GEMS OF WISDOM

Hindu Meditations & Non-Hindu Meditations

Sri Aurobindo

SRI AUROBINDO "First of all, there is undoubtedly a Truth one and eternal which we are seeking, from which all other truth derives, by the light of which all other truth finds its right place, explanation and relation to the scheme of knowledge. But precisely for that reason it cannot be shut up in a single trenchant formula, it is not likely to be found in its entirety or in all its bearings in any single philosophy or scripture or uttered altogether and for ever by any one teacher, thinker, prophet or Avatar. Nor has it been wholly found by us if our view of it necessitates the intolerant exclusion of the truth underlying other systems; for when we reject passionately, we mean simply that we cannot appreciate and explain. Secondly, this Truth, through it is one and eternal, expresses itself in Time and through the mind of man; therefore every Scripture must necessarily contain two elements, one temporary, perishable, belonging to the ideas of the period and country in which it was produced, the other eternal and imperishable and applicable in all ages and countries. Moreover, in the statement of the Truth the actual form given to it, the system and arrangement, the metaphysical and intellectual mold, the precise expression used must be largely subject to the mutations of Time and cease to have the as e force; for the human intellect modifies itself always, continually dividing and putting together it is obliged to shift its divisions continually and to rearrange its syntheses; it is always leaving old expression and symbol of new or, if it uses the old, it so changes its connotation or at least in its exact content and associations that we can never be quite sure of understanding an ancient book of this kind precisely in the sense and spirit it bore to its contemporaries. What is of entirely permanent value is that which besides being universal has been experienced, lived and seen with a higher than the intellectual vision. I hold it therefore of small importance to extract from the Gita its exact metaphysical connotations as it was understood by the men of the time, - even if that were accurately possible. That it is not possible, is shown by the divergence of the original commentaries which have been and are still being written upon it, for they all agree in each disagreeing with all the others, each finds in the Gita its own system of metaphysics and trend of religious thought. Nor will even the most painstaking and disinterested scholarship and the most luminous theories of the historical development of Indian philosophy save us from inevitable error. but what we can do with profit is to seek in the Gita for the actual living truths it contains, apart from their metaphysical forms, to extract from it what can help us or the world at large and to put it in the most natural and vital form and expression we can find that will be suitable to the mentality and helpful to the spiritual needs of our present day humanity. No doubt in this attempt we may mix a good deal or error born of our own individuality and of the ideas in which we live, as did greater men before us, but if we steep ourselves in the spirit of this great Scripture and, above all, if we have tried to live in that spirit, we may be sure of finding it it as much real truth as we are capable of receiving as well as the spiritual influence and actual help that, personally, we were attended to derive from it. And that is after all Scriptures, religions, philosophies which can be thus constantly renewed, relived, their stuff of permanent truth constantly reshaped and developing humanity, continue to be of living importance to mankind. Essays on The Gita, pp. 4-5

Master Subramuniya

	You have the power to break through the thin veil of delusion into the consciousness of knowing that you, yourself, have been the creator of all you attract.
	Your creative force is of the greatest value. You can build a great reserve of power within your subconscious mind.
	The conscious release of the creative forces through lower channels tends to slow down the physical and mental bodies.
	When you begin to transmute your energies you will have to put your mind at ease, so that the mind will not be at cross purposes with itself.
	Those who practice transmutation awaken many latent talents from within. It becomes second nature to create and express, being in tune with the essence of creative energy.
	The eternal now is the only awareness we have when living in the inner states of mind.
	To consciously understand the functions of the physical body as against an educated subconscious knowing of the emotional unit, coupled with a sub-superconscious cognition of the mind as an object, is the result of transmutation, the essence of Raja Yoga
	The control of the mind and speech is of the greatest importance in the transmutation of the creative energies.
	It is by contemplation, and its final succeeding state, the realization of the Self God, that the rishis of old achieved their revelations.