"[The goal is] "liberation from the bondage of rebirth. According to the Vedantists the self, which they call the atman and we call the soul, is distinct from the body and its senses, distinct from the mind and its intelligence; it is not part of the Absolute, for the Absolute, being infinite, can have no parts but the Absolute itself. It is uncreated; it has existed form eternity and when at least it has cast off the seven veils of ignorance will return to the infinitude from which it came"
"There is a beautiful expression of this in the Chandogya Upanishad: 'There is this City of Brahman, (that is the body), and in this city there is a shrine, and in that shrine there is a small lotus, and in that lotus there is a small space, (akasa). Now what exists within that small space, that is to be sought, that is to be understood.' This is the great discovery of the Upanishads, this inner shrine, this guha, or cave of the heart, where the inner meaning of life, of all human existence, is to be found."
"In profound meditation, they found, when consciousness is so acutely focused that it is utterly withdrawn from the body and mind, it enters a kind of singularity in which the sense of a separate ego disappears. In this state, the supreme climax of meditation, the seers discovered a core of consciousness beyond time and change. They called it simply Atman, the Self."
The utmost mission of Mind
is to train our obscure consciousness which has emerged out of the dark prison of Matter, to enlighten its blind instincts, random intuitions, vague perceptions till it shall become capable of this greater light and this higher ascension. Mind is a passage, not a culmination
“A human being is part of the whole, called by us the “Universe,” a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts, and feelings, as something separated from the rest–a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
“I remind you again, the only difference between the sage and yourself is you see the world and you identify with it. You think it’s real.
A sage sees the world and he knows it’s a superimposition upon Consciousness. So he identifies with Consciousness.
is they are identified with their body but are in ignorance of the Soul behind the Body
"And upon the inner realm of the spirit your destiny is to regain the lost divine perfection which is your eternal state, for you have your origin from that supreme cosmic being, that tremendous imponderable cosmic being, the cosmic power and intelligence which is the sum totality of all that is auspicious, beautiful, good, pure and holy. That is the Supreme Being. You are part of it. You are rooted in that. You live, move and have your being in that Supreme Being, whether you know it or not"
