1
I cannot reiterate enough that the fortunes, events,
and experiences of human existence are controlled by higher laws, that there is
meaning and purpose in them, and that it is the business of human intelligence
to seek out and learn the reasons for them.
2
Let us not betray the good that is in us by a
cowardly submission to the bad that is in society. (13-2.341)
3
The experiences which come to him and the
circumstances in which he finds himself are not meaningless. They usually have a
personal karmic lesson for him and should be studied much more than books. He
must try to understand impersonally the inner significance behind these events.
Their meaning can be ascertained by trying to see them impartially, by
evaluating the forces which are involved in them, by profound reflection, and by
prayer. Each man gets his special set of experiences, which no one else gets.
Each life is individual and gets from the law of recompense those which it
really needs, not those which someone else needs. The way in which he reacts to
the varied pleasant and unpleasant situations which develop in everyday life
will be a better index to the understanding he has gained than any mystical
visions painted by the imagination. (13-1.46)
4
I am not one of those who deplore the modern way of
life, who regret its increasing Americanization because of its emphasis on
mechanical gadgets and conveniences. These things are good. But I do deplore the
lack of a sense of proportion in pursuing these things, the lack of measure when
these constitute the sole purpose of living.
5
Hope is the scaffolding of life. But unless the
hands go out in action we may stand upon it forever yet the building will never
be erected. That is why we who seek for Truth must work interiorly and work
intensely amid the common mortar and bricks of mundane existence. Our dreams of
a diviner life are prophetic, but we turn them to realities only when we turn
our hands to the tasks and disciplines presented by the world. (13-2.390)
5
Every new circumstance or happening in his life has
some message from the Infinite Mind for him or some lesson to convey to him or
some test to strengthen him. It is for him to seek out this inner significance
and to re-adjust his thinking and actions in accordance with it. (13-1.121)
6
Where so many creatures are at early stages of
descent into ego-experience and ego-development, it is foolish to expect them to
respond to teachings suitable for advanced stages alone--where the need is for
growing release from the ego. The first group naturally and inevitably has
different, even opposing, outlooks, trends, ideas, beliefs, inclinations, and
desires from those of the second one. It wants to fatten the ego, whereas the
other wants to thin it down. To condemn it as wrongly directed is ignorant,
impractical, and mistaken. If the history of mankind has teemed with war and
bloodshed in the past, part of the cause can be found here. But that same
history moves also in cycles. We stand today between two cycles, two eras, two
cultures. The next one will not only be new; it will also be brighter and better
in every way. (13-4.101)
7
He is to meet each experience with his mind,
remembering his relationship to the higher self and, consequently, the higher
purpose of all experiences. He is never to forget the adventure in identity and
consciousness that life is. (13-1.333)
8
The student must place this seed-thought in his mind
and hold to it throughout the day. He need not fear that he will lose anything
material thereby. Let him remember the definite promise of the Overself speaking
through Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita: "I look after the interests and
safety of those who are perpetually engaged on My service, and whose thoughts
are always about Me and Me alone." He will learn by direct experience the
literal meaning of the term Providence--"that which provides." (23-6.154)
9
There is only room in your mind for a single thought
at a time. Take care, then, that it be a positive one.
10
Let others not mistakenly believe that he has
adopted a non-cooperative attitude, has fled from reality, renounced a human
existence in exchange for an illusory one in an imaginary world, or deserted the
paths of sanity and reason. If he wants to live in comparatively outer peace
with them, he must make certain outer concessions. It is better to behave as
unprovokingly as possible, to hide his deeper thoughts behind a screen, and to
avoid being labelled as a religious fanatic or intellectual faddist. It is
especially unwise to uncover one's philosophical thoughts before everybody. He
must try to adjust himself smoothly to his environment. This is a hard task, but
he must not shirk it and must do all that can be done in the given
circumstances. He must fulfil his reasonable obligations towards society, must
co-operate in turning the great wheel of human activity, must contribute his
share in achieving the general welfare; but he should reserve the right to do so
in his own way and not according to society's dictation. And because he has
outstripped those around him in important ways, because he is already thinking
centuries ahead of them, it is unlikely that he will succeed wholly in fending
off their criticisms or even in avoiding their hostility. For with all his
endeavours to placate them and with all his sacrifices for the sake of harmony,
human nature being what it is--a mixture of good and evil, of the materialistic
and the holy--crises may sometimes arise when society will attack him. If the
inner voice of conscience bids him do so, then he will perforce have to make a
firm stand for principles. It is then that he must summon enough courage to do
what is unorthodox or to say what is unpopular and display enough independence
to disregard tradition or ignore opinion. Up to a certain point he may walk with
the crowd, but beyond it his feet must not move a step. Here he must claim the
privilege of self-determination, concerning which there can be no compromise;
for here, at the sacred bidding of the Overself, he must begin to live his own
life. Consequently, although he will always be a good citizen he may not always
be a popular one. (13-2.340)
11
Should anyone lazily, passively, quietly, and
cowardly accept things as they are? Or should he challenge them, rebel against
them and criticize them irreverently, even scornfully? Are they correct, those
saints who declare--or even Stoic thinkers like Seneca who accept--all suffering
and pain not only as God's will for us but also as our own will? Seneca says,
"Take all things as if desired and asked for." (He referred to tribulations.)
But philosophy teaches that if you accept life do not accept blindly.
Seek the lesson, the instruction, the education, and karmic reason and cause
behind it. Add knowledge to your faith.
12
Out of suffering may come the transmutation of
values, even the transfiguration of character. But these developments are
possible only if the man co-operates. If he does not, then the suffering is in
vain, fruitless.
13
When a man is crushed to the ground, when his ego
is deflated and he calls out in sheer desperation for guidance or for help, the
answer may not come to him in the form that he wants or expects; it may come in
the form of clues and hints at best, of suggestions. It is for him then to
patiently take them up and follow them to where they lead. The suffering which
has come to him is not meaningless. There is a sublime rationality behind it,
even if it is only the specific effect of a cause which he set going in previous
incarnations.
14
You may have lost your long-held fortune, your
wife may have shamefully betrayed you, your enemies may have spread false
accusations against you, while your private world may have tumbled to pieces
over your head. Still there remains something you have not lost, someone who has
not betrayed you, someone who believes only the best about you, and an inner
world that ever remains steady and unperturbed. That thing and that being are
none other than your own Overself, which you may find within you, which you may
turn to when in anguish, and which will strengthen you to disregard the clamant
whine of the personal distress. If you do not do this, there is nothing else you
can do. Whither can you turn save to the inner divinity? (13-1.313)
15
It is pardonable to wish a change of situation
when it is grievous but it is better to enquire first what message the situation
holds for us. Otherwise we may be attempting to elude the Overself's directive
and thereby incurring the danger of an even greater disaster.
16
What matters is not only the quality of a man's
consciousness but also the quality of his day-to-day living, not only the rare
special mystical ecstasies that may grace his experience but also his
relationship with the contemporary world and his attitude toward it. It is not
enough to be a mystic: he cannot avoid the common road which all men must
travel. In brief, can he be in the world but not of it? Can he sanctify the
ordinary, the customary; those actions, this business, that very work for a
livelihood; the contacts with family, friends, critics, and enemies? After all
he is a human being with personal concerns; he cannot live for
twenty-four hours a day in abstract ideas alone, or in religious withdrawnness:
he has a body of flesh, a relevant duty or responsibility to perform in the
world outside. (13-2.9)
17
Philosophy is naturally best expounded out of
gaiety of heart at the universe's wonderful meaning; but its lessons are best
received, and its discipline best enforced, in the sadness of mind which comes
to thought over the conditions of life today. (13-4.278)
18
The kind of experience which man most dislikes to
have is the very kind which forces him to seek out its cause, and thus begin
unwittingly the search for life's meaning. The disappointments in his emotional
life, the sufferings in his physical body, and the misfortunes in his personal
fate ought to teach him to discriminate more carefully, to examine more deeply,
and in the end to feel more sympathy with the sorrowing.
19
A single mistake in the rejection of an
opportunity or in the choice of direction at a crossroad may lead to a
quarter-lifetime's suffering. The student may quite easily discover by analysis
the smaller lessons embodied in that suffering and yet may quite overlook the
larger lessons, for he may fail to ascribe major blame to the early rejection or
choice. He may still not realize how it all stems out of that primary root, how
each error in conduct that naturally happens after it becomes a channel for a
further one, and that in its turn for still another, so that the descent is
eventually inevitable and its attendant sorrows become cumulative. Thus all
traces back to the initial foundational error, which is the most important one
because it is the choice of wrong direction, because such a wrong choice means
that the more he travels through life, the more mistaken all his later conduct
becomes. (13-2.198)
20
Poverty is a stiff test of moral fibre. (13-2.320)
21
The failures which everyone has left behind
him--whether in career, relationship, or the quest itself--do not necessarily
represent wasted effort. From each of them he can salvage the tuition for a
fresh start, the caution for a wiser one, and more knowledge of himself.
22
It is not always possible to judge appearances.
There are failures in life who are successes in character. There are successes
in life who are failures in character. (13-1.416)
23
He will learn to measure the worth of another man
or of an experience by the resulting hindrance to, or stimulation of, his own
growth into a diviner consciousness. (13-2.417)
24
Beware of your thoughts, for when long sustained
and strongly felt, they may be reflected in external situations or embodied in
other humans brought into your life. But they cannot, of themselves and devoid
of physical acts, make the whole pattern of your life--only
25
The experiences of life, ennobling some people but
degrading others, can in the end affect our thoughts, desires, and feelings only
as we let them. It is for us to say whether they shall call forth our divinity
or our brutality. Our attitude of mind helps to determine our experience of the
world.
26
If you live inwardly in love and harmony
with yourself and with all others, if you persistently reject all contrary ideas
and negative appearances, then this love and this harmony must manifest
themselves outwardly in your environment. (13-1.367)
27
When we are brought face to face with the
consequences of our wrong-doing, we would like to avoid the suffering or at
least to diminish it. It is impossible to say with any precision how far this
can be done for it depends partly on Grace, but it also depends partly on
ourselves. We can help to modify and sometimes even to eliminate those bad
consequences if we set going certain counteracting influences. First, we must
take to heart deeply the lessons of our wrong-doing. We should blame no one and
nothing outside of ourselves, our own moral weaknesses and our own mental
infirmities, and we should give ourselves no chance for self-deception. We
should feel all the pangs of remorse and constant thoughts of repentance.
Second, we must forgive others their sins against us if we would be forgiven
ourselves. That is to say, we must have no bad feelings against anyone
whatsoever or whomsoever. Third, we must think constantly and act accordingly
along the line which points in an opposite direction to our wrong-doing. Fourth,
we must pledge ourselves by a sacred vow to try never again to commit
such wrong-doing. If we really mean that pledge, we will often bring it before
the mind and memory and thus renew it and keep it fresh and alive. Both the
thinking in the previous point and the pledging in this point must be as intense
as possible. Fifth, if need be and if we wish to do so, we may pray to the
Overself for the help of its Grace and pardon in this matter; but we should not
resort to such prayer as a matter of course. It should be done only at the
instigation of a profound inner prompting and under the pressure of a hard outer
situation. (13-1.388)
28
What happens to a man is important, but not quite
so important as what he makes of it.
29
Why should we individually undergo every possible
experience? Can we not, by creative imagination, intuitive feeling, and correct
thinking save ourselves the need of passing through some experiences? This is
so, but it is so only for those who have developed such faculties to a
sufficient degree. (13-1.61)
30
When painful experiences are undergone by mind on
the lower levels of evolution, very little is learnt from those experiences--and
that little slowly. When the same experiences are undergone by mind on the
higher level, much is learnt from them--and learnt quickly. This is because in
the one case there is no desire to learn the causes of that suffering, and no
capacity to learn them even when the causes are evident; whereas in the other
case, there is a keen desire to master the lessons and a prepared attitude
wherewith to receive them. When, therefore, the really earnest disciple who has
asked for a quickened advance on the Quest finds that all kinds of experiences
begin to follow each other for a period, he should recognize that this is part
of the answer to his call. He will be made to feel loss as well as gain, bliss
as well as pain, success as well as failure, temptation as well as tribulation
at different times and in different degrees. He needs both kinds of experience
if his development is to be a balanced one. But because he is still human, he
will learn more from his sufferings than from his pleasures. And because their
memory will last longer, he will not pass through this period of quickened
experiences and extreme vicissitudes without much complaint. Each of those
experiences represents a chance for him, not only to conserve what he has
already gained, but to pass to a farther point where he can gain something new.
(13-1.269)
31
We shall not indulge the vain hope of guiding all
humanity out of the chaos in which it now finds itself, for humanity will refuse
to follow the light which is itself guiding us. Deluded by its lower nature,
blinded by its hollow traditions and hypocritical conventions, indifferent to
the still small voice of truth merely because the voice of untruth blares more
impressively through the thousand loudspeakers of vested interests, the human
race will continue to flounder confusedly and to suffer needlessly. But here and
there are individuals who will nevertheless welcome the light we bring. For
their sake we must patiently hold the torch aloft.
32
A Prayer For The World:
In this time of confusion and anxiety, of strife and trouble, it is our holy duty to remember our dependence on Thee, O real Governor of the world!
We realize that the darkness in the world today has come because so many have forgotten their dependence on Thee.
Those whose positions of power or influence have placed them in the nations' councils need, in their grave responsibility, the help of Thy communion and the benefit of Thy guidance as never before, that they may not stray into error or weakness.
Therefore, we shall daily pray for them and for ourselves, in minutes of private worship or silent meditation that all may regain the feeling of Thy presence. We shall constantly confess our shortcomings and faults, but we promise to strive to better and ennoble our lives. We shall endeavour to cast out all evil thinking and materialistic belief.
Our need of Thy mercy and grace is vast. Show us the way to win them, O Infinite Father of all beings, Whose love is our last resource. (13-4.306)
33
Powerful forces in the heaven worlds are gathering
for a transmission and will enter our world at an appropriate time, which is
fixed and measurable within this century. These forces will stimulate new
thoughts and new feelings, new intuitions and new ideals of a religious,
mystical, and philosophic kind in humanity. It will verily be the opening of a
new epoch on earth, comparable to that which was opened 2000 years ago by the
coming of Christ. The impulse will bring science into religion and religion into
science: each will sustain the other and both, purified and vitalized, will
guide humanity to a better and truer life. Insofar as science is an expression
of man's desire to know, it is in perfect harmony with the highest spirituality.
Only when it is unguided by his intuitive feelings, his heart, and put at the
service of his animal nature alone, does it become anti-spiritual and bring him
self-destruction as a punishment. (13-4.352)
34
The time has come when education should re-educate
itself, when medicine should give Nature's herbs their due and demand that all
foods be rid of their added poisons, when the body-soul relationship should be
correctly revealed by psychology and psychiatry, when for their health's sake
and their soul's sake human beings should stop devouring corpses. The events and
changes which have come on the world scene since the turn of the century stagger
the mind, but those which will come before the end of it will be even more
startling. (13-4.226)
35
The thing that really matters in the life of a
nation is the quality of its leaders, the character of those who guide its
destinies. Young men may not realize that enthusiasm alone is not enough, that
character always does and always will count, that he who fits himself for
greatness will see whole kingdoms delivered into his hands. Inspiration brings
fortune in its train and inspired teachers will always rise. (13-2.504)
36
What does the future hold for mankind?--this is a
question often asked and variously answered. One of the answers is given by
Hinduism which says that the present period is the Kali Yuga--that is, the iron
age--when life is at its darkest, man more corrupt, sinful, and wicked than
ever, spirituality, religion, morals at their lowest ebb, sufferings,
catastrophes, diseases at their highest tide. Moreover it says we are only at
the first quarter of the iron age and we still have the other three quarters to
go and that as we go farther into Kali Yuga the conditions will get worse and
man more wicked. However Hinduism also says in its scripture the Bhagavad
Gita, through the person (mythological though he may be) of Sri Krishna,
that the Avatar--one who descends from a higher plane into human incarnation to
bring in a new and better period--will come near or at the end of the iron age
and use his power and knowledge to usher in the reign of goodness and
righteousness, Truth, and above all Peace. Everywhere throughout the world today
we see violence, agitation, and destruction, and this too, according to
Hinduism, is to be expected in the Kali Yuga. Therefore attempts to end war are
unlikely to meet with much success until the Avatar comes. If however we go not
to Hinduism, but to the astrologers, and ask for their predictions, the story
changes, brightens, and becomes full of hope. For they say we are entering the
Aquarian age, the age which spreads knowledge, goodness, harmony, and peace. It
might be asked, "What does philosophy say?" Its answer is that there is
something of truth in both the Hindu and the astrological prognostications.
First the evils of war, violence, destruction, etc., will come to a climax with
the materialization of nuclear war. Too much has been created on the mental
plane and is being created not to find its way back to earth again in physical
explosion. Only after a nuclear war with the major part of the human population
wiped out will it be possible for a new start to be made, will mankind have
learnt the lesson of substituting goodwill for ill will. Secondly, philosophy
says that there are ages within ages--that is to say minor, lesser, and shorter
periods within the great period--and we will after the nuclear war and after the
chaos it brings enter one of these better periods. (13-4.421)
37
If industrial civilization has enriched our outer
life it has also impoverished the inner life. It need not have done so if we had
brought about a proper equilibrium between the two and if we had done so under
the light of the guiding principle of what we are here on earth for. (13-2.140)
The composer of music or poetry, the thinker or sculptor who brings into the outer world what he has felt, glimpsed, thought in his own inner world, experiences a certain kind of satisfaction by that very act. The craftsman or the artisan who is able to make something by his own handiwork shares a measure of this satisfaction too. But the mass of workers packed away into a factory and occupied solely with machinery repeating the same movements dozens and dozens of times can hardly hope to get even an inkling of this satisfaction. If such monotonous work is essential, then let it be performed at intervals and let there be a rhythm of recuperation where the workers can return to themselves.
38
Those whose good fortune has given them enough to
satisfy many desires ought not wait for old age to see how these satisfactions
were passing and uncertain. They ought to do the heroic thing and detach
themselves from the desire while there is still vigour in their feeling and
their will.
39
For those without a higher viewpoint, the prospect
of old age is a difficult one. The clever attractive modern cosmetics may take
the years off a woman's appearance, but the years remain--oppressive and
disturbing--within her consciousness. Early enthusiasm for living must, in the
end, give way to a saddened recognition of our mortality. Reflection warns both
woman and man of the frustrations awaiting human desire, but it also tells them
of the compensations. These, however, must be earned. Foremost comes peace of
mind. (13-3.177)
40
Every man over a certain age is under sentence of
death. Some men below that age are equally threatened. Should not both groups be
sobered enough by such a remembrance to ask "Why am I here?" (13-3.208)
41
Our elders are worthy of respect, but their
counsel is worthy of heeding only if they are old in soul as well as body, only
if they have extracted through many lifetimes all the wisdom possible from each
one. Experience without reflection misses most of its value, reflection without
depth misses much of its value, depth without impartiality may miss the chief
point. For all our experience, our life in the body and world, is a device to
bring out our soul. (13-3.200)
42
It is not pleasant to reach old age. One tires
easily--not only physically but also mentally--and one begins to weary of the
routines of merely living, performing similar acts day after day. I speak of
course of the average person, mass humanity--but one who has kept his mind
alive, alert, eager to know, learn, and understand, who has developed his inmost
resources cultural and spiritual, can never get bored. (13-3.178)
43
Young immature people lack balance, knowledge,
experience, and responsibility so that they are more easily rushed into courses
of action dictated by frantic passion or frenzied emotion. But if they live long
enough, life itself will impose its own disciplines upon them and compel them to
accept adult responsibility and make the necessary growth which goes with it.
Otherwise they may come to write their lives off as failures in the real sense,
which includes the visible results in the world and the invisible moral and
mental consequences in themselves. Until the balance within themselves is got
right, they are liable to make decisions and commit actions which will later be
regretted.
44
I am in much sympathy with rebellions against much
academic education, with protests against its dryness, its narrow limitations,
its rigidities, its stuffiness, and its pedantic quibbling. But unless these
protests and rebellions are led by older persons with enough experience,
maturity, judgement, and balance, they fall into the hands of communists,
na\i\rve liberals, and other politically minded destructive forces.
45
I was critical of the sadhus in India on certain
points--never mind what they were. The differences got aired in several Indian
newspapers at the time rather sensationally, and with much
miscomprehension--even malice. But I also admired them on other points, some of
which I find present today among those young drop-outs who have a religious turn
of mind. They are in rebellion against a materialistic society and refuse to
join it. They remind us that Jesus was a drop-out too. They try to live by
working on self, supporting themselves co-operatively and not competitively,
without ambitions, without insurance, with only a few possessions--by sincerity
and not by appearance.
46
The idea of authority is hotly contested by the
young, who fail to see that it is just as necessary as the idea of non-authority
or freedom. This is true whether it is imposed on us by the higher laws
governing existence or by other persons who are qualified to do so or even
imposed by ourselves in the form of ideals and standards. (13-3.16)
47
Where the physical body is cherished as the sole
reality and made the sole basis for social and political reform, where
hate-driven men advocate physical violence as the sole means of effecting
progress, be sure of the presence of evil forces, dangers to society, ignorant
opponents of truth, and enemies of the Light.
48
Although I deplore the condemnation of everything
bygone, everything old, which is indulged in by so many of the young today, I
agree with them that new times may bring new forms of inspiration and that the
Truth, the Reality, does not necessarily have to be tied to tradition or look
heavy with age or be stiff with the shapes given to it by our forefathers; it
can be new, fresh, vivid, original. I include under this heading not only
religious and metaphysical matters, but also artistic ones. (13-3.14)
49
We live in an age when false statements are passed
off as true ones and when deceptive values are passed off as real ones, when the
dissemination of knowledge is getting more and more into the hands of those who
are themselves too young to wisely instruct the young, too unbalanced to help
the characters of the young, and too theoretical to be able to pass over really
practical information which will help their students. (13-2.606)
50
It is not enough for parents to protect a
child--they should also encourage and stimulate it to awaken spiritually.
(13-2.607)
51
Of what use is an education if it does not teach
the young how to use their minds so as to promote their own welfare, instead of
their own harm? All ought to be made aware of the value and need of emotional
and thought control, of discriminating between destructive or negative thoughts
and constructive or positive ones.
52
Going to school is one thing, getting educated is
another, although they coincide at times. Learning from a teacher is
preparation. Learning from life in the world is observation. Learning from
oneself is intuition. (13-2.605)
53
It is his choice whether to accept the trammels of
family life or the freedom of celibate life. Both conditions have their
advantages and disadvantages, their compensations and difficulties. Each is a
valid form of experience. But because most scriptures of most religions have
been written by monks, their own status has been favoured and set higher. But it
must be repeated: there is no one way which is the only way.
54
In one of his essays, Bacon delivers himself of
the thought that the man who marries gives a hostage to fortune. This is so but
it is part of the picture of the pairs of opposites which is universal
throughout the world and inseparable from human existence. It is yin and
yang--the duality of all manifested life. However there is an aspect of this
topic which he might have included and that is that in marrying the man takes on
another person's burdens in addition to his own. Yet this is equally true of all
other forms of personal association with other human beings--of the hiring of
assistants and the joining of an organization, of the making of friends and
enjoyment of social contacts, of the working in a profession or the maintaining
of a business. In all these activities a man takes on either a little or a large
share of the problems of others.
55
It has been said in The Quest of the
Overself that a married couple should grow together in companionly worship
of the Light. If they do this they have found the basis of true marriage,
successful marriage. Now in India a newly wedded couple are pointed out in the
sky at night by a Brahmin priest, a star called "Vasistharundhati." It is a
pleasant little ceremony and supposed to be auspicious. For Vasishta was a great
sage who lived thousands of years ago, Arundhati was his wife, and their
marriage was a model of its kind in perfect conjugal happiness, wifely devotion,
and mutual spiritual assistance. The ancient records link this star with this
couple in their legend. Now the invention of the telescope has enabled us to
discover that this star, which is the middle one in the tail of Ursa Major, or
the Great Bear, is really a double star; that is, it consists of two separate
stars situated so close to each other as to appear a unit to our naked eyes.
Moreover, it is also a binary star; that is, the pair revolve around a common
centre of gravity. Can we not see a wonderful inner significance in the old
Indian custom? For the marital happiness of Vasistha and his wife was due to
their having found a common centre of spiritual gravity! (13-2.499)