klee, #NFDB
1368:Wes is Wes,” Alastair said. “One in every family. I love him, but I think of him as a sarcastic pet. ~ John Scalzi, #NFDB
1369:What anybody else thinks about you is really of no consequence. It's what you think of yourself. ~ David Coverdale, #NFDB
1370:When I think of what has happened in a larger sense, beyond myself, then I would not change anything. ~ Anita Hill, #NFDB
1371:Answering a question with a question is simply a way to gain enough time to think of a plausible lie. ~ C J Redwine, #NFDB
1372:As soon as I step on that stage, nothing matters. I don't think of it as work. It's just so much fun. ~ Miley Cyrus, #NFDB
1373:a survivor, and I refuse to be anyone’s survivor because I prefer to think of myself as a winner. ~ Gabourey Sidibe, #NFDB
1374:Be empty of worrying. Think of who created thought! Why do you stay in prison When the door is so wide open? ~ Rumi, #NFDB
1375:But, come to think of it, there was no need to wait. Time travelers don't have to wait for anybody. ~ Jack McDevitt, #NFDB
1376:Come on brain, think of things
Come on brain, think of things
Come on brain, be so smart ~ Lin Manuel Miranda,#NFDB
1377:Come on, brain, think of things. Come on, brain, think of things. Come on, brain, be so smart, ~ Lin Manuel Miranda, #NFDB
1378:Consider lost all the time in which you do not think of divinity. ~ Sextus the Pythagorean, Selected Sentences, #13, #NFDB
1379:Her voice makes me think of her mouth makes me think of her breath makes me think of her breasts. ~ Chuck Palahniuk, #NFDB
1380:I don't really think about the audience much. I think of myself. Let me dig myself out of that one. ~ Henry Rollins, #NFDB
1381:I don't think of myself as giving interviews. I just have conversations. That gets me in trouble. ~ Charles Barkley, #NFDB
1382:I first think of intelligence. You need it for surviving in Italy because Italy is so pompous. ~ Francesco Clemente, #NFDB
1383:If you think of something, do it.
Plenty of people often think, “I’d like to do this, or that. ~ Lydia Davis,#NFDB
1384:If you think of spiritual practice as unpleasant work - it is not spiritual practice as I know it. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
1385:is hard to think of a cause of death that kills fewer people in countries on Level 4 than terrorism. ~ Hans Rosling, #NFDB
1386:I tell you, there are more worlds, and more doors to them, than you will think of in many years! ~ George MacDonald, #NFDB
1387:I tend to think of action movies as exuberant morality plays in which good triumphs over evil. ~ Sylvester Stallone, #NFDB
1388:I think science is a foreign land for many people, so I think of my role as an ambassador's job. ~ Marcus du Sautoy, #NFDB
1389:Let us often think of our own infirmities, and we shall become indulgent toward those of others. ~ Francois Fenelon, #NFDB
1390:My notion's to think of the human beings first and let the abstract ideas take care of themselves. ~ Virginia Woolf, #NFDB
1391:Nobody loves the rat race, but nobody can think of anything else—Satan has us just where he wants us. ~ Hugh Nibley, #NFDB
1392:That happens sometimes, right? It's
on the tip of your tongue, but you just can't think of it. ~ Haruki Murakami,#NFDB
1393:There's nothing so favourable for repentance as to think of the past with feelings of remorse! ~ Fyodor Dostoyevsky, #NFDB
1394:The tonal is also endless and limitless. We like to think of it as being finite so we feel better. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
1395:The wind whispers Alex's name and the ocean repeats it; the swaying trees make me think of dancing. ~ Lauren Oliver, #NFDB
1396:Think of a number, any number.” “Er, five,” said the mattress. “Wrong,” said Marvin. “You see?” The ~ Douglas Adams, #NFDB
1397:Think of yourself as a dreaming robot on autopilot, and you'll be much closer to the truth. ~ Albert L szl Barab si, #NFDB
1398:Well, my main instrument is violin, but I think of myself as a songwriter who happens to play violin. ~ Andrew Bird, #NFDB
1399:We manage to swallow flesh, only because we do not think of the cruel and sinful thing we do. ~ Rabindranath Tagore, #NFDB
1400:"We need to think of each other as true brothers and sisters, concerned for each other's welfare." ~ Dalai Lama XIV, #NFDB
1401:We should not think of conversion as the acceptance of a particular creed, but as a change of heart. ~ Helen Keller, #NFDB
1402:What brothers say to tease their sisters has nothing to do with what they really think of them. ~ Esther M Friesner, #NFDB
1403:Whatever we think of the border, it’s important to recognise it as a limitation of Area X. ~ Jeff VanderMeer, #NFDB
1404:What we conceal Is always more than what we dare confide. Think of the letters that we write our dead. ~ Dana Gioia, #NFDB
1405:When you're in your own body, you don't feel great about yourself. I don't think of myself that way. ~ Paula Patton, #NFDB
1406:Where is women's sports prominently displayed with the men? Tennis is the only thing I can think of. ~ Ronda Rousey, #NFDB
1407:Women tend to very much, very much think of money as a means to an end, not as an end in itself. ~ Sallie Krawcheck, #NFDB
1408:You can think of me thinking of you, because that’s what I’ll be doing whenever you think of me. ~ Jonathan Franzen, #NFDB
1409:You never think of films being really creepy that you're in because you just remember the funny stuff. ~ Pell James, #NFDB
1410:You see—the last thing on earth a square would think of telling about is that he has four equal angles. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1411:You think of the book you'd most like to be reading, and then you sit down and shamelessly write it. ~ J D Salinger, #NFDB
1412:AIDS obliges people to think of sex as having, possibly, the direst consequences: suicide. Or murder. ~ Susan Sontag, #NFDB
1413:But I don't count that as a kiss, Jacob. I think of it more as an assault."
"Ouch! That's cold. ~ Stephenie Meyer,#NFDB
1414:Don't think of yourself as a surrogate mule, think of yourself as an entrepreneur of the physical. ~ George Saunders, #NFDB
1415:Everywhere in my house are these little things that have meanings and make me think of great memories. ~ Nate Berkus, #NFDB
1416:God is my Father, He loves me, I shall never think of anything He will forget. Why should I worry? ~ Oswald Chambers, #NFDB
1417:He had green eyes so clear and bright that they made you think of poisonous drinks or maybe mouthwash. ~ Holly Black, #NFDB
1418:He's a good boy, he takes instruction well; I just can't think of enough things to tell him not to do. ~ Ferrol Sams, #NFDB
1419:I always try to attack. While I'm on the offensive, my opponent can think of nothing but defending. ~ Marcelo Garcia, #NFDB
1420:I am trying to think of the last time that I just said, 'What the hell!' and did something crazy. ~ Jennifer Aniston, #NFDB
1421:I do not know what to think of it. We are working hard and improving and we just need to execute better. ~ Les Miles, #NFDB
1422:I don't believe that life is linear. I think of it as circles - concentric circles that connect. ~ Michelle Williams, #NFDB
1423:...if you've eaten your fill since childhood, you've plenty of time to think of love and nothing else. ~ Maryse Cond, #NFDB
1424:I like classics but I always add a twist because I don't like to think of my clothes as classic. ~ Monique Lhuillier, #NFDB
1425:I'm a short woman with a pretty good body and large breasts — that's not what I think of as sexy. ~ Adrienne Barbeau, #NFDB
1426:I think it is impossible for human minds to think of Death as a final, irrevocable end to life. ~ Isabelle Eberhardt, #NFDB
1427:I think of my body as a tool to do the stuff I need to do, but not the be all end all of my existence. ~ Lena Dunham, #NFDB
1428:It is difficult to think of the “natural world” as sacred (because we just designated it “natural”). ~ John H Walton, #NFDB
1429:I told her everything I could think of, even about my father being buried in the Protestant Cemetery. ~ John Cheever, #NFDB
1430:I will think of you every time I need to be reminded that there is beauty and goodness in the world. ~ Arthur Golden, #NFDB
1431:Later he had seen the things that he could never think of and later still he had seen much worse. ~ Ernest Hemingway, #NFDB
1432:Let us not think of the future this night. It is not yet dawn. We still have time for airy hopes. ~ Samantha Shannon, #NFDB
1433:Picasso never thought of himself as avant-garde. I just find it a bad way to think of yourself. ~ Simone de Beauvoir, #NFDB
1434:Think of the very words “novel,” “romance” — what do they mean but exaggeration of one bit of life? ~ George Gissing, #NFDB
1435:Think of your pension and start saving. Like my father, I have been a spendthrift, and I regret that. ~ Britt Ekland, #NFDB
1436:Think of yourself as a role model for others-showing that you can be kind, generous, loving, and rich! ~ T Harv Eker, #NFDB
1437:To think of the time I spend procuring books... How fitting: a book procured me. Utterly fantastic... ~ Erika Swyler, #NFDB
1438:We must not think of the things we could do with, but only of the things that we can't do without. ~ Jerome K Jerome, #NFDB
1439:We must not think of the things we could do with, but only of the things that we can’t do without. ~ Jerome K Jerome, #NFDB
1440:We must think of innovation as doing a lot more for a lot less (money) for a lot more (people). ~ Vijay Govindarajan, #NFDB
1441:We need to think of the future and the planet we are going to leave to our children and their children. ~ Kofi Annan, #NFDB
1442:When I'm acting, I just want to be the character and not have to think of any film technicalities. ~ Denzel Whitaker, #NFDB
1443:When I was a child I read books for entertainment and information; I now think of books as lifeboats. ~ Alice Walker, #NFDB
1444:You can't control how other people see you or think of you. But you have to be comfortable with that. ~ Helen Mirren, #NFDB
1445:You shouldn't reward me for endangering your life, you know. Think of the precedent you're setting. ~ Rainbow Rowell, #NFDB
1446:56. Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now take what’s left and live it properly. ~ Marcus Aurelius, #NFDB
1447:A character says, ‘Don’t ask for it. Go out and win it on your own.’ You just made me think of that. ~ Lauren Landish, #NFDB
1448:A fecking flamethrower! Why didn't I think of that? Best I came up with was a measly hair dryer. ~ Karen Marie Moning, #NFDB
1449:Art has definitely influenced how I think of design, both as individual items and as a body of work. ~ Cynthia Rowley, #NFDB
1450:Calm down, identify the problem, think of a solution, he recited the three steps of anger management that ~ I T Lucas, #NFDB
1451:Come to think of it, Your Majesty, I believe I must still be growing. Either that, or you are shrinking. ~ C L Wilson, #NFDB
1452:Don't think of death as an ending. Think of it as a really effective way of cutting down your expenses. ~ Woody Allen, #NFDB
1453:Drink wine and look at the moon
and think of all the civilisations
the moon has seen passing by. ~ Omar Khayy m,#NFDB
1454:Everyone is in pain.No matter where they come from or what you think of them. Sorrow spares no one ~ Sherrilyn Kenyon, #NFDB
1455:Every time I try to retire, or even think of retiring from acting, my agent comes up with a script. ~ Anthony Hopkins, #NFDB
1456:Good for you Woods. You're not as dumb as you look. Come to think of it, no one's as dumb as you look. ~ Randy Alcorn, #NFDB
1457:How do we create a world in which people don’t think of art just as a product, but as a relationship? ~ Amanda Palmer, #NFDB
1458:I can't think of a single instance where I've ever been looked at like he's looking at me right now. ~ Colleen Hoover, #NFDB
1459:I can't think of a subject that is taboo for me, unless it's one I simply don't know anything about. ~ Chris Crutcher, #NFDB
1460:I don't think of my life as a career. I do stuff. I respond to stuff. That's not a career - it's a life! ~ Steve Jobs, #NFDB
1461:In laying out Central Park we determined to think of no result to be realized in less than forty years. ~ Erik Larson, #NFDB
1462:Insane is such an ugly word, a voice in my head said. Think of it as obtaining a new look at reality. ~ Richelle Mead, #NFDB
1463:In terms of popular cinema, 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' is as near perfection as I can think of. ~ Peter Mullan, #NFDB
1464:I often think of the space of a page as a stage, with words, letters, syllable characters moving across. ~ Susan Howe, #NFDB
1465:I think of my pile of old paperbacks, their pages gone wobbly, like they'd once belonged to the sea. ~ Kazuo Ishiguro, #NFDB
1466:I think of myself as an engineer, not as a visionary or 'big thinker.' I don't have any lofty goals. ~ Linus Torvalds, #NFDB
1467:I think of painting as possessed by a structure... but a structure born of the flow of color feeling. ~ Jules Olitski, #NFDB
1468:It makes me think of my life, my nonexistent accomplishments and my overall abilities in incompetence. ~ Markus Zusak, #NFDB
1469:I tried to think of the right thing to say, but sometimes the right thing to say is nothing. ~ Shaun David Hutchinson, #NFDB
1470:It would be hard to think of a more overlooked person in the history of palaeontology than Mary Anning, ~ Bill Bryson, #NFDB
1471:I've just finished my book, I wrote it on penguins. Come to think of it, paper would have been better. ~ Milton Jones, #NFDB
1472:Keeper of the black gates of Heartstone has a dick that makes me think of the white gates of heaven. ~ Saffron A Kent, #NFDB
1473:once you stop worrying what the world will think of you, your life will become that much easier to live. ~ Anita Nair, #NFDB
1474:People keep asking me what I think of it now that it's done. Hence my protest: The Web is not done! ~ Tim Berners Lee, #NFDB
1475:The gospel doesn't just free me from what people think of me, but also from what I think of me. ~ Tullian Tchividjian, #NFDB
1476:The ownership of land is an odd thing when you come to think of it. How deep, after all, can it go? ~ Natalie Babbitt, #NFDB
1477:There are so many powerful people in this world who refuse to see any vision they didn't think of. ~ Orson Scott Card, #NFDB
1478:There are so many powerful people in this world who refuse to see any vision they didn’t think of. ~ Orson Scott Card, #NFDB
1479:The VW doesn’t make you think of Hitler and genocide. It’s a breast on wheels, a puffy little dream. ~ Rachel Kushner, #NFDB
1480:(think of Amazon’s “two-pizza rule” — no team should be so big that it can’t be fed with two pizzas). ~ Verne Harnish, #NFDB
1481:Think of business as a good game. Lots of competition and a minimum of rules. You keep score with money. ~ Bill Gates, #NFDB
1482:Think of color, pitch, loudness, heaviness, and hotness. Each is the topic of a branch of physics ~ Benoit Mandelbrot, #NFDB
1483:Think of it like this," he said quietly. "Do you want to be a descendant for the rest of your life? ~ Terry Pratchett, #NFDB
1484:Think of marriage as a three-legged stool. The legs are a submissive wife, a loving husband, and Christ. ~ Beth Moore, #NFDB
1485:Think of the blood we’ve spilled looking for the best expression of 'All men are created equal'. ~ Lin Manuel Miranda, #NFDB
1486:Think of this as an adventure, Diesel said.
I’m from Jersey. I get my adventure on the Turnpike. ~ Janet Evanovich,#NFDB
1487:Think of today as an opportunity to discover and grow beyond your mental and emotional discomfort. ~ James Van Praagh, #NFDB
1488:When I am shooting a film I never think of how I want to shoot something; I simply shoot it. ~ Michelangelo Antonioni, #NFDB
1489:When you're writing with someone else it helps you think of things you never would've thought of. ~ Ingrid Michaelson, #NFDB
1490:Why should certain chords in music make me think of the brown and golden tints of autumn foliage? ~ Robert W Chambers, #NFDB
1491:You’re the first thing I think of when I wake up and the last thing I think of before I fall asleep. ~ Melissa Foster, #NFDB
1492:America changed my life, but I still think of home and working in Scotland was an important part of that. ~ Davy Jones, #NFDB
1493:And God, it kills me to think of hurting you.”
I grasped his face between urgent hands. “Then don’t. ~ A L Jackson,#NFDB
1494:and when you're dancing and laughing and finally living; hear my voice in your head and think of me kindly ~ Morrissey, #NFDB
1495:Builders think of success and failure as feedback. They don't judge either as a complete win or loss. ~ Jerry I Porras, #NFDB
1496:But Opera Man, I go, "Oh, crap! Why didn't I think of that?" Because I could sing fake opera pretty good. ~ Jon Lovitz, #NFDB
1497:Can you think of any need you have that would require more strength than god exercised to raise the dead? ~ Beth Moore, #NFDB
1498:Dad has what I think of as only child darkside syndrome; he does everything as if he is being watched. ~ Helen Oyeyemi, #NFDB
1499:Don’t think of me as a role model. Think of me as someone who’s made mistakes so you don’t have to. ~ Barbara Nickless, #NFDB
1500:Don't think of me too often. I don't want to think of you getting all maudlin. Just live well. Just live. ~ Jojo Moyes, #NFDB
282 Integral Yoga
82 Yoga
82 Poetry
44 Christianity
42 Occultism
41 Philosophy
39 Fiction
20 Psychology
12 Mysticism
10 Integral Theory
8 Hinduism
7 Science
6 Education
3 Theosophy
3 Buddhism
1 Thelema
1 Sufism
1 Mythology
1 Baha i Faith
1 Alchemy
191 The Mother
95 Satprem
76 Sri Aurobindo
51 Sri Ramakrishna
43 Nolini Kanta Gupta
35 H P Lovecraft
27 Aleister Crowley
19 Swami Vivekananda
17 Carl Jung
16 Saint Teresa of Avila
16 Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
15 Saint Augustine of Hippo
14 A B Purani
13 William Wordsworth
12 Plotinus
11 Swami Krishnananda
10 John Keats
9 Plato
9 Li Bai
9 Aldous Huxley
7 William Butler Yeats
7 Sri Ramana Maharshi
7 Saint John of Climacus
7 Friedrich Nietzsche
6 Walt Whitman
6 Rudolf Steiner
6 Nirodbaran
5 Rabindranath Tagore
5 Percy Bysshe Shelley
4 Thubten Chodron
4 Robert Browning
4 Jorge Luis Borges
4 Jordan Peterson
4 Henry David Thoreau
3 Swami Sivananda Saraswati
3 Patanjali
3 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
2 Rainer Maria Rilke
2 Jorge Luis Borges
2 Jetsun Milarepa
2 James George Frazer
2 George Van Vrekhem
2 Genpo Roshi
2 Franz Bardon
50 The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna
35 Lovecraft - Poems
19 Magick Without Tears
17 Letters On Yoga IV
15 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04
15 Agenda Vol 03
14 Questions And Answers 1954
14 Questions And Answers 1953
14 Questions And Answers 1950-1951
14 Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo
14 Agenda Vol 01
13 Wordsworth - Poems
13 City of God
12 The Way of Perfection
12 Talks
11 The Study and Practice of Yoga
11 Questions And Answers 1956
10 Keats - Poems
10 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03
10 Agenda Vol 02
9 The Perennial Philosophy
9 Liber ABA
9 Li Bai - Poems
9 Agenda Vol 08
8 The Phenomenon of Man
8 Some Answers From The Mother
8 Raja-Yoga
8 Questions And Answers 1955
8 Bhakti-Yoga
8 Agenda Vol 10
7 Yeats - Poems
7 The Ladder of Divine Ascent
7 Questions And Answers 1929-1931
7 Mysterium Coniunctionis
7 Letters On Yoga II
7 Agenda Vol 05
6 Whitman - Poems
6 Twelve Years With Sri Aurobindo
6 The Synthesis Of Yoga
6 The Life Divine
6 Questions And Answers 1957-1958
6 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 07
6 Agenda Vol 13
5 The Problems of Philosophy
5 The Practice of Psycho therapy
5 Tagore - Poems
5 Shelley - Poems
5 On Thoughts And Aphorisms
5 On Education
5 Agenda Vol 06
5 Agenda Vol 04
4 Words Of Long Ago
4 Walden
4 Thus Spoke Zarathustra
4 The Secret Doctrine
4 The Mother With Letters On The Mother
4 The Interior Castle or The Mansions
4 The Future of Man
4 The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
4 Plotinus - Complete Works Vol 04
4 Maps of Meaning
4 Letters On Yoga I
4 Labyrinths
4 How to Free Your Mind - Tara the Liberator
4 Essays On The Gita
4 Essays In Philosophy And Yoga
4 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01
4 Browning - Poems
4 Agenda Vol 12
4 Agenda Vol 11
4 Agenda Vol 07
3 Words Of The Mother I
3 Twilight of the Idols
3 Theosophy
3 The Human Cycle
3 The Confessions of Saint Augustine
3 The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious
3 Plotinus - Complete Works Vol 03
3 Plotinus - Complete Works Vol 01
3 Patanjali Yoga Sutras
3 Letters On Poetry And Art
3 Let Me Explain
3 Isha Upanishad
3 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 05
3 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02
3 Agenda Vol 09
2 Words Of The Mother III
2 The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep
2 The Red Book Liber Novus
2 The Practice of Magical Evocation
2 The Golden Bough
2 The Divine Comedy
2 Selected Fictions
2 Rilke - Poems
2 Preparing for the Miraculous
2 Plotinus - Complete Works Vol 02
2 Milarepa - Poems
2 Knowledge of the Higher Worlds
2 Kena and Other Upanishads
2 Faust
2 Amrita Gita
2 Aion
000 - Humans in Universe, #Synergetics - Explorations in the Geometry of Thinking, #R Buckminster Fuller, #Science
technology. They think of technology as something new; they regard it as
threatening both in terms of modern weaponry and as job-eliminating competition
0.00 - INTRODUCTION, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
"When I think of the Supreme Being as inactive — neither creating nor preserving nor destroying —, I call Him Brahman or Purusha, the Impersonal God. When I think of Him as active — creating, preserving, and destroying —, I call Him Sakti or Maya or Prakriti, the Personal God. But the distinction between them does not mean a difference. The Personal and the Impersonal are the same thing, like milk and its whiteness, the diamond and its lustre, the snake and its wriggling motion. It is impossible to conceive of the one without the other. The Divine Mother and Brahman are one."
After the departure of Totapuri, Sri Ramakrishna remained for six months in a state of absolute identity with Brahman. "For six months at a stretch", he said, "I remained in that state from which ordinary men can never return; generally the body falls off, after three weeks, like a sere leaf. I was not conscious of day and night. Flies would enter my mouth and nostrils just as they do a dead body's, but I did not feel them. My hair became matted with dust."
--
In the nirvikalpa samadhi Sri Ramakrishna had realized that Brahman alone is real and the world illusory. By keeping his mind six months on the plane of the non-dual Brahman, he had attained to the state of the vijnani, the knower of Truth in a special and very rich sense, who sees Brahman not only in himself and in the transcendental Absolute, but in everything of the world. In this state of vijnana, sometimes, bereft of body-consciousness, he would regard himself as one with Brahman; sometimes, conscious of the dual world, he would regard himself as God's devotee, servant, or child. In order to enable the Master to work for the welfare of humanity, the Divine Mother had kept in him a trace of ego, which he described — according to his mood — as the "ego of Knowledge", the "ego of Devotion", the "ego of a child", or the "ego of a servant". In any case this ego of the Master, consumed by the fire of the Knowledge of Brahman, was an appearance only, like a burnt string. He often referred to this ego as the "ripe ego" in contrast with the ego of the bound soul, which he described as the "unripe" or "green" ego. The ego of the bound soul identifies itself with the body, relatives, possessions, and the world; but the "ripe ego", illumined by Divine Knowledge, knows the body, relatives, possessions, and the world to be unreal and establishes a relationship of love with God alone. Through this "ripe ego" Sri Ramakrishna dealt with the world and his wife. One day, while stroking his feet, Sarada Devi asked the Master, "What do you think of me?" Quick came the answer: "The Mother who is worshipped in the temple is the mother who has given birth to my body and is now living in the nahabat, and it is She again who is stroking my feet at this moment. Indeed, I always look on you as the personification of the Blissful Mother Kali."
Sarada Devi, in the company of her husband, had rare spiritual experiences. She said: "I have no words to describe my wonderful exaltation of spirit as I watched him in his different moods. Under the influence of divine emotion he would sometimes talk on abstruse subjects, sometimes laugh, sometimes weep, and sometimes become perfectly motionless in samadhi. This would continue throughout the night. There was such an extraordinary divine presence in him that now and then I would shake with fear and wonder how the night would pass. Months went by in this way. Then one day he discovered that I had to keep awake the whole night lest, during my sleep, he should go into samadhi — for it might happen at any moment —, and so he asked me to sleep in the nahabat."
--
Shivanath, one day, was greatly impressed by the Master's utter simplicity and abhorrence of praise. He was seated with Sri Ramakrishna in the latter's room when several rich men of Calcutta arrived. The Master left the room for a few minutes. In the mean time Hriday, his nephew, began to describe his samadhi to the visitors. The last few words caught the Master's ear as he entered the room. He said to Hriday: "What a mean-spirited fellow you must be to extol me thus before these rich men! You have seen their costly apparel and their gold watches and chains, and your object is to get from them as much money as you can. What do I care about what they think of me? (Turning to the gentlemen) No, my friends, what he has told you about me is not true. It was not love of God that made me absorbed in God and indifferent to external life. I became positively insane for some time. The sadhus who frequented this temple told me to practise many things. I tried to follow them, and the consequence was that my austerities drove me to insanity." This is a quotation from one of Shivanath's books. He took the Master's words literally and failed to see their real import.
Shivanath vehemently criticized the Master for his other-worldly attitude toward his wife. He writes: "Ramakrishna was practically separated from his wife, who lived in her village home. One day when I was complaining to some friends about the virtual widowhood of his wife, he drew me to one side and whispered in my ear: 'Why do you complain? It is no longer possible; it is all dead and gone.' Another day as I was inveighing against this part of his teaching, and also declaring that our program of work in the Brahmo Samaj includes women, that ours is a social and domestic religion, and that we want to give education and social liberty to women, the saint became very much excited, as was his way when anything against his settled conviction was asserted — a trait we so much liked in him — and exclaimed, 'Go, thou fool, go and perish in the pit that your women will dig for you.' Then he glared at me and said: 'What does a gardener do with a young plant? Does he not surround it with a fence, to protect it from goats and cattle? And when the young plant has grown up into a tree and it can no longer be injured by cattle, does he not remove the fence and let the tree grow freely?' I replied, 'Yes, that is the custom with gardeners.' Then he remarked, 'Do the same in your spiritual life; become strong, be full-grown; then you may seek them.' To which I replied, 'I don't agree with you in thinking that women's work is like that of cattle, destructive; they are our associates and helpers in our spiritual struggles and social progress' — a view with which he could not agree, and he marked his dissent by shaking his head. Then referring to the lateness of the hour he jocularly remarked, 'It is time for you to depart; take care, do not be late; otherwise your woman will not admit you into her room.' This evoked hearty laughter."
--
To those who became his intimate disciples the Master was a friend, companion, and playmate. Even the chores of religious discipline would be lightened in his presence. The devotees would be so inebriated with pure joy in his company that they would have no time to ask themselves whether he was an Incarnation, a perfect soul, or a yogi. His very presence was a great teaching; words were superfluous. In later years his disciples remarked that while they were with him they would regard him as a comrade, but afterwards would tremble to think of their frivolities in the presence of such a great person. They had convincing proof that the Master could, by his mere wish, kindle in their hearts the love of God and give them His vision.
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.
--
Durgacharan Nag, also known as Nag Mahashay, was the ideal householder among the lay disciples of Sri Ramakrishna. He was the embodiment of the Master's ideal of life in the world, unstained by worldliness. In spite of his intense desire to become a sannyasi, Sri Ramakrishna asked him to live in the world in the spirit of a monk, and the disciple truly carried out this injunction. He was born of a poor family and even during his boyhood often sacrificed everything to lessen the sufferings of the needy. He had married at an early age and after his wife's death had married a second time to obey his father's command. But he once said to his wife: "Love on the physical level never lasts. He is indeed blessed who can give his love to God with his whole heart. Even a little attachment to the body endures for several births. So do not be attached to this cage of bone and flesh. Take shelter at the feet of the Mother and think of Her alone. Thus your life here and hereafter will be ennobled." The Master spoke of him as a "blazing light". He received every word of Sri Ramakrishna in dead earnest. One day he heard the Master saying that it was difficult for doctors, lawyers, and brokers to make much progress in spirituality. Of doctors he said, "If the mind clings to the tiny drops of medicine, how can it conceive of the Infinite?" That was the end of Durgacharan's medical practice and he threw his chest of medicines into the Ganges. Sri Ramakrishna assured him that he would not lack simple food and clothing. He bade him serve holy men. On being asked where he would find real holy men, the Master said that the sadhus themselves would seek his company. No sannyasi could have lived a more austere life than Durgacharan.
--- GIRISH GHOSH
--
The Europeanized Kristodas Pal did not approve of the Master's emphasis on renunciation and said; "Sir, this cant of renunciation has almost ruined the country. It is for this reason that the Indians are a subject nation today. Doing good to others, bringing education to the door of the ignorant, and above all, improving the material conditions of the country — these should be our duty now. The cry of religion and renunciation would, on the contrary, only weaken us. You should advise the young men of Bengal to resort only to such acts as will uplift the country." Sri Ramakrishna gave him a searching look and found no divine light within, "You man of poor understanding!" Sri Ramakrishna said sharply. "You dare to slight in these terms renunciation and piety, which our scriptures describe as the greatest of all virtues! After reading two pages of English you think you have come to know the world! You appear to think you are omniscient. Well, have you seen those tiny crabs that are born in the Ganges just when the rains set in? In this big universe you are even less significant than one of those small creatures. How dare you talk of helping the world? The Lord will look to that. You haven't the power in you to do it." After a pause the Master continued: "Can you explain to me how you can work for others? I know what you mean by helping them. To feed a number of persons, to treat them when they are sick, to construct a road or dig a well — isn't that all? These, are good deeds, no doubt, but how trifling in comparison with the vastness of the universe! How far can a man advance in this line? How many people can you save from famine? Malaria has ruined a whole province; what could you do to stop its onslaught? God alone looks after the world. Let a man first realize Him. Let a man get the authority from God and be endowed with His power; then, and then alone, may he think of doing good to others. A man should first be purged of all egotism. Then alone will the Blissful Mother ask him to work for the world." Sri Ramakrishna mistrusted philanthropy that presumed to pose as charity. He warned people against it. He saw in most acts of philanthropy nothing but egotism, vanity, a desire for glory, a barren excitement to kill the boredom of life, or an attempt to soothe a guilty conscience. True charity, he taught, is the result of love of God — service to man in a spirit of worship.
--- MONASTIC DISCIPLES
--
Nitya Niranjan Sen was a disciple of heroic type. He came to the Master when he was eighteen years old. He was a medium for a group of spiritualists. During his first visit the Master said to him: "My boy, if you think always of ghosts you will become a ghost, and if you think of God you will become God. Now, which do you prefer?" Niranjan severed all connexions with the spiritualists. During his second visit the Master embraced him and said warmly: "Niranjan, my boy, the days are flitting away. When will you realize God? This life will be in vain if you do not realize Him. When will you devote your mind wholly to God?" Niranjan was surprised to see the Master's great anxiety for his spiritual welfare. He was a young man endowed with unusual spiritual parts. He felt disdain for worldly pleasures and was totally guileless, like a child. But he had a violent temper. One day, as he was coming in a country boat to Dakshineswar, some of his fellow passengers began to speak ill of the Master. Finding his protest futile, Niranjan began to rock the boat, threatening to sink it in mid stream. That silenced the offenders. When he reported the incident to the Master, he was rebuked for his inability to curb his anger.
--- JOGINDRA
0.00 - The Book of Lies Text, #The Book of Lies, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
think of his woe if Laperouse were shut!
"I eat these oysters and I drink this wine
--
--I prefer to think of Laylah.
[160]
0.00 - THE GOSPEL PREFACE, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
In the life of the great Saviours and Prophets of the world it is often found that they are accompanied by souls of high spiritual potency who play a conspicuous part in the furtherance of their Master's mission. They become so integral a part of the life and work of these great ones that posterity can think of them only in mutual association. Such is the case with Sri Ramakrishna and M., whose diary has come to be known to the world as the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna in English and as Sri Rmakrishna Kathmrita in the original Bengali version.
Sri Mahendra Nath Gupta, familiary known to the readers of the Gospel by his pen name M., and to the devotees as Master Mahashay, was born on the 14th of July, 1854 as the son of Madhusudan Gupta, an officer of the Calcutta High Court, and his wife, Swarnamayi Devi. He had a brilliant scholastic career at Hare School and the Presidency College at Calcutta. The range of his studies included the best that both occidental and oriental learning had to offer. English literature, history, economics, western philosophy and law on the one hand, and Sanskrit literature and grammar, Darsanas, Puranas, Smritis, Jainism, Buddhism, astrology and Ayurveda on the other were the subjects in which he attained considerable proficiency.
--
Sri Ramakrishna was a teacher for both the Orders of mankind, Sannysins and householders. His own life offered an ideal example for both, and he left behind disciples who followed the highest traditions he had set in respect of both these ways of life. M., along with Nag Mahashay, exemplified how a householder can rise to the highest level of sagehood. M. was married to Nikunja Devi, a distant relative of Keshab Chander Sen, even when he was reading at College, and he had four children, two sons and two daughters. The responsibility of the family, no doubt, made him dependent on his professional income, but the great devotee that he was, he never compromised with ideals and principles for this reason. Once when he was working as the headmaster in a school managed by the great Vidysgar, the results of the school at the public examination happened to be rather poor, and Vidysgar attri buted it to M's preoccupation with the Master and his consequent failure to attend adequately to the school work. M. at once resigned his post without any thought of the morrow. Within a fortnight the family was in poverty, and M. was one day pacing up and down the verandah of his house, musing how he would feed his children the next day. Just then a man came with a letter addressed to 'Mahendra Babu', and on opening it, M. found that it was a letter from his friend Sri Surendra Nath Banerjee, asking whether he would like to take up a professorship in the Ripon College. In this way three or four times he gave up the job that gave him the wherewithal to support the family, either for upholding principles or for practising spiritual Sadhanas in holy places, without any consideration of the possible dire worldly consequences; but he was always able to get over these difficulties somehow, and the interests of his family never suffered. In spite of his disregard for worldly goods, he was, towards the latter part of his life, in a fairly flourishing condition as the proprietor of the Morton School which he developed into a noted educational institution in the city. The Lord has said in the Bhagavad Git that in the case of those who think of nothing except Him, He Himself would take up all their material and spiritual responsibilities. M. was an example of the truth of the Lord's promise.
Though his children received proper attention from him, his real family, both during the Master's lifetime and after, consisted of saints, devotees, Sannysins and spiritual aspirants. His life exemplifies the Master's teaching that an ideal householder must be like a good maidservant of a family, loving and caring properly for the children of the house, but knowing always that her real home and children are elsewhere. During the Master's lifetime he spent all his Sundays and other holidays with him and his devotees, and besides listening to the holy talks and devotional music, practised meditation both on the Personal and the Impersonal aspects of God under the direct guidance of the Master. In the pages of the Gospel the reader gets a picture of M.'s spiritual relationship with the Master how from a hazy belief in the Impersonal God of the Brahmos, he was step by step brought to accept both Personality and Impersonality as the two aspects of the same Non-dual Being, how he was convinced of the manifestation of that Being as Gods, Goddesses and as Incarnations, and how he was established in a life that was both of a Jnni and of a Bhakta. This Jnni-Bhakta outlook and way of living became so dominant a feature of his life that Swami Raghavananda, who was very closely associated with him during his last six years, remarks: "Among those who lived with M. in latter days, some felt that he always lived in this constant and conscious union with God even with open eyes (i.e., even in waking consciousness)." (Swami Raghavananda's article on M. in Prabuddha Bharata vol. XXXVII. P. 442.)
0.01 - Letters from the Mother to Her Son, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
January 5th, especially since you think of Pondicherry as an
ideal resting place. True, I think that it could provide a perfect
0.02 - Letters to a Sadhak, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
a treatment!! I prefer not to think of what will come out of so
much unconsciousness and carelessness.
--
I sometimes think of adopting a diametrically opposite
method: asking for a thing as soon as I think I need
0.03 - Letters to My little smile, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
may think of them. And as soon as you tell me all the things that
are troubling you, you will see that they have disappeared and
0.06 - Letters to a Young Sadhak, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
would not be able to think of me. So you may be sure of my
presence. I add my blessings.
--
If you are physically far from me and think of me all the time,
you will surely be nearer to me than if you were seated near me
--
Be courageous and do not think of yourself so much. It is because
you make your little ego the centre of your preoccupation that
--
It is better not to think of this personal nature as mine;
not to identify myself with it is the best remedy I can
0.07 - Letters to a Sadhak, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
To talk of surrender is easy, very easy indeed. To think of
surrender in all its complexity is not so easy, it is not so
0.08 - Letters to a Young Captain, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
it easier when I think of you, try to enter into contact
with you and open to you.
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.
01.02 - Sri Aurobindo - Ahana and Other Poems, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
What is the world that Sri Aurobindo sees and creates? Poetry is after all passion. By passion I do not mean the fury of emotion nor the fume of sentimentalism, but what lies behind at their source, what lends them the force they have the sense of the "grandly real," the vivid and pulsating truth. What then is the thing that Sri Aurobindo has visualised, has endowed with a throbbing life and made a poignant reality? Victor Hugo said: Attachez Dieu au gibet, vous avez la croixTie God to the gibbet, you have the cross. Even so, infuse passion into a thing most prosaic, you create sublime poetry out of it. What is the dead matter that has found life and glows and vibrates in Sri Aurobindo's passion? It is something which appears to many poetically intractable, not amenable to aesthetic treatment, not usually, that is to say, nor in the supreme manner. Sri Aurobindo has thrown such a material into his poetic fervour and created a sheer beauty, a stupendous reality out of it. Herein lies the greatness of his achievement. Philosophy, however divine, and in spite of Milton, has been regarded by poets as "harsh and crabbed" and as such unfit for poetic delineation. Not a few poets indeed foundered upon this rock. A poet in his own way is a philosopher, but a philosopher chanting out his philosophy in sheer poetry has been one of the rarest spectacles.1 I can think of only one instance just now where a philosopher has almost succeeded being a great poet I am referring to Lucretius and his De Rerum Natura. Neither Shakespeare nor Homer had anything like philosophy in their poetic creation. And in spite of some inclination to philosophy and philosophical ideas Virgil and Milton were not philosophers either. Dante sought perhaps consciously and deliberately to philosophise in his Paradiso I Did he? The less Dante then is he. For it is his Inferno, where he is a passionate visionary, and not his Paradiso (where he has put in more thought-power) that marks the nee plus ultra of his poetic achievement.
And yet what can be more poetic in essence than philosophy, if by philosophy we mean, as it should mean, spiritual truth and spiritual realisation? What else can give the full breath, the integral force to poetic inspiration if it is not the problem of existence itself, of God, Soul and Immortality, things that touch, that are at the very root of life and reality? What can most concern man, what can strike the deepest fount in him, unless it is the mystery of his own being, the why and the whither of it all? But mankind has been taught and trained to live merely or mostly on earth, and poetry has been treated as the expression of human joys and sorrows the tears in mortal things of which Virgil spoke. The savour of earth, the thrill of the flesh has been too sweet for us and we have forgotten other sweetnesses. It is always the human element that we seek in poetry, but we fail to recognise that what we obtain in this way is humanity in its lower degrees, its surface formulations, at its minimum magnitude.
0.10 - Letters to a Young Captain, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Mother, what do You think of this dream?
The dream is indeed very interesting. Snakes usually signify bad
--
itself and far prefers to blame and criticise itself than to think of
something else... (the Divine for example) and forget itself.
--
not think of anything is always there.
It is not during meditation that one must learn to be silent,
--
of society. We say: "We must also think of the opinion of
people from outside. Since we live in society, we must be
--
it is an experience leading towards physical transformation. But when I think of Your suffering body, I am
sad. And then, is this not part of the Sacrifice of the
0.11 - Letters to a Sadhak, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
When I want to be closer to You, I see that I must overcome my ego. But when I think of overcoming my ego,
I see that I must be closer to You. How can I solve this
0 1958-03-07, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
Sweet Mother, I am in a hurry to work for you. Will you still want me? Mother, I need you, I need you. I would like to ask you an absurd question: Do you think of me? I have only you, you alone in the world.
Your child,
--
To your question, I reply: I do not think of you, I feel you; you are with me, I am with you, in the light
Your place has remained vacant here; you alone can fill it, and it awaits your return, when the moment comes.
0 1958-08-07, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
When I think of the time the hatha yogis devote to the work on the bodythey do nothing but that; they do nothing but that all the time, until they have attained a certain point. This is in fact the reason why Sri Aurobindo wanted none of it: he found that it took a lot of time for a rather meager result.
***
0 1958-10-04, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
In the outer, practical domain, I might suddenly think of someone, so I know that this person is calling or thinking of me. When you left on your trip, I created a special link-up so that if ever, at any moment, you called me for anything, I would know it instantly, and I remained attentive and alert. But I do that only in exceptional cases. Generally speaking, when I havent made this special link-up, things keep coming in and coming in and coming in and coming in, and the answer goes out automatically, here or there or there or therehundreds and hundreds of things that I dont keep in my memory because then it would really be frightful. I dont keep these things in my consciousness; it is rather a work that is done automatically.
When you asked me if X4 were thinking of me, I consulted my atmosphere and saw that it was true, that even many times a day Xs thoughts were coming. So I know that he is concentrating on me, or something: it simply passes through me, and I answer automatically. But I dont particularly pay attention to X, unless you ask me a question about him, in which case I deliberately tune into him, then observe and determine whether its like this or like that. Whereas this vision the other day was something that thrust itself on me; I was in another region altogether, in my inner contemplation, my concentrationa very strong concentrationwhen I was forced to enter into contact with this being whose vision I had and who was obviously a very powerful being. After telling me what he had to tell me, he went away in a very peculiar way, not at all suddenly as most people appear and disappear, not at all like that. When I first saw him, there was a living form the being himself was there but upon leaving (probably to see the effect, to find out whether he had truly succeeded in making himself understood), he left behind a kind of image of himself. Afterwards, this image blurred and it left only a silhouette, an outline, then it disappeared altogether leaving only an impression. That was the last thing I saw. So I kept the impression and analyzed it to find out exactly what was involved; all this was filed away, and then it was over. I began my concentration once again.
0 1958-12-15 - tantric mantra - 125,000, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
At the new moon, when I felt very down, he gave me the first tantric mantraa mantra to Durga. For a period of 41 days, I must repeat it 125,000 times and go every morning to the Temple, stand before Parvati and recite this mantra within me for at least one hour. Then I must go to the sanctuary of Shiva and recite another mantra for half an hour. Practically speaking, I have to repeat constantly within me the mantra to Durga in a silent concentration, whatever I may be doing on the outside. In these conditions, it is difficult to think of you and this has created a slight conflict in me, but I believe that your Grace is acting through Swami and through Durga, whom I am invoking all the time I remember what you told me about the necessity for intermediaries and I am obeying Swami unreservedly.
Mother, things are far from being what they were the first time in Rameswaram, and I am living through certain moments that are hell the enemy seems to have been unleashed with an extraordinary violence. It comes in waves, and after it recedes, I am literally SHATTEREDphysically, mentally and vitally drained. This morning, while going to the temple, I lived through one of these moments. All this suffering that suddenly sweeps down upon me is horrible. Yes, I had the feeling of being BACKED UP AGAINST A WALL, exactly as in your vision I was up against a wall. I was walking among these immense arcades of sculptured granite and I could see myself walking, very small, all alone, alone, ravaged with pain, filled with a nameless despair, for nowhere was there a way out. The sea was nearby and I could have thrown myself into it; otherwise, there was only the sanctuary of Parvati but there was no more Africa to flee to, everything closed in all around me, and I kept repeating, Why? Why? This much suffering was truly inhuman, as if my last twenty years of nightmare were crashing down upon me. I gritted my teeth and went to the sanctuary to say my mantra. The pain in me was so strong that I broke into a cold sweat and almost fainted. Then it subsided. Yet even now I feel completely battered.
0 1959-06-03, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
That is all, Sweet Mother. In spite of my anesthesia, I think of you. (I am not blocked; on the contrary, it seems to me that the bond has been renewed since our last meeting, but I feel strangely empty.) I am unable to understand how you can love me. Oh Mother, I have truly to begin living, truly loving!
Your child,
0 1960-04-07, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
A few lines to tell you that I miss you. I truly realize more and more that I shall never be happy until I have disappeared in you entirely. There must be nothing left but That. I understand well enough, but Im so blocked, so thick. In any case, I think of you a lot and I really only live by this something that pulls me deep within. If that were not there, it would all be so absurd.
Ive booked my ticket to Rameswaram for the evening of the 13th, so I will probably reach there on the 15th.
0 1960-04-14, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
What does Mother think of this?
Fraternally,
0 1960-08-27, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
So dont let yourself be upset I often think of you, for I know how very sensitive you are to all this. It is it is really ugly. A whole realm of human intelligence (its too great a compliment to call that intelligence), of the human mind, that is very, very repugnant. We must come out of that. It doesnt touch us. WE are elsewhereelsewhere. We are NOT in that rut! We are elsewhere, automatically.
Our head is above.
0 1960-10-15, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
Its so funny the thing in itself doesnt exist for people. Whats important to them is their attitude towards the thing, what they think of it. How odd!
Each thing carries within itself its own truthits absolute truth, so luminous and so clear. And if you are in contact with THAT, then everything falls into place so wonderfully; but men are NOT in contact with that, they are always in contact through their thought: what they think of something, what they feel about something, the meaning they attach to it (or sometimes its worse)but the highest they go is always the thought they have of it. Thats what creates all this mixture and all this disorderthings in themselves are very good, and then they get confused.
Z's work involved seeing Mother everyday to watch over her health and her food.
0 1960-11-08, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
Symbolically, in life, we might think of tamas as the earth (the solid and obdurate earth), and this intervention of the vital is water flowing onto it. But when first it touches the earth, it stirs up mud! Theres no reason to protest, for its like that. And thereby the earth becomes less hard and resistant, and it begins receiving.
Its an approach which is not at all mental nor intellectual nor (God knows!) moral in the leastno notion of Good or Evil nor any of those things, absolutely none of that. Theres a moment in life when you begin thinking a little and you see all this from an overall or universal point of view in which all moral notions completely disappearFOR ANOTHER REASON. This experience with Z reminded me of a certain way of approaching Beauty that enables you even to find it in what appears dirty and ugly to the common vision. It is She trying to express herself in this something which to the common vision is ugly, dirty, hypocritical. But of course, if you yourself have striven assiduously and have greatly held yourself in, then you look at it reprovingly.
0 1960-11-12, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
Its a lack of plasticity in the mind, and they are bound by the expression of things; for them, words are rigid. Sri Aurobindo explained it so well in The Secret of the Veda; he shows how language evolves and how, before, it was very supple and evocative. For example, one could at once think of a river and of inspiration. Sri Aurobindo also gives the example of a sailboat and the forward march of life. And he says that for those of the Vedic age it was quite natural, the two could go together, superimposed; it was merely a way of looking at the same thing from two sides, whereas now, when a word is said, we think only of this word all by itself, and to get a clear picture we need a whole literary or poetic imagery (with explanations to boot!). Thats exactly the case with these children; theyre at a stage where everything is rigid. Such is the product of modern education. It even extracts the subtlest nuance between two words and FIXES it: And above all, dont make any mistake, dont use this word for that word, for otherwise your writings no good. But its just the opposite.
(silence)
0 1960-12-20, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
If I could only note all this down Its been so interesting all morning, right from the starton the balcony, then upstairs while walking for my japa! And it was on this same theme (experience of the speck of dust) This habit people have (especially in India, but more or less everywhere among those who have a religious nature), this habit of doing all things religious with respect and compunction and no mixing of things, above all there should be no mixing; in some circumstances, at certain times, you MUST NOT think of God, for then it would be a kind of blasphemy.
Theres the religious attitude, and then theres ordinary life where people do thingsworking, living, eating, enjoying life; they regard these as the essentials, and as for the rest, well, when theres time they think about it. But what Sri Aurobindo brought down, precisely I remember at Tlemcen, Theon used to say that there was a whole world of things, such as eating, for example, or taking care of your body, that should be done automatically, without giving it any importanceits not the time to think of things divine.(!) Thats what he preached. So you have the religious attitude of all the religious types, and then ordinary life I found both of them equally unsatisfactory. Then I came here and told Sri Aurobindo my feeling; I said that if someone is truly in union with the Divine, it CANNOT change no matter what he does (the quality of what youre doing may change, but the union cant change no matter what youre doing). And when he said that this was the truth, I felt a relief. And that feeling has stayed with me all through my life.
And now, all these different attitudes which individuals, groups and categories of men hold are coming from every direction (while Im walking upstairs) to assert their own points of view as the true thing. And I see that for myself, Im being forced to deal with a whole mass of things, most of which are quite futile from an ordinary point of viewnot to mention the things of which these moral or religious types disapprove. Quite interestingly, all kinds of mental formations come like arrows while Im walking for my japa upstairs (Mother makes a gesture of little arrows in the air coming into her mental atmosphere from every direction); and yet, Im entirely in what I could call the joy and happiness of my japa, full of the energy of walking (the purpose of walking is to give a material energy to the experience, in all the bodys cells). Yet in spite of this, one thing after another comes, like this, like that (Mother draws little arrows in the air): what I must do, what I must answer to this person, what I must say to that one, what has to be done All kinds of things, most of which might be considered most futile! And I see that all this is SITUATED in a totality, and this totality I could say that its nothing but the body of the Divine. I FEEL it, actually, I feel it as if I were touching it everywhere (Mother touches her arms, her hands, her body). And all these things neither veil nor destroy nor divert this feeling of being entirely this a movement, an action in the body of the Divine. And its increasing from day to day, for it seems that He is plunging me more and more into entirely material things with the will that THERE TOO it must be done that all these things must be consciously full of Him; they are full of Him, in actual fact, but it must become conscious, with the perception that it is all the very substance of His being which is moving in everything
0 1960-12-25, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
And I want also to tell you how grateful I am. You think of us even in the smallest human detailsgrateful is not even the word. Simply, may I serve you better, may I better give of myself.
With love.
0 1960-12-31, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
On the 6th, everyone will finally be gone. But tomorrow is going to be dreadful; I have to sit there for at least two hours distributing calendars. And on top of that, there are all these controversies over the music they play at the library each week. Some say that its very good, others that its very bad (the usual things). And each party has pleaded his case. They told me that theyll give me a concert at Prosperity4 so that I may judge for myself. Its all recorded. Im afraid it will be rather noisy For myself, I know quite well how to get out of it I think of something else! But its going to I can see it already. Didnt I tell you were in a chaos? Well, I have the feeling that this is going to beat all.
How do you mean a chaos?
0 1961-01-10, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Oh no, my child, you dont see at all! To speak I must have a receptive atmosphere! The idea of talking aloud all alone in my room would never occur to me. Sound doesnt come: what comes is a direct transmission and if I manage to connect it to my hand and write its transmitted, although it always gets somewhat pulled down. I can be doing anything at all, it doesnt matter, but it must be something that doesnt monopolize my attention, like brushing my hair in the morning for example: then it comes directly and nothing stops it! But I would never think of uttering a word! That only happens when I find some receptivity in front of me, something I can use.
What I say to people depends entirely upon their inner state. Thats precisely why I had such enormous difficulty at the Playground3the atmosphere was so mixed! It was a STRUGGLE to find someone receptive so I could speak. And if Im in the presence of people who understand nothing, I cant say a word. On the other hand, some people come prepared to receive and then suddenly it all comes but usually theres no tape-recorder!
0 1961-02-11, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
But this body feels so strongly that it exists ONLY because the divine Power is in it. And constantly, for the least thing, it has only one remedy (it doesnt think of resting, of not doing this or that, of taking medicine), its sole remedy is to call and call the Supremeit goes on repeating its mantra. And as soon as it quietly repeats its mantra, it is perfectly content. Perfectly content.
(silence)
0 1961-03-11, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
A time comes when all these disputesAh, no, this is like this, that is like thatseem so silly, so silly! And there is nothing more comical than this spontaneous reply so many people give: Oh, thats impossible! Because with even the most rudimentary intellectual development, you would know you couldnt even think of something if it werent possible!
(silence)
0 1961-03-21, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I hadnt thought of it at allnot at all. I have seen Zs thoughts several times, but not in this form: very, very angry thoughts but simply trying to catch my attention.4 But this was something else. X said it was Z, thats what X saw. He doesnt seem to have attached the slightest importance to my magicianobviously this person was just a screen. It must be someone who knows magic and is being used by another as an instrument. But when I saw it all this morning, I must say I didnt once think of Z. Its only X who said so.
But Z I dont know how to explain my relationship with him. He is sheltered by a light of benediction, so. When he was here I opened the doors for him to a realization he was incapable of having, something light years beyond him; and it gave him an appalling ambition, totally spoiling everything. From this point of view, its a great blessing for him; even if he becomes a dreadful Asura, it will come to a good end! It doesnt matter, its not important. Thats why this morning, even when I heard what X said about Z, it was the same thing: this great Light of the supreme Mother going out towards Z. His magic is not important, but if he indulges in it, too bad for him. It doesnt concern me: its Xs business and X is doing whats necessary and I believe (laughing) he hits hard!5
0 1961-06-02, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
What is necessary is to abandon EVERYTHING. Everything: all power, all comprehension, all intelligence, all knowledge, everything. To become perfectly nonexistent, thats the important thing. But the very atmosphere makes things difficultwhat people expect of you, what they want of you, what they think of youits very bothersome. You have to spend all your time fanning it away.
In one of the handwritten notes left by Mother, we found the following: 'Sri Aurobindo told me: Never give them the impression that they can do whatever they like, they will always be protected.'
0 1961-08-11, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Mind you, I didnt think of it in advance! The awareness came later I looked and said, Ah!
***
0 1961-10-02, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
If you give it to me to read when its all finished, as you did with the other one [LOrpailleur], thats how it will be received; it wont pass through the mind at all. It will be reflected in the mirror and from the mirror it will go above. Thats the way I saw the other book, and I was shown many things about you I hadnt known. So you can do it either way; I mean you can use the mirror before finishing the booknot for what I may think of it, because that has no importance at all, but for the effect it might have on your work. Its up to you.
Its not quite ready. I still have a lot to correct.
0 1961-10-30, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Curious, this impression the feeling of the body and the atmosphere when I was propelled into the future. Its something more more compact, denser than the physical: the New Creation. One always tends to think of it as something more ethereal, but its not! Theon spoke of it, but he didnt express himself very well; his way of speaking didnt have the power of revelation (it was based on experience, but the experience wasnt his, it was Madame Theons. She was a marvelous woman from the standpoint of experienceunique but with no real intelligence oh, she was intelligent and cultivated, but no more than that, and it didnt amount to much). But they really had come as forerunners, and Theon always insisted, It will have a greater density. Scientifically, this seems like heresy, for density is not used in that sense but this was what he said, A greater density. And the impression I get of this atmosphere is of something more compactmore compact and at the same time without heaviness or thickness. All this is evidently absurd scientificallyyet there is a feeling of compactness.
It was like that yesterday something so solid was with me (Mother touches her head); how to put it? Its solid, but not in the way we usually speak of solidity! Its not like that.
0 1961-11-07, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
While having this experience, you are free (as I said, the body no longer exists, it has even no reason to exist, and you dont think of it), and you have just as concrete an OBJECTIVE functioningeven more so! It is more concrete because you have a MUCH CLEARER and more tangible perception of knowledge than ordinary physical perception; our ordinary way of understanding always seems so hazy in comparison. Its not the same phenomenon as going off into trance and being linked to the body, depending upon it for expression, and so forth.
But a certain work [of adaptation] is required to express this experience, and the first impression upon returning is that theres no way to do it. It simply doesnt correspond to anything.9
0 1961-12-20, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
So the very normal, natural reaction against this attitude is to negate the spiritual life: lets take the world as it is, brutally, materially, short and sweet (since it all comes to an end with this short life), lets do all we can to enjoy ourselves now, suffer as little as possible and not think of anything else. Having said that life is a condemned, reprehensible, anti-divine thing, this is the logical conclusion. Then what to do? We dont want to do away with life, so we do away with the Divine.
Thats it exactly.
--
But I know that if we publish it here it will have a wide public in Europe and America swallowing it down like holy bread, and it will do a magnificent work. IF it comes from here. Not because of what they think of us [the Ashram], but because of what will be in it.
They want to tidy up your book, do they! They cant take it. I saw this when the book was sent off: they cant take it, they just cant. They put up a barrier; they cant receive what is in it, and so they will do all they can to annul its effects.
0 1962-01-09, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
But did you think of a question?
Its not directly connected. If you have something to say.
0 1962-02-13, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Oh, its peoples thoughts that are so annoying! Everybody, everybody is constantly thinking about old age and death, and death and old age and illness oh, theyre such a nuisance! Me, I never think of it. Thats not the question. The difficulty lies in the Work itself; it doesnt depend on a certain number of years, which besides is completely its nothing, one second in eternity, a mere nothing!
But truly, if someone (I dont know who or what this Someone is) if I am given the time, I will know I am convinced of it. For despite all the growing difficulties, there is also a growing knowledge, a constant progress. So from that standpoint, I CANNOT be mistaken; it is impossible. This Presence is becoming so concrete and so (what shall I say?) so helpful, so concrete in its help. But it obviously takes a long time.
0 1962-02-24, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
But is it necessary? Is all this disorganization necessary? Perhaps I call it disorganization when it isnt. You know, we are totally ignorant in that realm. We have our old human ways of seeing, but when it comes to the bodys functioning, we know nothing about whats good or not. Or even whats painful or not: the bodys initial impulse is to feel the pain, but upon reflection and attentive observation, we see it is simply an intensity of sensation were not used to. So it could well have been that. And if we were used to it (and especially if we didnt think of it as something troublesome), we would feel quite differently about it. In any case, its not something unbearablewe can bear a lot of things, much more than we imagine.
I am not sure, you see. We keep going on with old notions, old routines and old habitswhat can we possibly know!
0 1962-05-15, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I didnt receive a promisethis Voice made me remember a promise I had made. I was saying to myself, How to connect this true Consciousness to the other oneits impossible! And just then I seemed to hear not Sri Aurobindo exactly, because then you immediately think of a particular body, but that sort of Voice saying to me, Your promise. You said you would do the Work. So thats when I said, Yes, I shall do the Work. And from that moment on the process of materialization began, the entire transition from the true Consciousness to the ordinary consciousness.
I didnt receive a promise, but a reminder of the promise I had made.
0 1962-05-18, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Otherwise, you know, I would not have consented. If That had not agreed, I would have said to my body, Go on, keep going, move and it would have gone on. It stopped because That said yes. And then I understood that that whole so-called illness was necessary for the Work. So I let myself go. And then what I told you about happened: this body was consigned to the care of three people, who looked after it marvelously, by the wayreally, it filled me with constant admirationa selflessness, a care oh, it was wonderful! I was saying to the Lord the whole time, Truly, Lord, You have arranged all the material conditions in an absolutely marvelous, incredible way, bringing together whatever is necessary, and placing around me people beyond all praise. For at least two weeks they had a hard time of itquite hard. The body was a wreck, you know! (Mother laughs) They had to think of everything, decide everything, take care of everything. And they looked after it very, very wellreally very well.
Its a wonderful story, seen as I see it. And I have observed it very carefully: it isnt an ordinary story seen with an exceptional knowledge, but a true Knowledge and a true Consciousness witnessing an exceptional story. Those three people may not be aware of how utterly exceptional it is, but thats simply because their consciousness is not sufficiently awake. But they too have been, and continue to be, exceptional.
0 1962-06-02, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
But that is a singular state: there is no mental intervention at all; you live things POSITIVELY, just as you experience them physically, in the same way that this (Mother knocks on the table next to her) is physically a table. Its that kind of perception something positive. I positively said, I am going to my cousins place, and the relationship had an absolutely positive vibrationit wasnt at all something thought or even remembered: theres no remembering anything, its simply there, alive. A strange state. I have had it on several occasions, and when I have it I am aware that this must be the state people who know what is happening and make predictions are inin this state there is no possibility of doubt. No thoughts intervenenone at all, not one. Absolutely nothing intellectual: simply certain vital-physical vibrations, and then you know. And you dont even wonder how you know; its not that kind of thingits self-evident. And since I was in that state when I saw the reincarnation of the cousin, I am perfectly sure of what I saw. And god knows (Mother laughs), when I came out of it and began to look at it all with my usual consciousness, I said to myself, My word! I would never have thought of such a thing! It was millions of miles from any thought of mine. Besides, I never used to think of that cousin; he was a fine boy but I never paid much attention to him, he had no place in my active consciousness.
Its fun.
0 1962-06-06, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Yes, but that different world you conceive of, will it be different subjectively, or in its material properties? Will that world be different to us only subjectively, in the way we think of it, or.
Power logically, one has power over things.
--
Petit, before you go to sleep, when you get into bed, simply think of me a little, with the will to receive what I send youjust for the space of a few seconds before you go to sleep, thats all. Dont try to concentrate and keep yourself awake, just formulate it, then go to sleep. Because I am really trying!
Of course, I know youre trying! Im not accusing anyone Im the one thats blocked.
0 1962-07-11, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
When I think of you it always takes me into a very crystalline and luminous regionvery crystalline, sometimes with. A state where I can communicate effortlessly.
Yet I have the feeling its closed up.
0 1962-07-18, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Its like an image. You see, the body is stretched out here on the chaise longue. You know how it is when experiments are done on animals? Its something like that the body is there as the subject of an experiment. Then theres my consciousness, the part focused on the earthly experience and the present transformation (its what I mean when I say I). And then the Lord. I say the Lord Ive adopted that because its the best way of putting it and the easiest for me, but I never, NEVER think of a being. For me, its a simultaneous contact with the Eternal, the Infinite, the Vast, the Totality of everything the totality of everything: all that is, all that has been, all that will be, everything. Words spoil it, but its like thatautomaticallywith consciousness, sweetness and SOLICITUDE. With all the qualities a perfect Personality can offer (I dont know if you follow me, but thats the way it is). And That (I use all these words to say it, and three-fourths is left out) is a spontaneous, constant, immediate experience. So the I I spoke of asks that the body may have the experience, or at least an initial taste, even a shadow of the experience of this Love. And each time its asked for, it comes INSTANTLY. Then I see the three together1in my consciousness and perception the three are together and I see that this Love is dosed out and maintained in exact proportion to what the body can bear.
The body is aware of this and is a little sad about it. But immediately comes something soothing, calming, making it vast. The body instantly senses the immensity and regains its calm.
0 1962-08-04, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
The interchange of vibrations among people is something tremendous, and were swimming in it all, all, all the timeeven when were alone! Because these things travel: for instance, its enough for someones thought to come and strike against yours, and for you to think of him (which means responding)there is an immediate effect in the body. So to imagine that solitude would make yoga any easier is sheer childishness.
The only possible solution is so perfect a union with the supreme Vibration that everything is automatically put under His influence; and in that case it is easier to feel wider, higher, vaster than the world (to take just the earth: the terrestrial world) than an individual.3 For it is easier to do this (embracing gesture), to take everything in, to embrace and change it from outside, than to change it from inside. At present, the two movements are simultaneous, and staying inside was4 the result of all those years of experience in drawing the Supreme Presence down into the most material world for that, you have to accept (how can I put it?) corporeal oneness.
0 1962-09-08, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Nothing. Or do pranam1 to him, thats all, it doesnt matter. Personally, I could do pranam before a puppy dog, mon petit, in all sincerityseeing the Lord in it. You have only to think of the Lord, no?
In fact, thats what I always do.
think of the Lord, thats all.
And be polite.
0 1962-10-06, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
In ordinary life, you think of things, then you do them but this is just the opposite! In this life you have to do things first and understand afterwards but long afterwards. You have to act first, without thinking. If you think, you get nowhere; youre just reverting to the old way of doing things.
***
--
Its the same when I look at people: I dont see them as they see themselves, I see them with the vibration of all the forces that are in them and pass through them, and quite frequently with the supreme Vibration of the Presence. And thats why my physical sight is not exactly failing, but changing in character, for the physical precision that normal physical sight gives is its false for me. Instinctively (not because I think of it that way), thats how it Is. So I no longer have the precision of a vision designed to see just the superficial crust of things.
But this doesnt keep me from seeing physicallyalthough, yes, it does at times make me unsure of whos in front of me, because I see a vibration that is sometimes very similar, almost identical, in three or four people (who arent all necessarily present, but anyway). So theres a slight external difference theres a very great external difference in the way the form looks, of course, but in the combination of vibrations theres only a slight external difference. And so sometimes I am not sure, I dont know whether its this person or that one; thats why I often ask, Whos there? Its not that I dont see anything, but I dont see in the same way.
0 1962-10-12, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Of course, when we start thinking of all the zones, all the universal planes of consciousness, and that Hes way, way, way up there at the end of all that, well then it does become very far, very far indeed! (Mother laughs) But if we think of Him as being everywhere, in everything, that He is everything, that only our way of perceiving things keeps us from seeing and feeling Him, and all we have to do is this (Mother turns her hands inwards) a movement like this, a movement like that (Mother turns her hands inwards and outwards in turn), then it gets to be quite concrete: you go like this (outward gesture) and everything becomes artificialhard, dry, false, deceptive, artificial; you go like that (inward gesture) and all is vast, tranquil, luminous, peaceful, immense, joyous. And its merely this or that (Mother turns her hands inwards and outwards in turn). How? Where? It cant be described, but it is solelysolelya movement of consciousness, nothing else. A movement of consciousness. And the difference between the true and the false consciousness becomes more and more precise and at the same time THIN: you dont need to do great things to get out of it. Before, there used to be a feeling of living WITHIN something and that a great effort of interiorization, concentration, absorption was needed to get out of it; but now I feel its something one accepts (Mother puts her hand in front of her face like a screen), something like a thin little rind, very hardmalleable, but very hard, very dry, very thin, very thin something like a mask you put on then you go like this (gesture), and its gone.
I foresee a time when it will no longer be necessary to be aware of the mask: the mask will be so thin that we can see and feel and act through it, and it wont be necessary to put it back on.
--
Indeed, He is far because you think He is far. If you could just, you know, think of Him being right here, like this (gesture close to the face), touching you if you could feel this. Its not like touching another person, its not like that. Its not something foreign, external, coming to you from outsideno! Its everywhere.
There was a period when I used to sort of curl up into a ball Within. For the least difficulty I became just like a circumference! All curled up into a ball Within.
0 1962-11-27, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
A time will come when it will all be done automatically, but right now that would be impossible. As it is, the way the Force acts is already making people here a little disorientedits verging on being unintelligible to them. In other words, its beginning to obey another law. For instance, to know at the exact moment what needs to be done or said, whats going to happenif theres the slightest bit of concern or concentration to know, it doesnt come. But if I am just like that, simply in a kind of inner immobility, then for all the little details of life, I know at the exact moment. What needs to be said comes: you say this. And not like an order from outside: it just comes, there it is. What needs to be said is there, the reply that needs to be sent is there; the person who enters, entersyoure not forewarned. You do things in a kind of automatic way. In the mental world, you think of something before doing it (it may happen very fast, but both movements are distinct); here it isnt like that.
This is beginning to be a rather constant occurrence. Its already very baffling for all those who live with me, but if I were as I should be, I think it would be quite intolerable.
0 1962-12-04, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Apart from that. Theres nothing, no physical destruction I can think of, comparable to that collapse.
It took me twelve days to get out of ittwelve days during which I didnt speak a single word.
0 1963-09-04, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Sujata also felt it these last few months but Ive been feeling it for a long time. I sense something lying in wait, something hanging over her and over me I dont know which of the two. In the past I didnt often think of death, but now it comes to my mind constantly.
But what do you call death?!
0 1963-09-18, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
There is almost a paroxysm of disorder and confusion in all the affairs of the earth (at the Ashram toomaybe even worse than elsewhere! No, not worse but just as bad!), and it seems to be reaching new heights: almost hour by hour I discover confusion confusion, disorder (before I would have called it mischief, but now). And what confusion! People who are convinced that they know how to deal with things (they know far better than the Lord, far better the Lord is completely ignorant of the things of this world, but THEY know better), and then the blunders they commit! And when theyve committed a blunder, after a while they realize its a blunder, so to make it good they commit another blunder! Everything is like that here, absolutely everything, with all sorts of blunders. And once they have thoroughly bungled, piled up blunder upon blunder and landed themselves in a complete mess, they think of asking me! (laughing) They ask me, What should we do? So I answer, Its about time!
But whats marvelous is that nothing stirs here (gesture to the head), nothing stirs. And the Lord smiles.
0 1963-10-05, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I always go to take my bath, but someone has to prepare it. And either they arent strong enough, or they think of other things, or they dont care about it, or And once (I told you this), I opened the door and found someone trying to take a bath, but I arrived just in time.2
Well see.
0 1963-11-20, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Because it has settled! So you should get the awareness or knowledge that this [the body] isnt you the trouble is that when you say me you think of this (Mother strikes her body), but thats not it! It isnt you! And you have to feel that it isnt you before you can come down again into it to take possession of it and change it. As long as you say, This is me, you are tied, bound hand and foot.
Whats you is this (gesture above the head), its there: what sparkles in the light thats you. This [the body] isnt you, its the sediment. You still have your bodys self-esteem! You should feel: this isnt me, it isnt me. It is yes, what was put together more or less clumsily and ignorantly by father, mother, maybe with the influence of grandparents. That discovery I made at the age of about fifteen or sixteen, or seventeen. I began to see clearly all the gifts (if we can call them that) that came from father, mother, parents, grandparents, education, people who looked after me, that whole mudhole, as it were, into which you fall headfirst. And then, the quality of the vibration, the quality of the sensation, of the so-called thoughts (which arent thoughts, but are almost automatic mental reflexes of sorts) and of the feelings (if you can call them feelings: they are kinds of reactions to the milieu and to all that comes from outside)it all swarms, swarms like worms in the mud.
0 1963-11-23, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
But I had been told this a few weeks ago, last month, while I was conducting a general survey. I heard someone who said (someone is a manner of speaking, I know who it is): Kennedy wont be able to do it. I thought the instrument was too small, I didnt think of this.
And then five of our air force chiefs have been killed in a helicopter crashhelicopters never crash, and they were the best possible pilots. Its an act of sabotage the Communists are doing a lot of sabotage. So that makes two accidents in a row.
0 1964-02-13, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I expected it a little. You cant think of such things in advance, but when I spoke to her I thought she was going to be pleasedoh, she almost flew into a rage! But in front of me, of course I looked at her and went like this (Mother lowers her thumb): it stopped. But once she had gone, it was the end!
A jealous and vain character is hard to correct.
0 1964-02-26, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
So, if by our next meeting you feel something or see something or think of something, or have a dream, you will tell me. I dont have much hope left because these last few days there has been a great intensity, rather hard to beartremendousand this morning when I got up, the intensity had lifted a little. The night was good (I perceive the general subconscient and the state of receptivity, the conditionsit wasnt bad, it was rather satisfying), but I noticed that the Pressure, the intensity of the Pressure, had lessened.
It was only during the work here [with the secretaries], that hour of work (labor, not work), I felt something here (gesture to the forehead and temple) that was a bit tired, like a fatigue coming from outside. Anyway
0 1964-05-02, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Why do I have to write all those lines in ink when it would be so much simpler to think of you, and lo! I would be with you, I would see you. Our human life is quite bounded and stupid. In two hundred years, in Eskimo land, we will be colored penguins; you will be sky blue and I, pomegranate red. And sometimes, I will be you and you will be me, red and blue, and well no longer be able to tell each other apart, or else well become all white like snow and no one will be able to find us again, except the great Caribou who is wise and knows love. And when the snow melts, we will be eider-penguins, of course, a new flying race, emerald, which plays among the northern fir trees on the shores of Lake Rokakitutu (pronounced fiddledeedee in penguin language).
S.
0 1964-09-16, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Mon petit, thats why we started the Ashram! That was the idea. Because when I was in France, I was always asking myself, How can people have the time to find themselves? How can they even have the time to understand the way to free themselves? So I thought: a place where material needs are sufficiently satisfied, so that if you truly want to free yourself, you can do so. And it was on this idea that the Ashram was founded, not on any other: a place where peoples means of existence would be sufficient to give them the time to think of the True Thing.
(Mother smiles) Human nature is such that laziness has taken the place of aspiration (not for everyone, but still fairly generally), and license or libertinism has taken the place of freedom. Which would tend to prove that the human species must go through a period of brutal handling before it can be ready to get away more sincerely from the slavery to activity.
0 1964-09-26, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
But I often think of your brother.
When did you receive that letter?
--
People wonder how, for instance, the action of one man or of one thought can restore orderthis is how. Not that you have to think of all the troubled spots, no: you have to get to the center. And everything will be restored to order, automatically.
(silence)
0 1964-10-14, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I remember, once, they held an exhibition on Germany at the Library. They put up a long quotation from Sri Aurobindo in which he said, Here is what the Germans think of THEMSELVES and there followed a whole quotationoh, what a quotation! Anyway, they are the race of the future, of geniuses, they will save the world and so on. But they put up the whole thing without the first sentence! So I arrive there (at the time, I could see clearly), and what do I see! I remembered what Sri Aurobindo had written, Here is what the Germans think of THEMSELVES, SO I told them, But you forgot the most important thing, you must add this. You should have seen their faces, mon petit!
Its this dishonesty thats frightening they cut out and remove all that bothers them and leave only what suits them.
--
These last few nights, an experience has been developing. There is a sort of objectification, like scenes unfolding in which I am one of the characters; but it isnt me, it is some character or other that I play in order to have the double consciousness, the ordinary consciousness and the true consciousness at the same time. There was a whole series of experiences to show simultaneously the True Thing and the sort of half-death (its his word that makes me think of this I am too dead), the half-death of the mind. In those experiences, the state of ordinary mentality is something dry (not exactly hard because its crumbly), lifeless, without vibrationdry, cold; and as a color, its always grayish. And then, there is a maximum tension, an effort to understand and remember and knowknow what you should do; when you go somewhere, know how you should go there; know what people are going to do, know Everything, you see, is a perpetual question of the mind (its subconscious in the mindsome are conscious of it, but even in those who are apparently quiet, its there constantly that tension to know). And its a sort of superficial thing, shallow, cold and dry, WITHOUT VIBRATION. At the same time, as if in gusts, the true consciousness comes, as a contrast. And it happens in almost cinematographic circumstances (there is always a story, to make it more living). For instance, last night (its one story among many, many others), the I that was conscious then (which isnt me, you understand), the I that was playing had to go somewhere: it was with other people in a certain place and had to go through the town to another place. And she knew nothing, neither the way nor the name of the place she was going to, nor the person she had to seeshe knew nothing. She knew nothing, but she knew she had to go. So then, that tension: how, how can you know? How can you know? And questioning people, asking questions, trying to explain, You know, its like this and like that, innumerable details (it lasts for hours). And now and then, a flood of lighta warm, golden, living, comfortable lightand the feeling that everything is prearranged, that all that will have to be known will be known, that the way has been prepared beforeh and that all you have to do is let yourself live! It comes like that, in gusts. But then, there is an intensity of contrast between that constant effort of the mind, which is an enormous effort of tension and concentrated will, and then and then that glory. That comfortable glory, you know, in which you let yourself go in trusting happiness: But everything is ready, everything is luminous, everything is known! All you have to do is let yourself live. All you have to do is let yourself live.
Its as if a play were performed to make it more living, more realone subject, another subject, this, that. If you enter a certain state, then another time enter the other state, you can remember the difference and its useful, but in this form of a play, with the double consciousness, the opposition becomes so real, so concrete that you come out of it wondering, How can you go on living in this aberration when you have once TOUCHEDtouched, experienced the True Thing?
0 1964-12-07, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Maybe nothing at all will come! I cant say. This morning This morning, I dont know, did you think of your visit here? Yes? I heard magnificent musicmagnificent! But it was music it took at least four hands to play it, or several instruments. If that came
Wait. The message (it isnt a message!) There is a photo of me in which I have my hands folded and I look happy (!), so I wrote underneath, Salut Toi, Vrit. Then I was asked to put it into English I said, Salute to the advent of the Truth.
0 1965-04-21, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
What I meant by an improved physical body is that sort of mastery over the body thats being gained nowadays through physical training. I have seen lately magazines showing how it had started: the results in the beginning and todays results; and from the standpoint of the harmony of forms (I am not talking about excesses there are excesses everywhere I am talking about what can be done in the best possible conditions), from the standpoint of the harmony of forms, of strength and a certain sense of beauty, of the development of certain capacities of endurance and skill, of precision in the execution combined with strength, its quite remarkable if you think of how recent physical training is. And its spreading very quickly nowadays, which means that the proportion of the human population that is interested in it and practices it is snowballing. So when I saw all those photos (for me, its especially through pictures that I see), it occurred to me that through those qualities, the cells, the cellular aggregates acquire a plasticity, a receptivity, a force that make the substance more supple for the permeation of the supramental forces.
Lets take the sense of form, for example (I am giving one example among many others). Evolution is openly moving towards diminishing the difference between the female and the male forms: the ideal thats being created makes female forms more masculine and gives male forms a certain grace and suppleness, with the result that they increasingly resemble what I had seen all the way up, beyond the worlds of the creation, on the threshold, if I can call it that, of the world of form. At the beginning of the century, I had seen, before even knowing of Sri Aurobindos existence and without having ever heard the word supramental or the idea of it or anything, I had seen there, all the way up, on the threshold of the Formless, at the extreme limit, an ideal form that resembled the human form, which was an idealized human form: neither man nor woman. A luminous form, a form of golden light. When I read what Sri Aurobindo wrote, I said, But what I saw was the supramental form! Without having the faintest idea that it might exist. Well, the ideal of form we are now moving towards resembles what I saw. Thats why I said: since there is an evolutionary concentration on this point, on the physical, bodily form, it must mean that Nature is preparing something for that Descent and that embodimentit seems logical to me. Thats what I meant by an improved physical form.
0 1965-05-19, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
To tell the truth, all those things are without any importance (!) because in any case what IS exceeds entirely and absolutely all that the human consciousness may think of it. It is only when you stop being human that you know; but as soon as you express yourself, you become human again, and then you stop knowing.
This is undeniable.
0 1965-05-29, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I saw the other dayit was very interesting, the very day he was on his way here (I wasnt thinking of him I never think of people), suddenly I saw all that the knowledge of the pundits and those who profess to follow a spiritual life (the whole class of sannyasins, pundits, purohits,1 etc.), all that that represents. (I am not referring to religions in other countries: its specific to India.) And they are people who have a knowledge, a mental knowledge, of course, but very precise and very exact, of the movements in relation to the Overmind: all the gods and godheads and their ways of being and the relationships between men and gods; and they have tried to organize and formulate the relationships men have with gods so that, as was said in the past, men would not be the cattle of the godsthey have tried to change the human position with regard to deities. Its interesting, its a whole interesting field which to me does not represent the true thing. They on their part think that is spiritual lifeits not spiritual life, but it is a higher mental region which borders on the Overmind, which even enters into the Overmind, and which is completely organized; its a sort of legislation of the relationships between men and gods. From that point of view, its interesting.
I saw that very clearly: the place it has in the universal organization. And if its in its place, then its quite all rightwhen a thing is in its place it becomes very good.
0 1965-06-05, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Its put in a childlike way, but its so true and so simple! The more you see things in detail, the more you notice that ninety-nine times out of a hundred, even more than that, if you are tense or hurt, or pained or bothered, its simply because things arent exactly as you had told yourself they should bethis is for intelligent people; for less intelligent people, its a sort of desire: they want things to be that way (they feel it much more than they think it), and then when things happen in another way, oh, they get a shock. But if they had wanted it beforehand, it would have been a pleasureexactly the same occurrence. The occurrence would be exactly the same. If they had wanted it beforehand, they would have said, Ah, at last this has been realized, and just because they didnt think of it, because they didnt see it: Oh, how horrible! Almost everywhere and almost constantly thats how it is. I see it more and more in the small movement of every minute.
***
0 1965-10-10, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
And when the cells are goodwilled By goodwilled, I mean that as soon as their attention is turned to the supreme Force (or supreme Presence or supreme Existence or supreme Realitywhatever, words are nothing but words), as soon as their attention is turned to That, a burst of joy: Thats it! Thats it! In the cells that are truly not only goodwilled but thirsting for the Truth: a burst of joy. And then the old habits start up again. And the cells say (it recurs periodically, that is, very often, thousands of times a day), But we only have to will! or We only have to aspire or We only have to think of That (its not think as we understand it), We only have to turn our attentionOh, but its true! Like that. Oh, such joy! And then, brrf! all the old habits come back again. Its fantastic fantastic.
The fear of the unknown is gone (doubt went away a very long time ago), the fear of the unknown, of the new, the unexpected, is gone; there only remains the mechanism of habit. But it holds on, it clings, oh!
0 1966-03-19, #Agenda Vol 07, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
For some time now, whenever I think of terrestrial or Indian circumstances, I have a sort of repeated impression of the calm before the storm.
(Silence) But that place is above the storm the storm is all the way down.
0 1966-11-09, #Agenda Vol 07, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Ah, it would be such a good thing from the general point of view if people could be made to understand that true love has nothing to do with sexual relationship, with vital attraction, even with sentimental relationships, that none of this has anything to do with true love.2 But people dont understand. Even when they use the word love, they immediately think of sexual union, and thats disastrous, it completely warps the idea.
I dont know, I havent read Pavitras book On Love. Have you? Is the point clear in his book?
--
I never think of anythingoh, thats a blessing, you know, mon petit! I never think of anything without good reason! I am like this (gesture of immobile contemplation, turned upward). The only thing thats formulated with words is: Lord, You what You will, what You know, what You do, there is only You. You. Like that (same gesture of immobility). And all of a sudden, without thinking about it, without looking for it, plop! a drop of lightah!
Its convenient.
0 1966-11-19, #Agenda Vol 07, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Its true tenderness: that of the Divine. People dont know, they always think of something very human. But its not human (Mother closes her eyes and remains standing in concentration) Its extremely luminous, rose-colored, slightly golden always smiling. Its a very particular sensation. (After a long silence) Everything is like a beautiful pink rosea beautiful rose. Its better than that, much better (how can I put it?). No difficulties can existthey dont exist [when one is in that Tenderness]. Its the side of life (of life, I mean of the manifestation) which is all beauty, smile, peace and lightspontaneously, effortlessly, with an impossibility for anything else to exist. Its very particular. And its very high up, very high up. Yet, now and then I see a drop of it here. The first time I saw it (Mother wobbles on her feet). I must sit down because Im going away!
(Mother sits down and resumes) It can only be realized in a world devoid of egoism. Which means that when the whole action of individualization is over and there is no more need for the element of egoism, then it will be possible for that to be fully manifested.
--
If I were in a superficial consciousness I would ask myself, Why am I thinking of this? But I dont think of it and its not a thought (same fluid gesture) its a life being organized.
Its very interesting. I must learn to receive things accurately. I dont objectify them, of course (meaning that I dont put them on another screen where they would become objective knowledge), I dont do that at all, so I cant play the propheto therwise, what a prophet Id be! From the smallest things to the biggest: cyclones, earthquakes, revolutions, all that, and then very small things, very small, even much smaller than a pension, a tiny little circumstance of life, or something thats going to come, like a gift someone has sent me or very small things, very small, totally unimportant in appearanceeverything is shown with the same value! There is no big, no small, no important, no unimportant. And its constantly like that!
0 1966-11-26, #Agenda Vol 07, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Its the first time this year it has happened to me. Previously, it used to happen fairly often, but its the first time this year. It shows that, all the same, things are improving. Oh, but it was terrible, people cant imagine what it is! It takes hold of everyone and everybody, every circumstance and everything, and it gives shape to disintegrationquite like this Gentleman (I think hes the one!), quite like him. But it doesnt have the poetic form [of Savitri], of course, its not a poet: it has all the meanness of life. And it insists on that a great deal. These last few days it insisted on it a great deal. I said to myself, See, all that is written and said is always in a realm of beauty and harmony and greatness, and, anyway, the problem is put with dignity; but as soon as it becomes quite practical and material, its so petty, so mean, so narrow, so ugly! Thats the proof. When you get out of it, its all right, you can face all problems, but when you come down here, its so ugly, so petty, so miserable. We are such slaves to our needs, oh! For one hour, two hours, you hold on, and after And its true, physical life is uglynot everywhere, but anyway I always think of plants and flowers: thats really lovely, its free from that; but human life is so sordid, with such crude and imperious needsits so sordid. Its only when you begin to live in a slightly superior vision that you become free from that; in all the Scriptures, very few people accept the sordidness of life. And of course, thats what this Gentleman insists on. I said, Very well. This bodys answer is very simple: We certainly arent anxious that life should continue as it is. It doesnt find it very pretty. But we conceive of a lifea life as objective as our material lifewhich wouldnt have all these sordid needs, which would be more harmonious and spontaneous. Thats what we want. But he says its impossiblewe have been told its not only possible but certain. So theres the battle.
Then comes the great argument: Yes, yes, one day it will be, but when? For the time being you are still swamped in all this and you plainly see it cant change. It will go on and on. In millennia, yes, it will be. Thats the ultimate argument. He no longer denies the possibility, he says, All right, because you have caught hold of something, youre hoping to realize it now, but thats childishness.
0 1967-01-14, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
It gives me a strange sensation. How can I explain it? Its peculiar, something between deceit and perversion, yet its divine! What do you think of that!
You mean theres something false in the flowers appearance?
0 1967-01-21, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
At last a place where one will be able to think of nothing but the future.
Auroville is doing well and growing more and more real. But its realization is not progressing in the habitual human way, and it is more visible to the inner consciousness than to the outer vision.
0 1967-03-15, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
This is something I experience constantly, every minute. If I am in my normal atmosphere, however intense the action may be (or also the intensity of the problem to be solved), one sees clearly, and the solution imposes itself as something absolute, irrevocable: this is how it must be done. The minute the restless atmosphere of someone else comes in (and as soon as a problem arises, there is not one in a thousand who doesnt become restless, at least inwardly a little), it starts going like this (same gesture of trepidation), and not only do you stop seeing, but things are no longer in their place! And so the solution you have to mend the disorder before you can think of the solution. Its an experience of almost every moment. I see numerous people; with some, as soon as they enter the atmosphere, their confusion enters with them, and you cant see anything anymoreyou have to wait a little, try and calm things down, and then you can see. With some it never calms downits hopeless, you can only send them back. With others, it calms down after a certain length of time, then you can begin to see and know what needs to be done.
But materially it results in something very interesting. When I am alone and everything is tranquil in my atmosphere, at any moment I can take anything, any object: its exactly in its place. And everything goes without a hitch. As soon as someone (anyone) is there, as soon as someone is there, there is a little vibration (same gesture of trepidation). With some people the vibration gets much worse and I lose my things! I lose them almost irretrievably until the atmosphere has calmed down again. Then the thing comes back quite naturally, almost as if it had gone away and come backit didnt go away and come back: it was only the confusion veiling everything. And I find the place again, the thing in its exact place. This goes on from morning to night (I cant say from night to morning because I go off into another region!). But its constant. And so I feel I am living in constant confusion.
0 1967-05-03, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
And its good it came back; its a form quite within everyones grasp, which they can understandyou arent asked extraordinary things: you are asked goodwill. When I found this again, I smiled and found it amusing, I said, Well, I could have written the same thing about cheerfulness! I could have said, Be cheerful and you will see cheerfulness everywhere.One can say many things (Mother rotates her hand slowly as if to present various facets), it always makes me think of a kaleidoscope with colour arrangements to express something else which shrinks, becomes diminished, generalized and finally within everyones grasp. But there is something: like a FORMIDABLE conflict taking place over the earth at this moment, with this wonderful divine Grace always helping, always striving for the best and exerting a pressure, Come now, be cheerful, come now, have goodwill, come now, have, yes, have that inner Harmony of contentment, of hope, of faith. Do not accept the vibrations of decomposition the vibrations that diminish, degrade and lead towards destruction.
Its everywhere, everywhere like that (gesture of pressure on the earth).
--
And I always think of that passage in Savitri in which he says, God shall grow up Grow up in Matter, of course (and you SEE the Divinity grow up in Matter, and Matter being made more and more capable of manifesting the Divinity), and he says, while the wise men talk and sleep.2 Its exactly that. And its charming.
(silence)
--
The way it comes is amusing too. Someone (for instance, X, Y or Z) reads me a letter; me, you understand, theres no me, I am absolutely absent, busy with the things I do: putting this away, doing that or this. Suddenly (gesture from above), Say this. Ah, very well. And then it comes. And its amusing: its words playing, it always makes me think of a cat playing with something, like that, with its mischievous eye, sending the ball away and catching it again, poking it with one paw and catching it again with the other; its exactly the same movement with words. Its someone having fun. You know who the someone is(!)
Sometimes, it has such an extraordinary sense of humour, with such subtletyhe just picks up the slightly ridiculous side of the person who wrote or asked the question, then answers with imperturbable seriousness. Admirable!
0 1967-07-22, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Then I have something else. I have been asked questions on music: What is it we should expect from music? How to judge the quality of a piece of music? What do you think of light music (cinema, jazz, etc.), which our children like very much?
I replied this (it was yesterday):
0 1967-09-13, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Its very simple: when you say to people, Be humble, they immediately think of being humble towards others, and that humility is bad. True humility is humility towards the Divine, that is, the precise, exact, LIVING sense that you are nothing, can do nothing, understand nothing without the Divine, that even if you are an exceptionally intelligent and capable being, that is NOTHING in comparison with the divine Consciousness and one must keep that constantly, because then one constantly has the true attitude of receptivity. A humble receptivity that sets no personal pretension against the Divine.
***
0 1967-10-11, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
She stayed here while I was bathing, and she told me, See, you can do all this, and not for a minute, not for a second do you lose the contact with That, with the supreme wonder. And we who are full of power, and of without any of your petty miseries, any of your petty difficulties, we are so used to our way of being that we dont see the value of it, its something obvious, almost inevitable. And she said (Mother smiles), We never think of the Divine, because we ARE the Divine. So there isnt that will to progress, that thirst for ever better, ever morewe totally lack it.
It was really interesting. I am putting it into words (of course, she didnt speak to me in French!), but it was very simple, the contact was very simple (gesture of inner exchange), and very natural, very spontaneous. At one point I even asked her (laughing), Do you enjoy all this worship people give you? She said no. No, I dont care. She is too used to it, she doesnt care.
0 1967-10-19, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
And what do you think of it?
What do I think of it? I have been feeling the battle for a long time the sordid battlefield, a battle of nastiness which manifests everywhere as much as it can. For me, there is only one remedy, that is to be stillstill and to let the storm blow over without moving.
They said we would have a war with the Chinese in September: that, has been averted.
0 1967-12-06, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
We were in the subtle physical. I saw lots of people: Purani (a departed disciple) and so on, people who are no longer on earth. It was in Sri Aurobindos not his house, but his domain. I saw and did lots of things. There were people who are on earth and people who are no longer on earth: they were all together. And at the end (for many details Sri Aurobindo was there, then he left), at the end I looked at all that, and for the first time in the subtle physical, I said, Oh, how insipid and useless and without zest your life is, when you dont think of the Divine.
The experience was so acute! So acute. Then I said (among the people there, there was Purani, and as I said people who are on earth), I told them, On earth, there is that intensity of aspiration, but here life is so easy, so easy! Look at all your activities and all that, oh, it has no zest, because there isnt that intense need to live for the Divine. And it was so strong that for hours in the morning it was like that (gesture of intense aspiration). Life anywhereanywhere, in any part of the world (of the universe) and in any conditions, even the easiest and harmonious, is not worth living without this intensity of aspiration, of the NEED to be divine.
0 1968-02-17, #Agenda Vol 09, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Yes, they are full of this business of yoga of sex. They think of nothing else, talk of nothing else. The city of loveas for me, I find it
But as soon as this word is used in the ordinary way, it becomes like that.
0 1968-04-23, #Agenda Vol 09, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
In German, they asserted, Oh, if we put Divine, people will immediately think of God. I replied (laughing), Not necessarily, if theyre not idiots!
But it has given me a very precise picture of what would happen if for some reason or other I were no longer here. Everyone would use my name to (Mother laughs) It would be frightening!
0 1968-07-27, #Agenda Vol 09, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
The scientific, rationalistic, industrial, pseudo-democratic civilisation of the West is now in process of dissolution and it would be a lunatic absurdity for us at this moment to build blindly on that sinking foundation. When the most advanced minds of the occident are beginning to turn in this red evening of the West for the hope of a new and more spiritual civilisation to the genius of Asia, it would be strange if we could think of nothing better than to cast away our own self and potentialities and put our trust in the dissolving and moribund past of Europe.2
I didnt know he had said that.
0 1969-05-24, #Agenda Vol 10, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
As a result, I can no longer, I can no longer even for instance, previously, when someone told me he had difficulties or was unhappy or it was very simple, spontaneously I would say, But just think of something else, think of the yoga, and youll find peace I cant even say that any longer! Because I cant tell people, Do as I do and youll be in peace! Its true that I dont have a single carenot one care. One day (it was yesterday or the day before, I dont remember), everything seemed to go haywireeverything everywhere: everybody, all circumstances, all thingsevery thing, on the scale of the earth. Not on a small scale, on the scale of the earth. On a small scale: complete disorder; on a general scale: complete disorder. But even that the body can still see and smile at. But you see, it cant eat anymore, or it throws up all that it eats, or Complete disorder. I cant say it finds that perfectly all right, but it doesnt find it unbearable; it says, Its like that, so its like that. Because theres always, always this, this which doesnt budge (gesture above the head, like an unshakable will), there is always the consciousness of reaching, reaching the Lord, the Supreme Consciousness reaching the Lord. This is stable. This is durable. And then: If all this still has to dissolve, it will dissolve; if it can evolve, it will evolve; if it has to go through all these troubles, which really arent very pleasant, it will go through them. This doesnt budge (same gesture above the head). And it even comeswhen things begin to be troublesome enough, it comes like this: To be what the Lord wills. What You will.
There.
--
I always think of Buddha and all of them: well go and merge with the Lord, and then therell be nothing left! (Mother takes her head in her hands)
So then, for their theory to be credible, they say (laughing) that its all an error. And they dont see the stupidity of their theory: that the Supreme Lord should have been capable of an error and then should have repented and withdrawn from it!
0 1969-05-31, #Agenda Vol 10, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Every time I think of that, I always get the impression that the only solution is for you to have a glorified body, visible to all. Then everyone would come and seecome and see what the Divine is like!
(Mother laughs a lot) That would be quite convenient!
0 1969-07-30, #Agenda Vol 10, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
What do you think of this Sannyasin?
I think its all right.
0 1969-08-06, #Agenda Vol 10, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
You think of everything!
You know, I dont think, but things come like this (gesture as if on a screen). All of a sudden I see, so it must be true, its not my imagination.
0 1969-10-25, #Agenda Vol 10, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
But what do you think of this miraculous mission in the world?
(Mother laughs) If he succeeds, it will be interesting. Thats what I think.
0 1969-11-15, #Agenda Vol 10, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I often think of another creation which would serve this new world a little.
What creation?
0 1969-11-22, #Agenda Vol 10, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Oh, no, not about me! Please, it makes my work so much more complicated when people think of me.
So would it be simply a sequel to the Adventure of Consciousness, but more developed? What should it be?
0 1969-12-20, #Agenda Vol 10, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Otherwise, when there are problems to be resolved, I see them: they come and stay and keep at it until the solution is found. And thats really interesting. For each and every thing. That is to say, to put it in a very ordinary language, all the people who think of me or count on me (me, you understand what I mean, me isnt this [Mother points to her body]) and who expect the solution to their problem, it all comes to me con-stant-ly, night and day, night and say, along with the solution. But its not mental, and therefore not fixed; its a supple thing, ever changing; so if you prophesy, you fix one momentand you spoil everything. Whereas if you let things All the time, people want you to prophesy, to tell them: This is how it will be. I obstinately refuse to do that! We must keep the true attitude and let things-allow them their ascending fluidity.
Theres no more big or small, important or unimportant, all that is
0 1970-03-18, #Agenda Vol 11, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Its very interesting because its an experiment it has made in every detail and at every stage. The first thing it found was not to think of the disease, not to be concerned with it. Thats the first stage. Afterwards, it found that when it was occupied with something else, the pain was greatly lessened. Later on, it had the experience that if someone comes near it, someone who knows you are in pain, it comes back! All that is very, very interesting: lots of small observations of every minute. And finally, it had this repeated and absolutely convincing proof that as soon as it concentrates on the Divine, as soon as it makes contact (because it FEELS, it has the sensation in the cells), as soon as it concentrates (without being concerned with the diseased point: its better not to be concerned with it), the pain totally disappears, to such a point that At such times (those are things that cause pain, so the first effect is not to feel the pain), at times, in the beginning, the body would ask for the Intervention and there would be an effect, but there was the sense of a struggle, a resistance (something of the sort): it would take a little time. But when the body succeeded in concentrating WITHOUT DEMAND, you understand (simply giving itself), on the Divine, then it would stop thinking about the pain, the body itself stops thinking about the pain, and after a certain time, it realizes its completely vanished!It stopped thinking about it and it was gone.
That experience has been repeated HUNDREDS of times, for all kinds of different things.
0 1970-04-22, #Agenda Vol 11, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
The body was used to commonsense, practical sense and that, prrrt! seems to be crumbling away So there is a sort of What saves the situation is that I say to myself (I SEEI dont know how to explain I see its peoples reaction: in front of this, people quite naturally feel youre taking leave of your senses), so I say to myself, What do I care! What do I care what they think of mewhoever it may be, I couldnt care less. The body couldnt care less (its been a long time since the rest stopped caring, but the body). Then I see in my memory certain expressions of Sri Aurobindos, certain smiles in front of perfectly reasonable attitudes and the ridiculousness of those reasonable attitudes becomes patent. I live in that all the time.
Its (I dont know how to put it), its like this (tight gesture, one hand pressed against the other): in one attitude (but not a willed, devised attitude, not that: its spontaneous), in one attitude, you are per-fect-ly at easeeverything is peaceful, normal; then, things remaining the same, there is beside that (not even beside, not inside or I dont know how to explain, its simultaneous), there is a slight anguish. And that anguish is constantmaybe its the anguish of a dying way of being, I dont know, but it makes for a strange situation.
0 1970-07-25, #Agenda Vol 11, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
The mental functioning explainsit explains. Things are consequences (even my word consequence in the notebook, Im not sure its the right one), it explains, whereas this is spontaneous. Its not the result of a decision, its spontaneous. One might almost say its automatic. We always feel (we, I mean human beings), we think of the divine Action as a supra-human action, that is, which first sees THEN decides but its not that! Its yes, an automatism, I dont know how to put it.
I must say that two days ago, I had an experience (it was with R. again, she was here), an experience of the whole universe, like a general vision of an Immensity, and then, suddenly the consciousness seemed to become a point taking up no room, and that point was the Eternal Consciousness. But then, it was so strong! So strong how all this, this whole unfolded universe was the result of this Consciousness (Mother shows a point). You understand, the consciousness here became this Eternal Consciousness (for a few seconds perhaps, I dont think it lasted even a minute, but time had nothing to do with it), it was the Eternal, it was the Consciousness. And that experience already prepared something [in Mother], because the two were simultaneous; one didnt abolish the other, the two were simultaneous: this Point that was taking up no room but was eternal, was everything, and at the same time, the unfolding [of the universe]. That was a very intense experience. Then there only remained this vagueness that is the whole, but it didnt lose its impression of vagueness, that is to say, of something imprecise. Since that time, there has been something changed [in Mother]. And today, in this consciousness, when the answer came, it wasnt the knowledge of thatit wasnt the knowledge, it was the working. All of a sudden, I had BECOME the working. So then, I expressed it as best I could in this notebook. It had such simplicity, you know, a marvelous, all-powerful simplicity!
0 1970-09-12, #Agenda Vol 11, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Only, I have noticed that it depends on a certain attitude. The trouble is that circumstances (gesture around) force me to think of this body, you understand? Thats troublesome. When I dont think of it, I am finewhen I think of the work or look at things, I am relatively fine. But this body has become very very cumbersome.
I cant walk alone, you know I could, but theres the possibility of losing balance, so they dont want to let metheyre quite right. But
0 1971-01-16, #Agenda Vol 12, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
What did you think of it?
I thought it probably would have to be like that: its the beginning of a new functioning.
0 1971-04-28, #Agenda Vol 12, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
One thing or another, a commentary, an explanation, what do I think of.
But does it come from Auroville?
0 1971-06-05, #Agenda Vol 12, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
And it has some old remnants of atavism. Theres (Mother laughs) a sort of fearan altogether childish fear: If I think of the Divine, there are going to be difficulties to be overcome; thats how it is in the cells (not everywhere, theres very little of it, like some old remnants of something dragging over from previous lives), so then I laugh. The body asks but one thing, to melt into the Divine, to be nothing but That, to cease to exist separately then all is well. Its very interesting. Its really the sadhana of the body, and in quite a compelling wayabsolutely compelling. And when it leaves That, it feels its going to disintegrate the very next minute that it is the only thing that keeps it together; without That, it doesnt exist anymore.
That became quite concrete today.
0 1971-10-30, #Agenda Vol 12, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I often think of the next book I should write, and I wonder in what direction it will be?
(Mother goes within for a long time, then a smile spreads over her lips)
0 1972-04-03, #Agenda Vol 13, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
The body must learn not to think of itself. Thats the only way. As soon as it thinks of itself, its condition gets horrible.
But honestly, sincerely, it doesnt think anymore. It is here for a certain work; the work must be done, and thats all. What will be will beits true, after all, what will be will be, what does it matter to it! It says, Everything is for the best. It cant stay forever in its present precarious condition; so it must either be transformed, or else lose its form and come undone. Well it neednt worry about it, just leave it to the Lord to decidetruly and sincerely.
0 1972-04-05, #Agenda Vol 13, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Personally, I think that only the faith of people likewell, yes, little girls like K. or Sujata can have authority with their faith. Thats all I can think of. They will have to be there.
(Mother nods approvingly, Sujata remains silent till the end)
0 1972-04-15, #Agenda Vol 13, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I know I say will, but its neither a vision nor the will of the Divine, its His way of being. A particular way of beingsuccessive ways of being. We always think of a conscious will, but it isnt like that: its His way of being. The way of being of His consciousness. He has projected His consciousness into a creation: its His way of being. And its His way of being that changes.
Then, one understands that the mind isnt necessaryits the way of being that changes. You follow?
0 1972-04-26, #Agenda Vol 13, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Strange, when I think of that book, thats the image I see. I also remember you described the death of your friend?
Yes.
0 1972-08-30, #Agenda Vol 13, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
All the rules, you knowoh, all the moral rules seem to have been thrown to the winds. So the appearances are. Ill give you an example: somebody [from the Ashram] opens a Travel Agency, and when people give him money to buy tickets, he pockets the money and doesnt buy the ticketswhat do you think of that? (laughter) What next!
(silence)
0 1972-12-23, #Agenda Vol 13, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Time sense is completely topsy-turvywhen I think five minutes have passed, its an hour, and when I think an hour has passed, its five minutes! Its completely, completely. And I am puzzled, I am truly puzzled as to what causes it. Another standard of time. And it doesnt follow my conscious will: Ill start eating, thinking, I want to be finished in twenty minutesand it takes me an hour! On another occasion, I dont think of time: I finish in twenty-five minutes. I dont understand.
From an outward point of view, I am starting to look crazy!
02.13 - On Social Reconstruction, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
A totalitarian equality takes men as blocks or chunks of wood and also cuts and clips them as such whenever and wherever needed, thrusts them indiscriminately into any nook and corner of the social framework for the sake of its upkeep and maintenance. It is something that is characteristic of a modern armythoroughly mechanisedin which men are not different from the nuts and bolts of a machine, all forming a stream-lined massive unity, where persons and individuals as such have no value or consideration, they are dumb and almost dead materials and when worn out just simply to be replaced by others. If it is to be compared to any living thing, we can think of only the regimentation that obtains in an ant-hill or a bee-hive.
Mechanical and totalitarian equality does injustice, to say the least, to the individual, for it does not take into account the variable value and the particularity of each individual. It usually gives him a position and function in the society to which his inner nature and character do not at all respond. The result of such indifference to individuality is evident also in a modern society based as it is on so-called freedom, that is to say, on open competition and struggle. The tragedy of a Bankim eking out his subsistence as a bureaucratic official is not a rare spectacle but the very rule of the social system in vogue. Indeed the so-called steel-frame of governmental organization of our days sucks in all the best brains and few can survive this process of "evisceration, deprivation, destitution, desiccation and evacuation", to use the glowing and graphic words of T. S. Eliot, although in another connection; few can maintain or express after passing through this grinding or sucking machine their inner reality, the truth and beauty personal to them. The poet1 regrets:
03.02 - Yogic Initiation and Aptitude, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Shankara, at the very outset of his commentary on the Sutras, in explaining the very first words, speaks of a fourfold sadhana to acquire fitnessfitness, we may take it, for understanding the Sutras and the commentary and naturally for attaining the Brahman. It seems therefore to be an absolute condition that one must first acquire fitness, develop the right and adequate capacity before one should think of spiritual initiation.
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.
03.04 - Towardsa New Ideology, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Vivekananda pointed out that one should rather think of one's duties, how best to accomplish them and leave the rights to take care of themselves. Such an attitude would give a man the correct outlook, the correct poise, the correct inspiration in living the collective life. Instead of each one demanding and claiming what one regards as one's dues and consequently scrambling and fighting for them (and most often not getting them or getting at a ruinous expensewhat made Arjuna cry, "What shall I do with the kingdom and all if in gaining it I lose everything that makes it worth having ?") if one were content with knowing one's duty and doing it with a single mind, not only would there be peace and amity on earth, but also none would be deprived of anything that is really due to him.
It may be answered that there does not seem to be any special virtue in the word "duty"; for, the crimes committed under that ensign are not less numerous or violent than those inspired by the ideal of Rights. It was once considered in some religions to be the duty of the faithful to kill or coerce or convert as many as possible of another faith; it was the bounden duty of the good shepherd to burn and flay the heretic. And in recent times the ceremony of "purge" be-speaks of the same compulsion of the sense of duty in the consciousness of modern Messiahs. But the true name of the thing in all these cases is not duty, but fanaticism.
03.08 - The Standpoint of Indian Art, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
An Indian Madonna owes its conception to an experience at the very other end of consciousness. The Indian artist does not at all think of a human mother; he has not before his mind's eye an idealized mother, nor even a subtilized feeling of motherhood. He goes deep into the very origin of things, and, from there seeks to bring out that which belongs to the absolute I and the universal. He endeavours to grasp the sense that : motherhood bears in its ultimate truth and reality. Beyond the form, beyond even the rhythm, he enters into bhva, the: spiritual substance of things. An Indian Madonna (Ganesh-janani, for example) is not solely or even primarily a human I mother, but the mother, universal and transcendent, of sentientand insentient creatures and supersentient beings. She embodies not the human affection only, but also the parallel sentiment that finds play in the lower and in the higher creations as well. She expresses in her limbs not only the gladness of the mother animal tending its young, but also the exhilaration that a plant feels in the uprush of its sap while giving out new shoots, and, above all, the supreme nanda which has given birth to the creation itself. The lines that portray such motherhood must have the largeness, the sweep, the au thenticity of elemental forces, the magic and the mystery of things behind the veil.
It is this quality which has sometimes made Indian art seem deficient in its human appeal: the artist chose deliberately to be non-human, even in the portrayal of human subjects, in order to bring out the universal and the transcendent element in the truth and beauty of things. Man is not the measure of creation, nor human motives the highest or the deepest of nature's movements: at best, man is but a symbol of truths beyond his humanity.
04.03 - The Eternal East and West, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
For an integral vision of human achievement and perfection we may consider another interesting contrast between the East and the West. We usually attach the word "freedom" or "liberty" to Western culture and civilisation as expressing its essential character: similarly it is bondage, submission, suppression of the individual and individuality that come up in our mind when we think of Eastern culture and civilisation. The judgment is not without truth, so far as it goes; but looked at from a different angle, a deeper standpoint, the true judgment should be, curious to say, just the contrary.
The East does not consider the individual in his social behaviour in terms of freedom and liberty but of service and obligation, not in terms of rights but of duties. The Indian term for right and duty is the sameadhikar. The word originally and usually meant duty, one's sphere of work or service, capacity: the meaning of "right" was secondary and only latterly, probably as a result of the impact from the West, has gained predominance. The West measures human progress by the amount of rights gained for the individual or for the group. It does not seem to have any other standard: submission, obedience, any diminution of the sense of separate individuality meant slavery and loss of human value and dignity. It was the Greek perhaps, with Socrates as the great pioneer, who first declared the supremacy of the individual reason (although he himself obeyed in all things his guardian angel, the Daemon). In India, generally in the East, the value of the individual is estimated in another way. So long as he is in the society, the individual is bound by its demands: he has to serve it according to his best capacity. That is the dharma the Law that one has to observe conscientiously. But if he chooses, he can break the bonds forthwith, come out, come out of the society altogether and be free absolutely that is the only meaning of freedom. In the West the individual is taught to remain in the world and with the society, maintain his individuality and independence and gradually enlarge them in and through the natural fetters and bondages that a collective life and efficient organisation demands and inevitably imposes. The East, on the contrary, asks the individual never to protest and assert his individuality, which is in their view only another name for Ignorant egoism, but to know his position in the social scheme and fulfil the duties and obligations of that position. But the individual has the freedom not to enter into the social frame at all. If he chooses freedom as his ideal, it is the supreme freedom that he must choose, out of the chain of a terrestrial life. He can become the spiritual "outlaw", the sanysi, the word means one who has abandoned everything totally and absolutely.
04.09 - Values Higher and Lower, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
That is why, while we give our support to this new effort of Europe, we agree and even insist that the hoary spiritual tradition of India has still something to teach us moderns, some light to give us in our present predicament. For, although, the ideal is generally admitted in many places, the way to it is not clear. Since Nietzsche spoke of the surpassing of man, many are taken up with the ideal, but the means to effect it remains yet to be discovered: it is still under discussion, at least. As a matter of fact, the goal itself is none too clear and definite: sometimes we think of a saintly transformation of human nature, sometimes the growing power of Intuition, very vaguely and variously defined, replacing or supplementing intellect and thus adding a new asset to man's life and consciousness.
The crucial problem however lies, in a sense, in the way that the goal is to be reached, in the modus operandi. How is the higher status, whatever it is, to be brought down, made effective, be established here on earth and in life. Ideals there have been always and many; evidently we do not know how to go about the business and actualise what is thought and dreamed. About the new ideal too, suggestions have been made with regard to the path to be followed to reach it and are being tried and tested. Some say a life of inner or ethical discipline, conscious effort on the part of each Individual for his own sake is needed: the higher reality must be reached first by a few individuals, it cannot be attained by 'mass action. Others declare that personal effort will not lead very far; if there is to be a great or fundamental change in human nature, it is the Divine Grace alone that can bring it about. The surpassing of man is a miracle and only the supreme magician as an Avatara can do it. Others, again, are not prone to believe in a physical Incarnationsomewhat difficult usually for a European mind but would accept subtler forces or even superior beings, other than the human category, as aids and agents in the working out of the great future.
05.12 - The Soul and its Journey, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
The passage between death and the arrival at final rest in the psychic world is a most difficult and dangerous ordeal for the human being. He has left the protection of the body and has not yet found the refuge in the psychic: he is obsessed and pulled back by his past the desires, the hungers, the attractions and repulsions, the plans unfulfilled, problematic schemesall haunt him still, things done, things not done crowd around him and fetter his forward march. Not only his own Karma, but the Karma of others too pursues him: all persons with whom he has had relation, who think of him now, pity him, mourn for him, lament his absence, raise so many hurdles and obstacles in his path, oblige him to turn and look back. Again, there are forces and personalities in the intermediate worlds with whom the poor disembodied creature has now to come in contact, and not unoften he feels like one unskinned and all his nerves on edge open helplessly to rough and painful impacts.
Indeed, although it may sound somewhat strange and wonderful, nevertheless it is literally true that the body is the fortress par excellence for the individual being: it is not merely an ugly dirty clothing that has to be cast off so that one may go straight to the enjoyment of the beatitude of Paradise; on the contrary, it is, as it were, an armour, a steel-frame that protects the subtle body against the attacks or harsh and cruel touches of other worlds and their beings. Once outside the body, there is every danger for the individual to go astray and be hurt, unless he is guided and protected by a guardian angel, as Dante has had Virgil as his Maestro. We may note here that the passage of Dante from Hell through Purgatory to Heaven across their various levels is almost an exact image of what happens to a soul after death. The highest Heaven where Dante meets Beatrice may be considered as the psychic world and Beatrice herself the Divine Grace that bathes, illumines and comforts the psychic being.
--
We may try to illustrate by examples, although it is a rather dangerous game and may tend to put into a too rigid and' mathematical formula something that is living and variable. Still it will serve to give a clearer picture of the matter. Napoleon, evidently was a child of Mahakali; and Caesar seems to have been fashioned largely by the principle of Maheshwari; while Christ or Chaitanya are clearly emanations in the line of Mahalakshmi. Constructive geniuses, on the other hand, like the great statesman Colbert, for example, or Louis XIV, Ie grand monarque, himself belong to a family (or gotra, as we say in India) that originated from Mahasaraswati. Poets and artists again, although generally they belong to the clan of Mahalakshmi, can be regrouped according to the principle that predominates in each, the godhead that presides over the inspiration in each. The large breath in Homer and Valmiki, the high and noble style of their movement, the dignity and vastness that compose their consciousness affiliate them naturally to the Maheshwari line. A Dante, on the other hand, or a Byron has something in his matter and manner that make us think of the stamp of Mahakali. Virgil or Petrarch, Shelley or our Tagore seem to be emanations of Beauty, Harmony, LoveMahalakshmi. And the perfect artisanship of Mahasaraswati has found its especial embodiment in Horace and Racine and our Kalidasa. Michael Angelo in his fury of inspirations seems to have been impelled by Mahakali, while Mahalakshmi sheds her genial favour upon Raphael and Titian; and the meticulous care and the detailed surety in a Tintoretto makes us think of Mahasaraswati's grace. Mahasaraswati too seems to have especially favoured Leonardo da Vinci, although a brooding presence of Maheshwari also seems to be intermixed there.
For it must be remembered that the human soul after all is not a simple and unilateral being, it is a little cosmos in itself. The soul is not merely a point or a single ray of light come down straight from its divine archetype or from the Divine himself, it is also a developing fire that increases and enriches itself through the multiple experiences of an evolutionary progressionit not only grows in height but extends in wideness also. Even though it may originally emanate from one principle and Personality, it takes in for its development and fulfilment influences and elements from the others also. Indeed, we know that the Four primal personalities of the Divine are not separate and distinct as they may appear to the human mind which cannot understand distinction without disparity. The Vedic gods themselves are so linked together, so interpenetrate one another that finally it is asserted that there is only one existence, only it is given many names. All the divine personalities are aspects of the Divine blended and fused together. Even so the human soul, being a replica of the Divine, cannot but be a complex of many personalities and often it may be difficult and even harmful to find and fix upon a dominant personality. The full flowering of the human soul, its perfect divinisation demands the realisation of a many-aspected personality, the very richness of the Divine within it.
07.01 - Realisation, Past and Future, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
But it is so difficult. It is difficult for people to come out of experiences they have had, of what they have heard and read about always and everywhere. It is difficult for them not to think of the Supermind in terms of the Overmind, not to confuse the Supermind with the Overmind. They are unable to conceive of anything beyond or different. Sri Aurobindo used to say always that his Yoga Began where all the past Yogas ended: in order to realise his Yoga one must have already arrived at the extreme limit of what the ancients realised. In other words, one must have had already the perception of the Divine, the union and identification with the Divine. This divinity, Sri Aurobindo says, is the Divine of the Overmind which is itself something quite unthinkable for the human consciousness, and even to reach there one has to rise through many planes of consciousness and, as I said, one gets dazzled and dazed even at this level.
There are beings of the vital world who, whenever they appear to man, are taken by him for the supreme godhead. You may call it a disguise, but it is a very successful disguise, for people who see it most often get thoroughly convinced that what they see is indeed God himself. And yet such a god is only a vital being. Even so, the beings of the Over mind are stupendous in comparison with us, human beings, who are truly bewildered whenever we come in contact with such entities. And Supermind and supramental beings are yet beyond. So you realise the distance to be covered.
07.10 - Diseases and Accidents, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
You may say again that it is the Divine Grace that saves. But would you explain to me how it works? It would be interesting, indeed, to find out who had precisely the awakened consciousness, had the faith and the inner trust, had called for the help and had in him that which answered automatically and even in a way unconsciouslyto something that came in. Human intelligence is a relative thing and has varying degrees of power. Usually it understands by contrasts and contraries. It does not understand a truth in its absoluteness. For example, I have received hundreds of letters thanking me because they were saved from dangers. But I do not remember to have received a letter thanking me because things were normal and nothing had happened. Men perceive the action of Grace only when there is the atmosphere of the pessimist and there is a danger and they had escaped from it, that is to say, when there is already the beginning of the accident, when the accident has come to pass. When they come out of the danger safely only then they take note of the force that saved. Otherwise they would not have even thought of it. If the voyage they undertook came off without any accident they would not think of any action of Grace present there. They would take it as a matter of course. But precisely because it is so, there may be acting here a Grace of a higher order and there may be existing already a deeper pre-existent harmony between the consciousness of the person and the higher force to which it responds. The chance of an accident is already the beginning of the dislocation I spoke of. But the situation becomes complicated if it is a case of collective accident. The result here depends upon the atmosphere of the persons involved. It is the proportion of these two elements in the personnel of a collective accident that determines the character and magnitude of the accident.
I will tell you a story, I mean a true story, in this connection. There was a pilot who was considered what is called an ace among his fellowmen in the first Great War. He was an extraordinary aviator and the hero of many victories. Nothing had happened to him at any time. But towards the end of his life, an event occurredsome private tragedy and all at once he had the feeling that something was going to happen to him; an accident perhaps, and it was all finished with him. He had come out of the war but was still in the army. He wanted to make a flight to South Africa, from France right up to the south of Africa. He started from France and made for Madagascar, so far as I remember, and then wanted to fly back to France. Now, my brother was at that time the Governor of Congo and needed to join his post as soon as possible. He asked for a place in the aeroplane of the pilot I am speaking about. It was not a regular service plane, but one of those used for trial to show what the machines were capable of and the skills of the airmen. Many tried to dissuade my brother from making the journey, saying that these adventurous trips were, always dangerous. My brother however did not mind the risk. Nothing serious happened, but for a slight breakdown in the middle of the Sahara which was easily got over, and the plane made safe journey and dropped him at his place in Congo. The plane continued further down, to Madagascar, as I said. Now the pilot started back, he did half the journey, his plane crashed and he was killed forthwith. I shall explain to you what really the matter was. What happened had to happen, it was a foregone conclusion. My brother had an absolute faith in his destiny, a certainty that nothing would touch him. The consciousness of the other was on the contrary full of doubt and apprehension. So the mixture of the two atmospheres brought about this that in the first instance the accident could not be prevented, but it stopped short of a catastrophe. But once the destiny of my brother was not there with the machine,like Caesar's destiny that made the boatman row safely across the river through a storm the protection was also withdrawn and the pilot had to go down under the full blast of his bad fate. I can narrate another analogous story, it is with regard to a ship. There were two persons, husb and and wife. They went by air to Indo-China. They had an accident, a very serious accident. All were killed except only these two. Now they had to return to France. They did not want to travel by air, they had had an experience of it. So they took a boat, I mean a ship, which they thought would be quite safe. Now what happened was absolutely unexpected, quite extraordinary. In the middle of the Red Sea, in broad daylight, the ship struck against a reef and sanka thing that does not happen even once perhaps in a million cases. All the passengers were drowned except, miraculous again to say, the couple. There are people like thatthey carry misfortune with them, but the misfortune is for others, they themselves escape some-how.
07.18 - How to get rid of Troublesome Thoughts, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
There are several ways and also it depends upon the case. The first and the easiest way is to think of something else. Concentrate your attention upon a subject which has nothing to do with what troubles you. You can read something interesting or take up a work that demands care and consideration. Something creative would be more effective; writers and artists, for example, when they are engaged in their particular occupation forget everything else, their whole mind is engrossed in that one matter. But, of course, once the work is done, the trouble begins again, if one has not learnt to control the thoughts in the meanwhile. So there is the second method which is a little more difficult. You have to learn a movement of rejection. As you reject or throwaway a physical object, even so you must throwaway and reject the thought. It is more difficult, but if you succeed, it is more effective. You have to practise and continue the endeavour, repeat and persevere and there is no reason why you should not succeed, if you are thoroughly sincere and serious.
There is a third method. It is to bring down from above a greater light which is in its nature the very opposite of the thoughts you are dealing with, opposite in a very radical and deep sense; that is to say, if the thoughts that trouble you are obscure and ignorant, especially if they happen to rise from the subconscient or the inconscient, supported by the mere instincts, then, by calling down the light from above and turning it upon the dark thoughts you can simply dissolve them or transform them, wherever possible. It is the supreme means, but perhaps not within the easy reach of all. But if you succeed in it, not only the thoughts do not come, their very cause is removed. The first method is to turn aside, the second to face and fight, the third to rise above and transform. In the third you are not only cured, but you make a progressa true progress.
07.19 - Bad Thought-Formation, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
What is instinct exactly? It is Nature's consciousness. Nature is conscious of her action; it is not an individual consciousness. It is a global or collective consciousness. There is also a consciousness of the species. Each species has its consciousness which is called sometimes the spirit of the species, that is to say, a conscious being presiding over a particular species. Nature is conscious in the sense that she knows what she wants, she knows her whither and her how, her end and the way to go towards it. To man much of Nature seems incoherent, because his consciousness is narrow and he has not an overall vision. When you look at the small details, the little fragments, you do not understand; you do not find any link, sequence, sense. But Nature has a conscious will, she is a conscious being. Perhaps the word being is too human. When we speak of Nature's being, we naturally think of the human being, only a little bigger, or perhaps much bigger but working more or less in the same way. But it is not so. Instead of the word being, I would prefer the word entity. The conscious entity that is Nature has a conscious will and it does things much more deliberately and purposively than map, and it has formidable forces at its disposal. Man speaks of blind and violent Nature. But it is man who is blind and violent, not nature. You say an earthquake is a terrible affair. Thousands of houses crash into dust, millions of people are killed, whole cities devastated, entire portions of earth are swallowed up etc., etc. Yes, from the human point of view Nature seems monstrous. But what has she done after all? When you get a knock on your body somewhere there appears a blue patch. Are you worried about it? Your earthquake is nothing more than a reshuffling of a cell in your body. You destroy thousands of cells every moment of your life. You are monstrous! That is the relative proportion. And consider, we are speaking of earth alone and earthly events. But what is this earth itself in the bosom of the universe? A point, a zero. You are walking on the ground and are not looking down. You place one step forward and then another and you trample thousands of innocent ants under your feet. If you were an ant you would have cried out, what a cruel and stupid force! Imagine other forces stalking about much bigger than yourself and under their casual steps millions of creatures like you are crushed, continents are pressed down and mountains kicked up. They do not even notice such catastrophic happenings! The only difference between man and ant is that man knows what happens to him and the ant does not. But even there are you sure?
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07.24 - Meditation and Meditation, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Yes, some know how to meditate. But even supposing you know how to enter into the divine consciousness, that experience must have some effect upon your external lifenaturally it would differ according to the person concerned. There are some who cut themselves clean into two. These, as I have said, when they enter into meditation, have or think they have experiences and very fine experiences. But when they come back and begin to act, they become the most ordinary people, with the most ordinary reactions, doing all kinds of things that should not be done. They think of themselves alone, busy arranging their own life, without a thought for others, whether one could be useful to the world or not. And yet in meditation, they came into contact with some higher and deeper consciousness and reality. It is for this reason that people who have found it difficult to change human nature, have declared it an impossibility and advised that the one thing to do under the circumstances is to abandon the world and escape. Naturally, if all could run away there would no more be any world. But, luckily or unluckily, the existence of the world does not depend upon the will of individuals: they had no hand in the creation of the world and they do not know how it came about. Is it simply because some get away from the world that the world will cease to exist for them, perhaps, but for others? Although I am not sure whether even they really succeed in getting away. In any case, I do not believe that you can transform yourself by meditation. But when a work is there before you and you do it as well as you can, also while doing it you take care not to forget the Divine and you give yourself up to him so that he may change your being, change your reactions into something beautiful and luminous, then indeed the Divine will transform you.
I have never seen people who left off everything to sit in a more or less empty meditation making any progress; in any case their progress is very small. On the contrary, I have seen people, full of enthusiasm for the work of transformation in the world, devoting themselves to that work without reservation: they give themselves up with no idea of personal salvation. Yes, it is such people I have seen making the wonderful progress. On the other hand, I have seen very many living in monasteries: well, they are not worth talking about. It is not by running away from the world that you will change it: it is only by working steadily at it that you can bring about the change.
07.31 - Images of Gods and Goddesses, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
I have seen some of these forms in the vital world and also in the mental world; they are truly creations of man. There is a Power from beyond that manifests, but in this triple world of Ignorance man creates God Himself in his own image and beings that appear there are more or less the outcome of the creative human thought. So at times we do have things that are truly frightful. I have seen formations that are so obscure, so un-understandable, so inexpressive! There are some divine beings that are treated worse than the others. Take, for example, this poor Mahakali. What has man made of her, wildly terrible, a nightmare beyond imagination! Such creations however live in a very inferior world, in the lowest vital world; and if there is anything there of the original being, it is such a far off reflection that it is hardly recognisable. And yet it is that which is pulled by the human consciousness. When, for example, an image is made and installed and the priest calls down into it a form, an emanation of a god, through an inner invocation there is usually a whole ceremony in this connectionif the priest is someone having the power of evocation, then the thing succeeds (what Ramakrishna did in the Kali temple). But generally priests are people with the commonest ideas and the most traditional training and education; when they think of the gods they give them attributes and appearances which are popular, which belong normally to entities of the vital world, at best to mental formations but which do not represent in any way the truth of the beings behind. All the idols in temples or the household gods worshipped by the many are inhabited by beings who know only how to lead you to unhappiness and disaster. They are so far away from the divinity that one means to worship. There are certain family Kalis that are real monsters. I have even advised some to throw such an image into the Ganges to get rid of the evil influence emanating from it. But of course it is always the fault of man and not of the divinity. For man wishes so much to make his gods in his own image.
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07.42 - The Nature and Destiny of Art, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
The art of this decadent epoch is what I call mushroom art. You know how mushrooms grow? They grow anywhere and do not seem to form part, for example, of what you cultivate or where you cultivate. Just think of it! There is a spot on the wall which becomes humid and you see it soon covered with this growth. You have a tree which does not get the sunlight, you will find its roots covered with mushrooms. It is a kind of spontaneous growth which is not linked to the spot where it grows. It is not a limb of its environment, but something extraneous added to it. Instead of mushrooms I could have spoken of parasites: they belong to the same category. You have seen parasite plants? They grow upon trees, they fix themselves there. They have not their own life and organs, they do not draw their food directly from earth, as all normal plants do; they live upon the life of another, make use of the labour of another. There are also animal parasites that live upon another animal, growing and profiting by its labour. Parasites or mushrooms have no raison d'lre to be where they are-they are invaders, interpolators, anomalies.
In ancient times, in the great ages, in Greece, for example or even during the Italian Renaissance, particularly, however, in Greece and in Egypt, they erected buildings, constructed monuments for the sake of public utility. Their buildings were meant for the most part to be temples, sanctuaries to lodge their gods and deities. What they had in view was something total, whole and entire, beautiful and complete in itself. That was the purpose of architecture embodying the harmony of sweeping and majestic lines: sculpture was a part of architecture supplying details of expression and even painting came up to complete the expression: but the whole held together in a coordinated unity which was the monument itself. The sculpture was for the monument, the painting was for the monument; it was not that each was separate from the other and existed for itself and one did not know why it was there. In India, when a temple was being built, for example, what was aimed at was a total creation, all the parts combined to give effect to one end, to make a beautiful vesture for God, the one object of their adoration. All the great epochs of art were of this kind. But in modern times, in the latter part of the last century, Art' became a matter of business. A painting was done in order to be sold. You do your paintings, put each one in a frame and place them side by side or group them, that is, lump them together without much reason. The same with regard to sculpture. You make a statue and set it up anywhere without any connection whatsoever with the surroundings. It is always something foreign, extraneous in its setting, like a mushroom or a parasite. The thing in itself may not be quite ugly, but it is out of place, it is not part of an organic whole. We exhibit art today. Indeed, it is exhibitionism, it is the showing off of cleverness, talent, skill, virtuosity. A piece of architecture does not incarnate a living force as it used to do once upon a time. It is no longer the expression of an aspiration, of something that uplifts the spirit nor the expression of the magnificence of the Divine whose dwelling it is meant to be. You build houses here and there pell-mell or somehow juxtaposed without any coordinating idea governing them, without any relation to the environment where they are situated. When you enter a house, it is the same thing. A bit of painting here, a bit of sculpture there, some objects of art in one corner, a few others in another. Yes, it is an exhibition, a museum, a kaleidoscopic collection. It gives a shock to the truly sensitive artistic taste.
07.45 - Specialisation, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
You have, for example, several subjects to learn at school. Well, learn as many as possible. If you study at home, read as many varieties as possible. I know you are usually asked and advised to follow a different way. You are to take as few subjects as possible and specialise. Yes, that is the general ideal: specialisation, to be an expert in one thing. If you wish to be a good philosopher, read philosophy only; if you wish to be a good chemist, do only chemistry; and even you should concentrate upon only one problem or thesis in philosophy or chemistry. In sports you are asked to do the same. Choose one item and fix your attention upon that alone. If you want to be a good tennis player, think of tennis alone. However, I am not of that opinion. My experience is different. I believe, there are general faculties in man which he should acquire and cultivate more than specialise himself. Of course, if it is your ambition to be a Monsieur or Madame Curie who wanted to discover one particular thing, to find out a new mystery of a definite kind, then you have to concentrate upon the one thing in view. But even then, once the object is gained, you can turn very well to other things. Besides, it is not an impossibility in the midst of the one-pointed pursuit to find occasions and opportunities to be interested in other pursuits.
From my childhood I have been hearing of the same lesson; I am afraid it was taught also in the days of our fathers and grandfa thers and great grandfa thers, namely, that if you wish to be successful in something you must do that only and nothing else. I was rebuked very much because I was busy with many different things at the same time. I was told I would be in the end good for nothing. I was studying, I was painting, I was doing music and many other things. I was repeatedly warned that my painting would be worthless, my music would be worthless, my studies would be incomplete and defective if I had my way. Perhaps it was true; but I found that my way, too, had its advantagesprecisely the advantages I was speaking of at the outset, namely, it widens and enriches the mind and consciousness, makes it supple and flexible, gives it a spontaneous power to understand and handle anything new presented to it. If, however, I had wanted to become an executant of the first order and play in concerts, then of course I would have had to restrict myself. Or in painting if my aim had been to be one of the great artists of the age, I could have done only that and nothing else. One understands the position very well, but it is only a point of view. I do not see why I should become the greatest musician or the greatest painter. It seems to me to be nothing but vanity.
08.04 - Doing for Her Sake, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Whatever you dostudy or sportsyou must, think of the Divine in doing it. It is not a very difficult thing after all. At first you may do it as a kind of preparation to make yourself capable of receiving the divine force, and then as service to help in the collective work. You can do it not for personal gain but in order to be ready for the Divine Work.
This seems to me indispensable. If you keep the ordinary point of view, you will always find yourself in conditions that are not wholly satisfactory and incapable of receiving all the forces that you can receive.
08.07 - Sleep and Pain, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
There are lesser means with lesser results. These too are not very easy either. One is to cut the connection between the brain and the part that suffers. The brain not receiving the vibration, the pain is no longer felt. In fact, this is what doctors do when they operate under anaesthesia. The nervous connection round the affected part is made insensitive and the pain is not felt or it is reduced to a minimum. But here you have to do it with your will and consciousness; and that requires an occult power. Some can do it automatically, but their number is very few. If you are unable to go so far, there is another way which should be within your reach. Do not concentrate or dwell upon your pain and suffering; withdraw your attention and direct it elsewhere. The more you think of your pain, the worse it becomes. If you are busy observing its signs and signals, almost awaiting its attack, you surely welcome it in a way, you indulge it and help its continuance. That is why you are advised in that condition to do some light reading or hear things read out, so that the attention may be diverted.
When you go to sleep the ideal is to enter into integral rest, that is to say, immobility of the body, peace in the vital, absolute silence in the mind and the consciousness coming out of all activity and passing into Sachchidananda. If you can do that, then when you get up, you get up with a feeling of extraordinary power, perfect joy and so on. But it is not easy to do it. Still it can be done. It is the ideal condition.
08.13 - Thought and Imagination, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
When you think of a person or a thing you are immediately I there and come into contact with the object of your thought. But this happens in the thought world only; you know nothing of the vital or physical context of the object. Thought is conscious of thought only in the mental world; by your thought you can be conscious of the mental atmosphere of the distant object, of the thought of the person to whom you go, but nothing else, absolutely nothing of his vital or physical.
If you want to know of the vital you must go to the object vitally; it means an exteriorisation that leaves the body at least three-fourths in trance. And if you want to see things physically you will have to go out in your most material subtle physical; that leaves the body in an entirely cataleptic condition. These things cannot be done without there being someone by your side who has the right knowledge and who can protect you.
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You can make use of imagination for a high purpose. With its help you can recreate your inner and outer life. You can wholly build your life if you know how to use it and have the power. As a matter of fact, it is the most ordinary and primary way of creating and forming things in the world. I had always the impression that if one had not the capacity of imagination, one would not make any progress. Your imagination always goes ahead of your life. When you think of yourself, usually you imagine what you would like to become that comes first, the prevision, and then you follow it up; you continue to imagine and realise, realise and imagine. Imagination opens the way to realisation." It is very difficult to move unimaginative people. They see only what is just in front of their nose, they feel only what is there at a given moment. They cannot advance, they are blocked by the immediate present. It is imagination that makes the whole difference.
Men of science also have and should have a great power of imagination; otherwise they would discover nothing. Imagination, is in reality, the capacity to project oneself out of realised things towards things realisable and pull them in by the very power of projection. It is true there is a progressive and there is a regressive imagination. There are people who always imagine all possible catastrophes and have the power even to make them come. However, imagination has its good use. It sends out, as it were, antennae into a world that is not yet realised, and they catch hold of something there and draw it here. Naturally, it means an addition to earth's atmosphere, addition of things that tend towards manifestation. Imagination then is an instrument that one can train and discipline and use at will. It is one of the principal faculties that should be developed and made serviceable.
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First of all, you must know how to get beyond the terrestrial manifestation, in order to be able to imagine a new thing in it. And (or how many millions of years has earth existed! What has been the output of new things there? Countless, for no two things upon earth are exactly the same, although they may be very similar. It is not easy with your mind to get out of the earthly atmosphere. But if you have succeeded in doing that, you have to get out of the universal life. To enter into contact with all that has been here upon earth since the beginning of its appearance till the present day and then to enter into contact with the universal of which the earth forms only a tiny particle from its beginning to its formulation todaythis is not sufficient. You have still to go beyond, beyond the universal, into the transcendent, the unmanifest. Then you can think of imagining and bringing down something new into the manifestation and upon earth. Not that one cannot do this. But it is not so easy.
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08.17 - Psychological Perfection, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Next in the series comes Devotion. Certainly, devotion is very good; but here too, unless it is accompanied with many other things, it can lead you into much error. For with devotion one keeps one's ego also. Out of devotion you may behave most egoistically. You think of your devotion, only of your devotion, that is to say, you think of yourself alone, you do not think of others, of the world, of the work that you do and ought to doyou become formidably egoistic. And when you see that the Divine, for some reason or other, does not respond to your devotion with an enthusiasm you expect of him, you despair and fall into one or all of the three difficulties I spoke of just now. Either the Divine must be cruelwe know of devotees who throw all their anger upon the Divine, accusing him of neglect and cruelty; or then they think, "I must have made a grave, blunder, I am hopeless in his eyes and I am rejected."
Now, there is a movement which one can have and constantly along with devotion, as complementary to ita sense of gratitude, that the Divine exists and one feels a kind of gratefulness, born of wonder, which fills you truly with a sublime joy; the very fact that the Divine exists, that there is something in the universe which is the Divine, that it is not merely a monstrosity that we see here below, brings a flow of unspeakable gladness in you. Every time the least thing puts you in contact with this sublime reality of the Divine's existence, whether directly or indirectly, your heart is filled with a feeling so intense, so marvellous, the feeling precisely of a profound gratitude which has of all things the sweetest savour, that no other joy can bring. So I say devotion by itself is incomplete, it must have gratitude as its companion.
08.21 - Human Birth, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
In ancient times, in some civilisations and even now in some countries, the expectant woman is kept specially in a surrounding of beauty and harmony and peace and ease and very normal physical conditions so that the coming child may be formed under the best circumstances. Evidently this is as it should be, for it is within human possibilities. Human beings have developed enough not to consider it as an exceptional thing. And yet in fact, it is an exceptional thing, for there are very few people who think of it, most are in the habit of producing children without giving a thought to it. But the least that is expected of man is that he should be somewhat conscious and do the things he has to do in the best of conditions.
Now, a fully formed conscious soul wanting to take birth looks generally from its psychic domain for a corresponding psychic light upon some place on earth. In its previous birth, before leaving the earthly atmosphere, it chose, as the result of its total experience in that life, the conditions of its future life, not in details, but more or less in a general way. Such cases are very exceptional. We here perhaps can speak of it, but for the majority of the human population, even among the most well-educated, the question does not arise.
08.24 - On Food, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
In this condition certain faculties become intensified and that is taken as a spiritual effect. But in reality it has very little to do with spirituality. However, instead of thinking all the while about food, how to get it and eat it, if one were to take to fasting for the sake of freeing oneself from the bondage of food preoccupation, rising a little in the scale of consciousness, it would be a good thing. If you have the faith it will do you good, it will purify you, make you progress a little. In that way it is all right: it will not do any harm to your body except making it a little slimmer. But if you fast and then continuously turn back to it and think of the food that you might have eaten or are likely to eat after the fasting, well, such fasting is worse than feasting.
Maeterlinck,you must have heard of him, the author of The Blue Birdwas a very corpulent person. As he had some sense of beauty he disliked corpulency, and in order to reduce it or keep it within bounds, he took to fasting for one day a week regularly. As he was an intelligent man, he did not on that day give any thought to food, but he kept himself wholly engaged in writing and studying. Fasting was of use to him.
08.25 - Meat-Eating, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
But if you wish to move from the ordinary life to a higher life, the problem acquires an interest. And again, for a higher life if you wish to move up still farther and prepare yourself for transformation, then the problem becomes very important. For there are certain foods that help the body to become more refined and others that keep it down to the level of animalhood. But it is only then that the question acquires an importance, not before. Before you come to that point, you have a lot of other things to do. It is certainly better to purify your mind, purify your vital before you think of purifying your body. For even if you take all possible precautions and live physically with every care to eat only the things that help to refine the body, but the mind and the vital remain full of desire and inconscience and obscurity and all the rest, your care will serve no purpose. Your body will become perhaps weak, disharmonious with your inner life and drop off one day.
You must begin from within. I have said a hundred times, you must begin from above. You must purify first the higher regions and then purify the lower ones. I do not mean by this that you should give yourself up to all the licences that degrade the body. I do not mean that at all. I am not advising you not to control your desires. What I mean is this: do not try to be an angel in the body before you are already something of the kind in your mind and in your vital. For that will bring about a dislocation, a lack of balance. And I have always said that to maintain the balance, all the parts must progress together. In trying to bring light into one part you must not leave another part in darkness. You must not leave any obscure corner anywhere.
08.34 - To Melt into the Divine, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
You have to go a long way before you can think of merging your ego, your self in the Divine. First of all, you cannot merge your ego or your self until you are a completely individualised being. And do you know what does that mean'to be completely individualised'? It means one capable of resisting all external influences. The other day I received a letter from someone who says that he hesitates to read books; for he has a very strong tendency to identify himself with what he reads; if he reads a novel or a drama he becomes the character pictured and is possessed by the feelings and thoughts and movements of the character. There are many like that. If they read something, while they read they are completely moved by the ideas and impulsions and even ideals they read about and are totally absorbed in them and become them, without their knowing it even. That is because ninety-nine per cent of their nature is made of butter as it were: if you press your finger it leaves a mark. That is the ordinary man's character. One takes in, as one comes across it, a thought experienced by another, a phrase read in a book, a thing observed or an incident the eyes fall upon, a will or wish of a neighbour, all that enters pell-mell intermixed enters and goes out, others come inlike electric currents. And one does not notice it. There is a conflict, a clash among these various movements, each trying to get the upper hand. Thus the person is tossed to and fro like a piece of cork upon the waves in the sea.
Instead of this unformed and unconscious mass, one has to become conscious, cohesive, individualised, that which exists by itself and in itself, independently of its surroundings, that which can hear, read, see anything and will not change because of that. It receives from outside only what it wishes to receive. It rejects automatically what does not agree with its purpose: nothing can leave any impression upon it, unless it wishes to have the impress. It is thus that one begins to be individualised. And when one is an individual, then only can one make a gift of it, for unless you possess a thing you cannot give it; when you have nothing or are nothing you can give nothing. So in order that the separate ego may disappear, one must be able to give oneself wholly, totally without restrictions. And to be able to give, one must exist and to exist one must be an individual. If your body were not rigid as it is the body is indeed terribly rigidif it were not something quite fixed and if you had not this solid skin around the skeleton, if you were the exact expression of what you are vitally and mentally, it would be worse than the gelatinous jelly fish. All would enter and melt into one another, what a chaos and confusion would it be! That is why a rigid form is given at the outset. And you complain: the physical is so fixed, it lacks plasticity, supplenessit lacks the fluidity that enables one to melt into the Divine! But it was a necessity. For if you were out of your body and entered into the regions behind the vital,you would see how things stand there: things get mixed, separated, intertwined, all kinds of vibrations, currents, forces that come and go, struggle and fight, seize each other, absorb each other, repulse each other! Very difficult to find a personality in all that. It is only forces, movements, impulsions, desires. Not that there are not individualities and personalities there too! But they are Powers. They who have individualised themselves in such a world are either heroes or demons!
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One needs years of labourorganising, selecting, building up very diligently, very carefully, very rationally, very cohesively, in order simply to form oneself: to form this simple thing, for example, to think in one's own way. You believe you think in your own way, you do not know how much you depend for your thoughts upon the people you speak to, upon the books that you read, upon your varying moods; yes, it depends not unoften upon your good or bad digestion, upon the fact of your being closed in a room or free in the open air, upon the scenery around you, upon sun or shower. You do not notice it, but you think of different things in different ways according to conditions or situations which have nothing to do with your own self. So, I say, to have your thoughts coordinated, cohesive, logical, you would need a long, very long work in minute details. And then, that is the most important part of the thing, when you have come to a beautiful mental structure, well-shaped, very strong, very powerful, the first thing you will be told to do is that you must break it up, if you wish to be united with the Divine! And unless and until you have done that first part you cannot do the second part, unless you form yourself you cannot give yourself, you would have nothing to give to the Divine. You are nothing more than a mass of inchoate things which are not yourself. First you must exist, you must be, before you can give yourself.
At the present moment in the actual state of things what one can give to the Divine is one's body. But that is precisely the thing that one does not give. Yes, try to consecrate your work, your bodily labour; even there, there are so many things that are not true or correct.
08.35 - Love Divine, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Now to come out of the ego, you must have naturally, first of all, the will to do so. The surest way to do it is to give yourself to the Divine, not to pull the Divine towards you but to abandon yourself to Him. That is how you start forgetting yourself. Usually when people think of the Divine, the immediate impulse in them is to pull Him (or whatever they represent Him to be) towards themselves, within themselves. The result generally is that they receive nothing; and they grumble: "Oh, I called and called, I prayed and prayed, but there was no answer, I received nothing, nothing came." But before grumbling, ask yourself if you had offered yourself. You would find that instead of offering yourself you had pulled. Instead of being generous, open-handed and open-hearted, you were a miser, a beggar. When you pull you remain wholly within yourself, shut up, sealed within your ego. You raise a wall of separation between you and the thing that is around you and wants to come in, which is thus not admitted, almost deliberately refused entrance. You enclose yourself within a prison and grumble that you have nothing, feel nothing. At least if you had opened a window you would have had something of the light and air about you.
Sri Aurobindo: Elements of Yoga.
09.04 - The Divine Grace, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Only personal desires and personal circumstances are things that are not persistent or stable. After a time, a thing that interested you very much does not interest you any more: you think of another thing, you have another desire, you make another formation. But if the earlier formation had been well thought out and built up, then after having followed its course in space it would have realised itself. You are put in front of your first desire now realised while you have already embarked upon your second, or may be your third, or your fourth. You say then almost indignantly, "But I do not want that, why does it come to me?"without however taking into account the fact that it is the result of your previous action.
But if instead of being desires these are aspirations for things spiritual, and if you follow your line of regular progression, then it is absolutely certain that you will get one day what you have imagined. It may be sooner, or it may be later if there are very many obstacles on the way. For example, if you have made a formation that is still foreign to the earth's atmosphere, then it may take some time to prepare the conditions for its appearance.
09.05 - The Story of Love, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Generally, when people think of the Divine, the first thing they do is to pull as much as they can and they receive nothing. They tell you: "Oh, I have called, I have prayed and I have had no answer". If they are asked: "Have you offered yourself?", they reply: "No, I have pulled." "But that is why you have not received." It is not that the answer did not come. But when you pull, you are so much shut up within your ego that you raise a wall between what is to be received and yourself. You confine yourself within a prison and yet you are astonished that in your prison you feel nothing.
Throw yourself out of yourself. Give yourself without holding back anything, simply for the joy of the self-giving. Then there is a chance of your feeling something.
09.15 - How to Listen, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
That is the first point. If you are here, you must first of all, listen and not think of other things. But that is not sufficient, it is only the beginning. For there is a good way and there are many bad ways of listening. I do not know if any of you likes to hear music. But if you want to hear music, you must make an absolute silence in your head; you should not follow or accept any thought, you should be wholly concentrated, make yourself a kind of screen, noiseless and immobile. That is the only way of hearing and understanding music. If you allow the least movement or waywardness in your thought, the whole value of the music will escape you.
Now, to understand a teaching which is not altogether of a material kind, which implies an opening to things that are within, the necessity of silence is all the greater. But if instead of listening to what is said, you jumped about for an idea in order to put another question or if you started arguing about the things said under the specious pretext of understanding better, all that you heard would pass like smoke without leaving an effect.
09.18 - The Mother on Herself, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Once upon a time, long long ago, when I was in Paris, I used to see Madame D. N.1 almost daily. She was full of ideas and told me: "You should not think of action, it means attachment to action. When you want to do something it indicates that you are still tied down to the things of the world." I replied: "No, nothing is more easy. You have only to imagine all that has been done before, all that will be done hereafter and all that is being done now, you will immediately perceive that your action is nothing but a breath, one second in eternity and you are no longer attached to it." I did not know the text of the Gita at that time. And I had not the complete text, the text that I am here putting somewhat in my own way: "And detached from the fruit of action, act." I did not know the Gita, but what I said was in effect what the Gita teaches. You should act not because you believe in your action. You act because you should act. That is all. It is however a condition that may prove dangerous sometimes. For instead of willing with a sovereign will to action you simply look and let things happen.
Madame Alexandra David Neele the eminent Tibetologist.
10.01 - A Dream, #Writings In Bengali and Sanskrit, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
So far Harimohon had been listening silently to Sri Krishnas words. Now he spoke out, Keshta, your words are undoubtedly sweet, but I dont trust them. Happiness and misery may be states of mind, but outer circumstances are their cause. Tell me, when the mind is restless because of starvation, can anyone be happy? Or when the body is suffering from a disease or enduring pain, can any one think of you? Come, Harimohon, that too I shall show you, replied the boy.
Again he placed his palm on Harimohons head. As soon as he felt the touch, Harimohon saw no longer the dwelling of Tinkari Sheel. On the beautiful, solitary and breezy summit of a hill an ascetic was seated, absorbed in meditation, with a huge tiger lying prone at his feet like a sentinel. Seeing the tiger Harimohons own feet would not proceed any further. But the boy forcibly dragged him near to the ascetic. Incapable of resisting the boys pull Harimohon had to go. The boy said, Look, Harimohon. Harimohon saw, stretched out in front of his eyes, the ascetics mind like a diary on every page of which the name of Sri Krishna was inscribed a thousand times. Beyond the gates of the Formless Samadhi the ascetic was playing with Sri Krishna in the sunlight.
10.05 - Mind and the Mental World, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Usually when we think of a person or a thing, our thought-vibration reaches its object but because the vibration is diffusenot polarisedit touches or just brushes its object very faintly without almost any reaction from it. An organised, truly individualised consciousness has its thought-movements too, so organised and controlled and directed that it moves with a clear and forceful momentum. A mental vibration, a thought-movement becomes fully dynamic, totally effective, however, when it gets its support from the vital. The vital too in an organised and individualised personality loses its capriciousness and lends its support to the directing consciousness.
***
1.008 - The Principle of Self-Affirmation, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
The practice of yoga is very cautious about all these internal structural devices, which have been manufactured by nature to keep the individual under subjugation by brainwashing him from birth until death and never allowing him to think of what these devices are. If we want to subordinate a person and keep that person under subjection always, we have to brainwash that person every day by telling him something contrary to what he is, repeating it every day every moment in every thought, every speech and every action so that there is a false personality grown around that person and he becomes our servant. This has happened to everyone, and this trick seems to be played by the vast diversified nature itself, so that everyone is a servant of nature rather than a master. This is the source of sorrow.
Human suffering is due to a kind of subjection exerted on it by forces about which one cannot have any knowledge, truly speaking; also, one would not be allowed to have any kind of knowledge of it. This is what we call an iron curtain hanging in front of us so that we will not know what is ahead of us, or behind us, or even by the side of us. Let anyone find a little time to brood over this subject and weep silently if the truth comes out. They say that when a person is drowning and has lost everything that can be regarded as worthwhile in life, or when a person's life is in danger death is yawning before him and is imminent in such conditions, the mind reveals its true nature. It is said that when there is asphyxiation caused by drowning, all the memories of the past, sometimes even of past lives, will be unrolled before the mind for a flash of a moment due to the horror of impending death and the nervous pressure felt at that moment. Similar experiences are known to have happened in situations when a person has lost everything.
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When a person seriously takes to the practice of yoga, a thorough analysis or stock-taking may have to be done, taking into consideration one's experiences during the past many years, of whose nature a little may be still present in one's current state of affairs. Memories of the past sometimes evoke present experiences, and we must also take note of those experiences and factors which can evoke memories of the past. According to Patanjali, memory is one of the obstacles in yoga. Many people think that memory is a very good thing, and even complain that they have no memory. Well, that is all right for the workaday world, but from another angle of vision memory is regarded as an obstacle because we are repeatedly made to think of something that has happened in the past, so that it goes on annoying us constantly even though that event has passed and has no connection with our present life. Both pleasures of the past and pains of the past can evoke conditions which may force us to repeat those experiences, positively or negatively.
We have to wipe out memories of the past, especially when they have no connection with the type of life which we are going to live in the future. Whatever experiences we have passed through that are unrelated and irrelevant to our future aim should be brushed aside and cast out by exorcising them like devils, and then not allowing them to enter into the ken of the mind by emphasising in our understanding that:"They mean nothing to me. They are only something like the experiences I had in my dream. Why should I think of them now? They have no meaning, though they had a meaning at that time.
But more difficult than the work of wiping out past memories is the adjustment of oneself with present conditions. We shall not think now about what is ahead of us in the future. The present condition is a reality more vehement than the past memories because we see it with our eyes, and nothing can be worse than that. These things which we see with our eyes every day and with which we have some sort of connection or the other, at least remotely, have some say in the matter of our own personal lives. They have to be harnessed for the purpose of the practice of yoga, harnessed in the sense that they should be made contri butory in some way or the other to the aim before us.
1.00a - Introduction, #Magick Without Tears, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
Still, it would be kind of you to go through a page or so with me, and tell me where the shoe pinches. Of course I have realized the difficulty long ago; but I don't know the solution or if there is a solution. I did think of calling Magick "Magick Without Tears"; and I did try having my work cross-examined as I went on by minds of very inferior education or capacity. In fact, Parts I and II of Book 4 were thus tested.
What about applying the Dedekindian cut to this letter? I am sure you would not wish it to develop into a Goclenian Sorites, especially as I fear that I may already have deviated from the Hapaxlegomenon.
1.00 - Introduction to Alchemy of Happiness, #The Alchemy of Happiness, #Al-Ghazali, #Sufism
While perusing these pages, and noticing how much of the language of Ghazzali corresponds in its representations of God, of a holy life and of eternity, with the solemn instructions to which we have listened from our infancy, we may think of the magicians who imitated the miracles of Moses with their enchantments. Yet assuredly a vivid and respectful interest must be awakened in our minds for the races and nations, whose ideas of their relations as immortal beings arc so serious and earnest.
[11]
1.00 - Preliminary Remarks, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
There is, however, one form of miracle which certainly happens, the influence of the genius. There is no known analogy in Nature. One cannot even think of a super-dog transforming the world of dogs, whereas in the history of mankind this happens with regularity and frequency. Now here are three super-men, all at loggerheads.
What is there in common between Christ, Buddha, and Mohammed? Is there any one point upon which all three are in accord?
1.01 - Appearance and Reality, #The Problems of Philosophy, #Bertrand Russell, #Philosophy
'matter' something which is opposed to 'mind', something which we think of as occupying space and as radically incapable of any sort of thought or consciousness. It is chiefly in this sense that Berkeley denies matter; that is to say, he does not deny that the sense-data which we commonly take as signs of the existence of the table are really signs of the existence of _something_ independent of us, but he does deny that this something is non-mental, that it is neither mind nor ideas entertained by some mind. He admits that there must be something which continues to exist when we go out of the room or shut our eyes, and that what we call seeing the table does really give us reason for believing in something which persists even when we are not seeing it. But he thinks that this something cannot be radically different in nature from what we see, and cannot be independent of seeing altogether, though it must be independent of _our_ seeing. He is thus led to regard the 'real' table as an idea in the mind of God. Such an idea has the required permanence and independence of ourselves, without being--as matter would otherwise be--something quite unknowable, in the sense that we can only infer it, and can never be directly and immediately aware of it.
Other philosophers since Berkeley have also held that, although the table does not depend for its existence upon being seen by me, it does depend upon being seen (or otherwise apprehended in sensation) by
1.01 - Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious, #The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
meaning in themselves that people never think of asking what
they really do mean. That the gods die from time to time is due
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weak? do not like to be reminded of this, but prefer to think of
themselves as heroes who are beyond good and evil, and to
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hates God takes only three, for he who hates God will think of
him more than he who loves him." Freedom from opposites
1.01 - Asana, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
However, one may safely assert that since the great men previously mentioned did not do this, it will not be necessary for their followers. Let us then choose a suitable position, and consider what happens. There is a sort of happy medium between rigidity and limpness; the muscles are not to be strained; and yet they are not allowed to be altogether slack. It is difficult to find a good descriptive word. "Braced" is perhaps the best. A sense of physical alertness is desirable. think of the tiger about to spring, or of the oarsman waiting for the gun. After a little there will be cramp and fatigue. The student must now set his teeth, and go through with it. The minor sensations of itching, etc., will be found to pass away, if they are resolutely neglected, but the cramp and fatigue may be expected to increase until the end of the practice. One may begin with half an hour or an hour. The student must not mind if the process of quitting the Asana involves several minutes of the acutest agony.
WEH footnote: It is important to distinguish between cramp and severe chronic muscle spasm which can tear ligaments. Muscle spasm tends to result from pinching or compressing nerves, and can lead to permanent injury. Also beware of constricted circulation, which produces numbness more than it does pain. Wear loose clothing and avoid pressing on hard objects.
1.01 - Description of the Castle, #The Interior Castle or The Mansions, #Saint Teresa of Avila, #Christianity
8.: Certain books on prayer that you have read advise the soul to enter into itself,10' and this is what I mean. I was recently told by a great theologian that souls without prayer are like bodies, palsied and lame, having hands and feet they cannot use.' Just so, there are souls so infirm and accustomed to think of nothing but earthly matters, that there seems no cure for them. It appears impossible for them to retire into their own hearts; accustomed as they are to be with the reptiles and other creatures which live outside the castle, they have come at last to imitate their habits. Though these souls are by their nature so richly endowed, capable of communion even with God Himself, yet their case seems hopeless. Unless they endeavour to understand and remedy their most miserable plight, their minds will become, as it were, bereft of movement, just as Lot's wife became a pillar of salt for looking backwards in disobedience to God's command.11
9.: As far as I can understand, the gate by which to enter this castle is prayer and meditation. I do not allude more to mental than to vocal prayer, for if it is prayer at all, the mind must take part in it. If a person neither considers to Whom he is addressing himself, what he asks, nor what he is who ventures to speak to God, although his lips may utter many words, I do not call it prayer.12' Sometimes, indeed, one may pray devoutly without making all these considerations through having practised them at other times. The custom of speaking to God Almighty as freely as with a slave-caring nothing whether the words are suitable or not, but simply saying the first thing that comes to mind from being learnt by rote by frequent repetition-cannot be called prayer: God grant that no Christian may address Him in this manner. I trust His Majesty will prevent any of you, sisters, from doing so. Our habit in this Order of conversing about spiritual matters is a good preservative against such evil ways.
10.: Let us speak no more of these crippled souls, who are in a most miserable and dangerous state, unless our Lord bid them rise, as He did the palsied man who had waited more than thirty years at the pool of Bethsaida.13' We will now think of the others who at last enter the precincts of the castle; they are still very worldly, yet have some desire to do right, and at times, though rarely, commend themselves to God's care. They think about their souls every now and then; although very busy, they pray a few times a month, with minds generally filled with a thousand other matters, for where their treasure is, there is their heart also.14' Still, occasionally they cast aside these cares; it is a great boon for them to realize to some extent the state of their souls, and to see that they will never reach the gate by the road they are following.
11.: At length they enter the first rooms in the basement of the castle, accompanied by numerous reptiles15' which disturb their peace, and prevent their seeing the beauty of the building; still, it is a great gain that these persons should have found their way in at all.
1.01 - Economy, #Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience, #Henry David Thoreau, #Philosophy
Shall we always study to obtain more of these things, and not sometimes to be content with less? Shall the respectable citizen thus gravely teach, by precept and example, the necessity of the young mans providing a certain number of superfluous glow-shoes, and umbrellas, and empty guest chambers for empty guests, before he dies? Why should not our furniture be as simple as the Arabs or the Indians? When I think of the benefactors of the race, whom we have apotheosized as messengers from heaven, bearers of divine gifts to man, I do not see in my mind any retinue at their heels, any car-load of fashionable furniture. Or what if I were to allowwould it not be a singular allowance?that our furniture should be more complex than the Arabs, in proportion as we are morally and intellectually his superiors! At present our houses are cluttered and defiled with it, and a good housewife would sweep out the greater part into the dust hole, and not leave her mornings work undone. Morning work! By the blushes of Aurora and the music of Memnon, what should be mans _morning work_ in this world? I had three pieces of limestone on my desk, but I was terrified to find that they required to be dusted daily, when the furniture of my mind was all undusted still, and I threw them out the window in disgust. How, then, could I have a furnished house? I would rather sit in the open air, for no dust gathers on the grass, unless where man has broken ground.
It is the luxurious and dissipated who set the fashions which the herd so diligently follow. The traveller who stops at the best houses, so called, soon discovers this, for the publicans presume him to be a
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In this course which our ancestors took there was a show of prudence at least, as if their principle were to satisfy the more pressing wants first. But are the more pressing wants satisfied now? When I think of acquiring for myself one of our luxurious dwellings, I am deterred, for, so to speak, the country is not yet adapted to _human_ culture, and we are still forced to cut our _spiritual_ bread far thinner than our forefa thers did their wheaten. Not that all architectural ornament is to be neglected even in the rudest periods; but let our houses first be lined with beauty, where they come in contact with our lives, like the tenement of the shellfish, and not overlaid with it. But, alas! I have been inside one or two of them, and know what they are lined with.
Though we are not so degenerate but that we might possibly live in a cave or a wigwam or wear skins today, it certainly is better to accept the advantages, though so dearly bought, which the invention and industry of mankind offer. In such a neighborhood as this, boards and shingles, lime and bricks, are cheaper and more easily obtained than suitable caves, or whole logs, or bark in sufficient quantities, or even well-tempered clay or flat stones. I speak understandingly on this subject, for I have made myself acquainted with it both theoretically and practically. With a little more wit we might use these materials so as to become richer than the richest now are, and make our civilization a blessing. The civilized man is a more experienced and wiser savage.
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Being a microcosm himself, he discovers, and it is a true discovery, and he is the man to make it,that the world has been eating green apples; to his eyes, in fact, the globe itself is a great green apple, which there is danger awful to think of that the children of men will nibble before it is ripe; and straightway his drastic philanthropy seeks out the Esquimaux and the Patagonian, and embraces the populous
Indian and Chinese villages; and thus, by a few years of philanthropic activity, the powers in the mean while using him for their own ends, no doubt, he cures himself of his dyspepsia, the globe acquires a faint blush on one or both of its cheeks, as if it were beginning to be ripe, and life loses its crudity and is once more sweet and wholesome to live. I never dreamed of any enormity greater than I have committed. I never knew, and never shall know, a worse man than myself.
1.01 - MASTER AND DISCIPLE, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
M: "Sir, I like to think of God as formless."
MASTER: "Very good. It is enough to have faith in either aspect. You believe in God without form; that is quite all right. But never for a moment think that this alone is true and all else false. Remember that God with form is just as true as God without form.
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MASTER: "Repeat God's name and sing His glories, and keep holy company; and now and then visit God's devotees and holy men. The mind cannot dwell on God if it is immersed day and night in worldliness, in worldly duties and responsibilities; it is most necessary to go into solitude now and then and think of God. To fix the mind on God is very difficult, in the beginning, unless one practises meditation in solitude. When a tree is young it should be fenced all around; otherwise it may be destroyed by cattle.
"To meditate, you should withdraw within yourself or retire to a secluded corner or to the forest. And you should always discriminate between the Real and the unreal. God alone is real, the Eternal Substance; all else is unreal, that is, impermanent. By discriminating thus, one should shake off impermanent objects from the mind."
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"If you enter the world without first cultivating love for God, you will be entangled more and more. You will be overwhelmed with its danger, its grief, its sorrows. And the more you think of worldly things, the more you will be attached to them.
"First rub your hands with oil and then break open the jackfruit; otherwise they will be smeared with its sticky milk. First secure the oil of divine love, and then set your hands to the duties of the world.
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MASTER (to Narendra): "How do you feel about it? Worldly people say all kinds of things about the spiritually minded. But look here! When an elephant moves along the street, any number of curs and other small animals may bark and cry after it; but the elephant doesn't even look back at them. If people speak ill of you, what will you think of them?"
NARENDRA: "I shall think that dogs are barking at me."
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"Those in bondage are sunk in worldliness and forgetful of God. Not even by mistake do they think of God.
"The seekers after liberation want to free themselves from attachment to the world.
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"The bound souls never think of God. If they get any leisure they indulge in idle gossip and foolish talk, or they engage in fruitless work. If you ask one of them the reason, he answers, 'Oh, I cannot keep still; so I am making a hedge.' When time hangs heavy on their hands they perhaps start playing cards."
There was deep silence in the room.
--
It was dusk. The Master was meditating on God. He said to M.: "Go and talk to Narendra. Then tell me what you think of him."
Evening worship was over in the temples. M. met Narendra on the bank of the Ganges and they began to converse. Narendra told M. about his studying in college, his being a member of the Brahmo Samaj, and so on.
--
As Sri Ramakrishna walked up and down the hall with M., he said to him: "Let me ask you something. What do you think of me?"
M. remained silent. Again Sri Ramakrishna asked: "What do you think of me? How many annas of knowledge of God have I?"
M: "I don't understand what you mean by 'annas'. But of this I am sure: I have never before seen such knowledge, ecstatic love, faith in God, renunciation, and catholicity anywhere."
1.01 - On renunciation of the world, #The Ladder of Divine Ascent, #Saint John of Climacus, #unset
Our God and King is good, ultra-good and all-good (it is best to begin with God in writing to the servants of God). Of the rational beings created by Him and honoured with the dignity of free-will, some are His friends, others are His true servants, some are worthless, some are completely estranged from God, and others, though feeble creatures are equally His opponents. By friends of God, dear and holy Father,1 we simple people mean, properly speaking, those intellectual and incorporeal beings which surround God. By true servants of God we mean all those who tirelessly and unremittingly do and have done His will. By worthless servants we mean those who think of themselves as having been granted baptism, but have not faithfully kept the vows they made to God. By those estranged from God and alienated from Him, we mean those who are unbelievers or heretics. Finally, the enemies of God are those who have not only evaded and rejected the Lords commandment themselves, but who also wage bitter war on those who are fulfilling it.
Each of the classes mentioned above might well have a special treatise devoted to it. But for simple folk like us it would not be profitable at this point to enter into such lengthy investigations. Come then, in unquestioning obedience let us stretch out our unworthy hand to the true servants of God who devoutly compel us and in their faith constrain us by their commands. Let us write this treatise with a pen taken from their knowledge and dipped in the ink of humility which is both subdued yet radiant. Then let us apply it to the smooth white paper of their hearts, or rather rest it on the tablets of the spirit, and let us inscribe the divine words (or rather sow the seeds).2 And let us begin like this.
1.01 - SAMADHI PADA, #Patanjali Yoga Sutras, #Swami Vivekananda, #Hinduism
to take the elements out of time and space, and think of them
as they are, it is called Nirvitarka , without-question. When
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body. He can think of himself as without his gross body; but
he will have to think of himself as with a fine body. Those that
in this state get merged in nature without attaining the goal are
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unlimited space. Close your eyes and think of a little space,
and at the same time that you perceive the little circle, you
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with time. Try to think of a second, you will have, with the
same act of perception, to think of time which is unlimited.
So with knowledge. Knowledge is only a germ in man, but
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you will have to think of infinite knowledge around it, so that
the very nature of your constitution shows us that there is
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must think of the unlimited, and that if one part of the
perception is true the other must be, for the reason that their
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But one must think of this Om, and of its meaning too. Avoid
evil company, because the scars of old wounds are in you, and
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This is another sort of concentration. think of the lotus of the
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a deep impression on him. think of that dream as real, and
meditate upon it. If you cannot do that, meditate on any holy
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without a word. You may ask how it is when we only think of
the cow, and do not hear a sound. You make that sound
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mind, your thoughts wander. When you are trying to think of
God, that is the very time which all these Samskaras take to
1.01 - Sri Aurobindo, #Words Of The Mother I, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
O Lord, Divine Builder of this marvel, my heart overflows with joy and gratitude when I think of it, and my hope has no bounds.
My adoration is beyond all words, my reverence is silent.
1.01 - THAT ARE THOU, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
All this sheds some lightdim, it is true, and merely inferentialon the problem of the perennialness of the Perennial Philosophy. In India the scriptures were regarded, not as revelations made at some given moment of history, but as eternal gospels, existent from everlasting to everlasting, inasmuch as coeval with man, or for that matter with any other kind of corporeal or incorporeal being possessed of reason. A similar point of view is expressed by Aristotle, who regards the fundamental truths of religion as everlasting and indestructible. There have been ascents and falls, periods (literally roads around or cycles) of progress and regress; but the great fact of God as the First Mover of a universe which partakes of His divinity has always been recognized. In the light of what we know about prehistoric man (and what we know amounts to nothing more than a few chipped stones, some paintings, drawings and sculptures) and of what we may legitimately infer from other, better documented fields of knowledge, what are we to think of these traditional doctrines? My own view is that they may be true. We know that born contemplatives in the realm both of analytic and of integral thought have turned up in fair numbers and at frequent intervals during recorded history. There is therefore every reason to suppose that they turned up before history was recorded. That many of these people died young or were unable to exercise their talents is certain. But a few of them must have survived. In this context it is highly significant that, among many contemporary primitives, two thought-patterns are foundan exoteric pattern for the unphilosophic many and an esoteric pattern (often monotheistic, with a belief in a God not merely of power, but of goodness and wisdom) for the initiated few. There is no reason to suppose that circumstances were any harder for prehistoric men than they are for many contemporary savages. But if an esoteric monotheism of the kind that seems to come natural to the born thinker is possible in modern savage societies, the majority of whose members accept the sort of polytheistic philosophy that seems to come natural to men of action, a similar esoteric doctrine might have been current in prehistoric societies. True, the modern esoteric doctrines may have been derived from higher cultures. But the significant fact remains that, if so derived, they yet had a meaning for certain members of the primitive society and were considered valuable enough to be carefully preserved. We have seen that many thoughts are unthinkable apart from an appropriate vocabulary and frame of reference. But the fundamental ideas of the Perennial Philosophy can be formulated in a very simple vocabulary, and the experiences to which the ideas refer can and indeed must be had immediately and apart from any vocabulary whatsoever. Strange openings and theophanies are granted to quite small children, who are often profoundly and permanently affected by these experiences. We have no reason to suppose that what happens now to persons with small vocabularies did not happen in remote antiquity. In the modern world (as Vaughan and Traherne and Wordsworth, among others, have told us) the child tends to grow out of his direct awareness of the one Ground of things; for the habit of analytical thought is fatal to the intuitions of integral thinking, whether on the psychic or the spiritual level. Psychic preoccupations may be and often are a major obstacle in the way of genuine spirituality. In primitive societies now (and, presumably, in the remote past) there is much preoccupation with, and a widespread talent for, psychic thinking. But a few people may have worked their way through psychic into genuinely spiritual experiencejust as, even in modern industrialized societies, a few people work their way out of the prevailing preoccupation with matter and through the prevailing habits of analytical thought into the direct experience of the spiritual Ground of things.
Such, then, very briefly are the reasons for supposing that the historical traditions of oriental and our own classical antiquity may be true. It is interesting to find that at least one distinguished contemporary ethnologist is in agreement with Aristotle and the Vedantists. Orthodox ethnology, writes Dr. Paul Radin in his Primitive Man as Philosopher, has been nothing but an enthusiastic and quite uncritical attempt to apply the Darwinian theory of evolution to the facts of social experience. And he adds that no progress in ethnology will be achieved until scholars rid themselves once and for all of the curious notion that everything possesses a history; until they realize that certain ideas and certain concepts are as ultimate for man, as a social being, as specific physiological reactions are ultimate for him, as a biological being. Among these ultimate concepts, in Dr. Radins view, is that of monotheism. Such monotheism is often no more than the recognition of a single dark and numinous Power ruling the world. But it may sometimes be genuinely ethical and spiritual.
1.01 - the Call to Adventure, #The Hero with a Thousand Faces, #Joseph Campbell, #Mythology
but get him to enjoying pleasure, he will cease to think of retir
ing from the world.' Then the king extended the guard to half a
1.01 - The First Steps, #Raja-Yoga, #Swami Vivkenanda, #unset
Rja-Yoga is divided into eight steps. The first is Yama non-killing, truthfulness, non-stealing, continence, and non-receiving of any gifts. Next is Niyama cleanliness, contentment, austerity, study, and self-surrender to God. Then comes sana, or posture; Prnyma, or control of Prna; Pratyhra, or restraint of the senses from their objects; Dhran, or fixing the mind on a spot; Dhyna, or meditation; and Samdhi, or superconsciousness. The Yama and Niyama, as we see, are moral trainings; without these as the basis no practice of Yoga will succeed. As these two become established, the Yogi will begin to realise the fruits of his practice; without these it will never bear fruit. A Yogi must not think of injuring anyone, by thought, word, or deed. Mercy shall not be for men alone, but shall go beyond, and embrace the whole world.
The next step is Asana, posture. A series of exercises, physical and mental, is to be gone through every day, until certain higher states are reached. Therefore it is quite necessary that we should find a posture in which we can remain long. That posture which is the easiest for one should be the one chosen. For thinking, a certain posture may be very easy for one man, while to another it may be very difficult. We will find later on that during the study of these psychological matters a good deal of activity goes on in the body. Nerve currents will have to be displaced and given a new channel. New sorts of vibrations will begin, the whole constitution will be remodelled as it were. But the main part of the activity will lie along the spinal column, so that the one thing necessary for the posture is to hold the spinal column free, sitting erect, holding the three parts the chest, neck, and head in a straight line. Let the whole weight of the body be supported by the ribs, and then you have an easy natural postures with the spine straight. You will easily see that you cannot think very high thoughts with the chest in. This portion of the Yoga is a little similar to the Hatha-Yoga which deals entirely with the physical body, its aim being to make the physical body very strong. We have nothing to do with it here, because its practices are very difficult, and cannot be learned in a day, and, after all, do not lead to much spiritual growth. Many of these practices you will find in Delsarte and other teachers, such as placing the body in different postures, but the object in these is physical, not psychological. There is not one muscle in the body over which a man cannot establish a perfect control. The heart can be made to stop or go on at his bidding, and each part of the organism can be similarly controlled.
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Those of you who can afford it will do better to have a room for this practice alone. Do not sleep in that room, it must be kept holy. You must not enter the room until you have bathed, and are perfectly clean in body and mind. Place flowers in that room always; they are the best surroundings for a Yogi; also pictures that are pleasing. Burn incense morning and evening. Have no quarrelling, nor anger, nor unholy thought in that room. Only allow those persons to enter it who are of the same thought as you. Then gradually there will be an atmosphere of holiness in the room, so that when you are miserable, sorrowful, doubtful, or your mind is disturbed, the very fact of entering that room will make you calm. This was the idea of the temple and the church, and in some temples and churches you will find it even now, but in the majority of them the very idea has been lost. The idea is that by keeping holy vibrations there the place becomes and remains illumined. Those who cannot afford to have a room set apart can practice anywhere they like. Sit in a straight posture, and the first thing to do is to send a current of holy thought to all creation. Mentally repeat, "Let all beings be happy; let all beings be peaceful; let all beings be blissful." So do to the east, south, north and west. The more you do that the better you will feel yourself. You will find at last that the easiest way to make ourselves healthy is to see that others are healthy, and the easiest way to make ourselves happy is to see that others are happy. After doing that, those who believe in God should pray not for money, not for health, nor for heaven; pray for knowledge and light; every other prayer is selfish. Then the next thing to do is to think of your own body, and see that it is strong and healthy; it is the best instrument you have. think of it as being as strong as adamant, and that with the help of this body you will cross the ocean of life. Freedom is never to be reached by the weak. Throw away all weakness. Tell your body that it is strong, tell your mind that it is strong, and have unbounded faith and hope in yourself.
1.01 - Who is Tara, #How to Free Your Mind - Tara the Liberator, #Thubten Chodron, #unset
When we look at Tara, what kind of feeling does Tara give us? think of
Tara and think of George W. Bush. Do you get a different feeling when you
how to free your mind
1.02.1 - The Inhabiting Godhead - Life and Action, #Isha Upanishad, #unset, #Zen
of body, it is idle to think of refraining from action or escaping
the physical life. The idea that this in itself can be a means of
1.024 - Affiliation With Larger Wholes, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
There cannot be hope or aspiration if something higher does not exist. It is the existence of something higher than all empirical life that draws us towards itself in a process called psychological aspiration or expectation of a better condition. Every day we expect a better state. Even a person sunk in sorrow imagines that tomorrow will be better, and that his condition may perhaps improve. It is rare to find people who are so pessimistic as to think that everything is dead wrong, and tomorrow will perhaps be worse than today. There is always a hope: "After all, tomorrow will be better. Conditions will improve, things will be better and I shall be happier." This hope is but a symbol, a significance of the existence of a condition superior to the present one. That superior condition is naturally inclusive of all the lower values. When we get something higher, we do not think of the lower not because we have lost the lower, but because in the higher we have found all that was in the lower.
For the purpose of controlling the mind, we have to adjust ourself to the concept of a higher reality. That is what is meant by ekatattva abhyasah, by which there is pratisedha or checking of the modifications of the mind. The introduction of the concept of a higher reality into the mind can be done either by logical analysis or by reliance upon scriptural statements. Great texts like the Upanishads, the Vedas and such other mystical texts, proclaim the existence of a Universal Reality which can be reached through various grades of ascent into more and more comprehensive levels. The happiness of the human being is not supposed to be complete happiness.
1.025 - Sadhana - Intensifying a Lighted Flame, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
However, the point on hand is that a larger reality should also be qualitatively superior to the discrete particulars from which the mind is supposed to be withdrawn for the purpose of the practice of yoga. Though it is somewhat easy to bring about a quantitative increase in the concept of reality by methods such as the ones I just mentioned, it is a little more difficult to introduce a qualitative increase into the concept of reality. This is the main difficulty for everyone. However much we may concentrate on God, we will not be able to improve upon the human concept, even when there is a concept of God. So we feel unhappy even when we are meditating on God, because we have not improved the quality but have only increased the quantity, so that we may think of God as a large human individual a massive individual, as expansive as the universe itself, for example. That is quite wonderful, but still this human thought does not leave us.
Even when we think of the Creator as a transcendent father, the anthropomorphic idea still persists and stultifies the aim at introducing a higher quality of thought into the concept of God. That is why we are unhappy even in meditation, even in our highest spiritual exalted moods. Even when we are exalted, we are quantitatively exalted; qualitatively, we are very poor. We are unhappy in some way or the other, and no one can make us happy. A tremendous effort is necessary to introduce a superior quality in the concept of reality. The difficulty lies in the mind being the only instrument that we have for doing anything whatsoever, and who is it who will introduce a higher order of value or a greater quality into this concept, other than the mind itself? But how can we expect the mind to conceive of a higher quality of reality other than the one in which it has found itself at the present moment? How can we jump over our own skin? Is it possible? How can we expect the mind to think of a reality superior in quality to the one in which it is living at present, and with which it is identified wholly? An immediate answer to this question cannot be given. However, there is an answer.
Sadhana is a very mysterious process. It is not like the ordinary efforts that we put forth into our workaday life. Every effort, even the first effort in the practice of sadhana, brings about an improvement. The impetus that is created by the first step that we take will carry us forward with a greater impetus towards the next step by the generation of a force which is superior to the powers of the mind in its ordinary operations. Also, there is a peculiar something in human nature which is called 'aspiration'. It is difficult to understand what it actually means. It is not merely a hoping for something in the ordinary sense. It is a surge of the soul's force from within, and we must underline these words, 'soul's force', for it is not merely the mental faculties. The soul's force rises up, wells up within us in a totality of action, drawing forth the whole value that we are at present, and pointing to something which is wholly other than the present whole from which the soul is being drawn.
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The practice of yoga is nothing but a conscious participation in the universal working of nature itself and, therefore, it is the most natural thing that we can do, and the most natural thing that we can conceive. There can be nothing more natural than to participate consciously in the evolutionary work of the universe, which is the attempt of the cosmos to become Self-conscious in the Absolute. Evolution is nothing but a movement of the whole universe towards Self-awareness this is called God-realisation. Our every activity from the cup of tea that we take, to the breath that we breathe, from even the sneeze that we jet forth, to the least action that we perform, from even a single thought which occurs in the mind everything is a part of this cosmic operation which is the evolution of the universe towards Self-realisation. Therefore, the practice of yoga is the most natural thing that we can think of and the most necessary duty of a human being. Nothing can be more obligatory on our part than this duty. It is from this point of view, perhaps, that Lord Krishna proclaims, towards the end of the Bhagavadgita, sarvadharmnparityajya mmeka araa vraja (B.G. XVIII.66): Renounce every other duty and come to Me for rescue which means to say, take resort in the law of the Absolute. This is the practice of yoga, and every other dharma is subsumed under it and included within it, as every drop and every river is in the ocean. In this supreme duty, every other duty is included. There is no need to think of every individual, discrete and isolated duty, because all duties are included in this one duty, which is the mother of all duties.
This peculiar feature of spiritual practice, sadhana, being so difficult to understand intellectually, cannot be regarded as merely an individual's affair. Sadhana is God's affair, ultimately. Spiritual sadhana is God's grace working. Though it appears that is individual effort, it only seems to be so, but really it is something else. Not even the greatest of philosophical thinkers, such as Shankara, could logically answer the question, "How does knowledge arise in the jiva?" How can it be said that individual effort produces knowledge of God? Knowledge of God cannot rise by individual effort, because individual effort is so puny, so inadequate to the purpose, to the task, that we cannot expect such an infinite result to follow from the finite cause. The concept of God is an inscrutable event that takes place in the human mind. Can we imagine an ass thinking about God? However much it may put forth effort and go on trying its best throughout its life, the concept of God will never arise in an ass's mind or in a buffalo's mind. How it arises is a mystery. Suddenly, it comes.
10.26 - A True Professor, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
When we speak or think of education and consider the relation of the teacher and the pupil, we generally confine ourselves to the mental domain, that is to say, aim wholly or mainly at the intellectual acquisition and attainment, and only sometimes as per necessity as it were we turn at most to the moral domain, that is to say, we look for the growth of character, of good manners and behavioursocial values as we have said. Here we have tried to bring into the educationist's view a more important, a much more important and interesting domaina new dimension of consciousness.
Wordsworth: Ode on the Intimations of Immortality.
1.02 - MAPS OF MEANING - THREE LEVELS OF ANALYSIS, #Maps of Meaning, #Jordan Peterson, #Psychology
trivial deviations well, will continue to think of themselves as socially adaptable.123
Our emotional regulation depends as much (or more) on the stability and predictability of the social
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In retrospect, it is amazing that psychology was for so long able to think of real-life categories as
proper sets. We ought to have worred more over the extreme difficulty everyone has in defining
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no longer personify such instincts, except for the purposes of literary embellishment, so we dont think of
them existing in a place (like heaven, for example). But the idea that such instincts inhabit a space
1.02 - SADHANA PADA, #Patanjali Yoga Sutras, #Swami Vivekananda, #Hinduism
effulgent, the ever blissful, and that is ignorance. We think of
man, and see man as body. This is the great delusion.
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wave. think of love. Sometimes a mother is very angry with
her husband, and while in that state the baby comes in, and
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of the infinite. We cannot think of the Absolute Infinite, but
we can think of the infinite sky.
prayatnashaithilyanantasamapattibhyam
1.02 - The 7 Habits An Overview, #The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, #Stephen Covey, #unset
Ironically, you'll find that as you care less about what others think of you; you will care more about what others think of themselves and their worlds, including their relationship with you. You'll no longer build your emotional life on other people's weaknesses. In addition, you'll find it easier and more desirable to change because there is something -- some core deep within -- that is essentially changeless.
As you open yourself to the next three habits -- the habits of Public Victory -- you will discover and unleash both the desire and the resources to heal and rebuild important relationships that have deteriorated, or even broken. Good relationships will improve -- become deeper, more solid, more creative, and more adventuresome.
1.02 - The Child as growing being and the childs experience of encountering the teacher., #The Essentials of Education, #unset, #Zen
It would be enough to present the beginning of this artistic approach; we can feel how it calls on the childs whole being, not just an intellectual understanding, which is overtaxed to a cer- tain extent. If we abandon the intellectual element for imagery at this age, the intellect usually withdraws into the background. If, on the other hand, we overemphasize the intellect and are unable to move into a mode of imagery, the childs breathing process is delicately and subtly disrupted. The child can become congested, as it were, with weakened exhalation. You should think of this as very subtle, not necessarily obvious. If educa- tion is too intellectual between the ages of seven and fourteen, exhalation becomes congested, and the child is subjected to a kind of subconscious nightmare. A kind of intimate nightmare arises, which becomes chronic in the organism and leads in later life to asthmas and other diseases connected with swelling in the breathing system.
Another extreme occurs when the teacher enters the school like a little Caesar, with the self-image of a mighty Caesar, of course. In this situation, the child is always at the mercy of a teachers impulsiveness. Whereas extreme intellectualism leads to congested exhalation, the metabolic forces are thinned by overly domineering and exaggerated assertiveness in the teacher. A childs digestive organs are gradually weakened, which again may have chronic effects in later life. Both of these excesses needs to be eliminated from educationtoo much intellectualizing and extreme obstinateness.
1.02 - The Human Soul, #The Interior Castle or The Mansions, #Saint Teresa of Avila, #Christianity
8.: Now let us turn at last to our castle with its many mansions. You must not think of a suite of rooms placed in succession, but fix your eyes on the keep, the court inhabited by the King.23' Like the kernel of the palmito,24' from which several rinds must be removed before coming to the eatable part, this principal chamber is surrounded by many others. However large, magnificent, and spacious you imagine this castle to be, you cannot exaggerate it; the capacity of the soul is beyond all our understanding, and the Sun within this palace enlightens every part of it.
9.: A soul which gives itself to prayer, either much or little, should on no account be kept within narrow bounds. Since God has given it such great dignity, permit it to wander at will through the rooms of the castle, from the lowest to the highest. Let it not force itself to remain for very long in the same mansion, even that of self-knowledge. Mark well, however, that self-knowledge is indispensable, even for those whom God takes to dwell in the same mansion with Himself. Nothing else, however elevated, perfects the soul which must never seek to forget its own nothingness. Let humility be always at work, like the bee at the honeycomb, or all will be lost. But, remember, the bee leaves its hive to fly in search of flowers and the soul should sometimes cease thinking of itself to rise in meditation on the grandeur and majesty of its God. It will learn its own baseness better thus than by self-contemplation, and will be freer from the reptiles which enter the first room where self-knowledge is acquired. The palmito here referred to is not a palm, but a shrub about four feet high and very dense with leaves, resembling palm leaves. The poorer classes and principally children dig it up by the roots, which they peel of its many layers until a sort of kernel is disclosed, which is eaten, not without relish, and is somewhat like a filbert in taste. See St. John of the Cross, Accent of Mount Carmel, bk. ii. ch, xiv, 3. Although it is a great grace from God to practise self-examination, yet 'too much is as bad as too little,' as they say; believe me, by God's help, we shall advance more by contemplating the Divinity than by keeping our eyes fixed on ourselves, poor creatures of earth that we are.
1.02 - THE NATURE OF THE GROUND, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
Finally it is possible to think of God as an exclusively supra-personal being. For many persons this conception is too philosophical to provide an adequate motive for doing anything practical about their beliefs. Hence, for them, it is of no value.
It would be a mistake, of course, to suppose that people who worship one aspect of God to the exclusion of all the rest must inevitably run into the different kinds of trouble described above. If they are not too stubborn in their ready-made beliefs, if they submit with docility to what happens to them in the process of worshipping, the God who is both immanent and transcendent, personal and more than personal, may reveal Himself to them in his fulness. Nevertheless, the fact remains that it is easier for us to reach our goal if we are not handicapped by a set of erroneous or inadequate beliefs about the right way to get there and the nature of what we are looking for.
Who is God? I can think of no better answer than, He who is. Nothing is more appropriate to the eternity which God is. If you call God good, or great, or blessed, or wise, or anything else of this sort, it is included in these words, namely, He is.
St. Bernard
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Whenever, for any reason, we wish to think of the world, not as it appears to common sense, but as a continuum, we find that our traditional syntax and vocabulary are quite inadequate. Mathematicians have therefore been compelled to invent radically new symbol-systems for this express purpose. But the divine Ground of all existence is not merely a continuum, it is also out of time, and different, not merely in degree, but in kind from the worlds to which traditional language and the languages of mathematics are adequate. Hence, in all expositions of the Perennial Philosophy, the frequency of paradox, of verbal extravagance, sometimes even of seeming blasphemy. Nobody has yet invented a Spiritual Calculus, in terms of which we may talk coherently about the divine Ground and of the world conceived as its manifestation. For the present, therefore, we must be patient with the linguistic eccentricities of those who are compelled to describe one order of experience in terms of a symbol-system, whose relevance is to the facts of another and quite different order.
So far, then, as a fully adequate expression of the Perennial Philosophy is concerned, there exists a problem in semantics that is finally insoluble. The fact is one which must be steadily borne in mind by all who read its formulations. Only in this way shall we be able to understand even remotely what is being talked about. Consider, for example, those negative definitions of the transcendent and immanent Ground of being. In statements such as Eckharts, God is equated with nothing. And in a certain sense the equation is exact; for God is certainly no thing. In the phrase used by Scotus Erigena God is not a what; He is a That. In other words, the Ground can be denoted as being there, but not defined as having qualities. This means that discursive knowledge about the Ground is not merely, like all inferential knowledge, a thing at one remove, or even at several removes, from the reality of immediate acquaintance; it is and, because of the very nature of our language and our standard patterns of thought, it must be, paradoxical knowledge. Direct knowledge of the Ground cannot be had except by union, and union can be achieved only by the annihilation of the self-regarding ego, which is the barrier separating the thou from the That.
1.02 - The Philosophy of Ishvara, #Bhakti-Yoga, #Swami Vivekananda, #Hinduism
We shall now try to understand what the great representative of the Advaita School has to say on the point. We shall see how the Advaita system maintains all the hopes and aspirations of the dualist intact, and at the same time propounds its own solution of the problem in consonance with the high destiny of divine humanity. Those who aspire to retain their individual mind even after liberation and to remain distinct will have ample opportunity of realising their aspirations and enjoying the blessing of the qualified Brahman. These are they who have been spoken of in the Bhgavata Purna thus: "O king, such are the, glorious qualities of the Lord that the sages whose only pleasure is in the Self, and from whom all fetters have fallen off, even they love the Omnipresent with the love that is for love's sake." These are they who are spoken of by the Snkhyas as getting merged in nature in this cycle, so that, after attaining perfection, they may come out in the next as lords of world-systems. But none of these ever becomes equal to God (Ishvara). Those who attain to that state where there is neither creation, nor created, nor creator, where there is neither knower, nor knowable, nor knowledge, where there is neither I, nor thou, nor he, where there is neither subject, nor object, nor relation, "there, who is seen by whom?" such persons have gone beyond everything to "where words cannot go nor mind", gone to that which the Shrutis declare as "Not this, not this"; but for those who cannot, or will not reach this state, there will inevitably remain the triune vision of the one undifferentiated Brahman as nature, soul, and the interpenetrating sustainer of both Ishvara. So, when Prahlda forgot himself, he found neither the universe nor its cause; all was to him one Infinite, undifferentiated by name and form; but as soon as he remembered that he was Prahlada, there was the universe before him and with it the Lord of the universe "the Repository of an infinite number of blessed qualities". So it was with the blessed Gopis. So long as they had lost sense of their own personal identity and individuality, they were all Krishnas, and when they began again to think of Him as the One to be worshipped, then they were Gopis again, and immediately Bhakti, then, can be directed towards Brahman, only in His personal aspect.
"The way is more difficult for those whose mind is attached to the Absolute!" Bhakti has to float on smoothly with the current of our nature. True it is that we cannot have; any idea of the Brahman which is not anthropomorphic, but is it not equally true of everything we know? The greatest psychologist the world has ever known, Bhagavan Kapila, demonstrated ages ago that human consciousness is one of the elements in the make-up of all the objects of our perception and conception, internal as well as external. Beginning with our bodies and going up to Ishvara, we may see that every object of our perception is this consciousness plus something else, whatever that may be; and this unavoidable mixture is what we ordinarily think of as reality. Indeed it is, and ever will be, all of the reality that is possible for the human mind to know. Therefore to say that Ishvara is unreal, because He is anthropomorphic, is sheer nonsense. It sounds very much like the occidentals squabble on idealism and realism, which fearful-looking quarrel has for its foundation a mere play on the word "real". The idea of Ishvara covers all the ground ever denoted and connoted by the word real, and Ishvara is as real as anything else in the universe; and after all, the word real means nothing more than what has now been pointed out. Such is our philosophical conception of Ishvara.
(Bhagavata) "Unto them appeared Krishna with a smile on His lotus face, clad in yellow robes and having garlands on, the embodied conqueror (in beauty) of the god of love."
1.02 - The Stages of Initiation, #Knowledge of the Higher Worlds, #Rudolf Steiner, #Theosophy
By such observation of his fellow-creatures, the student may easily lapse into a moral fault. He may become cold-hearted. Every conceivable effort must be made to prevent this. Such observation should only be practiced by one who has already risen to the level on which complete certainty is found that thoughts are real things. He will then no longer allow himself to think of his fellow-men in a way that is incompatible with the highest reverence for human dignity and human liberty. The thought that a human being could be merely an object of observation must never for a moment be entertained. Self-education must see to it that this insight into human nature should go hand in hand with an unlimited respect for the personal privilege of each individual, and with the recognition of the sacred and inviolable nature of that which dwells in each human being. A feeling
p. 73
--
The would-be initiate must bring with him a certain measure of courage and fearlessness. He must positively go out of his way to find opportunities for developing these virtues. His training should provide for their systematic cultivation. In this respect, life itself is a good school-possibly the best school. The student must learn to look danger calmly in the face and try to overcome difficulties unswervingly. For instance, when in the presence of some peril, he must swiftly come to the conviction that fear is of no possible use; I must not feel afraid; I must only think of what is to be done. And he must improve to the extent of feeling, upon occasions which formerly inspired him with fear, that to be frightened, to be disheartened, are things that are out of the question as far as his own inmost self is concerned. By self-discipline in this direction, quite definite qualities are develop which are necessary for initiation into the higher mysteries. Just as man requires nervous force in his physical being in order to use his physical sense, so also he
p. 75
1.02 - THE WITHIN OF THINGS, #The Phenomenon of Man, #Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, #Christianity
Beneath this mechanical layer we must think of a ' biological '
56
--
wc think of linking them together.
A. First Observation
--
Whatever instance we may think of, we may be sure that
every time a richer and better organised structure will correspond
1.02 - Where I Lived, and What I Lived For, #Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience, #Henry David Thoreau, #Philosophy
Old Cato, whose De Re Rustic is my Cultivator, says, and the only translation I have seen makes sheer nonsense of the passage, When you think of getting a farm, turn it thus in your mind, not to buy greedily; nor spare your pains to look at it, and do not think it enough to go round it once. The oftener you go there the more it will please you, if it is good. I think I shall not buy greedily, but go round and round it as long as I live, and be buried in it first, that it may please me the more at last.
The present was my next experiment of this kind, which I purpose to describe more at length; for convenience, putting the experience of two years into one. As I have said, I do not propose to write an ode to dejection, but to brag as lustily as chanticleer in the morning, standing on his roost, if only to wake my neighbors up.
--
What should we think of the shepherds life if his flocks always wandered to higher pastures than his thoughts?
Every morning was a cheerful invitation to make my life of equal simplicity, and I may say innocence, with Nature herself. I have been as sincere a worshipper of Aurora as the Greeks. I got up early and bathed in the pond; that was a religious exercise, and one of the best things which I did. They say that characters were engraven on the bathing tub of king Tching-thang to this effect: Renew thyself completely each day; do it again, and again, and forever again. I can understand that. Morning brings back the heroic ages. I was as much affected by the faint hum of a mosquito making its invisible and unimaginable tour through my apartment at earliest dawn, when I was sitting with door and windows open, as I could be by any trumpet that ever sang of fame. It was Homers requiem; itself an Iliad and Odyssey in the air, singing its own wrath and wanderings. There was something cosmical about it; a standing advertisement, till forbidden, of the everlasting vigor and fertility of the world. The morning, which is the most memorable season of the day, is the awakening hour. Then there is least somnolence in us; and for an hour, at least, some part of us awakes which slumbers all the rest of the day and night. Little is to be expected of that day, if it can be called a day, to which we are not awakened by our Genius, but by the mechanical nudgings of some servitor, are not awakened by our own newly-acquired force and aspirations from within, accompanied by the undulations of celestial music, instead of factory bells, and a fragrance filling the airto a higher life than we fell asleep from; and thus the darkness bear its fruit, and prove itself to be good, no less than the light. That man who does not believe that each day contains an earlier, more sacred, and auroral hour than he has yet profaned, has despaired of life, and is pursuing a descending and darkening way. After a partial cessation of his sensuous life, the soul of man, or its organs rather, are reinvigorated each day, and his Genius tries again what noble life it can make. All memorable events, I should say, transpire in morning time and in a morning atmosphere. The Vedas say, All intelligences awake with the morning. Poetry and art, and the fairest and most memorable of the actions of men, date from such an hour. All poets and heroes, like Memnon, are the children of Aurora, and emit their music at sunrise. To him whose elastic and vigorous thought keeps pace with the sun, the day is a perpetual morning. It matters not what the clocks say or the attitudes and labors of men. Morning is when I am awake and there is a dawn in me. Moral reform is the effort to throw off sleep.
1.031 - Intense Aspiration, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
Well, we may say, "If it is such a simple matter, then this is what we want and we won't want anything else." But, my dear friends, this wanting is almost everything; there is nothing which it does not include because this tivra samvegatva this wanting, this intensity of asking is of a very strange character. We have never been accustomed to this kind of wanting in this world. We cannot want even our father and mother with the intensity that is expected here. What is the dearest object in this world? Perhaps it is our parents; we cannot think of a dearer thing than father and mother, for instance. We cannot like even them so much, unless certain conditions are fulfilled. Even our love for parents is conditional; unconditioned love is impossible. Certain conditions must be fulfilled only then we love. Otherwise we say, "Good bye, I don't want to look at you." But here it is not like that; this is unconditioned asking. It is not limited by space, time, causality, or any kind of qualification from outside. Whatever may happen, and whatever be the difficulties on the way - whatever be the obstacles and whatever be the temptations we shall not yield to any of these but move straight towards the objective that is before us.
Another peculiar attribute which Patanjali uses is samvega. It is very difficult to translate it into English tivra samvega. Tivra is intense, very forceful, vehement. Samvega is impetuosity, if we would like to put it into English. We know what impetuous movement is it is turbulent, uncontrollable, vehement, powerful, revolting such is the kind of asking that is implied in this sutra. That is samvega like a violent tempest, a forceful wind that is blowing, uprooting all trees and blowing buildings. We know how forcefully the wind can blow off even the top of buildings. That kind of aspiration is called samvegatva, where we do not care for anything else. Let heaven go to hell or hell go to heaven, it makes no difference. The soul is simply revolting against any kind of limitation which has been imposed upon it by any factor whatsoever, even if it is a so-called virtuous factor of the traditional world. Everything is broken to pieces, cast to the winds, crushed under the feet, and the soul simply asks and asks and asks. This is the tivra samvegatva that Patanjali is referring to in the seeking of the great Reality, which is the object of our quest.
1.032 - Our Concept of God, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
vara praidhnt v (I.23), is a sutra of Sage Patanjali. One of the methods of controlling the mind is surrender to God. According to many, it is perhaps the principal method of controlling the mind. This is a most positive approach, of the many that can be thought of. When our mind is absorbed in love for something 'absorbed' is the word, completely occupied with the thought of a particular thing there is no chance for the mind to think of anything else. The modifications of the mind, the vrittis in respect of objects, should cease spontaneously when they are all focused in the direction of love of God. There is no need for any struggle in the form of breathing exercises or any type of hardship in the control of the mind or its vrittis, if it is absorbed in a love which is all-consuming.
The extent of our love of God, the intensity of our feeling for God, will depend upon our idea of God, our concept of God. There are various concepts of the Creator, of God, the Absolute, etc., according to the various philosophical theories, doctrines, and religious traditions. One of the primitive forms of conceiving God is that He is the Creator of the world. We have a childish idea of a creator. A creator is one who makes things, and God is someone who has made this world. "God made this world" is an old saying which we often repeat. God made the world and, therefore, God is the Creator of the world. God is the Father of the world and, therefore, all His children should love Him as the Supreme Parent. The idea of creatorship that is in our minds is the conditioning factor of our love towards this Creator. We have seen in this world that if someone makes something, he is the efficient or sometimes the instrumental cause of that particular thing that he has made, and the thing that he has made is an effect that is produced by him, standing outside him. God can thus be regarded as extra-cosmic, which is the usual way in which we conceive God.
1.03 - A Parable, #The Lotus Sutra, #Anonymous, #Various
And think of nothing but water and grass.
It is because they disparaged this sutra
1.03 - APPRENTICESHIP AND ENCULTURATION - ADOPTION OF A SHARED MAP, #Maps of Meaning, #Jordan Peterson, #Psychology
thought, and that the nature of much of what we think of as moral behavior is still, therefore, embedded in
unconscious procedure. As a consequence, it is easy for us to become confused about the nature of
1.03 - A Sapphire Tale, #Words Of Long Ago, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
At the time when our narrative begins, this remarkable ruler had reached a great age - he was more than two hundred years old - and although he still retained all his lucidity and was still full of energy and vigour, he was beginning to think of retirement, a little weary of the heavy responsibilities which he had borne for so many years. He called his young son Meotha to him. The prince was a young man of many and varied accomplishments. He was more handsome than men usually are, his charity was of such perfect equity that it achieved justice, his intelligence shone like a sun and his wisdom was beyond compare; for he had spent part of his youth among workmen and craftsmen to learn by personal experience the needs and requirements of their life, and he had spent the rest of his time alone, or with one of the philosophers as his tutor, in seclusion in the square tower of the palace, in study or contemplative repose.
Meotha bowed respectfully before his father, who seated him at his side and spoke to him in these words:
1.03 - Meeting the Master - Meeting with others, #Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo, #unset, #Zen
Sri Aurobindo: What is all this trouble about? I have been staying here so long and I have my own status with the French Government. They have not only given me protection but treated me with great courtesy. If the visitors want to make a case it is their own look-out, but I do not want to make any case. Our business is with the officials and not with the policeman. If we have to say anything we must go and inform the officer and not talk to the policeman. It is absurd for me to think of going to the court. I am not only a non-cooperator, I am an enemy of the British Empire. If the visitors, who are non-cooperators, want to make a case it is their business.
Sri Aurobindo then instructed two disciples to go to the Police Commissioner and inquire about the matter and make the position of the Ashram clear by saying: "We do not invite visitors; so it is the affair of the Police to deal with them. But none of the inmates of the Ashram should be treated in the same manner."
1.03 - On exile or pilgrimage, #The Ladder of Divine Ascent, #Saint John of Climacus, #unset
When men or devils praise us for our exile, as for some great success, then let us think of Him who for our sake was exiled from heaven to earth, and we shall find that throughout all eternity it is impossible for us to make return for this.
Attachment either to some particular relative or to strangers is dangerous. Little by little it can entice us back to the world, and completely quench the fire of our contrition. It is impossible to look at the sky with one eye and at the earth with the other, and it is equally impossible for anyone not to expose his soul to danger who has not separated himself completely, both in thought and body, from his own relatives and from others.
1.03 - Tara, Liberator from the Eight Dangers, #How to Free Your Mind - Tara the Liberator, #Thubten Chodron, #unset
bear to part with them. While we like to think of ourselves as generous people, when we examine our behavior, we nd much room for improvement.
For example, our closets and basements may be lled with things we dont
1.03 - The Desert, #The Red Book Liber Novus, #unset, #Zen
74. Black Book 2 continues: "I think of Christianity in the desert. Physically, those ancients went into the desert. Did they also enter into the desert of their own self? Or was their self not as barren and desolate as mine? There they wrestled with the devil. I wrestle with waiting. It seems to me not less since it is truly a hot hell" (p. 35).
75. Around 285, St. Anthony went to live as a hermit in the Egyptian desert, and other hermits followed, whom he and Pachomius organized into a community. This formed the basis of
1.03 - The Gods, Superior Beings and Adverse Forces, #Words Of The Mother III, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Of course I would never think of using it for my own private ends.
It is evidently the working of the Kali force that has lit and is directing this fire in you. There is nothing wrong in its action; it is not an anger personal to you but the wrath of a divine power and it must be allowed to act; in fact, I think you could not stop it from burning in you even if you wanted to stop it. This man has drawn it on himself and there is nothing wrong in what is happening, he alone is responsible. Of course, it must not be used for any personal aim or in any self-regarding way.
1.03 - The Phenomenon of Man, #Let Me Explain, #Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, #Christianity
What are we to think of this phenomenon?
It is an extraordinary thing. Scientists, for the last hundred
1.03 - VISIT TO VIDYASAGAR, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
When man aspires to understand Her, Ramprasad must smile; To think of knowing Her, he says, is quite as laughable As to imagine one can swim across the boundless sea.
But while my mind has understood, alas! my heart has not; Though but a dwarf, it still would strive to make a captive of the moon.
--
MASTER: "Visit me? Oh, never think of such a thing!"
VIDYASAGAR: "Why, sir? Why do you say that? May I ask you to explain?"
1.03 - YIBHOOTI PADA, #Patanjali Yoga Sutras, #Swami Vivekananda, #Hinduism
The mind tries to think of one object, to hold itself to one
particular spot, as the top of the head, the heart, etc., and if the
1.040 - Re-Educating the Mind, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
In the beginning stages, for the purpose of novitiates absolutely unfamiliar with this subject, what is prescribed is a conceptual form of the ideal that one would regard as the highest possible, and this is the philosophy behind the worship of the gods of religions. It is not the worship of many gods, but the worship of any aspect of the one God, which can be taken as the means to the realisation of that all-inclusive background of these various manifestations called 'gods'. Sometimes, especially in the field of pure psychic science and occultism, any object is taken for the purpose of concentration, provided the will is strong enough. The object of meditation or concentration need not necessarily be a deity in the sense of a divine being it can be anything. It can be even a candlestick, or even a fountain pen or a pencil; the only condition is that we should not think of anything else except that pencil in front of us.
But the nature of the mind is such, the mind is made in such a way, that it cannot go on thinking continuously of any absurd object. A leaf from a tree cannot become the object of attraction for the mind, because the mind cannot see any value or significance in a leaf, or a pen or a pencil, though a very scientific attitude would find significance in anything. Even a pencil is as important as a deity if we understand the background of it and the way in which it is constituted. But the ordinary mind cannot understand it. It requires the foisting of certain characteristics which are regarded as beautiful, magnificent and capable of fulfilling the wishes of the person concentrating. No one concentrates without a purpose.
--
As I mentioned, the main point to be remembered here is that while concentrating on any object, no external thought should be allowed, because the thought of an external object is the distraction which prevents concentration. The mind cannot be wholly present in the given object if there is another thing side by side or along with it. This is then vyabhicharini bhakti or divided devotion, as they call it. When we think of two things at the same time because of the presence of another thing outside that given object, the devotion is split. The force of the mind gets diminished on account of a channelisation of the mental energy in two directions. In the beginning, the mind will refuse to concentrate like this because it is fed by diverse food. So what is essential in the beginning is to diminish the directions in which the mind moves to the minimum possible. Though it is not possible to bring the mind to a single point, we can bring it to the minimum possible or conceivable number of items of concentration.
This is the purpose of satsanga, listening to discourses of a spiritual and philosophical nature, study of sacred scriptures, svadhyaya, etc. Direct meditation is impossible, for reasons well known; therefore, we go to satsangas and listen to discourses touching upon various subjects, though within a limited circle. The subjects are variegated and yet limited to certain features. Similar is the case with study. If we study the Srimad Bhagavata, or the Ramayana, or the Bhagavadgita, the mind is given a large scope to think of many ideas and to bring into it notions of various features of reality. Though there is a variety presented in the study of a scripture of this kind, this variety is ultimately limited to a particular pattern of thinking.
The whole of the Srimad Bhagavata, to give only one concrete example, is filled with thousands of ideas expressed in various ways. Though these ideas are many, they are kindred, essentially. Therefore, the chaotic movement of the mind is brought to an end, and the first step is taken in bringing the mind under control by allowing it to think of sympathetic thoughts, though they may be variegated in their structure. There are several members in a family. Each person is different from the other one is tall, one is short, one is very active, another is idle, one is working outside, one is working inside, one is a man, and another is a woman. There are all sorts of persons in a family, but yet they are kindred spirits there is a sympathy of character among them. This is the reason why we call them a family, though they are individuals of different natures altogether. Likewise is any type of organisation it may be an institution; it may be a parliament; it may be a government or it may even be an army it may be anything. In the army we have thousands of people of different natures, yet they are brought together by a single ideal.
Likewise, by introducing a common background of a type of organisation in the midst of variegated ideas, the mind can be brought within the circumference of a given purpose. This practice should be continued for long time, until it becomes possible to reduce the size of the circumference. The ideas become less and less in number, so that we will be able to get on with only a few thoughts throughout our day. There is no need to think a hundred thoughts, because it is not the number of thoughts that is important, but their quality. We may be thinking of a million things in a shallow manner, which may not lead to success; but we may be thinking of only a few things in a very deep and profound way, and that type of thinking will be more beneficial in the long run, as we know very well.
So we can take any object for our concentration, but be we should be sure that the thoughts are not distracting, and that they are not so many in number as to diminish the power of thought. If we think of many things at the same time, the force of thought gets diminished due to the diversification of the channel of the movement of mental force. In dharana or concentration there is a twofold activity taking place the idea that certain notions should be entertained in the mind, and also a simultaneous idea that certain notions should not be allowed into the mind. There is a double activity going on in our minds at this time. We have a feeling inside that, "I should not allow certain thoughts inside the mind." And yet, the very idea that we should not allow certain thoughts inside the mind is itself an idea of those objects. "I should not think of my enemy," but the moment we have that idea, we have already thought of the enemy. So even the idea to repel an extraneous thought is an idea of that thought, the particular object.
It is a peculiar repulsive feature that makes itself felt in the mind at the time of concentration of mind, which is what I mean by saying the double activity that is going on in the mind. We have resentment towards certain features which we regard as irrelevant for the purpose, and so there is a tension in the beginning. It is not an easy thing; we struggle hard, we sweat and then feel fatigue, exhaustion. The reason for feeling exhaustion in meditation is that there is a kind of struggle going on inside, and there is not a spontaneous movement of the mind towards the given object. That is not possible, because the very attempt to concentrate the mind on a given concept is a simultaneous attempt to get rid of certain other thoughts which are unsympa thetic with this ideal; and this is the tension. There is always a simultaneous activity going on in the mind one pulling the other in this direction and that direction. This subtle tension is the cause of exhaustion, and we tire of meditation.
--
Most people cannot succeed in meditation because a satisfactory answer cannot be given to this question. Why should we reject something when the mind feels that there is a great point in thinking about it? Unless there is some meaning in it, why should we think of it? It sees something; some meaning, some significance, some purpose, some wish-fulfilment is practicable, and we are doing contrary work by saying, "It should not be thought. It is not good. It is untraditional, unreligious." Merely making a statement of this kind is not going to be acceptable to the mind, because the mind cannot be terrified by orders of this nature. It is a very terrible thing by itself, and so it requires a gradual training from inside, rather than an order issued from outside.
The mind is intelligent; it is not a corpse which can be dragged as we like, in the direction we please. As it is difficult to control anything that is intelligent, merely because it is intelligent, we have to apply intelligence itself to control intelligence. An intelligent person can be subdued only by intelligence, and not by force, because intelligence will not yield to any kind of external pressure. So mere pressure will not succeed here in this context of meditation, because the mind is intelligent, it is capable of understanding, and it knows where to find its wish fulfilment. Therefore, any kind of whipping which is meted out to it in an illogical manner will bring about a resentment in the mind in such a way that it may completely upset the whole practice after sometime.
1.04 - ADVICE TO HOUSEHOLDERS, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
"After attaining God one forgets His external splendour; the glories of His creation. One doesn't think of God's glories after one has seen Him. The devotee, once immersed in God's Bliss, doesn't calculate any more about outer things. When I see Narendra, I don't need to ask him: 'What's your name? Where do you live?' Where is the time for such questions? Once a man asked Hanuman which day of the fortnight it was. 'Brother,' said Hanuman, 'I don't know anything of the day of the week, or the fortnight, or the position of the stars. I think of Rama alone.' "
October 16, 1882
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"One day Jatindra came to the garden of Jadu Mallick. I was there too. I asked him: 'What is the duty of man? Isn't it our duty to think of God?' Jatindra replied: 'We are worldly people. How is it possible for us to achieve liberation? Even King Yudhisthira had to have a vision of hell.' This made me very angry. I said to him: 'What sort of man are you? Of all the incidents of Yudhisthira's life, you remember only his seeing hell. You don't remember his truthfulness, his forbearance, his patience, his discrimination, his dispassion, his devotion to God.' I was about to say many more things, when Hriday stopped my mouth. After a little while Jatindra left the place, saying he had some other business to attend to.
"Many days later I went with Captain to see Rj Sourindra Tagore. As soon as I met him, I said, 'I can't address you as "Rj", or by any such title, for I should be telling a lie.' He talked to me a few minutes, but even so our conversation was interrupted by the frequent visits of Europeans and others. A man of rajasic temperament, Sourindra was naturally busy with many things. Jatindra his eldest brother, had been told of my coming, but he sent word that he had a pain in his throat and couldn't go out.
--
Boys like Narendra, Bhavanath, and Rakhal are my very intimate disciples. They are not to be thought lightly of. Feed them one day. What do you think of Narendra?"
M: "I think very highly of him, sir."
--
MASTER: "Now you see that the mind cannot be fixed, all of a sudden, on the formless aspect of God. It is wise to think of God with form during the primary stages."
M: "Do you mean to suggest that one should meditate on clay images?"
--
M: "Even so, one must think of hands, feet, and the other parts of body. But again, I realize that the mind cannot be concentrated unless one meditates, in the beginning, on God with form. You have told me so. Well, God can easily assume different forms. May one meditate on the form of one's own mother?"
MASTER: "Yes, the mother should be adored. She is indeed an embodiment of Brahman."
--
"The jnanis think of God without form. They don't accept the Divine Incarnation.
Praising Sri Krishna, Arjuna said, 'Thou art Brahman Absolute.' Sri Krishna replied, 'Follow Me, and you will know whether or not I am Brahman Absolute.' So saying, Sri Krishna led Arjuna to a certain place and asked him what he saw there. 'I see a huge tree,' said Arjuna, 'and on it I notice fruits hanging like clusters of blackberries.' Then Krishna said to Arjuna, 'Come nearer and you will find that these are not clusters of blackberries, but clusters of innumerable Krishnas like Me, hanging from the tree.' In other words, Divine Incarnations without number appear and disappear on the tree of the Absolute Brahman.
--
"In my present of my mind I can eat a little fish soup if it has been offered to the Divine Mother beforehand. I can't eat any meat, even if it is offered to the Divine Mother; but I taste it with the end of my finger lest She should be angry. (Laughter.) "Well, can you explain this state of my mind? Once I was going from Burdwan to Kamarpukur in a bullock-cart, when a great storm arose. Some people gathered near the cart. My companions said they were robbers. So I began to repeat the names of God, calling sometimes on Kli, sometimes on Rama, sometimes on Hanuman. What do you think of that?"
Was the Master hinting that God is one but is addressed differently by different sects?
1.04 - Body, Soul and Spirit, #Theosophy, #Alice Bailey, #Occultism
recipient. If, therefore, the being of the recipient consisted only of the physical body and the ether-body, sensation could not exist. The activity by which sensation becomes a fact differs essentially from the operations of the life-force. By that activity an inner experience is called forth from these operations. Without this activity there would be a mere life-process, such as one observes in plants. If one tries to picture how a human being receives impacts from all sides, one must think of him at the same time as the source of the above-mentioned activity which streams out toward every point from which he received these impacts. Sensations respond in all directions to the impacts. This fountain of activity is to be called the sentient-soul. (It is the same as that which in theosophical literature is called "Kama.") This sentient-soul is just as real as the physical body. If a man stand before me and I disregard his sentient-soul by thinking of him as merely a physical body, it is exactly as if I were to call up in my mind, instead of a painting-merely the canvas.
A similar statement has to be made in
--
In order to comprehend the whole man, one must think of him as formed of the components above mentioned. The body builds itself up out of the world of physical matter in such a way that the construction is adapted
p. 53
1.04 - Descent into Future Hell, #The Red Book Liber Novus, #unset, #Zen
You thought you knew that abyss? Oh you clever people! It is another thing to experience it. Everything will happen to you. think of all the frightful and devilish things that men have inflicted on their brothers. That should happen to you in your heart. Suffer it yourself through your own hand, and know that it is your own heinous and devilish hand that inflicts the suffering on you, but not your brother, who wrestles with his own devils. 97
I would like you to see what the murdered hero means. Those nameless men who in our day have murdered a prince are blind prophets who demonstrate in events what then is valid only for the soul. 98 Through the murder of princes we will learn that the prince in us, the hero, is threatened. 99 Whether this should be seen as a good or a bad sign need not concern us. What is awful today is good in a hundred years, and in two hundred years is bad again. But we must recognize what is happening; there are nameless ones in you who threaten your prince, the hereditary ruler.
1.04 - On blessed and ever-memorable obedience, #The Ladder of Divine Ascent, #Saint John of Climacus, #unset
When a physician protests his incompetence, then you have to go to another, because few are healed without a physician. And who would think of contradicting us when we say that every ship that encounters shipwreck with a skilled pilot would be utterly lost without a pilot?
From obedience comes humility, and from humility comes dispassion; for the Lord remembered us in our humility and redeemed us from our enemies.2 Therefore nothing prevents us from saying that from obedience comes dispassion, through which the goal of humility is attained. For humility is the beginning of dispassion, as Moses is the beginning of the Law; and the daughter perfects the mother, as Mary perfects the Synagogue.
1.04 - SOME REFLECTIONS ON PROGRESS, #The Future of Man, #Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, #Christianity
manifest in Collective Man: and this, whatever we may think of it,
represents as true an advance as the acquisition of an added con-
--
to think of the immensity of the forces, ideas and human beings
that have still to be born or discovered or applied or synthe-
--
I can think of two, which may be summarized in six words: a
great hope held in common.
1.04 - The Aims of Psycho therapy, #The Practice of Psycho therapy, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
parallels. I would only like to emphasize that you should not think of my
procedure as entirely without aim or limit. In handling a dream or fantasy I
1.04 - THE APPEARANCE OF ANOMALY - CHALLENGE TO THE SHARED MAP, #Maps of Meaning, #Jordan Peterson, #Psychology
Tortoise: You can put it that way if you want, but think of this: the fact that two numbers which are
bigger than 29 cant have a product equal to 29 involves the entire structure of the number system. In
--
One may think of it as the Mother of all things under Heaven.436
Such non-existence appears as an inevitable consequence of the absence of limitation, or of opposition.
1.04 - The Conditions of Esoteric Training, #Knowledge of the Higher Worlds, #Rudolf Steiner, #Theosophy
an attitude of mind, for instance, alters the way I regard a criminal. I suspend my judgment and say to myself: "I am, like him, only a human being. Through favorable circumstances I received an education which perhaps alone saved me from a similar fate." I may then also come to the conclusion that this human brother of mine would have become a different man had my teachers taken the same pains with him they took with me. I shall reflect on the fact that something was given to me which was withheld from him, that I enjoy my fortune precisely because it was denied him. And then I shall naturally come to think of myself as a link in the whole of humanity and a sharer in the responsibility for everything that occurs. This does not imply that such a thought should be immediately translated into external acts of agitation. It should be cherished in stillness within the soul. Then quite gradually it will set its mark on the outward demeanor of the student. In such matters each can only begin by reforming himself. It is of no avail, in the sense of the foregoing thoughts, to make general demands on the whole of humanity. It is easy to decide what men ought to be; but the student
p. 121
1.04 - The Control of Psychic Prana, #Raja-Yoga, #Swami Vivkenanda, #unset
The first effect of this practice is perceived in the change of expression of one's face; harsh lines disappear; with calm thought calmness comes over the face. Next comes beautiful voice. I never saw a Yogi with a croaking voice. These signs come after a few months' practice. After practicing the above mentioned breathing for a few days, you should take up a higher one. Slowly fill the lungs with breath through the Id, the left nostril, and at the same time concentrate the mind on the nerve current. You are, as it were, sending the nerve current down the spinal column, and striking violently on the last plexus, the basic lotus which is triangular in form, the seat of the Kundalini. Then hold the current there for some time. Imagine that you are slowly drawing that nerve current with the breath through the other side, the Pingal, then slowly throw it out through the right nostril. This you will find a little difficult to practice. The easiest way is to stop the right nostril with the thumb, and then slowly draw in the breath through the left; then close both nostrils with thumb and forefinger, and imagine that you are sending that current down, and striking the base of the Sushumn; then take the thumb off, and let the breath out through the right nostril. Next inhale slowly through that nostril, keeping the other closed by the forefinger, then close both, as before. The way the Hindus practice this would be very difficult for this country, because they do it from their childhood, and their lungs are prepared for it. Here it is well to begin with four seconds, and slowly increase. Draw in four seconds, hold in sixteen seconds, then throw out in eight seconds. This makes one Pranayama. At the same time think of the basic lotus, triangular in form; concentrate the mind on that centre. The imagination can help you a great deal. The next breathing is slowly drawing the breath in, and then immediately throwing it out slowly, and then stopping the breath out, using the same numbers. The only difference is that in the first case the breath was held in, and in the second, held out. This last is the easier one. The breathing in which you hold the breath in the lungs must not be practiced too much. Do it only four times in the morning, and four times in the evening. Then you can slowly increase the time and number. You will find that you have the power to do so, and that you take pleasure in it. So very carefully and cautiously increase as you feel that you have the power, to six instead of four. It may injure you if you practice it irregularly.
Of the three processes for the purification of the nerves, described above, the first and the last are neither difficult nor dangerous. The more you practice the first one the calmer you will be. Just think of "Om," and you can practice even while you are sitting at your work. You will be all the better for it. Some day, if you practice hard, the Kundalini will be aroused. For those who practice once or twice a day, just a little calmness of the body and mind will come, and beautiful voice; only for those who can go on further with it will Kundalini be aroused, and the whole of nature will begin to change, and the book of knowledge will open. No more will you need to go to books for knowledge; your own mind will have become your book, containing infinite knowledge. I have already spoken of the Ida and Pingala currents, flowing through either side of the spinal column, and also of the Sushumna, the passage through the centre of the spinal cord. These three are present in every animal; whatever being has a spinal column has these three lines of action. But the Yogis claim that in an ordinary man the Sushumna is closed; its action is not evident while that of the other two is carrying power to different parts of the body.
The Yogi alone has the Sushumna open. When this Sushumna current opens, and begins to rise, we get beyond the sense, our minds become supersensuous, superconscious we get beyond even the intellect, where reasoning cannot reach. To open that Sushumna is the prime object of the Yogi. According to him, along this Sushumna are ranged these centres, or, in more figurative language, these lotuses, as they are called. The lowest one is at the lower end of the spinal cord, and is called Muldhra, the next higher is called Svdhishthna, the third Manipura, the fourth Anhata, the fifth Vishuddha, the sixth jn and the last, which is in the brain, is the Sahasrra, or "the thousand-petalled". Of these we have to take cognition just now of two centres only, the lowest, the Muladhara, and the highest, the Sahasrara. All energy has to be taken up from its seat in the Muladhara and brought to the Sahasrara. The Yogis claim that of all the energies that are in the human body the highest is what they call "Ojas". Now this Ojas is stored up in the brain, and the more Ojas is in a man's head, the more powerful he is, the more intellectual, the more spiritually strong. One man may speak beautiful language and beautiful thoughts, but they, do not impress people; another man speaks neither beautiful language nor beautiful thoughts, yet his words charm. Every movement of his is powerful. That is the power of Ojas.
1.04 - The Divine Mother - This Is She, #Twelve Years With Sri Aurobindo, #Nirodbaran, #Integral Yoga
Though all of us knew the Mother had taken charge of the Ashram and that hers was the guiding Hand, the truth and bearing of it came fully home to me after the accident when we met her face to face and saw some of her manifold activities close at hand. Then I realised to what an extent her wisdom, power and influence worked in the material field. The greatest wonder to me was the thoroughness and precision with which she had provided for all the daily physical requirements of Sri Aurobindo. He had to ask for nothing, look for nothing; everything would be in its place at the right time. Her activities were a thousand and one; yet she always found time to think of his needs, even as Sri Aurobindo always kept in mind hers. The two consciousnesses were one so that when Sri Aurobindo met with the accident, the Mother felt at once the vibration in her sleep. All things required for him were kept in stock in sufficient quantity: his writing materials, his toilet things, mosquito-coils, mosquito cream and other necessities. Several clocks were kept at various places, for Sri Aurobindo had the habit of seeing the time.[1] Hot water for his bath at midnight was prepared by one particular person, his dhotis were washed and pressed daily by another, his bed made by a third, his meals cooked by a special group. And not only would she serve him, but what dish to be prepared, in what way, what vegetables were to be grown in the field, what fruits to be ordered all came under her direct supervision. To serve and please him was her sole concern, for he was her Lord. That was how she addressed him. Dry fruits were ordered from Peshawar, and special ripe seasonal fruits from different places. When, owing to the war emergency, good vegetables were not available in the local market, the Mother had them brought from Bangalore and had a cold storage room built in order to keep them fresh. Also a refrigerator was bought separately to store other food stuff. All these details illustrate how the Mother was also an ideal home economist, if I may use that expression in this context. Once Sri Aurobindo asked for some exercise books to copy out Savitri. Instantly I went to the market and fetched two and offered them. When the Mother came to know about it, she said, "Why? I have any number of them stored for his use." Of course, being a new-comer, I was ignorant of this; besides, I had a grand occasion, I thought, to offer something.
The Mother
--
Now we come to a different field of activity altogether, one whose place in Yoga will be strongly challenged, especially when the Mother herself used it as a means of sadhana: her playing tennis. I won't discuss the issue, for the quotation cited above gives the answer. Before she started playing tennis the Mother joined our young group in playing table-tennis. When a young boy asked her if he could install a table in his house for the game, the Mother replied, "Why not at Nanteuil?[4] then I can come and play too." He was much surprised and delighted at the divine proposal! She must have found it a good light exercise as well as an admirable means of contact with the young set which was gradually increasing; it was perhaps also her yogic means of action upon them. After a year or so the Mother decided to have a tennis court. She might have felt that she needed some more brisk exercise in the open air. She often talked of her project to Sri Aurobindo. One day we heard that the entire wasteland along the north-eastern seaside was taken on a long lease from the Government and a part of it would be made into tennis courts and the rest into a playground. One cannot imagine now what this place was like before. It was one of the filthiest spots of Pondicherry, full of thistles and wild undergrowth, an open place for committing nuisance as well as a pasture for pigs! The stink and the loathsome sight made the place a Stygian sore and a black spot on the colonial Government. The Mother changed this savage wasteland into a heavenly playground, almost a supramental transformation of Matter. The sea-front was clothed in a vision of beauty and delight. If for nothing else, for this transformation at least, Pondicherry should be eternally grateful to the Mother. But who remembers the past? Gratitude is a rare human virtue. I was particularly very happy, first, because I was fond of tennis; secondly, I fancied that Yoga would be now made easy. Who could ever think of tennis in Yoga! But woe to me, how it completely upset my balance!
All this, however, is by the way. My point was to demonstrate the Mother's method of working. As soon as the plot was acquired, she went about the work in her usual one-pointed manner. And what a job it was! To build a long rampart against the surges of the sea was itself a gigantic enterprise for a private institution like our Ashram without any income of its own. But I shall confine myself to the construction of the tennis courts only. She did not count the expense; men and money were freely employed, for the courts had to be made ready within a minimum period of time. We have observed that when the Mother feels the need for a work to be done, she goes ahead, confident that the required resources will come. In the present case, there was also the question of the right worker to see the project through. The Mother said to Sri Aurobindo, "I know there is one man who can do it." It was Monoranjan Ganguli, a sadhak. I saw him at this work and was really amazed at his wonderful devotion to the Mother, his determination to fulfil the trust she had placed in him. He supervised the operation with unfailing love and duty and cool temper, making the tennis ground his home and passing many sleepless nights sitting on a stool. When I asked him why he should be in such a hurry, he replied, "Mother wants it so. I must finish it within the appointed time." "Is it possible? Only a few days are left!" I voiced my doubt. "Oh, I must!" and he did. A singular feat indeed, and again the Mother's right choice.
--
I come now to the last of her day's activities that I have witnessed as well as heard about from others. It was one of the strangest I could think of and could be taken up by her alone, for her inspiration comes from to quote Nishikanto's phrase a "God-white source" riot from human reason. I mean her evening meditation and Pranam. I have already made a reference to them. The meditation started in a very reasonable manner at about 8.00 p.m. She would go down and, standing in the middle of the lower part of the staircase, give a silent meditation to all sitting below for about half an hour; then she would come up, look in on Sri Aurobindo, and come back after a while with his supper. Once she said to him, "After a long time, the gods have come to the meditation." This recalls Sri Aurobindo's verses:
Calm faces of the gods on backgrounds vast,
--
"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.
We have seen her coming drenched in perspiration from her game of tennis and taking French translation classes soon after, or going to the sports ground to watch our tournaments, herself taking down the names and scores of each participant, her spiritual force acting simultaneously, protecting, sustaining and inspiring all, her very Presence electrifying the atmosphere with a divine energy and quietude. She would hold one end of the tape at the terminus in the running competitions. She had even gone out to watch our team playing friendly matches with outside clubs. Twice she witnessed the Calcutta Mohan Bagan football team's display and was so impressed by it that she changed her opinion of the game. She had considered it a rough, vital play where one was bound to get some injury; in fact, that was what happened with our young players. But the spectacular display by the Calcutta team playing such a clean game made her remark, "I didn't know that football could be played in such a clean manner!" All the players came for the Mother's blessings and presented to her the new football they had won. Then returning from all these functions to the Playground, she continued her daily round of interviews, watching the marching, taking classes or distributing sweets to all the Ashramites, till about 9.00 p.m.! This was her programme throughout the year; one activity or another filled up every moment and, mind you, this continued till her 80th year!
1.04 - The Praise, #Tara - The Feminine Divine, #unset, #Zen
of the text, we think of all the pleasant sounds in the
universe accompanying it.
1.04 - Yoga and Human Evolution, #Essays In Philosophy And Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The animal is distinguished from man by its enslavement to the body and the vital impulses. Aany mtyu, Hunger who is Death, evolved the material world from of old, and it is the physical hunger and desire and the vital sensations and primary emotions connected with the pra that seek to feed upon the world in the beast and in the savage man who approximates to the condition of the beast. Out of this animal state, according to European Science, man rises working out the tiger and the ape by intellectual and moral development in the social condition. If the beast has to be worked out, it is obvious that the body and the pra must be conquered, and as that conquest is more or less complete, the man is more or less evolved. The progress of mankind has been placed by many predominatingly in the development of the human intellect, and intellectual development is no doubt essential to self-conquest. The animal and the savage are bound by the body because the ideas of the animal or the ideas of the savage are mostly limited to those sensations and associations which are connected with the body. The development of intellect enables a man to find the deeper self within and partially replace what our philosophy calls the dehtmaka-buddhi, the sum of ideas and sensations which make us think of the body as ourself, by another set of ideas which reach beyond the body, and, existing for their own delight and substituting intellectual and moral satisfaction as the chief objects of life, master, if they cannot entirely silence, the clamour of the lower sensual desires. That animal ignorance which is engrossed with the cares and the pleasures of the body and the vital impulses, emotions and sensations is tamasic, the result of the predominance of the third principle of nature which leads to ignorance and inertia. That is the state of the animal and the lower forms of humanity which are called in the Purana the first or tamasic creation. This animal ignorance the development of the intellect tends to dispel and it assumes therefore an all-important place in human evolution.
But it is not only through the intellect that man rises. If the clarified intellect is not supported by purified emotions, the intellect tends to be dominated once more by the body and to put itself at its service and the lordship of the body over the whole man becomes more dangerous than in the natural state because the innocence of the natural state is lost. The power of knowledge is placed at the disposal of the senses, sattva serves tamas, the god in us becomes the slave of the brute. The disservice which scientific Materialism is unintentionally doing the world is to encourage a return to this condition; the suddenly awakened masses of men, unaccustomed to deal intellectually with ideas, able to grasp the broad attractive innovations of free thought but unable to appreciate its delicate reservations, verge towards that reeling back into the beast, that relapse into barbarism which was the condition of the Roman Empire at a high stage of material civilisation and intellectual culture and which a distinguished British statesman declared the other day to be the condition to which all Europe approached. The development of the emotions is therefore the first condition of a sound human evolution. Unless the feelings tend away from the body and the love of others takes increasingly the place of the brute love of self, there can be no progress upward. The organisation of human society tends to develop the altruistic element in man which makes for life and battles with and conquers aany mtyu. It is therefore not the struggle for life, or at least not the struggle for our own life, but the struggle for the life of others which is the most important term in evolution,for our children, for our family, for our class, for our community, for our race and nation, for humanity. An ever-enlarging self takes the place of the old narrow self which is confined to our individual mind and body, and it is this moral growth which society helps and organises.
1.05 - 2010 and 1956 - Doomsday?, #Preparing for the Miraculous, #George Van Vrekhem, #Integral Yoga
we think of as an inert background, is so far from chemical
equilibrium that the entire planetary surface is best regard-
1.05 - ADVICE FROM A CATERPILLAR, #Alice in Wonderland, #Lewis Carroll, #Fiction
As Alice could not think of any good reason and the Caterpillar seemed to be in a _very_ unpleasant state of mind, she turned away.
"Come back!" the Caterpillar called after her. "I've something important to say!" Alice turned and came back again.
1.05 - Christ, A Symbol of the Self, #Aion, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
is the perfect man who is crucified. One could hardly think of a
truer picture of the goal of ethical endeavour. At any rate the
1.05 - Knowledge by Aquaintance and Knowledge by Description, #The Problems of Philosophy, #Bertrand Russell, #Philosophy
When we, who did not know Bismarck, make a judgement about him, the description in our minds will probably be some more or less vague mass of historical knowledge--far more, in most cases, than is required to identify him. But, for the sake of illustration, let us assume that we think of him as 'the first Chancellor of the German Empire'. Here all the words are abstract except 'German'. The word 'German' will, again, have different meanings for different people. To some it will recall travels in Germany, to some the look of Germany on the map, and so on.
But if we are to obtain a description which we know to be applicable, we shall be compelled, at some point, to bring in a reference to a particular with which we are acquainted. Such reference is involved in any mention of past, present, and future (as opposed to definite dates), or of here and there, or of what others have told us. Thus it would seem that, in some way or other, a description known to be applicable to a particular must involve some reference to a particular with which we are acquainted, if our knowledge about the thing described is not to be merely what follows _logically_ from the description. For example, 'the most long-lived of men' is a description involving only universals, which must apply to some man, but we can make no judgements concerning this man which involve knowledge about him beyond what the description gives. If, however, we say, 'The first Chancellor of the German Empire was an astute diplomatist', we can only be assured of the truth of our judgement in virtue of something with which we are acquainted--usually a testimony heard or read. Apart from the information we convey to others, apart from the fact about the actual Bismarck, which gives importance to our judgement, the thought we really have contains the one or more particulars involved, and otherwise consists wholly of concepts.
1.05 - Mental Education, #On Education, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
All that has just been said concerns the speculative mind, the mind that learns. But learning is only one aspect of mental activity; the other, which is at least equally important, is the constructive faculty, the capacity to form and thus prepare action. This very important part of mental activity has rarely been the subject of any special study or discipline. Only those who want, for some reason, to exercise a strict control over their mental activities think of observing and disciplining this faculty of formation; and as soon as they try it, they have to face difficulties so great that they appear almost insurmountable.
And yet control over this formative activity of the mind is one of the most important aspects of self-education; one can say that without it no mental mastery is possible. As far as study is concerned, all ideas are acceptable and should be included in the synthesis, whose very function is to become more and more rich and complex; but where action is concerned, it is just the opposite. The ideas that are accepted for translation into action should be strictly controlled and only those that agree with the general trend of the central idea forming the basis of the mental synthesis should be permitted to express themselves in action. This means that every thought entering the mental consciousness should be set before the central idea; if it finds a logical place among the thoughts already grouped, it will be admitted into the synthesis; if not, it will be rejected so that it can have no influence on the action. This work of mental purification should be done very regularly in order to secure a complete control over one's actions.
1.05 - Pratyahara and Dharana, #Raja-Yoga, #Swami Vivkenanda, #unset
Therefore use your own minds, control body and mind yourselves, remember that until you are a diseased person, no extraneous will can work upon you; avoid everyone, however great and good he may be, who asks you to believe blindly. All over the world there have been dancing and jumping and howling sects, who spread like infection when they begin to sing and dance and preach; they also are a sort of hypnotists. They exercise a singular control for the time being over sensitive persons, alas! often, in the long run, to degenerate whole races. Ay, it is healthier for the individual or the race to remain wicked than be made apparently good by such morbid extraneous control. One's heart sinks to think of the amount of injury done to humanity by such irresponsible yet well-meaning religious fanatics. They little know that the minds which attain to sudden spiritual upheaval under their suggestions, with music and prayers, are simply making themselves passive, morbid, and powerless, and opening themselves to any other suggestion, be it ever so evil. Little do these ignorant, deluded persons dream that whilst they are congratulating themselves upon their miraculous power to transform human hearts, which power they think was poured upon them by some Being above the clouds, they are sowing the seeds of future decay, of crime, of lunacy, and of death. Therefore, beware of everything that takes away your freedom. Know that it is dangerous, and avoid it by all the means in your power.
He who has succeeded in attaching or detaching his mind to or from the centres at will has succeeded in Pratyahara, which means, "gathering towards," checking the outgoing powers of the mind, freeing it from the thraldom of the senses. When we can do this, we shall really possess character; then alone we shall have taken a long step towards freedom; before that we are mere machines.
--
After you have practised Pratyahara for a time, take the next step, the Dhran, holding the mind to certain points. What is meant by holding the mind to certain points? Forcing the mind to feel certain parts of the body to the exclusion of others. For instance, try to feel only the hand, to the exclusion of other parts of the body. When the Chitta, or mind-stuff, is confined and limited to a certain place it is Dharana. This Dharana is of various sorts, and along with it, it is better to have a little play of the imagination. For instance, the mind should be made to think of one point in the heart. That is very difficult; an easier way is to imagine a lotus there. That lotus is full of light, effulgent light. Put the mind there. Or think of the lotus in the brain as full of light, or of the different centres in the Sushumna mentioned before.
The Yogi must always practice. He should try to live alone; the companionship of different sorts of people distracts the mind; he should not speak much, because to speak distracts the mind; not work much, because too much work distracts the mind; the mind cannot be controlled after a whole day's hard work. One observing the above rules becomes a Yogi. Such is the power of Yoga that even the least of it will bring a great amount of benefit. It will not hurt anyone, but will benefit everyone. First of all, it will tone down nervous excitement, bring calmness, enable us to see things more clearly. The temperament will be better, and the health will be better. Sound health will be one of the first signs, and a beautiful voice. Defects in the voice will be changed. This will be among the first of the many effects that will come. Those who practise hard will get many other signs. Sometimes there will be sounds, as a peal of bells heard at a distance, commingling, and falling on the ear as one continuous sound. Sometimes things will be seen, little specks of light floating and becoming bigger and bigger; and when these things come, know that you are progressing fast.
--
Those who really want to be Yogis must give up, once for all, this nibbling at things. Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success, and this is the way great spiritual giants are produced. Others are mere talking machines. If we really want to be blessed, and make others blessed, we must go deeper. The first step is not to disturb the mind, not to associate with persons whose ideas are disturbing. All of you know that certain persons, certain places, certain foods, repel you. Avoid them; and those who want to go to the highest, must avoid all company, good or bad. Practise hard; whether you live or die does not matter. You have to plunge in and work, without thinking of the result. If you are brave enough, in six months you will be a perfect Yogi. But those who take up just a bit of it and a little of everything else make no progress. It is of no use simply to take a course of lessons. To those who are full of Tamas, ignorant and dull those whose minds never get fixed on any idea, who only crave for something to amuse them religion and philosophy are simply objects of entertainment. These are the unpersevering. They hear a talk, think it very nice, and then go home and forget all about it. To succeed, you must have tremendous perseverance, tremendous will. "I will drink the ocean," says the persevering soul, "at my will mountains will crumble up." Have that sort of energy, that sort of will, work hard, and you will reach the goal.
previous chapter: 1.04 - The Control of Psychic Prana
1.05 - THE HOSTILE BROTHERS - ARCHETYPES OF RESPONSE TO THE UNKNOWN, #Maps of Meaning, #Jordan Peterson, #Psychology
means to be a man. When I think of all the black, scathing thoughts I have directed at those who I could
not look in the eye, it is almost unbearable. All of my lofty disdain for the common man, who, so I
--
perfect morality, or total conformity to a code of right action. But if we think of his significance as
299
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considered thing we would not think of as characteristic of the objective world; furthermore, what he
considered unitary we would think of as evidently diverse. There are two major reasons for this difference
in opinion.
--
examining the matter of the alchemist, and by comparing it to what we think of as matter.
Alchemical matter was the stuff of which experience was made and more: the stuff of which the
--
The alchemists conflated what we would think of as matter with what we might regard as the
unknown. This is hardly surprising, since matter was the unknown to the pre-scientific mind (and is
--
[Wittgenstein, L. (1968)]. We tend to think of the objects we perceive as being there, in some essential sense; but we
see the tree, before the branches. Despite this conceptual phenomenon, the tree has no objective precedence over the
1.05 - THE MASTER AND KESHAB, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
"Thus Brahman and akti are identical. If you accept the one, you must accept the other. It is like fire and its power to burn. If you see the fire, you must recognize its power to burn also. You cannot think of fire without its power to burn, nor can you think of the power to burn without fire. You cannot conceive of the sun's rays without the sun, nor can you conceive of the sun without its rays.
"What is milk like? Oh, you say, it is something white. You cannot think of the milk without the whiteness, and again, you cannot think of the whiteness without the milk.
"Thus one cannot think of Brahman without akti, or of akti without Brahman. One cannot think of the Absolute without the Relative, or of the Relative without the Absolute.
"The Primordial Power is ever at play. She is creating, preserving, and destroying in play, as it were. This Power is called Kli. Kli is verily Brahman, and Brahman is verily Kli. It is one and the same Reality. When we think of It as inactive, that is to say, not engaged in the acts of creation, preservation, and destruction, then we call It Brahman.
But when It engages in these activities, then we call It Kli or akti. The Reality is one and the same; the difference is in name and form.
1.05 - THE NEW SPIRIT, #The Future of Man, #Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, #Christianity
pocentrism, left Man to think of himself as finally submerged and
flattened by the "temporal" flow which his intelligence had discov-
1.05 - The Universe The 0 = 2 Equation, #Magick Without Tears, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
Yes, I admit everything! It is all my fault. Looking over my past writings, I do see that my only one-opointed attempt to set forth a sound ontology was my early fumbling letter brochure Berashith. Since then, I seem to have kept assuming that everybody knew all about it; referring to it, quoting it, but never sitting down seriously to demonstrate the thesis, or even to state it in set terms. Chapter 0 of Magick in Theory and Practice skates gently over it; the "Naples Arrangement" in The Book of Thoth dodges it with really diabolical ingenuity. I ask myself why. It is exceedingly strange, because every time I think of the Equation, I am thrilled with a keen glow of satisfaction that this sempiternal Riddle of the Sphinx should have been answered at last.
So then let me now give myself the delight, and you the comfort, of stating the problem from its beginning, and proving the soundness of the solution of showing that the contradiction of this Equation is unthinkable. Are you ready? Forward! Paddle!
--
D. We also tend to think of the Universe as containing things of which we are not aware; but this is altogether unjustifiable, although it is difficult to think at all without making some such assumption. For instance, one may come upon a new branch of knowledge say, histology or Hammurabi or the language of the Iroquois or the poems of the Hermaphrodite of Panormita. It seems to be there all ready waiting for us; we simply cannot believe that we are making it all up as we go along. For all that, it is sheer sophistry; we may merely be unfolding the contents of our own minds. Then again, does a thing cease to exist if we forget it? The answer is that one cannot be sure.
Personally, I feel convinced of the existence of an Universe outside my own immediate awareness; but it is true, even so, that it does not exist for me unless and until it takes its place as part of my consciousness.
E. All this paragrpah D is in the nature of a digression, for what you may think of it does not at all touch the argument of this letter. But it had to be put in, just to prevent your mind from raising irrelevant objections. Let me continue, then, from C.
F. Something is.*[AC8] This something appears incalculably vast and complex. How did it come to be?
1.05 - War And Politics, #Twelve Years With Sri Aurobindo, #Nirodbaran, #Integral Yoga
Sri Aurobindo was not only fighting Hitler, he had also the onerous task of conquering the extreme antipathy of his own disciples towards the British. The Ashram ran the danger of being disbanded for our anti-British and pro-Hitler feelings. How many letters had Sri Aurobindo to write to his disciples to show their grave error and the danger of the Nazi victory! I quote only one such letter he wrote to a disciple, in 1942, "...You should not think of it as a fight for certain nations against others or even for India; it is a struggle for an ideal that has to establish itself on earth in the life of humanity, for a Truth that has yet to realise itself fully and against a darkness and falsehood that are trying to overwhelm the earth and mankind in the immediate future. It is the forces behind the battle that have to be seen and not this or that superficial circumstance.... There cannot be the slightest doubt that if one wins; there will be an end of all such freedom and hope of light and truth and the work that has to be done will be subjected to conditions which would make it humanly impossible; there will be a reign of falsehood and darkness, a cruel oppression and degradation for most of the human race such as people in this country do not dream of and cannot yet at all realise. If the other side that has declared itself for the free future of humanity triumphs, this terrible danger will have been averted and conditions will have been created in which there will be a chance for the Ideal to grow, for the Divine Work to be done, for the spiritual Truth for which we stand to establish itself on the earth. Those who fight for this cause are fighting for the Divine and against the threatened reign of the Asura."
In a talk in 1940, Sri Aurobindo said: "There are forces which are trying to destroy the British and their empire forces above and here in this world, I mean inner forces. I myself had wished for its destruction; but at that time I did not know such forces would arise. These forces are working for the evolution of a new world-order which would come following upon the liquidation of the Empire. But, for the advent of this new arrangement, the Empire needn't be destroyed. The new arrangement can be achieved more quietly by a change in the balance of forces, without much destruction. Had it not been for Hitler, I wouldn't have cared what power remained or went down. Now the question is whether the new world-order is to come after much suffering and destruction or with as little of it as possible. Destruction of England would mean victory for Hitler and in that case, perhaps after a great deal of suffering and oppression, and reaction to them, that world-order may come or may not, or it may come only after pralaya! Of course the issue has been decided by the Divine Vision and there can be no change. But nobody knows what the decision is."
1.06 - Dhyana and Samadhi, #Raja-Yoga, #Swami Vivkenanda, #unset
The Yogi says there is a great danger in stumbling upon this state. In a good many cases there is the danger of the brain being deranged, and, as a rule, you will find that all those men, however great they were, who had stumbled upon this superconscious state without understanding it, groped in the dark, and generally had, along with their knowledge, some quaint superstition. They opened themselves to hallucinations. Mohammed claimed that the Angel Gabriel came to him in a cave one day and took him on the heavenly horse, Harak, and he visited the heavens. But with all that, Mohammed spoke some wonderful truths. If you read the Koran, you find the most wonderful truths mixed with superstitions. How will you explain it? That man was inspired, no doubt, but that inspiration was, as it were, stumbled upon. He was not a trained Yogi, and did not know the reason of what he was doing. think of the good Mohammed did to the world, and think of the great evil that has been done through his fanaticism! think of the millions massacred through his teachings, mothers bereft of their children, children made orphans, whole countries destroyed, millions upon millions of people killed!
So we see this danger by studying the lives of great teachers like Mohammed and others. Yet we find, at the same time, that they were all inspired. Whenever a prophet got into the superconscious state by heightening his emotional nature, he brought away from it not only some truths, but some fanaticism also, some superstition which injured the world as much as the greatness of the teaching helped. To get any reason out of the mass of incongruity we call human life, we have to transcend our reason, but we must do it scientifically, slowly, by regular practice, and we must cast off all superstition. We must take up the study of the superconscious state just as any other science. On reason we must have to lay our foundation, we must follow reason as far as it leads, and when reason fails, reason itself will show us the way to the highest plane. When you hear a man say, "I am inspired," and then talk irrationally, reject it. Why? Because these three states instinct, reason, and superconsciousness, or the unconscious, conscious, and superconscious states belong to one and the same mind. There are not three minds in one man, but one state of it develops into the others. Instinct develops into reason, and reason into the transcendental consciousness; therefore, not one of the states contradicts the others. Real inspiration never contradicts reason, but fulfils it. Just as you find the great prophets saying, "I come not to destroy but to fulfil," so inspiration always comes to fulfil reason, and is in harmony with it.
1.06 - Incarnate Teachers and Incarnation, #Bhakti-Yoga, #Swami Vivekananda, #Hinduism
No man can really see God except through these human manifestations. If we try to see God otherwise, we make for ourselves a hideous caricature of Him and believe the caricature to be no worse than the original. There is a story of an ignorant man who was asked to make an image of the God Shiva, and who, after days of hard struggle, manufactured only the image of a monkey. So whenever we try to think of God as He is in His absolute perfection, we invariably meet with the most miserable failure, because as long as we are men, we cannot conceive Him as anything higher than man. The time will come when we shall transcend our human nature and know Him as He is; but as long as we are men, we must worship Him in man and as man. Talk as you may, try as you may, you cannot think of God except as a man. You may deliver great intellectual discourses on God and on all things under the sun, become great rationalists and prove to your satisfaction that all these accounts of the Avataras of God as man are nonsense. But let us come for a moment to practical common sense. What is there behind this kind of remarkable intellect? Zero, nothing, simply so much froth. When next you hear a man delivering a great intellectual lecture against this worship of the Avataras of God, get hold of him and ask what his idea of God is, what he understands by "omnipotence", "omnipresence", and all similar terms, beyond the spelling of the words. He really means nothing by them; he cannot formulate as their meaning any idea unaffected by his own human nature; he is no better off in this matter than the man in the street who has not read a single book. That man in the street, however, is quiet and does not disturb the peace of the world, while this big talker creates disturbance and misery among mankind.
Religion is, after all, realisation, and we must make the sharpest distinction between talk; and intuitive experience. What we experience in the depths of our souls is realisation. Nothing indeed is so uncommon as common sense in regard to this matter.
By our present constitution we are limited and bound to see God as man. If, for instance the buffaloes want to worship God, they will, in keeping with their own nature, see Him as a huge buffalo; if a fish wants to worship God, it will have to form an Idea of Him as a big fish, and man has to think of Him as man. And these various conceptions are not due to morbidly active imagination. Man, the buffalo, and the fish all may be supposed to represent so many different vessels, so to say. All these vessels go to the sea of God to get filled with water, each according to its own shape and capacity; in the man the water takes the shape of man, in the buffalo, the shape of a buffalo and in the fish, the shape of a fish. In each of these vessels there is the same water of the sea of God. When men see Him, they see Him as man, and the animals, if they have any conception of God at all, must see Him as animal each according to its own ideal. So we cannot help seeing God as man, and, therefore, we are bound to worship Him as man. There is no other way.
Two kinds of men do not worship God as man the human brute who has no religion, and the Paramahamsa who has risen beyond all the weaknesses of humanity and has transcended the limits of his own human nature. To him all nature has become his own Self. He alone can worship God as He is.
1.06 - MORTIFICATION, NON-ATTACHMENT, RIGHT LIVELIHOOD, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
When Prince Wen Wang was on a tour of inspection in Tsang, he saw an old man fishing. But his fishing was not real fishing, for he did not fish in order to catch fish, but to amuse himself. So Wen Wang wished to employ him in the administration of government, but feared lest his own ministers, uncles and brothers might object. On the other hand, if he let the old man go, he could not bear to think of the people being deprived of such an influence.
Chuang Tzu
--
There can be no complete communism except in the goods of the spirit and, to some extent also, of the mind, and only when such goods are possessed by men and women in a state of non-attachment and self-denial. Some degree of mortification, it should be noted, is an indispensable prerequisite for the creation and enjoyment even of merely intellectual and aesthetic goods. Those who choose the profession of artist, philosopher, or man of science, choose, in many cases, a life of poverty and unrewarded hard work. But these are by no means the only mortifications they have to undertake. When he looks at the world, the artist must deny his ordinary human tendency to think of things in utilitarian, self-regarding terms. Similarly, the critical philosopher must mortify his commonsense, while the research worker must steadfastly resist the temptations to over-simplify and think conventionally, and must make himself docile to the leadings of mysterious Fact. And what is true of the creators of aesthetic and intellectual goods is also true of the enjoyers of such goods, when created. That these mortifications are by no means trifling has been shown again and again in the course of history. One thinks, for example, of the intellectually mortified Socrates and the hemlock with which his unmortified compatriots rewarded him. One thinks of the heroic efforts that had to be made by Galileo and his contemporaries to break with the Aristotelian convention of thought, and the no less heroic efforts that have to be made today by any scientist who believes that there is more in the universe than can be discovered by employing the time-hallowed recipes of Descartes. Such mortifications have their reward in a state of consciousness that corresponds, on a lower level, to spiritual beatitude. The artistand the philosopher and the man of science are also artistsknows the bliss of aesthetic contemplation, discovery and non-attached possession.
The goods of the intellect, the emotions and the imagination are real goods; but they are not the final good, and when we treat them as ends in themselves, we fall into idolatry. Mortification of will, desire and action is not enough; there must also be mortification in the fields of knowing, thinking, feeling and fancying.
1.06 - Psychic Education, #On Education, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
When a child makes a mistake, one must see that he confesses it to the teacher or the guardian spontaneously and frankly; and when he has confessed, he should be made to understand with kindness and affection what was wrong in the movement and precaution should be taken to see that he does not repeat it. A fault confessed must be forgiven. The child should be encouraged to think of wrong impulses not as sins or offences but as symptoms of a curable disease, alterable by a steady and sustained effort of the will, - falsehood being rejected and replaced by truth, fear by courage, selfishness by sacrifice, attachment by renunciation and malice by love.
Due care should be taken to see that unformed virtues are not rejected as faults. The wildness and recklessness of many young natures are only the over-flowing of excessive strength, greatness and nobility. They should be purified and not discouraged.
1.06 - Psycho therapy and a Philosophy of Life, #The Practice of Psycho therapy, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
thought, and if a man does not think of his own free will, then you get
compulsive thinking, for the two poles of the psyche, the physiological and
1.06 - THE MASTER WITH THE BRAHMO DEVOTEES, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
"Do you know what a worldly person endowed with sattva is like? Perhaps his house is in a dilapidated condition here and there. He doesn't care to repair it. The worship hall may be strewn with pigeon droppings and the courtyard covered with moss, but he pays no attention to these things. The furniture of the house may be old; he doesn't think of polishing it and making it look neat. He doesn't care for dress at all; anything is good enough for him. But the man himself is very gentle, quiet, kind, and humble; he doesn't injure anyone.
"Again, among the worldly there are people with the traits of rajas. Such a man has a watch and chain, and two or three rings on his fingers. The furniture of his house is all spick and span. On the walls hang portraits of the Queen, the Prince of Wales, and other prominent people; the building is whitewashed and spotlessly clean. His wardrobe is filled with a large assortment of clothes; even the servants have their livery, and all that.
--
"Do you know what I mean? think of Brahman, Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute, as a shoreless ocean. Through the cooling influence, as it were, of the bhakta's love, the water has frozen at places into blocks of ice. In other words, God now and then assumes various forms for His lovers and reveals Himself to them as a Person. But with the rising of the sun of Knowledge, the blocks of ice melt. Then one doesn't feel any more that God is a Person, nor does one see God's forms. What He is cannot be described. Who will describe Him? He who would do so disappears. He cannot find his 'I' any more.
Illusoriness of "I"
--
"The forms and aspects of God disappear when one discriminates in accordance with the Vedanta philosophy. The ultimate conclusion of such discrimination is that Brahman alone is real and this world of names and forms illusory. It is possible for a man to see the forms of God, or to think of Him as a Person, only so long as he is conscious that he is a devotee. From the standpoint of discrimination this 'ego of a devotee' keeps him a little away from God.
"Do you know why images of Krishna or Kli are three and a half cubits high? Because of distance. Again, on account of distance the sun appears to be small. But if you go near it you will find the sun so big that you won't be able to comprehend it. Why have images of Krishna and Kli a dark-blue colour? That too is on account of distance, like the water of a lake, which appears green, blue, or black from a distance. Go near, take the water in the palm of your hand, and you will find that it has no colour. The sky also appears blue from a distance. Go near and you will see that it has no colour at all.
--
SURENDRA'S BROTHER: "Sir, what do you think of Theosophy?"
MASTER: "I have heard that man can acquire superhuman powers through it and perform miracles. I saw a man who had brought a ghost under control. The ghost used to procure various things for his master. What shall I do with superhuman powers? Can one realize God through them? If God is not realized then everything becomes false."
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M: "Once Vidyasagar said in a mood of pique: 'What is the use of calling on God? Just think of this incident: At one time Chenghiz Khan plundered a country and imprisoned many people. The number of prisoners rose to about a hundred thousand. The commander of his army said to him: "Your Majesty, who will feed them? It is risky to keep them with us. It will be equally dangerous to release them. What shall I do?"
Chenghiz Khan said: "That's true. What can be done? Well, have them killed." The order was accordingly given to cut them to pieces. Now, God saw this slaughter, didn't He?
1.06 - Wealth and Government, #Words Of The Mother III, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
But all those who sincerely want peace must understand that to think of war, to speak of war, to foresee war is to open the door to it.
On the contrary, the larger the number of people who have a vital interest in the abolition of war, the more effective the chances towards a stable peace, until the advent of a new consciousness in man makes of war an impossibility.
1.07 - A Song of Longing for Tara, the Infallible, #How to Free Your Mind - Tara the Liberator, #Thubten Chodron, #unset
Divine Mother, essence of love. Arouse the great power of your compassion and think of me.
I take refuge in you, Tara; like you, no Buddha could ever deceive me.
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Divine Mother, essence of love. Arouse the great power of your compassion and think of me.
Most Dharma protectors do not show their powers. Tired of those
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arouse the great power of your compassion and think of me.
To ordinary view the names of objects are the same as their meaning.
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Divine Mother, essence of love. Arouse the great power of your compassion and think of me.
a song of longing for tara, the infallible
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compassion and think of me.
You are my guru, my yidam, my protector, my refuge, my food, my
--
the great power of your compassion and think of me.
We live in an age of degeneration, a time in which people have strong and
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Teachings in Asia are organized in this way, and the joy is infectious. Whenever I attend teachings there, I think of the kindness of the benefactors and
dedicate for their well-being and enlightenment. Their generosity inspires
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of love. Arouse the great power of your compassion and think of me. Here,
we ask Tara for her help and inspiration. We also say to ourselves, Im making myself ready to receive the enlightening inuence of Tara and of all the
--
power of your compassion and think of me.
The previous verse concerned how to relate to gurus. This verse is about how
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Arouse the great power of your compassion and think of me. As if Tara
is not already doing that! Here were talking to ourselves, saying, Hey, me!
Wake up! Arouse the great power of your own wisdom and think of Tara!
Tara is doing her job already; we have to cultivate and arouse our wisdom
and think of Tara.
Verse 5: Dharma Protectors
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and think of me.
The rst two sentences refer to transcendental protectors, those who are
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power of your compassion and think of me. Again, this is saying, Me, this
person who sits around and procrastinates, may I arouse the great power of
my motivation and think of Tara, compassion, and wisdom.
Verse 6: True Nature and Illusions
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the great power of your compassion and think of me.
To our ordinary vision, when we say the name of something we think that
--
Similarly, when we say I, we dont think of I as just a label given in
dependence upon a body and mind that are constantly in ux. We dont think
--
thought. Instead of I being just a label that is useful, we think of the self as
this real thing that is mixed in with the body and mind.
--
relatives have to go through them and throw them away. think of that. Do
you want really want others to look through all the stuff youve saved?
--
desires, Divine Mother, essence of love. Arouse the great power of your compassion and think of me. Illusions are our thoughts that these objects, people, and situations are of dramatic importance, that they have some inherent
essence, that they are the meaning of our life. We think that having money,
--
Arouse the great power of your compassion and think of me.
Have you ever had a friend like thissomeone who pretends to be close
1.07 - Jnana Yoga, #Amrita Gita, #Swami Sivananda Saraswati, #Hinduism
2l. Constantly think of the Immortal, all-pervading Atman. Give up thinking of body. You will attain Self-realisation.
22. You are ever free. You are already free. Moksha is not a thing to be attained. You will have to know that you are Atman, that you are free.
1.07 - On mourning which causes joy., #The Ladder of Divine Ascent, #Saint John of Climacus, #unset
When they weep, some force themselves unseasonably to think of nothing at all during this blessed time, not realizing that tears without thought are proper only to an irrational nature and not to a rational one. Tears are the product of thought, and the father of thought is a rational mind.
Let your reclining in bed be for you an image of your declining into your grave and you will sleep less. Let your refreshment at table be for you a reminder of the grim table of those wormsand you will be less luxurious. And in drinking water, do not forget the thirst of that flame and you will certainly refuse your nature all it wants.
1.07 - On Our Knowledge of General Principles, #The Problems of Philosophy, #Bertrand Russell, #Philosophy
Thus, while admitting that all knowledge is elicited and caused by experience, we shall nevertheless hold that some knowledge is _a priori_, in the sense that the experience which makes us think of it does not suffice to prove it, but merely so directs our attention that we see its truth without requiring any proof from experience.
There is another point of great importance, in which the empiricists were in the right as against the rationalists. Nothing can be known to
--
All pure mathematics is _a priori_, like logic. This was strenuously denied by the empirical philosophers, who maintained that experience was as much the source of our knowledge of arithmetic as of our knowledge of geography. They maintained that by the repeated experience of seeing two things and two other things, and finding that altogether they made four things, we were led by induction to the conclusion that two things and two other things would _always_ make four things altogether. If, however, this were the source of our knowledge that two and two are four, we should proceed differently, in persuading ourselves of its truth, from the way in which we do actually proceed. In fact, a certain number of instances are needed to make us think of two abstractly, rather than of two coins or two books or two people, or two of any other specified kind. But as soon as we are able to divest our thoughts of irrelevant particularity, we become able to see the general principle that two and two are four; any one instance is seen to be _typical_, and the examination of other instances becomes unnecessary.(1)
(1) Cf. A. N. Whitehead, _Introduction to Mathematics_ (Home University
1.07 - Raja-Yoga in Brief, #Raja-Yoga, #Swami Vivkenanda, #unset
Dhyana is spoken of, and a few examples are given of what to meditate upon. Sit straight, and look at the tip of your nose. Later on we shall come to know how that concentrates the mind, how by controlling the two optic nerves one advances a long way towards the control of the arc of reaction, and so to the control of the will. Here are a few specimens of meditation. Imagine a lotus upon the top of the head, several inches up, with virtue as its centre, and knowledge as its stalk. The eight petals of the lotus are the eight powers of the Yogi. Inside, the stamens and pistils are renunciation. If the Yogi refuses the external powers he will come to salvation. So the eight petals of the lotus are the eight powers, but the internal stamens and pistils are extreme renunciation, the renunciation of all these powers. Inside of that lotus think of the Golden One, the Almighty, the Intangible, He whose name is Om, the Inexpressible, surrounded with effulgent light. Meditate on that. Another meditation is given. think of a space in your heart, and in the midst of that space think that a flame is burning. think of that flame as your own soul and inside the flame is another effulgent light, and that is the Soul of your soul, God. Meditate upon that in the heart. Chastity, non-injury, forgiving even the greatest enemy, truth, faith in the Lord, these are all different Vrittis. Be not afraid if you are not perfect in all of these; work, they will come. He who has given up all attachment, all fear, and all anger, he whose whole soul has gone unto the Lord, he who has taken refuge in the Lord, whose heart has become purified, with whatsoever desire he comes to the Lord, He will grant that to him. Therefore worship Him through knowledge, love, or renunciation.
"He who hates none, who is the friend of all, who is merciful to all, who has nothing of his own, who is free from egoism, who is even-minded in pain and pleasure, who is forbearing, who is always satisfied, who works always in Yoga, whose self has become controlled, whose will is firm, whose mind and intellect are given up unto Me, such a one is My beloved Bhakta. From whom comes no disturbance, who cannot be disturbed by others, who is free from joy, anger, fear, and anxiety, such a one is My beloved. He who does not depend on anything, who is pure and active, who does not care whether good comes or evil, and never becomes miserable, who has given up all efforts for himself; who is the same in praise or in blame, with a silent, thoughtful mind, blessed with what little comes in his way, homeless, for the whole world is his home, and who is steady in his ideas, such a one is My beloved Bhakta." Such alone become Yogis.
1.07 - Samadhi, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
4:Now there is great confusion, because the Buddhists use the word Samadhi to mean something entirely different, the mere faculty of attention. Thus, with them, to think of a cat is to "make Samadhi" on that cat. They use the word Jhana to describe mystic states. This is excessively misleading, for as we saw in the last section, Dhyana is a preliminary of Samadhi, and of course Jhana is merely the wretched plebeian Pali corruption of it. footnote: The vulgarism and provincialism of the Buddhist cannon is infinitely repulsive to all nice minds; and the attempt to use the terms of an ego-centric philosophy to explain the details of a psychology whose principal doctrine is the denial of the ego, was the work of a mischievous idiot. Let us unhesitatingly reject these abominations, these nastinesses of the beggars dressed in rags that they have snatched from corpses, and follow the etymological signification of the word as given above!
5:There are many kinds of Samadhi. footnote: Apparently. That is, the obvious results are different. Possibly the cause is only one, refracted through diverse media. "Some authors consider Atmadarshana, the Universe as a single phenomenon without conditions, to be the first real Samadhi." If we accept this, we must relegate many less exalted states to the class of Dhyana. Patanjali enumerates a number of these states: to perform these on different things gives different magical powers; or so he says. These need not be debated here. Any one who wants magic powers can get them in dozens of different ways.
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11:Further, it is easy to master the "trick" or "knack" of Dhyana. After a while one can get into that state without preliminary practice; and, looking at it from this point, one seems able to reconcile the two meanings of the word which we debated in the last section. From below Dhyana seems like a trance, an experience so tremendous that one cannot think of anything bigger, while from above it seems merely a state of mind as natural as any other. Frater P., before he had Samadhi, wrote of Dhyana: "Perhaps as a result of the intense control a nervous storm breaks: this we call Dhyana. Samadhi is but an expansion of this, so far as I can see."
12:Five years later he would not take this view. He would say perhaps that Dhyana was "a flowing of the mind in one unbroken current from the ego to the non-ego without consciousness of either, accompanied by a crescent wonder and bliss." He can understand how that is the natural result of Dhyana, but he cannot call Dhyana in the same way the precursor of Samadhi. Perhaps he does not really know the conditions which induce Samadhi. He can produce Dhyana at will in the course of a few minutes' work; and it often happens with apparent spontaneity: with Samadhi this is unfortunately not the case. He probably can get it at will, but could not say exactly how, or tell how long it might take him; and he could not be "sure" of getting it at all.
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21:You can also meditate on "your dreams." This sounds superstitious; but the idea is that you have already a tendency, independent of your conscious will, to think of those things, which will consequently be easier to think of than others. That this is the explanation is evident from the nature of the preceding and subsequent classes.
22:You can also meditate on "anything that especially appeals to you."
1.07 - Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, #Words Of The Mother I, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
When in your heart and thought you will make no difference between Sri Aurobindo and me, when to think of Sri Aurobindo will be to think of me and to think of me will mean to think of Sri Aurobindo inevitably, when to see one will mean inevitably to see the other, like one and the same Person,then you will know that you begin to be open to the supramental force and consciousness.
4 March 1958
1.07 - The Ego and the Dualities, #The Life Divine, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
11:In fact, we do pursue as an ideal, so far as we may, the elimination of all these negative or adverse phenomena. We seek constantly to minimise the causes of error, pain and suffering. Science, as its knowledge increases, dreams of regulating birth and of indefinitely prolonging life, if not of effecting the entire conquest of death. But because we envisage only external or secondary causes, we can only think of removing them to a distance and not of eliminating the actual roots of that against which we struggle. And we are thus limited because we strive towards secondary perceptions and not towards root-knowledge, because we know processes of things, but not their essence. We thus arrive at a more powerful manipulation of circumstances, but not at essential control. But if we could grasp the essential nature and the essential cause of error, suffering and death, we might hope to arrive at a mastery over them which should be not relative but entire. We might hope even to eliminate them altogether and justify the dominant instinct of our nature by the conquest of that absolute good, bliss, knowledge and immortality which our intuitions perceive as the true and ultimate condition of the human being.
12:The ancient Vedanta presents us with such a solution in the conception and experience of Brahman as the one universal and essential fact and of the nature of Brahman as Sachchidananda.
1.07 - The Magic Wand, #The Practice of Magical Evocation, #Franz Bardon, #Occultism
Constant condensing of a certain quality will make the relevant spiritual power if concentrated in the wand a direct physical power. This means that with the wand the magician is in possession of an accumulator equivalent to a battery powerfully charged with electricity. That then one and the same power may be used for good as well as for bad purposes is true, but a magician, having proceeded as far as this in his individual training, will never think of any evil motives or try to put them into action, since he, at all times, is anxious to be regarded as a true and faithful servant by Divine Providence.
Regarding Point 3: charge of the wand with Magnetism, Biomagnetism or Prana:
1.07 - THE MASTER AND VIJAY GOSWAMI, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
"I once met a relative of Keshab Sen, fifty years old. He was playing cards. As if the time had not yet come for him to think of God!
"There is another characteristic of the bound soul. If you remove him from his worldly surroundings to a spiritual environment, he will pine away. The worm that grows in filth feels very happy there. It thrives in filth. It will die if you put it in a pot of rice."
--
MASTER: "He can free himself from attachment to 'woman and gold' if, by the grace of God, he cultivates a spirit of strong renunciation. What is this strong renunciation? One who has only a mild spirit of renunciation says, 'Well, all will happen in the course of time; let me now simply repeat the name of God.' But a man possessed of a strong spirit of renunciation feels restless for God, as the mother feels for her own child. A man of strong renunciation seeks nothing but God. He regards the world as a deep well and feels as if he were going to be drowned in it. He looks on his relatives as venomous snakes; he wants to fly away from them. And he does go away. He never thinks, 'Let me first make some arrangement for my family and then I shall think of God.' He has great inward resolution.
Parable of the two farmers
--
thundered the farmer. 'I have too much to do now.' It was past midday, and the farmer was still at work in his field. He didn't even think of his bath. Then his wife came and said: 'Why haven't you taken your bath? The food is getting cold. You overdo everything. You can finish the rest tomorrow or even today after dinner.' The farmer scolded her furiously and ran at her, spade in hand, crying: 'What? Have you no sense?
There's no rain. The crops are dying. What will the children eat? You'll all starve to death. I have taken a vow not to think of bath and food today before I bring water to my field.' The wife saw his state of mind and ran away in fear. Through a whole day's back-breaking labour the farmer managed by evening to connect his field with the river.
Then he sat down and watched the water flowing into his field with a murmuring sound.
1.07 - The Three Schools of Magick 2, #Magick Without Tears, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
We have, however, examples plentiful enough of religions deriving almost exclusively from the Black tradition in the different stages. We have already mentioned the Evangelical cults with their ferocious devil-god who creates mankind for the pleasure of damning it and forcing it to crawl before him, while he yells with druken glee over the agony of his only son.[AC18] But in the same class, we must place Christian Science, so grotesquely afraid of pain, suffering and evil of every sort, that its dupes can think of nothing better than to bleat denials of its actuality, in the hope of hypnotizing themselves into anaesthesia.
Practically no Westerns have reached the third stage of the Black tradition, the Buddhist stage. It is only isolated mystics, and those men who rank themselves with a contemptuous compliance under the standard of the nearest religion, the one which will bother them least in their quest of nothingness, who carry the sorites so far.
1.081 - The Application of Pratyahara, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
The omnipresence of the spirit should preclude any kind of withdrawal. Also, there is the doctrine of devotion which recognises the presence of God in everything, and the all-pervading characteristic of God would not demand a withdrawal of the mind from anything, inasmuch as God is present everywhere. Next, there is a doubt that the abstraction of the mind may mean a kind of psychological introversion, which is what is objected to by psychoanalysts, because the introverted attitude is the opposite of the extroverted one, and it is equally bad as bad as the extroverted attitude. Whether we are tied up inwardly or bound outwardly, it makes no difference anyhow we are bound. And, topping the list there is the painful aspect of it, because it is impossible for the mind not to think of that which it desires. If it is not to think of what it desires, then of what is it to think? What else are we to think what we dont like? We are expecting the mind to wipe out the thought of things from its memory, including even those thoughts which it wants and regards as valuable and worthwhile. What else is it to think, if everything is removed from its memory? All these are the difficulties.
Questions of this type all arise because of an improper grounding in a philosophical background, which is the preparatory stage of the practice of yoga. Yoga is a practical implementation of a doctrine of the universe. An outlook of things is at the background of this very technique. This is what is perhaps meant by the oft-repeated teaching of the Bhagavadgita that yoga should be preceded by samkhya. Here the words yoga and samkhya do not mean the technical classical jargons. They simply mean the theory and the practice. E tebhihit s
--
In every branch of learning there is the theory aspect and the practical aspect, whether it is in mathematics, or physics, or any other aspect of study. Here it is of a similar nature. Why is it that the mind is to be withdrawn from the object? The answer to this question is in the theoretical aspect which is the philosophy. What is wrong with the mind in its contemplation on things? Why should we not think of an object? Why we should not think of an object cannot be answered now, at this stage, when we have actually taken up this practice. We ought to have understood it much earlier. When we have started walking, it means that we already know why we are walking and where is our destination. We cannot start walking and say, Where am I walking to? Why did we start walking without knowing the destination? Likewise, if our question as to why this is necessary at all is not properly answered within our own self, then immediately there will be repulsion from the mind and it will say, You do not know what you are doing. You are merely troubling me. Then the mind will not agree to this proposal of abstraction.
Hence, there should be a very clear notion before we set about doing things; and this is a principle to be followed in every walk of life. Without knowing what is to be done, why do we start doing anything? Even if it is cooking, we must know the theory first. What is it about? We cannot run about higgledy-piggledy without understanding it. The purpose of the withdrawal of the mind or the senses from the objects is simple; and that simple answer to this question is that the nature of things does not permit the notion that the mind entertains when it contacts an object. The idea that we have in our mind at the time of cognising an object is not in consonance with the nature of Truth. This is why the mind is to be withdrawn from the object. There is a peculiar definition which the mind imposes upon the object of sense at the time of cognising it, for the purpose of contacting it, etc. This definition is contrary to the true nature of that object. If we call an ass a dog, that would not be a proper definition; it would be a misunderstanding of its real essence. The object of sense is not related to the subject of perception in the manner in which the subject is defining it or conceiving it.
--
A sentiment or a prejudice cannot be rationally analysed. It will not be subject to analysis, and it will not agree to it either that is the force that is behind it. So there is a need to completely isolate the mind in its individual aspect as well as its externally related social aspect. The mind may not think of an object when it does not like it. This is one kind of pratyahara. Suppose we are averse to a thing; we will not think of that thing. But this is not yogic pratyahara, because the spontaneous dislike that arises in the mind on account of that particular object being an obstructing factor to its satisfactions is not a healthy condition.
The pratyahara process is a healthy and positive process. It is not brought about by compulsion, or due to certain impediments that present themselves in the form of those things which are other than the ones which are desired by the mind. The mind sometimes does not think of objects when it is not concerned with them. This is another kind of pratyahara, but it is different from yogic pratyahara which is a philosophical withdrawal and not a negative kick that the mind receives or a complete oblivion or ignorance of the presence of a thing. It is a conscious attitude, and nothing unconscious should be allowed to interfere with it. We are aware of everything that is happening in the process of pratyahara. We are not ignorant of any aspect, and are not unconscious of anything. Even the things that we like and the things that we do not like both these are objects of analysis. The withdrawal is not merely from the negative side of experience namely, the objects which one does not like but also from the positive objects which one really likes. Both the likes and the dislikes of the mind are two aspects of an involvement, and what pratyahara endeavours to accomplish is precisely the relief of the mind from involvement. Involvement is a kind of illness that has taken possession of the mind, from which it has to be freed, of which it has to be cured. Whether we have a positive like for a thing or a negative dislike for a thing, we are equally involved in either case. And both these are defects very serious impediments from the point of view of yoga.
Why this involvement has taken place, and what is the defect that is there behind it, cannot be understood as long as the mind is impinging upon the object and clinging to it. The proper direction of the mind in a requisite manner can be effected only in a higher stage, which is called dharana, or concentration. But prior to this there is the need for bringing the mind back from the wrong direction that it has taken. Before we direct it in a proper way, we have to bring it back from the improper way it has taken. This is the meaning of pratyahara the mind has taken a wrong direction of action, and so we have to bring it back from that direction. It has taken a wrong course, and after we bring it back to the point from where it started on the wrong course, we direct it on a proper course.
1.089 - The Levels of Concentration, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
Therefore, it is necessary that a detailed observation process be practised in the beginning. We have to observe, with a minute eye, every bit of the different aspects of the form of the object, from head to foot, fix the mind on those aspects and not allow the mind to think of any other thing. In the beginning it will not be possible for the mind to fix itself on any single aspect exclusively. So, the method prescribed is to allow the mind to move from one aspect to another aspect of the same object. If we meditate on Lord Krishnas form, we conceive of His form from head to foot in various manners, right from the diadem down to the toenails. We cannot conceive the form at once, in its completeness, because the mind is not used to such forms of conception, so we take it part by part every aspect, every detail, every feature, colour and so on, of the object. We allow the mind to roll like this, from top to bottom and bottom to top, again and again, until we are able to conceive the object in its totality and the form of the object grips us with a force which will draw the attention of the mind totally towards it. It should be like a powerful magnet drawing the mind towards it entirely, and not only in parts. The object will not draw us entirely unless we have a clear concept of the entire object. Nothing in the world can draw us entirely, because we always have a partial and superficial observation of things. We never observe anything in detail. We are never used to such work. But here, a novelty is introduced in observation. A very methodical and acute observation is called for so that the mind is concentrated so concentrated that it has become practically one with that which it is contemplating.
The stages, as the sutra tells us the bhumis are the degrees of the manifestation of the nature of the object. It is very difficult to explain to a novitiate what actually is the series of the stages of the development of an object. Any object, for the matter of that, is a very complex structure. It has deep details involved within its being which cannot easily be observed with the naked eye. The implications go deeper and deeper as we begin to conceive the details of the object more and more, with greater and greater attention.
--
That is what we are trying to achieve by samyama. Tasya bhmiu viniyoga (III.6). The bhumis, or the levels of concentration, which are suggested in this sutra are the levels mentioned in the Samadhi Pada where the various levels of samadhis, or samapattis, are described. The grossest form of the object as it is visible to the ordinary, conceptual mind is the first stage of concentration. We take the object as it is, in the manner we are able to conceive it, think of it, etc. Then, we try to free it from the associations that we have created in respect of it by thinking of it as lovable or not loveable, pleasurable or otherwise, liked or not liked, tall or short, etc. An object is neither tall nor short this also is a very important thing to remember. Tallness and shortness, thickness and thinness, etc., are relative terms. If I bring before you a shirt and ask you, Is it a big shirt or a small shirt? you cannot say it is big or small because it depends upon the person. If it is a small child, he will say it is too big; if it is for a big man, he will say it is too small. We cannot say anything about any object unless we compare it with something else. This comparison should be removed. We must take it as it is; and nothing can be more difficult than this task.
We cannot take anything as it is. We cannot take our own selves as we really are. Even we are invested with certain false values. We are really something different from what we appear. Everyone knows that. Likewise, everything else is different from what we think about it, so that there is a complete confusion in every kind of perception of the world. This is why we call it a world of relativities, where every characteristic hangs on something else. Independently, nothing is known. Hence the stages, or the bhumis, or the levels of the practice of samyama are the gradual characterisations of the object, going deeper and deeper, freeing it more and more from external association.
1.08 - Adhyatma Yoga, #Amrita Gita, #Swami Sivananda Saraswati, #Hinduism
26. Give the mind to the Lord and the hands for the service of humanity. Always think of Lord only. You will soon attain God-realisation easily.
27. Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer, whatever you give, whatever austerity you do, do it as an offering unto the Lord. Your heart will be purified. You will not be bound by actions. You will soon attain the Lord.
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37. Control the senses and mind, and sit for meditation. Do not allow the mind to think of sensual objects. Again and again withdraw the mind and fix it on the Lord.
38. Get established in the Eternal. Be balanced. Pain and sorrow will not touch thee.
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58. think of Brahman. Meditate on Brahman. Be devoted to Brahman. Get merged in Brahman. Get established in Brahman, This is Brahma-Abhyasa or Jnana-Abhyasa, or Vedantic Nididhyasana or Ahamgraha Upasana.
THUS ENDS ADHYATMA YOGA
1.08a - The Ladder, #A Garden of Pomegranates - An Outline of the Qabalah, #Israel Regardie, #Occultism
extend the field of its activity, limited by its logic, it could think of nothing better than to deny.
Mystical Philosophy alone has felt the possibility of relations other than those of the phenomenal -world, and formulated a logic applicable to the supersensuous and transcendental consciousness. But it was arrested in its progress by hazy and unclear conceptions of organized and sceptical research, finding it impossible to define and classify its material in a scientific way. This may be cor- rected, and a thorough sceptical system instituted using the Qabalistic Tree as a classifying medium.
1.08 - RELIGION AND TEMPERAMENT, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
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.
The way of knowledge comes most naturally to persons whose temperament is predominantly cerebrotonic. By this I do not mean that the following of this way is easy for the cerebrotonic. His specially besetting sins are just as difficult to overcome as are the sins which beset the power-loving somatotonic and the extreme viscerotonic with his gluttony for food and comfort and social approval. Rather I mean that the idea that such a way exists and can be followed (either by discrimination, or through non-attached work and one-pointed devotion) is one which spontaneously occurs to the cerebrotonic. At all levels of culture he is the natural monotheist; and this natural monotheist, as Dr. Radins examples of primitive theology clearly show, is often a monotheist of the tat tvam asi, inner-light school. Persons committed by their temperament to one or other of the two kinds of extraversion are natural polytheists. But natural polytheists can, without much difficulty, be convinced of the theoretical superiority of monotheism. The nature of human reason is such that there is an intrinsic plausibility about any hypothesis which seeks to explain the manifold in terms of unity, to reduce apparent multiplicity to essential identity. And from this theoretical monotheism the half-converted polytheist can, if he chooses, go on (through practices suitable to his own particular temperament) to the actual realization of the divine Ground of his own and all other beings. He can, I repeat, and sometimes he actually does. But very often he does not. There are many theoretical monotheists whose whole life and every action prove that in reality they are still what their temperament inclines them to bepoly theists, worshippers not of the one God they sometimes talk about, but of the many gods, nationalistic and technological, financial and familial, to whom in practice they pay all their allegiance.
1.08 - The Depths of the Divine, #Sex Ecology Spirituality, #Ken Wilber, #Philosophy
And now let us see what becomes of this silkworm. When it is in this state of [cessation/absorption], and quite dead to the world, it comes out a little white butterfly. Oh, greatness of God, that a soul should come out like this after being closely united for so short a time-never, I think, for as long as half an hour [in cessation]. For think of the difference between an ugly worm and a white butterfly; it is just the same here. The soul cannot think how it can have merited such a blessing-whence such a blessing could have come to it, I meant to say, for it knows quite well that it has not merited it at all.29
One taste, and the butterfly is born, the soul is born (or emerges from its slumber in ego, its lostness in the exterior cocoon of form; and, of course, the butterfly is the omega point of the silkworm). The rest of Interior Castle describes the extraordinary journey of this little butterfly toward that primordial Flame in which, at last, it will happily die (to be, once again, reborn on yet a deeper level, that of union with Uncreate Spirit).
1.08 - The Four Austerities and the Four Liberations, #On Education, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Austerity is usually confused with self-mortification, and when someone speaks of austerities, we think of the discipline of the ascetic who, in order to avoid the arduous task of spiritualising the physical, vital and mental life, declares it incapable of transformation and casts it away ruthlessly as a useless encumbrance, as a bondage and an impediment to all spiritual progress, in any case as something incorrigible, as a load that has to be borne more or less cheerfully until Nature, or divine Grace, delivers you from it by death. At best, life on earth is a field for progress and one should take advantage of it as best one can in order to reach as soon as possible the degree of perfection which will put an end to the ordeal by making it unnecessary.
For us the problem is quite different. Life on earth is not a passage or a means; by transformation it must become a goal and a realisation. Consequently, when we speak of austerities, it is not out of contempt for the body nor to detach ourselves from it, but because of the need for control and mastery. For there is an austerity which is far greater, far more complete and far more difficult than all the austerities of the ascetic: it is the austerity which is necessary for the integral transformation, the fourfold austerity which prepares the individual for the manifestation of the supramental truth. For example, one can say that few austerities are as strict as those which physical culture demands for the perfection of the body. But we shall return to this point in due time.
1.08 - THE MASTERS BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION AT DAKSHINESWAR, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
MASTER: "A holy man who has renounced the world will of course chant the name of God. That is only natural. He has no other duties to perform. If he meditates on God it shouldn't surprise anybody. On the other hand, if he fails to think of God or chant His holy name, then people will think ill of him.
"But it is a great deal to his credit if a householder utters the name of the Lord. think of King Janaka. What courage he had, indeed! He fenced with two swords, the one of Knowledge and the other of work. He possessed the perfect Knowledge of Brahman and also was devoted to the duties of the world. An unchaste woman attends to the minutest duties of the world, but her mind always dwells on her paramour.
"The constant company of holy men is necessary. The holy man introduces one to God."
1.08 - THINGS THE GERMANS LACK, #Twilight of the Idols, #Friedrich Nietzsche, #Philosophy
time, he cannot possibly think of becoming "finished,"--in the matter
of higher culture, a man of thirty years is a beginner, a child. Our
1.096 - Powers that Accrue in the Practice, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
We have stories and stories of this kind, where great masters lived hidden, unknown to the public eye, unseen not only not known to the public eye, but sometimes not known even to themselves, inasmuch as they were absorbed in something else altogether. They had no time to think of their own powers and even their own needs. Janaka was one type of yogi, Sri Krishna was another type, Rama was a third type, Suka was another, and so on. There are various kinds of yogis who lived in different conditions and circumstances, all wielding the same powers some exhibiting, some not exhibiting.
We, as little beginners in the practice of yoga, need not go into these miracles of the magnificent achievements of the great masters. We have to find out how they became masters; that is what is more important. How did Suka become Suka? What was the secret behind it? What was the power of Vasishtha? He could simply stun all the celestial weapons of Visvamitra by a mere wooden stick that he had in front of him. Even the brahmastra would not work before that yogadanda. What is that secret? From where did he get that power? And Bharadvaja simply snapped his fingers and celestials dropped from the skies with golden plates of delicacies and served the millions and millions of soldiers of Bharata, who was in the forest in search of Rama. Merely a snap of the fingers would do, and celestials start dropping from the skies. From where is all this possible?
1.097 - Sublimation of Object-Consciousness, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
This is what the mind will think, and what it does think. With great effort of intellectual understanding, sometimes we are convinced of the possibility of bliss even in the purusha. But the feelings revolt against such a kind of intellectual conviction, and when we actually come to the forefront of the task of this practice, the mind resents the practice because the very first thing that is required in this meditation is not to think of an object. And if we dont think of an object, what remains? There remains a blank, and a night of darkness. This is what the mind feels, and it does not get the purusha. The purusha is not an object of awareness to the mind when it is free from contact with objects. It is in a complete oblivion, a wiping out of all awareness.
Well, this may be one of the conditions through which the mind passes, or has to pass. As mystical language tells us, it is the dark night of the soul. When we cut off all connections with everything in the world, we have to pass through darkness; we will not enter into light immediately. There will be an interim period of darkness, oblivion and unawareness of everything, which is the frightened condition, a state of affairs where the mind is in fear as to what is happening. There, higher guidance is necessary from a Guru, a spiritual master because we will be cast into the winds of unawareness. The mind is afraid of this condition. The moment we withdraw the mind from objects, there is unhappiness because happiness is nothing but contemplation of objects, and the requisition of this meditation is the opposite of it. So it will mean, impliedly, that we are trying to cut at the roots of all the pleasures of the mind by attempting this meditation. Therefore, the mind will not agree.
1.09 - ADVICE TO THE BRAHMOS, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
"They are indeed bound souls who constantly dwell with 'woman and gold' and do not think of God even for a moment. How can you expect noble deeds of them? They are like mangoes pecked by a crow, which may not be offered to the Deity in the temple, and which even men hesitate to eat.
"Bound souls, worldly people, are like silk-worms. The worms can cut through their cocoons if they want, but having woven the cocoons themselves, they are too much attached to them to leave them. And so they die there.
--
"Then there is the class of the everperfect. They are born in each life with their spiritual consciousness already awakened. think of a spring whose outlet is obstructed. While looking after various things in the garden, the plumber accidentally clears it and the water gushes out. Yet people are amazed to see the first manifestations of an everperfect soul's zeal for God. They say, 'Where was all this devotion and renunciation and love?'"
The conversation turned to the spiritual zeal of devotees, as illustrated in the earnestness of the gopis of Vrindvan. Ramlal sang:
1.09 - Civilisation and Culture, #The Human Cycle, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The first results of this momentous change have been inspiriting to our desire of movement, but a little disconcerting to the thinker and to the lover of a high and fine culture; for if it has to some extent democratised culture or the semblance of culture, it does not seem at first sight to have elevated or streng thened it by this large accession of the half-redeemed from below. Nor does the world seem to be guided any more directly by the reason and intelligent will of her best minds than before. Commercialism is still the heart of modern civilisation; a sensational activism is still its driving force. Modern education has not in the mass redeemed the sensational man; it has only made necessary to him things to which he was not formerly accustomed, mental activity and occupations, intellectual and even aesthetic sensations, emotions of idealism. He still lives in the vital substratum, but he wants it stimulated from above. He requires an army of writers to keep him mentally occupied and provide some sort of intellectual pabulum for him; he has a thirst for general information of all kinds which he does not care or has not time to coordinate or assimilate, for popularised scientific knowledge, for such new ideas as he can catch, provided they are put before him with force or brilliance, for mental sensations and excitation of many kinds, for ideals which he likes to think of as actuating his conduct and which do give it sometimes a certain colour. It is still the activism and sensationalism of the crude mental being, but much more open and free. And the cultured, the intelligentsia find that they can get a hearing from him such as they never had from the pure Philistine, provided they can first stimulate or amuse him; their ideas have now a chance of getting executed such as they never had before. The result has been to cheapen thought and art and literature, to make talent and even genius run in the grooves of popular success, to put the writer and thinker and scientist very much in a position like that of the cultured Greek slave in a Roman household where he has to work for, please, amuse and instruct his master while keeping a careful eye on his tastes and preferences and repeating trickily the manner and the points that have caught his fancy. The higher mental life, in a word, has been democratised, sensationalised, activised with both good and bad results. Through it all the eye of faith can see perhaps that a yet crude but an enormous change has begun. Thought and Knowledge, if not yet Beauty, can get a hearing and even produce rapidly some large, vague, yet in the end effective will for their results; the mass of culture and of men who think and strive seriously to appreciate and to know has enormously increased behind all this surface veil of sensationalism, and even the sensational man has begun to undergo a process of transformation. Especially, new methods of education, new principles of society are beginning to come into the range of practical possibility which will create perhaps one day that as yet unknown phenomenon, a race of mennot only a classwho have to some extent found and developed their mental selves, a cultured humanity.
***
1.09 - Concentration - Its Spiritual Uses, #Raja-Yoga, #Swami Vivkenanda, #unset
Again, in the very same meditation, when one struggles to take the elements out of time and space, and think of them as they are, it is called Nirvitarka, without question. When the meditation goes a step higher, and takes the Tanmatras as its object, and thinks of them as in time and space, it is called Savichra, with discrimination; and when in the same meditation one eliminates time and space, and thinks of the fine elements as they are, it is called Nirvichra, without discrimination. The next step is when the elements are given up, both gross and fine, and the object of meditation is the interior organ, the thinking organ. When the thinking organ is thought of as bereft of the qualities of activity and dullness, it is then called Snanda, the blissful Samadhi. When the mind itself is the object of meditation, when meditation becomes very ripe and concentrated, when all ideas of the gross and fine materials are given up, when the Sattva state only of the Ego remains, but differentiated from all other objects, it is called Ssmita Samadhi. The man who has attained to this has attained to what is called in the Vedas "bereft of body". He can think of himself as without his gross body; but he will have to think of himself as with a fine body. Those that in this state get merged in nature without attaining the goal are called Prakritilayas, but those who do not stop even there reach the goal, which is freedom.
18. There is another Samadhi which is attained by the constant practice of cessation of all mental activity, in which the Chitta retains only the unmanifested impressions.
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The mind must always travel between two extremes. You can think of limited space, but that very idea gives you also unlimited space. Close your eyes and think of a little space; at the same time that you perceive the little circle, you have a circle round it of unlimited dimensions. It is the same with time. Try to think of a second; you will have, with the same act of perception, to think of time which is unlimited. So with knowledge. Knowledge is only a germ in man, but you will have to think of infinite knowledge around it, so that the very constitution of our mind shows us that there is unlimited knowledge, and the Yogis call that unlimited knowledge God.
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It is true that all knowledge is within ourselves, but this has to be called forth by another knowledge. Although the capacity to know is inside us, it must be called out, and that calling out of knowledge can only be done, a Yogi maintains, through another knowledge. Dead, insentient matter never calls out knowledge, it is the action of knowledge that brings out knowledge. Knowing beings must be with us to call forth what is in us, so these teachers were always necessary. The world was never without them, and no knowledge can come without them. God is the Teacher of all teachers, because these teachers, however great they may have been gods or angels were all bound and limited by time, while God is not. There are two peculiar deductions of the Yogis. The first is that in thinking of the limited, the mind must think of the unlimited; and that if one part of that perception is true, so also must the other be, for the reason that their value as perceptions of the mind is equal. The very fact that man has a little knowledge shows that God has unlimited knowledge. If I am to take one, why not the other? Reason forces me to take both or reject both. If I believe that there is a man with a little knowledge, I must also admit that there is someone behind him with unlimited knowledge. The second deduction is that no knowledge can come without a teacher. It is true, as the modern philosophers say, that there is something in man which evolves out of him; all knowledge is in man, but certain environments are necessary to call it out. We cannot find any knowledge without teachers. If there are men teachers, god teachers, or angel teachers, they are all limited; who was the teacher before them? We are forced to admit, as a last conclusion, one teacher who is not limited by time; and that One Teacher of infinite knowledge, without beginning or end, is called God.
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But one must think of Om, and of its meaning too. Avoid evil company, because the scars of old wounds are in you, and evil company is just the thing that is necessary to call them out. In the same way we are told that good company will call out the good impressions that are in us, but which have become latent. There is nothing holier in the world than to keep good company, because the good impressions will then tend to come to the surface.
29. From that is gained (the knowledge of) introspection, and the destruction of obstacles.
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This is another sort of concentration. think of the lotus of the heart, with petals downwards, and running through it, the Sushumna; take in the breath, and while throwing the breath out imagine that the lotus is turned with the petals upwards, and inside that lotus is an effulgent light. Meditate on that.
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Take some holy person, some great person whom you revere, some saint whom you know to be perfectly nonattached, and think of his heart. That heart has become non-attached, and meditate on that heart; it will calm the mind. If you cannot do that, there is the next way:
38. Or by meditating on the knowledge that comes in sleep.
Sometimes a man dreams that he has seen angels coming to him and talking to him, that he is in an ecstatic condition, that he has heard music floating through the air. He is in a blissful condition in that dream, and when he wakes, it makes a deep impression on him. think of that dream as real, and meditate upon it. If you cannot do that, meditate on any holy thing that pleases you.
39. Or by the meditation on anything that appeals to one as good.
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It is by the practice of meditation of these three that we come to the state where these three do not mix. We can get rid of them. We will first try to understand what these three are. Here is the Chitta; you will always remember the simile of the mind-stuff to a lake, and the vibration, the word, the sound, like a pulsation coming over it. You have that calm lake in you, and I pronounce a word, "Cow". As soon as it enters through your ears there is a wave produced in your Chitta along with it. So that wave represents the idea of the cow, the form or the meaning as we call it. The apparent cow that you know is really the wave in the mind-stuff that comes as a reaction to the internal and external sound vibrations. With the sound, the wave dies away; it can never exist without a word. You may ask how it is, when we only think of the cow, and do not hear a sound. You make that sound yourself. You are saying "cow" faintly in your mind, and with that comes a wave. There cannot be any wave without this impulse of sound; and when it is not from outside, it is from inside, and when the sound dies, the wave dies. What remains? The result of the reaction, and that is knowledge. These three are so closely combined in our mind that we cannot separate them. When the sound comes, the senses vibrate, and the wave rises in reaction; they follow so closely upon one another that there is no discerning one from the other. When this meditation has been practiced for a long time, memory, the receptacle of all impressions, becomes purified, and we are able clearly to distinguish them from one another. This is called Nirvitarka, concentration without question.
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We have seen in the foregoing aphorism that the only way of attaining to that superconsciousness is by concentration, and we have also seen that what hinder the mind from concentration are the past Samskaras, impressions. All of you have observed that, when you are trying to concentrate your mind, your thoughts wander. When you are trying to think of God, that is the very time these Samskaras appear. At other times they are not so active; but when you want them not, they are sure to be there, trying their best to crowd in your mind. Why should that be so? Why should they be much more potent at the time of concentration? It is because you are repressing them, and they react with all their force. At other times they do not react. How countless these old past impressions must be, all lodged somewhere in the Chitta, ready, waiting like tigers, to jump up! These have to be suppressed that the one idea which we want may arise, to the exclusion of the others. Instead they are all struggling to come up at the same time. These are the various powers of the Samskaras in hindering concentration of the mind. So this Samadhi which has just been given is the best to be practised, on account of its power of suppressing the Samskaras. The Samskara which will be raised by this sort of concentration will be so powerful that it will hinder the action of the others, and hold them in check.
1.09 - Fundamental Questions of Psycho therapy, #The Practice of Psycho therapy, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
of the psyche before he can begin to think of universally validpropositions. For the present we must observe the rule that a psychological
proposition can only lay claim to significance if the obverse of its meaning
1.09 - Of the signs by which it will be known that the spiritual person is walking along the way of this night and purgation of sense., #Dark Night of the Soul, #Saint John of the Cross, #Christianity
6. But, as I say, when these aridities proceed from the way of the purgation of sensual desire, although at first the spirit feels no sweetness, for the reasons that we have just given, it feels that it is deriving strength and energy to act from the substance which this inward food gives it, the which food is the beginning of a contemplation that is dark and arid to the senses; which contemplation is secret and hidden from the very person that experiences it; and ordinarily, together with the aridity and emptiness which it causes in the senses, it gives the soul an inclination and desire to be alone and in quietness, without being able to think of any particular thing or having the desire to do so. If those souls to whom this comes to pass knew how to be quiet at this time, and troubled not about performing any kind of action, whether inward or outward, neither had any anxiety about doing anything, then they would delicately experience this inward refreshment in that ease and freedom from care. So delicate is this refreshment that ordinarily, if a man have desire or care to experience it, he experiences it not; for, as I say, it does its work when the soul is most at ease and freest from care; it is like the air which, if one would close one's hand upon it, escapes.
7. In this sense we may understand that which the Spouse said to the Bride in the Songs, namely: 'Withdraw thine eyes from me, for they make me to soar aloft.'67 For in such a way does God bring the soul into this state, and by so different a path does He lead it that, if it desires to work with its faculties, it hinders the work which God is doing in it rather than aids it; whereas aforetime it was quite the contrary. The reason is that, in this state of contemplation, which the soul enters when it forsakes meditation for the state of the proficient, it is God Who is now working in the soul; He binds its interior faculties, and allows it not to cling to the understanding, nor to have delight in the will, nor to reason with the memory. For anything that the soul can do of its own accord at this time serves only, as we have said, to hinder inward peace and the work which God is accomplishing in the spirit by means of that aridity of sense. And this peace, being spiritual and delicate, performs a work which is quiet and delicate, solitary, productive of peace and satisfaction68 and far removed from all those earlier pleasures, which were very palpable and sensual. This is the peace which, says David, God speaks in the soul to the end that He may make it spiritual.69 And this leads us to the third point.
1.09 - Taras Ultimate Nature, #How to Free Your Mind - Tara the Liberator, #Thubten Chodron, #unset
pitied. We dont think of that I as being a hallucination created by ignorance.
Similarly, if someone tried to point out to us that we should question the
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Sometimes when we think of that object parked on the street, it seems
that the parts are prominent, that the parts came rst and the car came afterwards. First we notice the parts, and then we pay attention to the car that
1.1.02 - The Aim of the Integral Yoga, #Letters On Yoga II, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
(4) To talk about the supramental and think of bringing it down in yourself is the most dangerous of all. It may bring an entire megalomania and loss of balance. What the sadhak has to seek is the full opening to the Divine, the psychic change of his consciousness, the spiritual change. Of that change of consciousness, selflessness, desirelessness, humility, bhakti, surrender, calm, equality, peace, quiet, sincerity are necessary constituents. Until he has the psychic and spiritual change, to think of being supramental is an absurdity and an arrogant absurdity.
All these egoistic ideas, if indulged, can only aggrandise the ego, spoil the sadhana and lead to serious spiritual dangers. They should be rejected altogether.
1.107 - The Bestowal of a Divine Gift, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
The process of recession of the effect into the cause is one of the methods prescribed in the earlier sutras. It is a discriminative analysis of the causes of the activity of these vrittis which have come to the surface of consciousness at the present moment, and is a very difficult thing to practice because we cannot find out the causes when they are actually operating. Nevertheless, this is one of the methods prescribed in the sutra. When we are overwhelmed from all sides by the vrittis, we will not be allowed even to think of the causes which have given rise to this circumstance. But this overwhelming will not continue for a long time. There is an ebb and a flow of these vrittis; they are not always in the same condition. The force of the samskaras, the impressions of past experience which have been held in check for a long time by the practice of yoga, gains entry into the realm of consciousness and acts in respect of its own desired object.
The exhaustion of a karma is effected by various ways, and these samskaras or vrittis that come up confronting the yogin are nothing but the powers of karma, forces of karma the potencies, or apurvas, of previous karmas which have not yet been undergone by experience. Some of the karmas have to be undergone by direct experience, as they cannot be opposed. It is not that everything must be opposed; that cannot succeed. Certain things have to be undergone by direct experience, whether they are pleasurable or miserable. They can be either way. When they are very powerful there is no other go than to bear the brunt of the onslaught, and then they diminish in their intensity. It is at that time that we have to practise this method of the recession of the effect into the cause not when the flood is upon the head. Only when it subsides can we can try to exercise our discrimination as to what has happened.
1.10 - Concentration - Its Practice, #Raja-Yoga, #Swami Vivkenanda, #unset
All the different sorts of impressions have one source, ignorance. We have first to learn what ignorance is. All of us think, "I am the body, and not the Self, the pure, the effulgent, the ever blissful," and that is ignorance. We think of man, and see man as body. This is the great delusion.
6. Egoism is the identification of the seer with the instrument of seeing.
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That is the way to practise the virtues that have been stated. For instance, when a big wave of anger has come into the mind, how are we to control that? Just by raising an opposing wave. think of love. Sometimes a mother is very angry with her husband, and while in that state, the baby comes in, and she kisses the baby; the old wave dies out and a new wave arises, love for the child. That suppresses the other one. Love is opposite to anger. Similarly, when the idea of stealing comes, non-stealing should be thought of; when the idea of receiving gifts comes, replace it by a contrary thought.
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We can make the seat firm by thinking of the infinite. We cannot think of the Absolute Infinite, but we can think of the infinite sky.
48. Seat being conquered, the dualities do not obstruct.
1.10 - GRACE AND FREE WILL, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
To think of God as mere Power, and not also, at the same time as Power, Love and Wisdom, comes quite naturally to the ordinary, unregenerate human mind. Only the totally selfless are in a position to know experimentally that, in spite of everything, all will be well and, in some way, already is well. The philosopher who denies divine providence, says Rumi, is a stranger to the perception of the saints. Only those who have the perception of the saints can know all the time and by immediate experience that divine Reality manifests itself as a Power that is loving, compassionate and wise. The rest of us are not yet in a spiritual position to do more than accept their findings on faith. If it were not for the records they have left behind, we should be more inclined to agree with Job and the primitives.
Inspirations prevent us, and even before they are thought of make themselves felt; but after we have felt them it is ours either to consent to them, so as to second and follow their attractions, or else to dissent and repulse them. They make themselves felt without us, but they do not make us consent without us.
1.10 - Laughter Of The Gods, #Twelve Years With Sri Aurobindo, #Nirodbaran, #Integral Yoga
Addressing Dr. Manilal with whom he was very free during the talks, Sri Aurobindo said, "Your mention of bribe and small amount makes me think of X. He said that people simply thrust the money on him and he couldn't but accept it. 'After all, it is a small bribe,' he argued. I was then reminded of the maidservant's story. She got an illegitimate child. The mistress of the house was very angry and rebuked her severely for the fault. She replied, 'But, oh madam, it is such a small one!'"
A sadhak, while meditating, saw a beautiful woman looking at him with plaintive eyes. He asked Sri Aurobindo about the meaning of the vision. Sri Aurobindo wrote back, "This is your weakness presenting itself to you in a concrete form and plaintively asking, 'Will you, won't you, will you?' When it comes, you have to say, 'Get thee behind me, plaintive Satan.'"
1.10 - On our Knowledge of Universals, #The Problems of Philosophy, #Bertrand Russell, #Philosophy
'All products of two integers, which never have been and never will be thought of by any human being, are over 100.' Here is a general proposition of which the truth is undeniable, and yet, from the very nature of the case, we can never give an instance; because any two numbers we may think of are excluded by the terms of the proposition.
This possibility, of knowledge of general propositions of which no instance can be given, is often denied, because it is not perceived that the knowledge of such propositions only requires a knowledge of the relations of universals, and does not require any knowledge of instances of the universals in question. Yet the knowledge of such general propositions is quite vital to a great deal of what is generally admitted to be known. For example, we saw, in our early chapters, that knowledge of physical objects, as opposed to sense-data, is only obtained by an inference, and that they are not things with which we are acquainted. Hence we can never know any proposition of the form 'this is a physical object', where 'this' is something immediately known. It follows that all our knowledge concerning physical objects is such that no actual instance can be given. We can give instances of the associated sense-data, but we cannot give instances of the actual physical objects.
1.10 - THE FORMATION OF THE NOOSPHERE, #The Future of Man, #Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, #Christianity
irresistible both logically and biologically! We have only to think of
the automobile or the airplane.
1.10 - THE MASTER WITH THE BRAHMO DEVOTEES (II), #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
Sri Ramakrishna looked at the devotees assembled in the worship hall and said: "It is very good to gather in this way, now and then, and think of God and sing His name and glories. But the worldly man's yearning for God is momentary. It lasts as long as a drop of water on a red-hot frying-pan."
Brahmo worship
1.10 - The Methods and the Means, #Bhakti-Yoga, #Swami Vivekananda, #Hinduism
All the immense possibilities of divine realisation in the soul cannot get actualised without struggle and without such practice on the part of the aspiring devotee. "The mind must always think of the Lord." It is very hard at first to compel the mind to think of the Lord always, but with every new effort the power to do so grows stronger in us. "By practice, O son of Kunti, and by non-attachment is it attained", says Shri Krishna in the Gita. And then as to sacrificial work, it is understood that the five great sacrificed (To gods, sages, manes, guests, and all creatures.) (Panchamahyajna) have to be performed as usual.
Purity is absolutely the basic work, the bed-rock upon which the whole Bhakti-building rests.
Cleansing the external body and discriminating the food are both easy, but without internal cleanliness and purity, these external observances are of no value whatsoever. In the list of qualities conducive to purity, as given by Ramanuja, there are enumerated, Satya, truthfulness; rjava, sincerity; Day, doing good to others without any gain to one's self; Ahims, not injuring others by thought, word, or deed; Anabhidhy, not coveting others' goods, not thinking vain thoughts, and not brooding over injuries received from another. In this list, the one idea that deserves special notice is Ahimsa, non-injury to others. This duty of non-injury is, so to speak, obligatory on us in relation to all beings. As with some, it does not simply mean the non-injuring of human beings and mercilessness towards the lower animals; nor, as with some others, does it mean the protecting of cats and dogs and feeding of ants with sugar with liberty to injure brother-man in every horrible way! It is remarkable that almost every good idea in this world can be carried to a disgusting extreme. A good practice carried to an extreme and worked in accordance with the letter of the law becomes a positive evil. The stinking monks of certain religious sects, who do not ba the lest the vermin on their bodies should be killed, never think of the discomfort and disease they bring to their fellow human beings. They do not, however, belong to the religion of the Vedas!
The test of Ahimsa is absence of jealousy. Any man may do a good deed or make a good gift on the spur of the moment or under the pressure of some superstition or priestcraft; but the real lover of mankind is he who is jealous of none. The so-called great men of the world may all be seen to become jealous of each other for a small name, for a little fame, and for a few bits of gold. So long as this jealousy exists in a heart, it is far away from the perfection of Ahimsa. The cow does not eat meat, nor does the sheep. Are they great Yogis, great non-injurers (Ahimsakas)? Any fool may abstain from eating this or that; surely that gives him no more distinction than to herbivorous animals. The man who will mercilessly cheat widows and orphans and do the vilest deeds for money is worse than any brute even if he lives entirely on grass. The man whose heart never cherishes even the thought of injury to any one, who rejoices at the prosperity of even his greatest enemy, that man is the Bhakta, he is the Yogi, he is the Guru of all, even though he lives every day of his life on the flesh of swine. Therefore we must always remember that external practices have value only as helps to develop internal purity. It is better to have internal purity alone when minute attention to external observances is not practicable.
1.10 - The Secret of the Veda, #Vedic and Philological Studies, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
But the ritualistic interpretation of the Rigveda does not stand on the authority of Sayana alone. It is justified by Shankaracharyas rigid division of karmakanda and jnanakanda and by a long tradition dating back to the propaganda of Buddha which found in the Vedic hymns a great system of ceremonial or effective sacrifice and little or nothing more. Even the Brahmanas in their great mass & minuteness seem to bear unwavering testimony to the pure ritualism of the Veda. But the Brahmanas are in their nature rubrics of directions to the priests for the right performance of the outward Vedic sacrifice,that system of symbolic & effective offerings to the gods of Soma-wine, clarified butter or consecrated animals in which the complex religion of the Veda embodied itself for material worship,rubrics accompanied by speculative explanations of old ill-understood details & the popular myths & traditions that had sprung up from obscure allusions in the hymns. Whatever we may think of the Brahmanas, they merely affirm the side of outward ritualism which had grown in a huge & cumbrous mass round the first simple rites of the Vedic Rishis; they do not exclude the existence of deeper meanings & higher purposes in the ancient Scripture. Not only so, but they practically affirm them by including in the Aranyakas compositions of a wholly different spirit & purpose, the Upanishads, compositions professedly intended to bring out the spiritual gist and drift of the earlier Veda. It is clear therefore that to the knowledge or belief of the men of those times the Vedas had a double aspect, an aspect of outward and effective ritual, believed also to be symbolical,for the Brahmanas are continually striving to find a mystic symbolism in the most obvious details of the sacrifice, and an aspect of highest & divine truth hidden behind these symbols. The Upanishads themselves have always been known as Vedanta. This word is nowadays often used & spoken of as if it meant the end of Veda, in the sense that here historically the religious development commenced in the Rigveda culminated; but obviously it means the culmination of Veda in a very different sense, the ultimate and highest knowledge & fulfilment towards which the practices & strivings of the Vedic Rishis mounted, extricated from the voluminous mass of the Vedic poems and presented according to the inner realisation of great Rishis like Yajnavalkya & Janaka in a more modern style and language. It is used much in the sense in which Madhuchchhandas, son of Viswamitra, says of Indra, Ath te antamnm vidyma sumatnm, Then may we know something of thy ultimate right thinkings, meaning obviously not the latest, but the supreme truths, the ultimate realisations. Undoubtedly, this was what the authors of the Upanishads themselves saw in their work, statements of supreme truth of Veda, truth therefore contained in the ancient mantras. In this belief they appeal always to Vedic authority and quote the language of Veda either to justify their own statements of thought or to express that thought itself in the old solemn and sacred language. And with regard to this there are spoken these Riks.
In what light did these ancient thinkers understand the Vedic gods? As material Nature Powers called only to give worldly wealth to their worshippers? Certainly, the Vedic gods are in the Vedanta also accredited with material functions. In the Kena Upanishad Agnis power & glory is to burn, Vayus to seize & bear away. But these are not their only functions. In the same Upanishad, in the same apologue, told as a Vedantic parable, Indra, Agni & Vayu, especially Indra, are declared to be the greatest of the gods because they came nearest into contact with the Brahman. Indra, although unable to recognise the Brahman directly, learned of his identity from Uma daughter of the snowy mountains. Certainly, the sense of the parable is not that Dawn told the Sky who Brahman was or that material Sky, Fire & Wind are best able to come into contact with the Supreme Existence. It is clear & it is recognised by all the commentators, that in the Upanishads the gods are masters not only of material functions in the outer physical world but also of mental, vital and physical functions in the intelligent living creature. This will be directly evident from the passage describing the creation of the gods by the One & Supreme Being in the Aitareya Upanishad & the subsequent movement by which they enter in the body of man and take up the control of his activities. In the same Upanishad it is even hinted that Indra is in his secret being the Eternal Lord himself, for Idandra is his secret name; nor should we forget that this piece of mysticism is founded on the hymns of the Veda itself which speak of the secret names of the gods. Shankaracharya recognised this truth so perfectly that he uses the gods and the senses as equivalent terms in his great commentary. Finally in the Isha Upanishad,itself a part of the White Yajur Veda and a work, as I have shown elsewhere, full of the most lofty & deep Vedantic truth, in which the eternal problems of human existence are briefly proposed and masterfully solved,we find Surya and Agni prayed to & invoked with as much solemnity & reverence as in the Rigveda and indeed in language borrowed from the Rigveda, not as the material Sun and material Fire, but as the master of divine God-revealing knowledge & the master of divine purifying force of knowledge, and not to drive away the terrors of night from a trembling savage nor to burn the offered cake & the dripping ghee in a barbarian ritual, but to reveal the ultimate truth to the eyes of the Seer and to raise the immortal part in us that lives before & after the body is ashes to the supreme felicity of the perfected & sinless soul. Even subsequently we have seen that the Gita speaks of the Vedas as having the supreme for their subject of knowledge, and if later thinkers put it aside as karmakanda, yet they too, though drawing chiefly on the Upanishads, appealed occasionally to the texts of the hymns as authorities for the Brahmavidya. This could not have been if they were merely a ritual hymnology. We see therefore that the real Hindu tradition contains nothing excluding the interpretation which I put upon the Rigveda. On one side the current notion, caused by the immense overgrowth of ritualism in the millennium previous to the Christian era and the violence of the subsequent revolt against it, has been fixed in our minds by Buddhistic ideas as a result of the most formidable & damaging attack which the ancient Vedic religion had ever to endure. On the other side, the Vedantic sense of Veda is supported by the highest authorities we have, the Gita & the Upanishads, & evidenced even by the tradition that seems to deny or at least belittle it. True orthodoxy therefore demands not that we should regard the Veda as a ritualist hymn book, but that we should seek in it for the substance or at least the foundation of that sublime Brahmavidya which is formally placed before us in the Upanishads, regarding it as the revelation of the deepest truth of the world & man revealed to illuminated Seers by the Eternal Ruler of the Universe.
--
Among such branches of research which can even now be used in spite of new & hostile conclusions as a sort of side support to the modern theory of the Veda stand in a curious twilit corner of their own the researches of the ethnologists. There is no more glaring instance of the conjectural and unsubstantial nature of these pseudo-Sciences than the results of Ethnology which yet claims to deduce its results from fixed and certain physical tests and data. We find the philological discovery of the Aryan invasion supported by the conclusions of ethnologists like Sir Herbert Risley, who make an ethnological map of India coloured in with all shades of mixed raciality, Dravidian,Scytho-Dravidian, Mongolo-Dravidian, Scytho-Aryan. More modern schools of ethnology assert positively on the strength of [the] same laws & the same tests that there is but one homogeneous Indo-Afghan race inhabiting the whole peninsula from theHimalayas to Cape Comorin. What are we to think of a science of which the tests are so pliant and the primary results so irreconcilable? Or how, if the more modern theory is correct, if a distinct homogeneous race inhabits India, can we fail to doubt strongly as a philological myth the whole story of the Aryan invasion & colonisation of Northern India, which has been so long one of the most successful & loudly proclaimed results of the new philology? As a result perhaps of these later conclusions we find a tendency even in philological scholarship towards the rise of new theories which dispute the whole legend of an Aryan invasion, assert an indigenous or even a southern origin for the peoples of the Vedic times and suppose Aryanism to have been a cult and not a racial distinction. These new theories destroy all fixed confidence in the old without themselves revealing any surer foundations for their own guesses; both start from conjectural philology & end in an imaginatively conjectural nation-building or culture-building. It is exceedingly doubtful whether the Vedic terms Aryan & unAryan at all refer to racial or cultural differences; they may have an entirely different and wholly religious & spiritual significance & refer to the good and evil powers & mortals influenced by them. If this prove to be the truth, and the close contiguity & probable historical connection between the Vedic Indians & the Zoroastrian Persians gives it a great likelihood, then the whole elaborate edifice built up by the scholars of an Aryan invasion and an Aryan culture begins to totter & seek the ground, there to lie in the dust amid the wrecks of other once confident beliefs and triumphant errors.
The substance of modern philological discovery about the Vedas consists, first, in the picture of an Aryan civilisation introduced by northern invaders and, secondly, in the interpretation of the Vedic religion as a worship of Nature-powers & Vedic myths as allegorical legends of sun & moon & star & the visible phenomena of Nature. The latter generalisation rests partly on new philological renderings of Vedic words, partly on the Science of Comparative Mythology. The method of this Science can be judged from one or two examples. The Greek story of the demigod Heracles is supposed to be an evident sun myth. The two scientific proofs offered for this discovery are first that Hercules performed twelve labours and the solar year is divided into twelve months and, secondly, that Hercules burnt himself on a pyre on Mount Oeta and the sun also sets in a glory of flame behind the mountains. Such proofs seem hardly substantial enough for so strong a conclusion. By the same reasoning one could prove the emperor Napoleon a sun myth, because he was beaten & shorn of his glory by the forces of winter and because his brilliant career set in the western ocean and he passed there a long night of captivity. With the same light confidence the siege of Troy is turned by the scholars into a sun myth because the name of the Greek Helena, sister of the two Greek Aswins, Castor & Pollux, is philologically identical with the Vedic Sarama and that of her abductor Paris is not so very different from the Vedic Pani. It may be noted that in the Vedic story Sarama is not the sister of the Aswins and is not abducted by the Panis and that there is no other resemblance between the Vedic legend & the Greek tradition. So by more recent speculation even Yudhishthira and his brothers and the famous dog of theMahabharat are raised into the skies & vanish in a starry apotheosis,one knows not well upon what grounds except that sometimes the Dog Star rages in heaven. It is evident that these combinations are merely an ingenious play of fancy & prove absolutely nothing. Hercules may be the Sun but it is not proved. Helen & Paris may be Sarama & one of the Panis, but itis not proved. Yudhishthira & his brothers may be an astronomical myth, but it is not proved. For the rest, the unsubstantiality & rash presumption of the Sun myth theory has not failed to give rise in Europe to a hostile school of Comparative Mythologists who adopt other methods & seek the origins of early religious legend & tradition in a more careful and flexible study of the mentality, customs, traditions & symbolisms of primitive races. The theory of Vedic Nature-worship is better founded than these astronomical fancies. Agni is plainly the God of Fire, Surya of the Sun, Usha of the Dawn, Vayu of the Wind; Indra for Sayana is obviously the god of rain; Varuna seems to be the sky, the Greek Ouranos,et cetera. But when we have accepted these identities, the question of Vedic interpretation & the sense of Vedic worship is not settled. In the Greek religion Apollo was the god of the sun, but he was also the god of poetry & prophecy; Athene is identified with Ahana, a Vedic name of the Dawn, but for the Greeks she is the goddess of purity & wisdom; Artemis is the divinity of the moon, but also the goddess of free life & of chastity. It is therefore evident that in early Greek religion, previous to the historic or even the literary period, at an epoch therefore that might conceivably correspond with the Vedic period, many of the deities of the Greek heavens had a double character, the aspect of physical Nature-powers and the aspect of moral Nature-powers. The indications, therefore,for they are not proofs,even of Comparative Mythology would justify us in inquiring whether a similar double character did not attach to the Vedic gods in the Vedic hymns.
1.11 - Correspondence and Interviews, #Twelve Years With Sri Aurobindo, #Nirodbaran, #Integral Yoga
"Then we discussed Indian culture. I said: 'The younger generation is being fed on theories and beliefs which are undermining the higher life of India.' The Master replied: 'You must overcome this lack of faith. Rest assured that our culture cannot be undermined. This is only a passing phase.' Then the Mahayogi sprang a surprise on me. 'When do you expect India to be united?' he asked. I was taken aback. I explained to him how our leaders had agreed to partition. I then said: 'So far as the present generation of politicians is concerned I cannot think of any time when the two countries India and Pakistan can be united.' Sri Aurobindo smiled and averred: 'India will be reunited. I see it clearly.'
"Was it an opinion? Was it a clear perception? I shook my head in doubt and asked how India could be reunited. In two short sentences the god-man described what Pakistan stood for and indicated how the two countries could come together."[1]
1.11 - Higher Laws, #Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience, #Henry David Thoreau, #Philosophy
Yet, for my part, I was never unusually squeamish; I could sometimes eat a fried rat with a good relish, if it were necessary. I am glad to have drunk water so long, for the same reason that I prefer the natural sky to an opium-eaters heaven. I would fain keep sober always; and there are infinite degrees of drunkenness. I believe that water is the only drink for a wise man; wine is not so noble a liquor; and think of dashing the hopes of a morning with a cup of warm coffee, or of an evening with a dish of tea! Ah, how low I fall when I am tempted by them! Even music may be intoxicating. Such apparently slight causes destroyed Greece and Rome, and will destroy England and America. Of all ebriosity, who does not prefer to be intoxicated by the air he breathes? I have found it to be the most serious objection to coarse labors long continued, that they compelled me to eat and drink coarsely also. But to tell the truth, I find myself at present somewhat less particular in these respects. I carry less religion to the table, ask no blessing; not because I am wiser than I was, but, I am obliged to confess, because, however much it is to be regretted, with years I have grown more coarse and indifferent. Perhaps these questions are entertained only in youth, as most believe of poetry. My practice is
nowhere, my opinion is here. Nevertheless I am far from regarding myself as one of those privileged ones to whom the Ved refers when it says, that he who has true faith in the Omnipresent Supreme Being may eat all that exists, that is, is not bound to inquire what is his food, or who prepares it; and even in their case it is to be observed, as a Hindoo commentator has remarked, that the Vedant limits this privilege to the time of distress.
--
John Farmer sat at his door one September evening, after a hard days work, his mind still running on his labor more or less. Having bathed, he sat down to re-create his intellectual man. It was a rather cool evening, and some of his neighbors were apprehending a frost. He had not attended to the train of his thoughts long when he heard some one playing on a flute, and that sound harmonized with his mood. Still he thought of his work; but the burden of his thought was, that though this kept running in his head, and he found himself planning and contriving it against his will, yet it concerned him very little. It was no more than the scurf of his skin, which was constantly shuffled off. But the notes of the flute came home to his ears out of a different sphere from that he worked in, and suggested work for certain faculties which slumbered in him. They gently did away with the street, and the village, and the state in which he lived. A voice said to him,Why do you stay here and live this mean moiling life, when a glorious existence is possible for you? Those same stars twinkle over other fields than these.But how to come out of this condition and actually migrate thither? All that he could think of was to practise some new austerity, to let his mind descend into his body and redeem it, and treat himself with ever increasing respect.
1.11 - Powers, #Raja-Yoga, #Swami Vivkenanda, #unset
The mind tries to think of one object, to hold itself to one particular spot, as the top of the head, the heart, etc., and if the mind succeeds in receiving the sensations only through that part of the body, and through no other part, that would be Dharana, and when the mind succeeds in keeping itself in that state for some time, it is called Dhyana (mediation).
1.11 - The Broken Rocks. Pope Anastasius. General Description of the Inferno and its Divisions., #The Divine Comedy, #Dante Alighieri, #Christianity
Idly;" and he: "Thou seest I think of that.
My son, upon the inside of these rocks,"
1.11 - The Kalki Avatar, #Preparing for the Miraculous, #George Van Vrekhem, #Integral Yoga
when to think of Sri Aurobindo will be to think of me and to
think of me will mean to think of Sri Aurobindo inevitably,
when to see one will mean inevitably to see the other, like
1.11 - WITH THE DEVOTEES AT DAKSHINEWAR, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
Manilal, a member of the Brahmo Samaj, believed in a formless God. Addressing him, the Master said: "Kabir used to say: 'God with form is my Mother, the formless God my Father. Whom should I blame? Whom should I adore? The two sides of the scales are even.' During the day-time Haladhari used to meditate on God with form, and at night on the formless God. Whichever attitude you adopt, you will certainly realize God if you have firm faith. You may believe in God with form or in God without form, but your faith must be sincere and whole-hearted. Sambhu Mallick used to come on foot from Baghbazar to his garden house at Dakshineswar. One day a friend said to him: 'It is risky to walk such a long distance. Why don't you come in a carriage?' At that Sambhu's face turned red and he exclaimed: 'I set out repeating the name of God! What danger can befall me?' Through faith alone one attains everything. I used to say, 'I shall take all this to be true if I meet a certain person or if a certain officer of the temple garden talks to me.' What I would think of would invariably come to pass."
M. had studied English logic. In the chapters on fallacies he had read that only superstitious people believed in the coincidence of morning dreams with actual events.
--
M: "Sir, nowadays I like to think of God without form. But I am also beginning to understand that it is God alone who manifests Himself through different forms."
MASTER: "Will you take me in a carriage some day to Mati Seal's garden house at Belgharia? When you throw puffed rice into the lake there, the fish come to the surface and eat it. Ah! I feel so happy to see them sport in the water. That will awaken your spiritual consciousness too. You will feel as if the fish of the human soul were playing in the Ocean of Satchidananda. In the same manner, I go into an ecstatic mood when I stand in a big meadow. I feel like a fish released from a bowl into a lake.
--
MASTER (with a smile): "Why not? Live in the world like a mudfish. The mudfish lives in the mud but itself remains unstained. Or live in the world like a loose woman. She attends to her household duties, but her mind is always on her sweetheart. Do your duties in the world, fixing your mind on God. But this is extremely difficult. I said to the members of the Brahmo Samaj: 'Suppose a typhoid patient is kept in a room where there are jars of pickles and pitchers of water. How can you expect the patient to recover? The very thought of spiced pickles brings water to one's mouth.' To a man, woman is like that pickle. The craving for worldly things, which is chronic in man, is like the patient's craving for water. There is no end to this craving. The typhoid patient says, 'I shall drink a whole pitcher of water.' The situation is very difficult. There is so much confusion in the world. If you go this way, you are threatened with a shovel; if you go that way, you are threatened with a broomstick; again, in another direction, you are threatened with a shoe-beating. Besides, one cannot think of God unless one lives in solitude. The goldsmith melts gold to make ornaments. But how can he do his work well if he is disturbed again and again? Suppose you are separating rice from bits of husk. You must do it all by yourself. Every now and then you have to take the rice in your hand to see how clean it is. But how can you do your work well if you are called away again and again?"
A DEVOTEE: "What then is the way, sir?"
1.12 - Brute Neighbors, #Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience, #Henry David Thoreau, #Philosophy
_Hermit alone._ Let me see; where was I? Methinks I was nearly in this frame of mind; the world lay about at this angle. Shall I go to heaven or a-fishing? If I should soon bring this meditation to an end, would another so sweet occasion be likely to offer? I was as near being resolved into the essence of things as ever I was in my life. I fear my thoughts will not come back to me. If it would do any good, I would whistle for them. When they make us an offer, is it wise to say, We will think of it? My thoughts have left no track, and I cannot find the path again. What was it that I was thinking of? It was a very hazy day.
I will just try these three sentences of Con-fut-see; they may fetch that state about again. I know not whether it was the dumps or a budding ecstasy. Mem. There never is but one opportunity of a kind.
--
The more you think of it, the less the difference. And certainly there is not the fight recorded in Concord history, at least, if in the history of America, that will bear a moments comparison with this, whether for the numbers engaged in it, or for the patriotism and heroism displayed. For numbers and for carnage it was an Austerlitz or
Dresden. Concord Fight! Two killed on the patriots side, and Luther
1.1.2 - Commentary, #Kena and Other Upanishads, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
but the Brahman, think of nothing but the Brahman, the Life
will move to, embrace, enjoy nothing but the Brahman, the eye
--
which they will know, think of, sense, embrace and enjoy, but
always and only the Brahman. Moreover, the external will cease
1.12 - God Departs, #Twelve Years With Sri Aurobindo, #Nirodbaran, #Integral Yoga
The symptoms grew more serious and a partial obstruction to the flow of urine made us think of mechanical intervention. When it became complete and was causing distress, Dr. Sen and we had no other alternative but to pass a catheter, much against his will. It was followed by immediate relief. We felt light and cheerful. Then a wire was sent to Dr. Sanyal to come down at once. He had been forewarned to be ready for such an emergency call. Our joy was unfortunately short-lived, for in the wake of the intervention crept in the dark shadow of the fever, a not unusual complication, but all the same it brought a cold shiver. At this juncture, Sanyal's arrival acted like warm sunshine.[3]
We apprised him of the whole clinical picture since his last visit. He approached Sri Aurobindo, did pranam but found him "seemingly unconcerned, with eyes closed, like a statue of massive peace". Then he opened his eyes, recognised him and gave him a serene smile. The doctor asked him regular professional questions to which he answered, "Trouble? Nothing troubles me, and suffering one can be above it." I mentioned the urinary difficulties. "Well, yes; I had some difficulties, but they were relieved and now I don't feel anything," he replied reassuringly. Sanyal told the Mother that there was a mild kidney infection, but nothing serious. We were consoled. But he wondered how, after Sri Aurobindo had cured himself, there could be this recrudescence.
1.12 - SOME REFLECTIONS ON THE RIGHTS OF MAN, #The Future of Man, #Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, #Christianity
But the conflict, if we think of it, is only one of appearance. Bi-
ologically, as we know, the human unit is not self-sufficing. In other
1.12 - THE FESTIVAL AT PNIHTI, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
The ways of God are inscrutable MASTER (to M.): "Can a man ever understand God's ways? I too think of God sometimes as good and sometimes as bad. He has kept us deluded by His great illusion.
Sometimes He wakes us up and sometimes He keeps us unconscious. One moment the ignorance disappears, and the next moment it covers our mind. If you throw a brick-bat into a pond covered with moss, you get a glimpse of the water. But a few moments later the moss comes dancing back and covers the water.
--
MASTER: "Well, what do you think of Adhar?"
M: "He has great yearning for God."
--
"What can a man understand of God's activities? The facets of God's creation are infinite. I do not try to understand God's actions at all. I have heard that everything is possible in God's creation, and I always bear that in mind. Therefore I do not give a thought to the world, but meditate on God alone. Once Hanuman was asked, 'What day of the lunar month is it?' Hanuman said: 'I don't know anything about the day of the month, the position of the moon and stars, or any such things. I think of Rma alone.'
"Can one ever understand the work of God? He is so near; still it is not possible for us to know Him. Balarama did not realize that Krishna was God."
--
A VAISHNAVA DEVOTEE: "Sir, why should one think of God at all"
MASTER: "If a man really has that knowledge, then he is indeed liberated though living in a body.
--
A DEVOTEE: "Sir, you met Pundit Vidyasagar. What did you think of him?"
MASTER: "Vidyasagar has both scholarship and charity, but he lacks inner vision. Gold lies hidden within him. Had he but found it out, his activities would have been reduced; finally they would have stopped altogether. Had he but known that God resides in his heart, his mind would have been directed to God in thought and meditation. Some persons must perform selfless work a long time before they can practise dispassion and direct their minds to the spiritual ideal and at last be absorbed in God.
--
"Well, what do you think of the worship conducted by Keshab, Shivanath, and the other Brahmo leaders?"
M: "They are satisfied, as you say, with describing the garden, but they seldom speak of seeing the Master of the garden. Describing the garden is the beginning and end of their worship."
1.12 - The Left-Hand Path - The Black Brothers, #Magick Without Tears, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
Much more, upon the brink of the Abyss. If there be missing or redundant even one atom, the entire monstrous, the portentous mass must tend to move with irresistible impact, in such direction as to restore the equilibrium. To deflect it well, think of a gyroscope! How then can you destroy it in one sole stupendous gesture? Ah! Listen to The Vision and the Voice.
Perhaps the best and simplest plan is for me to pick out the most impor- tant of the relevant passages and put them together as an appendix to this letter. Also, by contrast, those allusions to the "Black Brothers" and the "Left-hand Path." This ought to give you a clear idea of what each is, and does; of what distinguishes their respective methods in some ways so confusingly alike. I hope indeed most sincerely that you will whet your Magical Dagger on the Stone of the Wise, and wield most deftly and determinedly both the White-handled and the Black-handled Burin. In trying to express these opinions, I am constantly haunted by the dread that I may be missing some crucial point, or even allowing a mere quibble to pass for argument. It makes it only all the worse when one has become so habituated by Neschamic ideas, to knowing, even before one says it, that what one is going to say is of necessity untrue, as untrue as it is contradictory. So what can it possibly matter what one says?
1.12 - The Superconscient, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
Discovering the central being is a very encompassing realization the world becomes our own being but we lose the sense of individuality; indeed, it would be a mistake to think of a Mr. Smith sitting in the middle of his cosmic consciousness and enjoying the view for there is no more Mr. Smith.
Discovering the Transcendent is a very lofty realization, but we lose both the individual and the world there is nothing left but That, forever outside of the human play. In theory, we can say that Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are one in theory we can say anything we like but in practice, when we experience them, each of these changes of consciousness seems to be cut off from the others by a vast gulf. As long as we do not find a practical way of reconciling that triple hiatus among pantheist, individualist, and monist, there will be no fulfillment, neither for the individual nor for the world. It is not enough to find our individual center and leave out the totality of the world, or to find the totality of the world and leave out the individual, and even less so to find supreme Peace if both the world and our individuality are dissolved "I do not want to be sugar," the great Ramakrishna exclaimed, "I want to eat sugar!" In this chaotic and harried world where we have to act, to confront things, to become, we need primordially to be. Without this being, our becoming is squandered in the prevailing chaos. But without this becoming, our being dissolves into a blissful Zero.162 And without an individuality, what do marvelous realizations really matter, since we are no longer there? Such is the contradiction we must resolve, not in philosophical terms, but in terms of life and power of action. Until now, such a reconciling path has seemed nonexistent or unknown; this is why all religions and spiritualities have placed the transcendent Father at the top of the hierarchy, outside this whole unfortunate chaos, urging us to search elsewhere for the totality to which we aspire. Yet intuition tell us that if we, beings endowed with a body, aspire to totality, then totality must be possible; it must be possible in a body, otherwise we would not aspire to it. There is no such thing as "imagination"; there are only deferred realities, or truths awaiting their time. In his own way, Jules Verne testifies to this. Is there not something else to discover, then, a fourth change of consciousness that would change everything?
--
Constantly and unknowingly, we receive influences and inspirations from these higher, superconscious regions, which express themselves inside us as ideas, ideals, aspirations, or works of art; they secretly mold our life, our future. Similarly, we constantly and unknowingly receive vital and subtle-physical vibrations, which determine our emotional life and relationship with the world every moment of the day. We are enclosed in an individual, personal body only through a stubborn visual delusion; in fact, we are porous throughout and ba the in universal forces, like an anemone in the sea: Man twitters intellectually (=foolishly) about the surface results and attributes them all to his "noble self," ignoring the fact that his noble self is hidden far away from his own vision behind the veil of his dimly sparkling intellect and the reeking fog of his vital feelings, emotions, impulses, sensations and impressions.183 Our sole freedom is to lift ourselves to higher planes through individual evolution. Our only role is to transcribe and materially embody the truths of the plane we belong to. Two important points, which apply to every plane of consciousness, from the highest to the lowest, deserve to be underscored in order for us better to understand the mechanism of the universe. First, these planes do not depend upon us or upon what we think of them any more than the sea depends on the anemone; they exist independently of man. Modern psychology, for which all the levels of being are mixed together in a so-called collective unconscious, like some big magician's hat from which to draw archetypes and neuroses at random, betrays in this respect a serious lack of vision: first, because the forces of these planes are not at all unconscious (except to us), but very conscious, definitely more so than we are; and secondly, because these forces are not "collective," in the sense that they are no more a human product than the sea is the product of the anemone; it is rather the frontal man who is the product of that Immensity behind. The gradations of consciousness are universal states not dependent on the outlook of the subjective personality; rather the outlook of the subjective personality is determined by the grade of consciousness in which it is organized according to its typal nature or its evolutionary stage.184 Naturally, it is only human to reverse the order of things and put ourselves in the center of the world. But this is not a matter of theory, always debatable, but of experience, which everyone can have. If we go out of our body and consciously enter these planes, we realize that they exist outside us, just as the entire world exists outside Manhattan, with forces and beings and even places that have nothing in common with our earthly world; entire civilizations have attested to this, stating it, engraving it, or painting it on their walls or in their temples, civilizations that were perhaps less ingenious than ours, but certainly not less intelligent.
The second important point concerns the conscious forces and beings that occupy these planes. Here we must clearly draw a line between the superstition, or even hoax, arising from our "collective" contri bution, and the truth. As usual, the two are closely intermingled.
--
But it would be another mistake to think of the so-called impersonal forces as some improved mechanical forces. They have an intensity, a warmth, a luminous joy that very much suggest a person without a face. Anyone who has experienced a flood of golden light, a sapphire-blue blossoming, or a sparkling of white light knows beyond a doubt that with that gold comes a spontaneous and joyful Knowledge; with that blue, a self-sustaining power; with that whiteness, an ineffable Presence. Some forces can sweep upon us like a smile. Then one truly understands that the opposition between personal and impersonal, consciousness and force, is a practical distinction created by human logic, without much relation to reality, and that one need not see any person to be in the presence of the Person.
Practically, the one essential thing is to open oneself to these higher planes; once there, each person will receive according to his or her capacity and needs or particular aspiration. All the quarrels between materialists and religious men, between philosophers and poets and painters and musicians, are the childish games of an incipient humanity in which each one wants to fit everyone else into his own mold. When one reaches the luminous Truth, one sees that It can contain all without conflict, and that everyone is Its child: the mystic receives the joy of his beloved One, the poet receives poetic joy, the mathematician mathematical joy, and the painter receives colored revelations all spiritual joys.
1.12 - Truth and Knowledge, #The Problems of Philosophy, #Bertrand Russell, #Philosophy
It is common to think of relations as though they always held between two terms, but in fact this is not always the case. Some relations demand three terms, some four, and so on. Take, for instance, the relation 'between'. So long as only two terms come in, the relation
'between' is impossible: three terms are the smallest number that render it possible. York is between London and Edinburgh; but if London and
1.13 - Conclusion - He is here, #Twelve Years With Sri Aurobindo, #Nirodbaran, #Integral Yoga
Still, it cannot be denied that we do miss his physical Presence, especially those of us whom he had drawn near by his personal intimacy and those who had the exceptional privilege of living with him and serving him. "Nirod is no doctor to me; he has come to serve me," is one of his few utterances I cannot forget, though I know too well how poorly I served him. Sometimes when we think of the old days that will never come back, when I go over his unparalleled correspondence with me, a void, a sore loss fills my heart. A few days after Sri Aurobindo's departure, the Mother asked a group of sadhaks what was the greatest loss caused by his absence. Different answers were given, but the Mother replied, "No, not these; the biggest loss is that I can no longer approach him for his advice. For instance, if he were there, I could have gone and asked him to stop the rain." (It was raining heavily at that moment.) To this, someone said, "But, Mother, you can look into yourself." She kept quiet. Here I may speculate on this incident. To deal with any serious problem needs a degree of concentration. The Mother has always been a very busy person; She often fell back on Sri Aurobindo to do the concentration needed. The more important point, however, seems to be that certain problems are better dealt with by an embodied spiritual force than a disembodied one, problems concerned perhaps with the most outward material aspect of existence. We see how our difficulties and problems get quickly solved by the Mother's direct intervention. Apropos of the above incident, I may further ask: Did not the Mother hint at something more poignant? The difference between a physical presence and a subtle one? Whenever there was an intricate situation to face, some crucial stage to be crossed, she quietly came and laid the burden at his feet with an utter trust, that he would see it through. The ineffable physical Presence of an Avatar of Sri Aurobindo's stature, one whose work ultimately was transformation and divinisation of the very body, was a heavenly boon to our corporeal earthly life. The incarnation itself would have otherwise lost much of its significance.
Both the external and the internal development towards physical divinisation is going on apace in the Mother so that in a not distant future it will be seen that the sacrifice, the martyrdom has not gone in vain, but has resulted in the emergence of a glorified body the consummation of the Supramental victory over Matter.
1.13 - THE MASTER AND M., #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
(To M.) "Well, what do you think of these visions?"
M: "God sports through you. This I have realized, that you are the instrument and God is the Master. God has created other beings as if with a machine, but yourself with His own hands."
--
MASTER: "I see that you have grasped the idea of unreality. Well, tell me what you think of Hazra."
M: "Oh, I don't know." (The Master laughs.) MASTER: "Well, do you find me to be like anybody else?"
--
"Body and wealth are impermanent. Why go to so much trouble for their sakes? Just think of the plight of the hathayogis. Their attention is fixed on one ideal only-longevity. They do not aim at the realization of God at all. They practise such exercises as washing out the intestines, drinking milk through a tube, and the like, with that one aim in view.
"There was once a goldsmith whose tongue suddenly turned up and stuck to his palate.
--
"Well, what do you think of Narendra?"
M: "He is splendid."
--
MASTER: "Undoubtedly God exists in all beings as the All-pervading Spirit, but the manifestations of His Power are different in different beings. In some places there is a manifestation of the power of Knowledge; in others, of the power of ignorance. In some places there is a greater manifestation of power than in others. Don't you see that among human beings there are cheats and gamblers, to say nothing of men who are like tigers. I think of them as the 'cheat God', the 'tiger God'."
M. (with a smile): "We should salute them from a distance. If we go near the 'tiger God'
--
"Believe in the form of God. It is only after attaining Brahmajnana that one sees non-duality, the oneness of Brahman and Its akti. Brahman and akti are identical, like fire and its power to burn. When a man thinks of fire, he must also think of its power to burn. Again, when he thinks of the power to burn, he must also think of fire. Further, Brahman and akti are like milk and its whiteness, water and its wetness.
Vijnna or Transcendental Knowledge
--
Thinking of the snake, one must think of its wriggling motion, and thinking of its wriggling motion, one must think of the snake. Or they are like milk and its whiteness.
Thinking of milk, one has to think of its colour, that is, whiteness, and thinking of the whiteness of milk, one has to think of milk itself. Or they are like water and its wetness. Thinking of water, one has to think of its wetness, and thinking of the wetness of water, one has to think of water.
"This Primal Power, Mahamaya, has covered Brahman. As soon as the covering is withdrawn, one realizes: 'I am what I was before', 'I am Thou; Thou art I'.
--
A DEVOTEE: "Sir, what do you think of the Navavidhan? It seems to me like a hotchpotch of everything."
MASTER: "Some say it is a modern thing. That sets me wondering: 'Then is the God of the Brahmo Samaj a new God?' The Brahmos speak of their cult as the Navavidhan, as a New Dispensation. Well, it may be so. Who knows? There are six systems of philosophy; so perhaps it is like one of these.
1.13 - The Pentacle, Lamen or Seal, #The Practice of Magical Evocation, #Franz Bardon, #Occultism
Many magicians make use of the Pentacle Salomonis as a symbol of coercion for all beings. The magician surely will not choose a symbol the construction of which he would not find analogous to the universal laws, for with such a symbol he could not make obvious the authority he needs for his purposes. Only by completely understanding the meaning of his symbol and by being able to take the right attitude towards it will the magician get true magical results. A magician should always think of this. He should only use symbols which are clear to him in meaning and which represent the idea of his power.
A seal, contrary to the pentacle, is the graphic representation of a being, power or sphere which is expressed by its symbolism.
1.14 - INSTRUCTION TO VAISHNAVS AND BRHMOS, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
"Hazra is given to too much calculation. He says, 'This much of God has become the universe and this much is the balance.' My head aches at his calculations. I know that I know nothing. Sometimes I think of God as good, and sometimes as bad. What can I know of Him?"
M: "It is true, sir. Can anyone ever know God? Each thinks, with his little bit of intelligence, that he has understood all of God. As you say, an ant went to a sugar hill and, finding that one grain of. sugar filled its stomach, thought that the next time it would take the entire hill into its hole."
--
M: "I think of Him as the consciousness in conscious beings."
MASTER: "Stick to that ideal now. There is no need of tearing down and changing one's attitude. You will gradually come to realize that the consciousness in conscious beings is the Consciousness of God. He alone is Consciousness.
--
M: "No, sir. But I think of earning money in order to be free from anxiety, to be able to think of God without worry."
MASTER: "Oh, that's perfectly natural."
--
"It is good to prepare for death. One should constantly think of God and chant His name in solitude during the last years of one's life. If the elephant is put into the stable after its bath it is not soiled again by dirt and dust."
Balarm's father, Mani Mallick, and Beni Pl were all elderly men. Did the Master give this instruction especially for their benefit?
MASTER: "Why do I ask you to think of God and chant His name in solitude? Living in the world day and night, one suffers from worries. Haven't you noticed brother killing brother for a foot of land? The Sikhs said to me, 'The cause of all worry and confusion is these three: land, woman, and money.'
"You are leading a householder's life. Why should you be afraid of the world? When Rma said to Dasaratha that He was going to renounce the world, it worried His father, and the king sought counsel of Vasishtha. Vasishtha said to Rma: 'Rma, why should You give up the world? Reason with me; Is this world outside God? What is there to renounce and what is there to accept? Nothing whatever exists but God. It is Brahman alone that appears as Isvara, maya, living beings, and the universe.' "
--
Ishan took his leave and Sri Ramakrishna talked with M. No one else was present. He asked M. what he thought of Narendra, Rkhl , Adhar, and Hazra, and whether they were guileless. "And", asked the Master, "what do you think of me?".
M. said: "You are simple and at the same time deep. It is extremely difficult to understand you."
--
The Master said to Vijay: "Surrender yourself completely to God, and set aside all such things as fear and shame. Give up such feelings as, 'What will people think of me if I dance in the ecstasy of God's holy name?' The saying, 'One cannot have the vision of God as long as one has these three-shame, hatred, and fear', is very true. Shame, hatred, fear, caste, pride, secretiveness, and the like are so many bonds. Man is free when he is liberated from all these.
"When bound by ties one is jiva, and when free from ties one is iva. Prema, ecstatic love of God, is a rare thing.
1.14 - The Structure and Dynamics of the Self, #Aion, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
to think of the identification of the good God with Priapus, 23 or
of the Anthropos with the ithyphallic Hermes.) It was, more-
1.15 - LAST VISIT TO KESHAB, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
"The Primordial Power and the Supreme Brahman are identical. You can never think of the one without the other. They are like the gem and its brilliance. One cannot think of the brilliance without the gem, or of the gem without its brilliance. Again, it is like the snake and its wriggling motion. One cannot think of the wriggling motion without the snake, or of the snake without its wriggling motion.
"It is the Primordial Power that has become the universe and its living beings and the twenty-four cosmic principles. It is a case of involution and evolution.
--
"Why do I feel so restless for Rkhl , Narendra, and the other youngsters? Hazra once asked me, 'When will you think of God if you are always anxious about these boys?'
(Keshab and the others smile.) That worried me greatly. I prayed to the Divine Mother: 'Mother, see what a fix I am in! Hazra scolds me because I worry about these young men.' Afterwards I asked Bholanath about it. He said to me that such a state of mind is described in the Mahabharata. How else will a man established in samdhi occupy his mind in the phenomenal world, after coming down from samdhi? That is why he seeks the company of devotees endowed with sattva. I gave a sigh of relief when Bholanath told me of the Mahabharata.
--
"If you are aware of the Male Principle, you cannot ignore the Female Principle: He who is aware of the father must also think of the mother. ( Keshab laughs ) He who knows darkness also knows light. He who knows night also knows day. He who knows happiness also knows misery. You understand this, don't you?"
KESHAB: "Yes, sir. I do."
1.15 - On incorruptible purity and chastity to which the corruptible attain by toil and sweat., #The Ladder of Divine Ascent, #Saint John of Climacus, #unset
It is those who are subject to the demon of arrogance who especially suffer in this way; because, as their hearts are no longer continually occupied with impure thoughts, they are prone to the passion of pride. And in order to be convinced of the truth of what has been said, when they have achieved a certain measure of holy quiet, let them discreetly examine themselves. Then they will certainly find that some thought is concealed in the depth of their heart like a snake in dung, suggesting to them that they have made some progress in purity of heart by their own effort and zeal. Poor wretches! They do not think of what was said: What hast thou that thou didst not receive3 as a free gift, either from God, or by the co-operation and prayers of others? And so let them look to their own affairs, and let them cast out of their heart with all speed the snake mentioned above, killing it by much humility, so that when they have got rid of it they may in time be stripped of their clothing of skin4 and as chaste children sing
1 Cf. Step 27: 45. The discerning father appears to be St. Mark the Ascetic in his Admonition to Nicholas (PG. 65 col. 1036 B).
1.1.5 - Thought and Knowledge, #Letters On Yoga IV, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The Yogi goes still farther; he is not only a master there, but even while in mind in a way, he gets out of it, as it were, and stands above or quite back from it and free. For him the image of the factory of thoughts is no longer quite valid; for he sees that thoughts come from outside, from the universal Mind or universal Nature, sometimes formed and distinct, sometimes unformed and then they are given shape somewhere in us. The principal business of our mind is either a response of acceptance or refusal to these thought-waves (as also vital waves, subtle physical energy waves) or this giving a personal-mental form to thought-stuff (or vital movements) from the environing NatureForce. It was my great debt to Lele that he showed me this. Sit in meditation, he said, but do not think, look only at your mind; you will see thoughts coming into it; before they can enter throw them away from you till your mind is capable of entire silence. I had never heard before of thoughts coming visibly into the mind from outside, but I did not think of either questioning the truth or the possibility, I simply sat down and did it. In a moment my mind became silent as a windless air on a high mountain summit and then I saw a thought and then another thought coming in a concrete way from outside; I flung them away before they could enter and take hold of the brain and in three days I was free. From that moment, in principle, the mental being in me became a free Intelligence, a universal Mind, not limited to the narrow circle of personal thought or a labourer in a thought-factory, but a receiver of knowledge from all the hundred realms of being and free too to choose what it willed in this vast sight-empire and thought-empire.
I mention this only to emphasise that the possibilities of the mental being are not limited and that it can be the free Witness and Master in its own house. It is not to say that everybody can do it in the way I did and with the same rapidity of the decisive movement (for of course the later fullest development of this new untrammelled mental Power took time, many years); but a progressive freedom and mastery over ones mind is perfectly within the possibilities of anyone who has the faith and will to undertake it.
1.16 - The Process of Avatarhood, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
E SEE that the mystery of the divine Incarnation in man, the assumption by the Godhead of the human type and the human nature, is in the view of the Gita only the other side of the eternal mystery of human birth itself which is always in its essence, though not in its phenomenal appearance, even such a miraculous assumption. The eternal and universal self of every human being is God; even his personal self is a part of the Godhead, mamaivamsah., - not a fraction or fragment, surely, since we cannot think of God as broken up into little pieces, but a partial consciousness of the one Consciousness, a partial power of the one Power, a partial enjoyment of world-being by the one and universal Delight of being, and therefore in manifestation or, as we say, in Nature a limited and finite being of the one infinite and illimitable Being. The stamp of that limitation is an ignorance by which he forgets, not only the Godhead from which he came forth, but the Godhead which is always within him, there living in the secret heart of his own nature, there burning like a veiled Fire on the inner altar in his own temple-house of human consciousness.
He is ignorant because there is upon the eyes of his soul and all its organs the seal of that Nature, Prakriti, Maya, by which he has been put forth into manifestation out of God's eternal being; she has minted him like a coin out of the precious metal of the divine substance, but overlaid with a strong coating of the alloy of her phenomenal qualities, stamped with her own stamp and mark of animal humanity, and although the secret sign of the Godhead is there, it is at first indistinguishable and always with difficulty decipherable, not to be really discovered except by that initiation into the mystery of our own being which distinguishes a Godward from an earthward humanity.
1.16 - WITH THE DEVOTEES AT DAKSHINESWAR, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
"I said further, 'Certainly I shall not have any children, Mother. But it is my desire that a boy with sincere love for God should always remain with me. Give me such a boy.' That is the reason Rkhl came here. Those whom I think of as my own are part and parcel of me."
The Master started again for the Panchavati accompanied by M. No one else was with them. Sri Ramakrishna with a smile narrated to him various incidents of the past years of his life.
--
(To the devotees) "One cannot renounce by the mere wish. There are prarabdha karma-inherited tendencies-and the like. Once a yogi said to a king, 'Live with me in the forest and think of God.' The king replied: 'That I cannot very well do. I could live with you, but I still have the desire for enjoyment. If I live in this forest, perhaps I shall create a kingdom even here. I still have desires.'
"Natabar Panja used to look after his cows in this garden during his boyhood. He had many desires. Hence he has established a castor-oil factory and earned a great deal of money. He has a prosperous castor-oil business at Alambazar.
1.17 - M. AT DAKSHINEWAR, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
SRI RAMAKRISHNA was seated in his room with his devotees. He spoke highly of Devendranath Tagore's love of God and renunciation, and then said, pointing to Rkhl and the other young devotees, "Devendra is a good man; but blessed indeed are those young aspirants who, like Sukadeva, practise renunciation from their very boyhood and think of God day and night without being involved in worldly life.
Nature of worldly people
--
That afternoon the Master, accompanied by M., Rkhl, and some other devotees, set out in a carriage for the temple of Siddhesvari in Calcutta. On the way the offerings were purchased. On reaching the temple, the Master asked the devotees to offer the fruit and sugar to the Divine Mother. They saw the priests and their friends playing cards in the temple. Sri Ramakrishna said: "To play cards in a temple! One should think of God here."
From the temple the Master went to Jadu Mallick's house. Jadu was surrounded by his admirers, well-dressed dandies. He welcomed the Master.
--
"It is God alone who incarnates Himself as man to teach people the ways of love and knowledge. Well, what do you think of me?
"Once my father went to Gaya. There Raghuvir said to him in a dream, 'I shall be born as your son.' Thereupon my father said to Him: 'O Lord, I am a poor brahmin. How shall I be able to serve You?' 'Don't worry about it', Raghuvir replied. 'It will be taken care of.'
--
MASTER:"You remember God and think of Him, don't you?"
SURENDRA:"Yes, sir. I go to sleep repeating the word 'Mother'."
MASTER:"That is very good. It will be enough if you remember God and think of Him."
Sri Ramakrishna had taken Surendra's responsibilities on himself. Why should Surendra worry about anything?
1.18 - M. AT DAKSHINESWAR, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
MASTER (to Manilal): "In order to meditate on God, one should try at first to think of Him as free from upadhis, limitations. God is beyond upadhis. He is beyond speech and mind. But it is very difficult to achieve perfection in this form of meditation.
"But it is easy to meditate on an Incarnation-God born as man. Yes, God in man. The body is a mere covering. It is like a lantern with a light burning inside, or like a glass case in which one sees precious things."
--
MASTER (to Kedr, with a smile): "What did you think of the sdhu?"
KEDR: "It is all dry knowledge. The pot has just been put on the fire, but as yet there is no rice in it."
--
MASTER: "What do you think of Kli?"
MONK (with devotion): "Kli is supreme."
--
"In that state a devotee looks on himself as a woman. He does not regard himself as a man. Sanatana Goswami refused to see Mirabai because she was a woman. Mira informed him that at Vrindvan the only man was Krishna and that all others were His handmaids. 'Was it right of Sanatana to think of himself as a man?' Mira inquired."
Master and the Brahmo Samaj
--
The Purusha is the Chidatma and Prakriti the Chitakti. Sri Krishna is the Chidatma and Sri Radha the Chitakti. The devotees are so many forms of the Chitakti. They should think of themselves as companions or handmaids of the Chitakti, Sri Radha. This is the whole gist of the thing.'"
After dusk Sri Ramakrishna went to the Kli temple and was pleased to see M.
1.19 - ON THE ADDERS BITE, #Thus Spoke Zarathustra, #Friedrich Nietzsche, #Philosophy
kindness to others. But how could I think of being just
through and through? How can I give each his own?
1.19 - The Curve of the Rational Age, #The Human Cycle, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
This series seems to follow always a typical course, first a luminous seed-time and a period of enthusiastic effort and battle, next a partial victory and achievement and a brief era of possession, then disillusionment and the birth of a new idea and endeavour. A principle of society is put forward by the thinker, seizes on the general mind and becomes a social gospel; brought immediately or by rapid stages into practice, it dethrones the preceding principle and takes its place as the foundation of the communitys social or political life. This victory won, men live for a time in the enthusiasm or, when the enthusiasm sinks, in the habit of their great achievement. After a little they begin to feel less at ease with the first results and are moved to adapt, to alter constantly, to develop more or less restlessly the new system,for it is the very nature of the reason to observe, to be open to novel ideas, to respond quickly to new needs and possibilities and not to repose always in the unquestioning acceptance of every habit and old association. Still men do not yet think of questioning their social principle or imagine that it will ever need alteration, but are intent only to perfect its forms and make its application more thorough, its execution more sincere and effective. A time, however, arrives when the reason becomes dissatisfied and sees that it is only erecting a mass of new conventions and that there has been no satisfying change; there has been a shifting of stresses, but the society is not appreciably nearer to perfection. The opposition of the few thinkers who have already, perhaps almost from the first, started to question the sufficiency of the social principle, makes itself felt and is accepted by increasing numbers; there is a movement of revolt and the society starts on the familiar round to a new radical progression, a new revolution, the reign of a more advanced social principle.
This process has to continue until the reason can find a principle of society or else a combination and adjustment of several principles which will satisfy it. The question is whether it will ever be satisfied or can ever rest from questioning the foundation of established things,unless indeed it sinks back into a sleep of tradition and convention or else goes forward by a great awakening to the reign of a higher spirit than its own and opens into a suprarational or spiritual age of mankind. If we may judge from the modern movement, the progress of the reason as a social renovator and creator, if not interrupted in its course, would be destined to pass through three successive stages which are the very logic of its growth, the first individualistic and increasingly democratic with liberty for its principle, the second socialistic, in the end perhaps a governmental communism with equality and the State for its principle, the thirdif that ever gets beyond the stage of theoryanarchistic in the higher sense of that much-abused word, either a loose voluntary cooperation or a free communalism with brotherhood or comradeship and not government for its principle. It is in the transition to its third and consummating stage, if or whenever that comes, that the power and sufficiency of the reason will be tested; it will then be seen whether the reason can really be the master of our nature, solve the problems of our interrelated and conflicting egoisms and bring about within itself a perfect principle of society or must give way to a higher guide. For till this third stage has its trial, it is Force that in the last resort really governs. Reason only gives to Force the plan of its action and a system to administer.
1.200-1.224 Talks, #Talks, #Sri Ramana Maharshi, #Hinduism
M.: Why think of death? See what happens in your sleep. What is your experience there?
D.: But sleep is transient whereas death is not.
1.2.05 - Aspiration, #Letters On Yoga II, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The aspiration for the supramental would be premature. What you have to aspire for is for the psychic change and the spiritual change of the whole being - which is the necessary condition before one can even think of the supramental.
To want to be a superman is a mistake, it only swells the ego.
1.20 - RULES FOR HOUSEHOLDERS AND MONKS, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
"Again, he is like a madman. People notice his ways and actions and think of him as insane. Or sometimes he is like a child-no bondage, no shame, no hatred, no hesitation, or the like.
"One reaches this state of mind after having the vision of God. When a boat passes by a magnetic hill, its screws and nails become loose and drop out. Lust, anger, and the other passions cannot exist after the vision of God.
--
MASTER (addressing them): "Well, what do you think of him? I dare say you have measured him with your own tape."
Sri Ramakrishna saw that very few of the devotees were willing to give money to the hathayogi.
1.20 - TANTUM RELIGIO POTUIT SUADERE MALORUM, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
If you, illustrious Prince (the words were addressed to the Duke of Wurtemberg) had informed your subjects that you were coming to visit them at an unnamed time, and had requested them to be prepared in white garments to meet you at your coming, what would you do if on arrival you should find that, instead of robing themselves in white, they had spent their time in violent debate about your personsome insisting that you were in France, others that you were in Spain; some declaring that you would come on horseback, others that you would come by chariot; some holding that you would come with great pomp and others that you would come without any train or following? And what especially would you say if they debated not only with words, but with blows of fist and sword strokes, and if some succeeded in killing and destroying others who differed from them? He will come on horseback. No, he will not; it will be by chariot. You lie. I do not; you are the liar. Take thata blow with the fist. Take that a sword-thrust through the body. Prince, what would you think of such citizens? Christ asked us to put on the white robes of a pure and holy life; but what occupies our thoughts? We dispute not only of the way to Christ, but of his relation to God the Father, of the Trinity, of predestination, of free will, of the nature of God, of the angels, of the condition of the soul after deathof a multitude of matters that are not essential to salvation; matters, moreover, which can never be known until our hearts are pure; for they are things which must be spiritually perceived.
Sebastian Castellio
1.20 - The Hound of Heaven, #The Secret Of The Veda, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Light and Darkness, Sarama who leads in the search for the radiant herds and discovers both the path and the secret hold in the mountain must be a forerunner of the dawn of Truth in the human mind. And if we ask ourselves what power among the truth-finding faculties it is that thus discovers out of the darkness of the unknown in our being the truth that is hidden in it, we at once think of the intuition. For Sarama is not Saraswati, she is not the inspiration, even though the names are similar. Saraswati gives the full flood of the knowledge; she is or awakens the great stream, maho arn.ah., and illumines with plenitude all the thoughts, dhiyo visva vi rajati. Saraswati possesses and is the flood of the Truth; Sarama is the traveller and seeker on its path who does not herself possess but rather finds that which is lost.
Neither is she the plenary word of the revelation, the Teacher of man like the goddess Ila; for even when what she seeks is found, she does not take possession but only gives the message to the seers and their divine helpers who have still to fight for the possession of the light that has been discovered.
1.21 - A DAY AT DAKSHINESWAR, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
"But it is not good to say that what we ourselves think of God is the only truth and what others think is false; that because we think of God as formless, therefore He is formless and cannot have any form; that because we think of God as having form, therefore He has form and cannot be formless. Can a man really fathom God's nature?
"This kind of friction exists between the Vaishnavas and the Shaktas. The Vaishnava says, 'My Kesava is the only Saviour', whereas the Shakta insists, 'My Bhagavati is the only Saviour.'
1.2.1 - Mental Development and Sadhana, #Letters On Yoga IV, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
It is not against the principle of Yogic life to know what is happening in the worldwhat is unyogic is to be attached to these things [such as newspaper reading] and not able to do without them or to think of them as a matter of main importance. The all-important thing must be the sadhana, the growth into a new consciousness and a new inner life. The rest must be done with detachment and without getting absorbed in them. The feeling must be such that if the Mother were to tell you never to see a newspaper at all, it would be no deprivation to you and you would not even feel the difference.
***
1.21 - My Theory of Astrology, #Magick Without Tears, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
Talking of aspects, I think it ridiculous to allow vast "orbs" like 15 for Luna, and 12 for Sol. Astrologers go to extreme lengths to calculate the "solar revolution" figure not to a degree, not to a minute, but to a second: and that when they don't know the exact time of birth within half an hour or more! Talk about straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel! Then what does an hour or so matter anyhow, if you are going to allow an aspect, whether it is 2 or 10 off? This even with delicate aspects like the quintile or semi-sextile. What would you think of a doctor who had a special thermometer made to register -1/100 of a degree, and never took notice of the fact that the patient had just swallowed a cupful of scalding hot tea?
In my own work, I disallow a deviation of 5 or 6 from the exact aspect, unless there is some alien reason for thinking that it is actually operative. With the minor aspects, I dislike reckoning with them if they are even 3 away.
1.21 - WALPURGIS-NIGHT, #Faust, #Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, #Poetry
Who'd think of that in love's selected season?
FAUST
1.22 - ADVICE TO AN ACTOR, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
"God no doubt dwells in all, but He manifests Himself more through man than through other beings. Is man an insignificant thing? He can think of God, he can think of the Infinite, while other living beings cannot. God exists in other living beings-animals, plants, nay, in all beings-, but He manifests Himself more through man than through these others. Fire exists in all beings, in all things; but its presence is felt more in wood.
Rma said to Lakshmana: 'Look at the elephant, brother. He is such a big animal, but he cannot think of God.'
Divine Incarnation
--
"Do your worldly duties with a part of your mind and direct most of it to God. A sdhu should think of God with three quarters of his mind and with one quarter should do his other duties. He should be very alert about spiritual things. The snake is very sensitive in its tail. Its whole body reacts when it is hurt there. Similarly, the whole life of a sdhu is affected when his spirituality is touched."
Sri Ramakrishna was going to the pine-grove and asked Gopal of Sinthi to take his umbrella to his room. Arrangements had been made in the Panchavati for the kirtan.
1.22 - EMOTIONALISM, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
Eschew as though it were a hell the consideration of yourself and your offences. No one should ever think of these things except to humiliate himself and love Our Lord. It is enough to regard yourself in general as a sinner, even as there are many saints in heaven who were such.
Charles de Condren
1.22 - On the many forms of vainglory., #The Ladder of Divine Ascent, #Saint John of Climacus, #unset
When we invite glory, or when it comes to us from others uninvited, or when out of vainglory we decide upon a certain course of action, we should remember our mourning and should think of the holy fear with which we stood before God in solitary prayer; and in this way we shall certainly put shameless vainglory out of countenanceif we are really concerned to attain true prayer. If this is insufficient, then let us briefly recollect our death. And if this is also ineffective, at least let us fear the shame that follows honour. For he who exalts himself will be humbled1 not only there, but certainly here as well.
When our praisers, or rather our seducers, begin to praise us, let us briefly call to mind the multitude of our sins, and we shall find ourselves unworthy of what is said or done in our honour.
1.23 - Conditions for the Coming of a Spiritual Age, #The Human Cycle, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
A change of this kind, the change from the mental and vital to the spiritual order of life, must necessarily be accomplished in the individual and in a great number of individuals before it can lay any effective hold upon the community. The Spirit in humanity discovers, develops, builds its formations first in the individual man: it is through the progressive and formative individual that it offers the discovery and the chance of a new self-creation to the mind of the race. For the communal mind holds things subconsciently at first or, if consciously, then in a confused chaotic manner: it is only through the individual mind that the mass can arrive at a clear knowledge and creation of the thing it held in its subconscient self. Thinkers, historians, sociologists who belittle the individual and would like to lose him in the mass or think of him chiefly as a cell, an atom, have got hold only of the obscurer side of the truth of Natures workings in humanity. It is because man is not like the material formations of Nature or like the animal, because she intends in him a more and more conscious evolution, that individuality is so much developed in him and so absolutely important and indispensable. No doubt what comes out in the individual and afterwards moves the mass, must have been there already in the universal Mind and the individual is only an instrument for its manifestation, discovery, development: but he is an indispensable instrument and an instrument not merely of subconscient Nature, not merely of an instinctive urge that moves the mass, but more directly of the Spirit of whom that Nature is itself the instrument and the matrix of his creations. All great changes therefore find their first clear and effective power and their direct shaping force in the mind and spirit of an individual or of a limited number of individuals. The mass follows, but unfortunately in a very imperfect and confused fashion which often or even usually ends in the failure or distortion of the thing created. If it were not so, mankind could have advanced on its way with a victorious rapidity instead of with the lumbering hesitations and soon exhausted rushes that seem to be all of which it has yet been capable.
Therefore if the spiritual change of which we have been speaking is to be effected, it must unite two conditions which have to be simultaneously satisfied but are most difficult to bring together. There must be the individual and the individuals who are able to see, to develop, to re-create themselves in the image of the Spirit and to communicate both their idea and its power to the mass. And there must be at the same time a mass, a society, a communal mind or at the least the constituents of a group-body, the possibility of a group-soul which is capable of receiving and effectively assimilating, ready to follow and effectively arrive, not compelled by its own inherent deficiencies, its defect of preparation to stop on the way or fall back before the decisive change is made. Such a simultaneity has never yet happened, although the appearance of it has sometimes been created by the ardour of a moment. That the combination must happen some day is a certainty, but none can tell how many attempts will have to be made and how many sediments of spiritual experience will have to be accumulated in the subconscient mentality of the communal human being before the soil is ready. For the chances of success are always less powerful in a difficult upward effort affecting the very roots of our nature than the numerous possibilities of failure. The initiator himself may be imperfect, may not have waited to become entirely the thing that he has seen. Even the few who have the apostolate in their charge may not have perfectly assimilated and shaped it in themselves and may hand on the power of the Spirit still farther diminished to the many who will come after them. The society may be intellectually, vitally, ethically, temperamentally unready, with the result that the final acceptance of the spiritual idea by the society may be also the beginning of its debasement and distortion and of the consequent departure or diminution of the Spirit. Any or all of these things may happen, and the result will be, as has so often happened in the past, that even though some progress is made and an important change effected, it will not be the decisive change which can alone re-create humanity in a diviner image.
1.23 - FESTIVAL AT SURENDRAS HOUSE, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
"The misfortune that befalls a man on account of his egotism can be realized if you only think of the condition of the calf. The calf says, 'Hamma! Hamma!' that is, 'I! I!' And just look at its misfortune! At times it is yoked to the plough and made to work in the field from sunup to sundown, rain or shine. Again, it may be slaughtered by the butcher. In that case the flesh is eaten and the skin tanned into hide. From the hide shoes are made. People put on these shoes and walk on the rough ground. Still that is not the end of its misfortunes. Drums are made from its skin and mercilessly beaten with sticks. At last its entrails are made into strings for the bow used in carding cotton. When used by the carder the string gives the sound 'Tuhu! Tuhu!','Thou! Thou!'-that is, 'It is Thou, O
Lord! It is Thou!' It no longer says, 'Hamma! Hamma!', 'I! I!' Only then does the calf's trouble come to an end, and it is liberated. It doesn't return to the world of action.
--
"What do you think of Niranjan?" M: "He is very handsome."
Niranjan's guilelessness
--
MASTER: "Yes. Further, I think of the magician and his magic. The magician alone is real. His magic is illusory, like a dream. I realized this when I heard the Chandi recited.
Sumbha and Nisumbha were scarcely born when I learnt that they both were dead."
1.240 - 1.300 Talks, #Talks, #Sri Ramana Maharshi, #Hinduism
M.: Yes. Do you think of God in sleep?
D.: But sleep is a state of dullness.
--
D.: It looks easy to think of God in the external world, whereas it looks difficult to remain without thoughts.
M.: That is absurd; to look at other things is easy and to look within is difficult! It must be contrariwise.
--
M.: Why should one think of birth and death? Are you really born? The rising of the mind is called birth. After mind the body-thought arises and the body is seen; then the thought of birth, the state before birth, death, the state after death - all these are only of the mind. Whose is the birth?
D.: Am I not now born?
--
M.: Yes. When you see God in all, do you think of God or do you not?
You should certainly keep God in your mind for seeing God all round you. Keeping God in your mind becomes dhyana. Dhyana is the stage before realisation. Realisation is in the Self only. Dhyana must precede it. Whether you make dhyana of God or of Self, it is immaterial. The goal is the same.
--
M.: The other methods are meant for those who cannot take to the investigation of the Self. Even to repeat Aham Brahmasmi or think of it, a doer is necessary. Who is it? It is 'I'. Be that 'I'. It is the direct method. The other methods also will ultimately lead everyone to this method of the investigation of the Self.
D.: I am aware of the 'I'. Yet my troubles are not ended.
--
D.: Will continuous thought on the Self make the mind more and more refined so that it will not think of anything but the highest?
M.: There is the peaceful mind which is the supreme. When the same becomes restless, it is afflicted by thoughts. Mind is only the dynamic power (sakti) of the Self.
--
Because we think we are in the body we also believe that we are born. However we do not think of the body, of God, or of method of realisation in our deep slumber. Yet in our waking state we hold on to the body and think we are in it.
The Supreme Being is that from which the body is born, in which it lives and into which it resolves. We however think that we reside within the body. Hence such instruction is given. The instruction means: "Look within."
--
D.: What does Sri Bhagavan think of Pravritti and nivritti margas?
M.: Yes. Both are mentioned. What of that?
--
M.: Because you have wrongly identified your own self with the body, you think of the other one in terms of the body. Neither you are nor the other is the body.
She: But from my own level of understanding I consider myself and my son to be real.
--
Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi arises. Thinking yourself the body, you give false values to others and identify them with bodies. Just as your body has been born, grows and will perish, so also you think the other was born, grew up and died. Did you think of your son before his birth? The thought came after his birth and persists even after his death. Inasmuch as you are thinking of him he is your son. Where has he gone? He has gone to the source from which he sprang. He is one with you. So long as you are, he is there too. If you cease to identify yourself with the body, but see the real Self, this confusion will vanish. You are eternal. The others also will similarly be found to be eternal. Until this truth is realised there will always be this grief due to false values arising from wrong knowledge and wrong identity.
She: Let me have true knowledge by Sri Bhagavan's Grace.
--
M.: So long as one thinks that he is a sanyasi, he is not one, so long as one does not think of samsara, he is not a samsari; on the other hand he is a sanyasi.
252
--
What do you think of a man listening to a harangue for an hour and going away without being impressed by it so as to change his life?
Compare him with another who sits in a holy presence and leaves after some time with his outlook on life totally changed. Which is better: To preach loudly without effect or to sit silently sending forth intuitive forces to play on others?
1.240 - Talks 2, #Talks, #Sri Ramana Maharshi, #Hinduism
M.: Yes. Do you think of God in sleep?
D.: But sleep is a state of dullness.
--
D.: It looks easy to think of God in the external world, whereas it looks difficult to remain without thoughts.
M.: That is absurd; to look at other things is easy and to look within is difficult! It must be contrariwise.
--
M.: Why should one think of birth and death? Are you really born? The rising of the mind is called birth. After mind the body-thought arises and the body is seen; then the thought of birth, the state before birth, death, the state after death - all these are only of the mind. Whose is the birth?
D.: Am I not now born?
--
M.: Yes. When you see God in all, do you think of God or do you not?
You should certainly keep God in your mind for seeing God all round you. Keeping God in your mind becomes dhyana. Dhyana is the stage before realisation. Realisation is in the Self only. Dhyana must precede it. Whether you make dhyana of God or of Self, it is immaterial. The goal is the same.
--
M.: The other methods are meant for those who cannot take to the investigation of the Self. Even to repeat Aham Brahmasmi or think of it, a doer is necessary. Who is it? It is I. Be that I. It is the direct method. The other methods also will ultimately lead everyone to this method of the investigation of the Self.
D.: I am aware of the I. Yet my troubles are not ended.
--
D.: Will continuous thought on the Self make the mind more and more refined so that it will not think of anything but the highest?
M.: There is the peaceful mind which is the supreme. When the same becomes restless, it is afflicted by thoughts. Mind is only the dynamic power (sakti) of the Self.
--
Because we think we are in the body we also believe that we are born. However we do not think of the body, of God, or of method of realisation in our deep slumber. Yet in our waking state we hold on to the body and think we are in it.
The Supreme Being is that from which the body is born, in which it lives and into which it resolves. We however think that we reside within the body. Hence such instruction is given. The instruction means: Look within.
--
D.: What does Sri Bhagavan think of Pravritti and nivritti margas?
M.: Yes. Both are mentioned. What of that?
--
M.: Because you have wrongly identified your own self with the body, you think of the other one in terms of the body. Neither you are nor the other is the body.
She: But from my own level of understanding I consider myself and my son to be real.
--
Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi arises. Thinking yourself the body, you give false values to others and identify them with bodies. Just as your body has been born, grows and will perish, so also you think the other was born, grew up and died. Did you think of your son before his birth? The thought came after his birth and persists even after his death. Inasmuch as you are thinking of him he is your son. Where has he gone? He has gone to the source from which he sprang. He is one with you. So long as you are, he is there too. If you cease to identify yourself with the body, but see the real Self, this confusion will vanish. You are eternal. The others also will similarly be found to be eternal. Until this truth is realised there will always be this grief due to false values arising from wrong knowledge and wrong identity.
She: Let me have true knowledge by Sri Bhagavans Grace.
--
M.: So long as one thinks that he is a sanyasi, he is not one, so long as one does not think of samsara, he is not a samsari; on the other hand he is a sanyasi.
18th November. 1936
--
What do you think of a man listening to a harangue for an hour and going away without being impressed by it so as to change his life?
Compare him with another who sits in a holy presence and leaves after some time with his outlook on life totally changed. Which is better: To preach loudly without effect or to sit silently sending forth intuitive forces to play on others?
--
M.: You see the physical body and so you find limitations. Time and space operate on this plane. So long as you think of the gross body there will be differences found as different bodies. On the other hand, knowledge of the real Maharshi will set all doubts at rest.
Are you in India now? Or is India in you? Even now this notion that you are in India must go. India is in you. In order to verify it, look to your sleep. Did you feel that you were in Europe or in India while asleep? You were nevertheless existing then the same as now.
--
Have we got a form? Find that out before you think of Sivas form.
Did you not exist in sleep? Were you aware of any form then?
--
M.: Find out if you were born before you think of death. Only he who is born could die. You are as good as dead even in sleep. What fear is there of death?
D.: How are we in sleep?
--
M.: think of Bhagavan. How will the affairs of the world distract
Him? You and they are in Him.
--
M.: Where is the brain? It is in the body. I say that the body itself is a projection of the mind. You speak of the brain when you think of the body. It is the mind which creates the body, the brain in it and also ascertains that the brain is its seat.
D.: Sri Bhagavan has said in one of the works that the japa must be traced to its source. Is it not the mind that is meant?
--
M.: The sastras say: By karma, bhakti and so on. My attendant asked the same question once before. He was told, By karma dedicated to God. It is not enough that one thinks of God while doing the karma, but one must continually and unceasingly think of Him. Then alone will the mind become pure.
The attendant applies it to himself and says, It is not enough that I serve
--
M.: Hold the Self. Why think of children and reactions towards them?
D.: This third visit to Tiruvannamalai seems to have intensified the sense of egoism in me and made meditation less easy. Is this an unimportant passing phase or a sign that I should avoid such places hereafter?
--
Ignorance pertains to the ego. Why do you think of the ego and also suffer? What is ignorance again? It is that which is non-existent.
However the worldly life requires the hypothesis of avidya.
--
For are there things to think of? There is only the Self. Thoughts can function only if there are objects. But there are no objects. How can thoughts arise at all?
The habit makes us believe that it is difficult to cease thinking. If the error is found out, one would not be fool enough to exert oneself unnecessarily by way of thinking.
--
M.: Be it so. Do not think of it. When you recollect yourself bring it back and turn it inward. That is enough.
No one succeeds without effort. Mind control is not ones birthright.
--
Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi wear ochre robes and wander about: yet if he thinks he is a sanyasi he is not that. To think of sanyasa defeats its own purpose.
Sri Bhagavan remarked: People see the world. The perception implies the existence of a seer and the seen. The objects are alien to the seer. The seer is intimate, being the Self. They do not however turn their attention to finding out the obvious seer but run about analysing the seen. The more the mind expands, the farther it goes and renders Self-Realisation more difficult and complicated. The man must directly see the seer and realise the Self.
--
(favourite examples of the logicians, meaning the pot and the cloth) save you in a crisis? Why then waste yourself thinking of them and on discussion? Stop exercising the vocal organs and giving them pain. think of the Feet of the Lord and drink the nectar! (6)
(5) Immortality is the fruit of Devotion:
1.24 - Describes how vocal prayer may be practised with perfection and how closely allied it is to mental prayer, #The Way of Perfection, #Saint Teresa of Avila, #Christianity
for it is right that you should understand what you are saying. Anyone unable to think of God may
find herself wearied by long prayers, and so I will not begin to discuss these, but will speak simply
--
it, may God forbid that we should fail to think of Him often when we repeat it, although our own
weakness may prevent us from doing so every time.
1.24 - PUNDIT SHASHADHAR, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
Proceeding to explain the verse he said: "The study of philosophy is indeed edifying, but poetry is more fascinating than philosophy. People listening to good poems think of the study of philosophy-Vednta, Nyaya, Samkhya, and so forth as dry and insipid. Again, music is more attractive than poetry. Music melts even a heart of stone. But a beautiful woman has an even greater attraction for a man's heart than music. Such a woman, passing by, diverts a man's attention from both poetry and music. But when a man feels the pangs of hunger, everything else poetry, music and woman appears as of no consequence. Thus, hunger is the most arresting thing."
The Master remarked with a smile, "The pundit is witty."
1.24 - RITUAL, SYMBOL, SACRAMENT, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
IN OTHER words, rites, sacraments, and ceremonials are valuable to the extent that they remind those who take part in them of the true Nature of Things, remind them of what ought to be and (if only they would be docile to the immanent and transcendent Spirit) of what actually might be their own relation to the world and its divine Ground. Theoretically any ritual or sacrament is as good as any other ritual or sacrament, provided always that the object symbolized be in fact some aspect of divine Reality and that the relation between symbol and fact be clearly defined and constant. In the same way, one language is theoretically as good as another. Human experience can be thought about as effectively in Chinese as in English or French. But in practice Chinese is the best language for those brought up in China, English for those brought up in England and French for those brought up in France. It is, of course, much easier to learn the order of a rite and to understand its doctrinal significance than to master the intricacies of a foreign language. Nevertheless what has been said of language is true, in large measure, of religious ritual. For persons who have been brought up to think of God by means of one set of symbols, it is very hard to think of Him in terms of other and, in their eyes, unhallowed sets of words, ceremonies and images.
The Lord Buddha then warned Subhuti, saying, Subhuti, do not think that the Tathagata ever considers in his own mind: I ought to enunciate a system of teaching for the elucidation of the Dharma. You should never cherish such a thought. And why? Because if any disciple harboured such a thought he would not only be misunderstanding the Tathagatas teaching, but he would be slandering him as well. Moreover, the expression a system of teaching has no meaning; for Truth (in the sense of Reality) cannot be cut up into pieces and arranged into a system. The words can only be used as a figure of speech.
--
If sacramental rites are constantly repeated in a spirit of faith and devotion, a more or less enduring effect is produced in the psychic medium, in which individual minds ba the and from which they have, so to speak, been crystallized out into personalities more or less fully developed, according to the more or less perfect development of the bodies with which they are associated. (Of this psychic medium an eminent contemporary philosopher, Dr. C. D. Broad, has written, in an essay on telepathy contri buted to the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, as follows. We must therefore consider seriously the possibility that a persons experience initiates more or less permanent modifications of structure or process in something which is neither his mind nor his brain. There is no reason to suppose that this substratum would be anything to which possessive adjectives, such as mine and yours and his, could properly be applied, as they can be to minds and animated bothes. Modifications which have been produced in the substratum by certain of Ms past experience are activated by Ns present experiences or interests, and they become cause factors in producing or modifying Ns later experiences.) Within this psychic medium or non-personal substratum of individual minds, something which we may think of metaphorically as a vortex persists as an independent existence, possessing its own derived and secondary objectivity, so that, wherever the rites are performed, those whose faith and devotion are sufficiently intense actually discover something out there, as distinct from the subjective something in their own imaginations. And so long as this projected psychic entity is nourished by the faith and love of its worshippers, it will possess, not merely objectivity, but power to get peoples prayers answered. Ultimately, of course, I alone am the giver, in the sense that all this happens in accordance with the divine laws governing the universe in its psychic and spiritual, no less than in its material, aspects. Nevertheless, the devas (those imperfect forms under which, because of their own voluntary ignorance, men worship the divine Ground) may be thought of as relatively independent powers. The primitive notion that the gods feed on the sacrifices made to them is simply the crude expression of a profound truth. When their worship falls off, when faith and devotion lose their intensity, the devas sicken and finally the. Europe is full of old shrines, whose saints and Virgins and relics have lost the power and the second-hand psychic objectivity which they once possessed. Thus, when Chaucer lived and wrote, the deva called Thomas Becket was giving to any Canterbury pilgrim, who had sufficient faith, all the boons he could ask for. This once-powerful deity is now stone-dead; but there are still certain churches in the West, certain mosques and temples in the East, where even the most irreligious and un-psychic tourist cannot fail to be aware of some intensely numinous presence. It would, of course, be a mistake to imagine that this presence is the presence of that God who is a Spirit and must be worshipped in spirit; it is rather the psychic presence of mens thoughts and feelings about the particular, limited form of God, to which they have resorted according to the impulse of their inborn naturethoughts and feelings projected into objectivity and haunting the sacred place in the same way as thoughts and feeling of another kind, but of equal intensity, haunt the scenes of some past suffering or crime. The presence in these consecrated buildings, the presence evoked by the performance of traditional rites, the presence inherent in a sacramental object, name or formulaall these are real presences, but real presences, not of God or the Avatar, but of something which, though it may reflect the divine Reality, is yet less and other than it.
Dulcis Jesu memoria
1.25 - ADVICE TO PUNDIT SHASHADHAR, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
MASTER: "If there is butter, there must be buttermilk also. If you think of butter, you must also think of buttermilk along with it; for there cannot be any butter without buttermilk. Just so, if you accept the Nitya, you must also accept the Lila. It is the process of negation and affirmation. You realize the Nitya by negating the Lila. Then you affirm the Lila, seeing in it the manifestation of the Nitya. One attains this state after realizing Reality in both aspects: Personal and Impersonal. The Personal is the embodiment of Chit, Consciousness; and the Impersonal is the Indivisible Satchidananda.
"Brahman alone has become everything. Therefore to be vijnni this world is a 'mansion of myrth'. But to the Jnni it is a 'framework of illusion'. Ramprasad described the world as a 'framework of illusion'. Another man said to him by way of retort: This very world is a mansion of myrth;
--
PUNDIT: "Sir, how does one get rid of callousness? Laughter makes me think of muscles and nerves. Grief makes me think of the nervous system."
MASTER (smiling): "That is why Narayan Shastri used to say, The harmful effect of the study of the scriptures is that it encourages reasoning and arguing.'"
--
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."
Pundit Shashadhar entered the room with one or two friends and saluted the Master.
1.25 - Describes the great gain which comes to a soul when it practises vocal prayer perfectly. Shows how God may raise it thence to things supernatural., #The Way of Perfection, #Saint Teresa of Avila, #Christianity
are addressing, and who we are that are daring to address so great a Lord. To think of this and other
similar things, such as how little we have served Him and how great is our obligation to serve Him,
is mental prayer. Do not think of it as one more thing with an outlandish name 96and do not let the
name frighten you. To recite the Paternoster and the Ave Maria, or any other petition you like, is
--- Overview of verb think_of
The verb think of has 6 senses (first 5 from tagged texts)
1. (53) remember, think of ::: (keep in mind for attention or consideration; "Remember the Alamo"; "Remember to call your mother every day!"; "Think of the starving children in India!")
2. (26) entertain, think of, toy with, flirt with, think about ::: (take into consideration, have in view; "He entertained the notion of moving to South America")
3. (26) think of, repute, regard as, look upon, look on, esteem, take to be ::: (look on as or consider; "she looked on this affair as a joke"; "He thinks of himself as a brilliant musician"; "He is reputed to be intelligent")
4. (20) think of, have in mind, mean ::: (intend to refer to; "I'm thinking of good food when I talk about France"; "Yes, I meant you when I complained about people who gossip!")
5. (16) think up, think of, dream up, hatch, concoct ::: (devise or invent; "He thought up a plan to get rich quickly"; "no-one had ever thought of such a clever piece of software")
6. think of ::: (choose in one's mind; "Think of any integer between 1 and 25")
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A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master(1988) - I like to think of this movie as the second hour and a half of "A Nightmare on Elm Street 3. Aside from some new actors and actresses, the sequel is outwardly similar to its predecessor: in story and cinematography. Although Freddy is dead and buried in the waking world, hes still very much ali...
True Romance(1993) - It was directed with energetic skill by Top Gun Tony Scott, but this breathtaking 1993 thriller (think of it as an adolescent crime fantasy on steroids) has Quentin Tarantino written all over it. True Romance is really part of a loose trilogy that includes Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, with a cra...
Whiteboyz(1999) - What do you do if you're a white guy in a white town who happens to love black music? Flip (Danny Hoch) is a middle-class kid from the Iowa corn belt, but he doesn't think of himself as just another guy from farm country. Flip loves hip-hop, and he longs to be respected as a hard-core rapper. But a...
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Dance with Devils -- -- Brain's Base -- 12 eps -- Original -- Harem Demons Supernatural Romance Vampire Shoujo -- Dance with Devils Dance with Devils -- Ritsuka Tachibana has always been a good student, so she is completely shocked when she is suddenly summoned by the student council. Even more, they seem to think of Ritsuka as a troublemaker. Led by the handsome Rem Kaginuki, the student council—also consisting of Urie Sogami, Shiki Natsumizaka and Mage Nanashiro—tries to question her, but it soon becomes clear that they have ulterior motives. -- -- However, this is only the beginning. When her mother gets kidnapped, her life is turned upside down, and Ritsuka gets drawn into a world of vampires and devils. Both groups are searching for the "Grimoire," a forbidden item allowing its owner to rule the world. The return of her brother Lindo from overseas gives her hope, but even he appears to be hiding something. In a world filled with secrets, Ritsuka questions whom she can trust in this dark musical tale, while the handsome and dangerous members of the student council compete for her attention. -- -- -- Licensor: -- Funimation -- 97,898 6.33
Dorohedoro -- -- MAPPA -- 12 eps -- Manga -- Action Comedy Horror Magic Fantasy Seinen -- Dorohedoro Dorohedoro -- Hole—a dark, decrepit, and disorderly district where the strong prey on the weak and death is an ordinary occurrence—is all but befitting of the name given to it. A realm separated from law and ethics, it is a testing ground to the magic users who dominate it. As a race occupying the highest rungs of their society, the magic users think of the denizens of Hole as no more than insects. Murdered, mutilated, and made experiments without a second thought, the powerless Hole dwellers litter the halls of Hole's hospital on a daily basis. -- -- Possessing free access to and from the cesspool, and with little challenge to their authority, the magic users appear indomitable to most—aside for a few. Kaiman, more reptile than man, is one such individual. He hunts them on a heedless quest for answers with only a trusted pair of bayonets and his immunity to magic. Cursed by his appearance and tormented by nightmares, magic users are his only clue to restoring his life to normal. With his biggest obstacle being his stomach, his female companion Nikaidou, who runs the restaurant Hungry Bug, is his greatest ally. -- -- Set in a gritty world of hellish design, Dorohedoro manages a healthy blend of comedy and lightheartedness with death and carnage. Taking plenty of twists and turns while following the lives of Hole's residents, it weaves a unique world of unearthly origin and dreary appearance not for the squeamish or easily disturbed. -- -- 303,473 8.10
Dorohedoro -- -- MAPPA -- 12 eps -- Manga -- Action Comedy Horror Magic Fantasy Seinen -- Dorohedoro Dorohedoro -- Hole—a dark, decrepit, and disorderly district where the strong prey on the weak and death is an ordinary occurrence—is all but befitting of the name given to it. A realm separated from law and ethics, it is a testing ground to the magic users who dominate it. As a race occupying the highest rungs of their society, the magic users think of the denizens of Hole as no more than insects. Murdered, mutilated, and made experiments without a second thought, the powerless Hole dwellers litter the halls of Hole's hospital on a daily basis. -- -- Possessing free access to and from the cesspool, and with little challenge to their authority, the magic users appear indomitable to most—aside for a few. Kaiman, more reptile than man, is one such individual. He hunts them on a heedless quest for answers with only a trusted pair of bayonets and his immunity to magic. Cursed by his appearance and tormented by nightmares, magic users are his only clue to restoring his life to normal. With his biggest obstacle being his stomach, his female companion Nikaidou, who runs the restaurant Hungry Bug, is his greatest ally. -- -- Set in a gritty world of hellish design, Dorohedoro manages a healthy blend of comedy and lightheartedness with death and carnage. Taking plenty of twists and turns while following the lives of Hole's residents, it weaves a unique world of unearthly origin and dreary appearance not for the squeamish or easily disturbed. -- -- -- Licensor: -- Netflix -- 303,473 8.10
Hataraku Maou-sama! 2nd Season -- -- - -- ? eps -- Light novel -- Comedy Demons Supernatural Romance Fantasy -- Hataraku Maou-sama! 2nd Season Hataraku Maou-sama! 2nd Season -- Second season of Hataraku Maou-sama! -- TV - ??? ??, ???? -- 98,137 N/ADance with Devils -- -- Brain's Base -- 12 eps -- Original -- Harem Demons Supernatural Romance Vampire Shoujo -- Dance with Devils Dance with Devils -- Ritsuka Tachibana has always been a good student, so she is completely shocked when she is suddenly summoned by the student council. Even more, they seem to think of Ritsuka as a troublemaker. Led by the handsome Rem Kaginuki, the student council—also consisting of Urie Sogami, Shiki Natsumizaka and Mage Nanashiro—tries to question her, but it soon becomes clear that they have ulterior motives. -- -- However, this is only the beginning. When her mother gets kidnapped, her life is turned upside down, and Ritsuka gets drawn into a world of vampires and devils. Both groups are searching for the "Grimoire," a forbidden item allowing its owner to rule the world. The return of her brother Lindo from overseas gives her hope, but even he appears to be hiding something. In a world filled with secrets, Ritsuka questions whom she can trust in this dark musical tale, while the handsome and dangerous members of the student council compete for her attention. -- -- 97,898 6.33
Lovely� -- Complex -- -- Toei Animation -- 24 eps -- Manga -- Comedy Romance Shoujo -- Lovely� -- Complex Lovely� -- Complex -- Love is unusual for Koizumi Risa and Ootani Atsushi, who are both striving to find their ideal partner in high school—172 cm tall Koizumi is much taller than the average girl, and Ootani is much shorter than the average guy at 156 cm. To add to their plights, their crushes fall in love with each other, leaving Koizumi and Ootani comically flustered and heartbroken. To make matters worse, they're even labeled as a comedy duo by their homeroom teacher due to their personalities and the stark difference in their heights, and their classmates even think of their arguments as sketches. -- -- Lovely� -- Complex follows Koizumi and Ootani as they encourage each other in finding love and become close friends. Apart from their ridiculous antics, they soon find out an unexpected similarity in their music and fashion tastes. Maybe they possess a chemistry yet unknown, but could love ever bloom between the mismatched pair? -- -- -- Licensor: -- Discotek Media -- TV - Apr 7, 2007 -- 452,926 8.05
Rekka no Honoo -- -- Studio Pierrot -- 42 eps -- Manga -- Action Adventure Martial Arts Shounen Super Power -- Rekka no Honoo Rekka no Honoo -- Most people think that ninjas are a thing of the past, but Rekka Hanabishi wishes otherwise. Although he comes from a family that makes fireworks, he likes to think of himself as a self-styled, modern-day ninja. Sounds like fun, right? Maybe not. Rekka ends up in lots of fights because he once made the bold announcement that if someone can defeat him, he will become their servant. -- -- Then one day, Rekka meets Yanagi Sakoshita, a gentle girl with the ability to heal any wound or injury. Their meeting sets off a chain of events, which culminate into a shocking discovery. Rekka is the last surviving member of a legendary ninja clan that was wiped out centuries ago. Even more astonishing than being an actual ninja, he also wields the power to control fire. What does this mean for Rekka? Who are these strange people after him and Yanagi? Find out in Rekka no Honoo! -- -- Licensor: -- Discotek Media, VIZ Media -- 55,567 7.36
Sentouin, Hakenshimasu! -- -- J.C.Staff -- 12 eps -- Light novel -- Action Comedy Fantasy -- Sentouin, Hakenshimasu! Sentouin, Hakenshimasu! -- Always bring a gun to a sword fight! -- -- With world domination nearly in their grasp, the Supreme Leaders of the Kisaragi Corporation—an underground criminal group turned evil megacorp—have decided to try their hands at interstellar conquest. A quick dice roll nominates their chief operative, Combat Agent Six, to be the one to explore an alien planet...and the first thing he does when he gets there is change the sacred incantation for a holy ritual to the most embarrassing thing he can think of. -- -- But evil deeds are business as usual for Kisaragi operatives, so if Six wants a promotion and a raise, he'll have to work much harder than that! For starters, he'll have to do something about the other group of villains on the planet, who are calling themselves the "Demon Lord's Army" or whatever. After all, this world doesn't need two evil organizations! -- -- (Source: Yen Press, edited) -- -- Licensor: -- Funimation -- 116,577 7.15
Tenchi Souzou Design-bu -- -- Asahi Production -- 12 eps -- Manga -- Slice of Life Comedy Fantasy Seinen -- Tenchi Souzou Design-bu Tenchi Souzou Design-bu -- In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. He also sought after a wide variety of animals to populate the planet. However, he felt that it was too tiresome to think of new ideas within his criteria. To address this problem, God appointed an organization—the Heaven's Design Team—to do the work instead! -- -- Shimoda is a newly-hired angel who serves as the mediator between God and the design team. As he steps into his role, he witnesses his coworkers conceive interesting ideas for many unique life forms according to God's desires. From giraffes and snakes to birds, anteaters, and everything in between, the possibilities for different animal species are endless! -- -- 48,634 7.16
All I Do Is Think of You
Dear Diz (Every Day I Think of You)
Don't Think of Me
Do You Ever Think of Me
Do You Think of Me?
Every Time I Think of You
I Often Think of Piroschka
I Think of You
I Think of You (disambiguation)
Of Late I Think of Cliffordville
The Sea Is a Good Place to Think of the Future
Think of England
Think of Me
Think of Me (film)
Think of Me / No More Tears
Think of the children
Think of You
Think of You (Chris Young and Cassadee Pope song)
Think of You (Usher song)
Think of You (Whigfield song)
We'll Think of Something
We Couldn't Think of a Title
When I Think of You
When I Think of You (Lee Ryan song)
Who Do You Think Of?
You'll Think of Me
You Didn't Like It Because You Didn't Think of It
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