Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)

 "In his writings, Tagore scarcely mentions the Puranas or the Bhagavad Gita, two popular scriptural texts often referred to by Hindus of his time. Instead, he focused primarily on man’s oneness with God. He was obviously influenced by the monism of the Upanishads. Again and again, he repeated that humanity’s mission on this physical plane is to merge with God. In Sadhana he states, “Man becomes perfect man, he attains his fullest expression, when his soul realizes itself in the Infinite being who is Avih, whose very essence is expression.” From Tagore’s perspective, man is constantly evolving, and divine union is his assured destination. “Religion only finds itself when it touches the Brahman in man, ” Tagore observes in The Religion of Man, “otherwise it has no reason to exist.” In Sadhana, he writes, “This is the ultimate end of man, to find the One which is in him, which is his truth, which is his soul; the key with which he opens the gate of the spiritual life.” Bits and pieces of his writings taken together outline his overall concept of man’s spiritual path, which might be summarized as follows: Life is man’s journey toward the realization of his fullest potential, which is union with God. That journey is best facilitated by the avoidance of worldly distraction."