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Darsana Ten - Verse One

4/3/18

Nirvana Darsana Introduction and verse 1

 

Nirvana is of two kinds:

the pure and the impure.

That which is the pure is devoid of vasana;

similarly, that is impure which is conjoined with vasana.

 

Nataraja Guru’s translation:

 

Emancipation is of two kinds

What is pure and what is impure.

What is without incipient memory factors, that is the pure;     

Likewise, what is qualified by incipient memory factors is the impure.

 

         Nitya starts off the final Darsana with a brief yet most relevant introduction. In it he sets a tone of the crypt, which is certainly implied in the term nirvana, yet the first verse commentary returns to the affirmation of being alive. Narayana Guru himself is evidence of how the dynamism of life is only increased by the reduction of extraneous interests associated with nirvana.

         So far as death is concerned, Nitya emphasizes its central role in an examined existence:

 

In one sense the entire life is a preparation for the final departure. What there is after one dies is a question which can perhaps never be adequately answered.

 

There is nothing in Darsanamala about what might loom on the far side of death. Even death is presented in terms of how it is addressed in the present:

 

In spite of the unpredictability of death, one can prepare for it so that the journey up to a conscious point of life’s final termination can be made abundantly satisfying to oneself and exceedingly beautiful to others.

 

In America, death is often viewed as the ultimate degradation, leading us from a meaningful place in society to a meaningless one. It’s an embarrassment, or worse. To view it as “exceedingly beautiful” is considered morbid. Because of this, end of life issues are fraught with fear and anxiety for many people. Part of a proper preparation is to reframe the subject to bring it to its legitimate place as the culmination of our time on earth:

 

Death is death. Even then a contented elderly person led into silence with an inwardly growing contentment, finally closing his eyes with a thankful smile after watching with satisfaction his many dear ones standing around him with inexpressible love and veneration, is something remarkably beautiful when contrasted with death caused by a road accident or a suicide committed in desperation. In like manner, a well-conceived and personally opted for merger into one’s universal ground is different from dying helplessly, lamenting over the fateful attack of old age and disease. In the present chapter no mention is made of those who have not made a choice of their final exit.

 

Here in the Introduction, Nitya gives us the first definition of the subject matter: “The burning out of the phenomenal mark of individuation is termed in this chapter as nirvana.” This total reduction comes about as a result of a tapering of the psyche described in the two prior darsanas dealing with bhakti and yoga:

 

In the two previous chapters the individual psyche is aligned, or rather realigned, with its cosmic counterpart, at first through the establishment of a bipolarity which is rich in its fragrance of love and devotion. That realignment is further homogenized with a process of contemplative absorption of the individualized personal self in the totality of the universal Self. Now there is only one more step to go, the ceasing to be of a name appended to a form marked by a perishable aggregate of an organism.  

 

         Moving on to the first verse, Nitya equates much of human activity as not much different from that of a programmed robot. When our programs are complete, we are “switched off” for a period, before the next program is taken on. Achieving nirvana is not that kind of turning off, because it opens the psyche to a much vaster interplay:

 

There is another kind of cessation of activity: that is, his return to the source. Thereafter he is not a device and he has no program to perform. This is the case of the release of the imprisoned splendor of the Self from the shackles or bondage of a predetermined role-playing. Such a release is called nirvana.

 

Right at the outset a distinction is made between pure and impure release. Allegorically these imply either coming back or not coming back from a state of absorption. The vasanas that make the release impure call us to return as more enlightened beings to take care of any unfinished business. If and when these promptings have been laid to rest, there is no call to any further activity. Obviously, for those of us who are only moderately dedicated souls, the impure route is the only option.

         Deb opened with a reiteration of the main point, both here and in most peoples’ minds: the nirvana that has no vasanas is the pure nirvana, while all the old memories, imaginings, projections, and so on, are what keep us creating the separation. Without the vasanas, there is no separation. Moni added that when we have interests of any sort, that is a kind of shading, creating distance from Brahman. Deb synthesized their two ideas as “distance is the shadow.”

         I argued that the term impure has an unintended prejudicial taint, since thoughtful people always seek purity and avoid impurities. It’s practically what thinking is for. But that is not necessarily the sole criterion here. Vasanas give our lives depth, a richness we can learn and grow from. We want to live a beautiful, expansive life, offering our best qualities as a contribution to the well being of the world. We hope to enjoy life too, to experience it to the maximum. All these most excellent motives place us solidly in the impure category, but that’s by no means a bad thing. All the sages throughout history who returned to participate with the human race in discovering our liberation were impure to some degree as well. So it’s not as if pure is right and impure is wrong here. Just different.

         Deb countered that the pure nirvana is like the sound of the river underneath our lives. We can have beautiful loving multifaceted lives but when this river rises up, the individual life is going to end. In a pure state the undifferentiated water rises up and we meet it without fear or hesitation.

         Moni had more to add. Humans with the help of knowledge become wise, and with the aid of yoga they are able to cancel happiness and sorrow. Whatever state they are experiencing is the absolute happiness we seek. She cited Ramana Maharshi, who was pure and yet utterly present, as someone who could operate without vasanas.

         Maintaining my position, I pointed out that the course of the river and its bed are determined by the vasanas, so without them you have no definition. Then it’s just water, without any shape. Deb still disagreed—it’s the sound of the water rising up, not the bed or the banks. The water is always there in our lives, because we are it. She referred to the sweet summation of yoga in Nitya’s last paragraph: “when the attainment is without blemish, like pure light, and fully harmonized, as in a love that transcends duality, it is to be understood as pure.” Of course I had to agree, but I hope it doesn’t dismay those like me who know themselves to be far from pure in any sense of the word. Absolute purity has a paradoxical implication of duality: that there are superior and inferior types of people. This leads some people to give up ahead of time: I can’t be totally pure, so I’m not qualified for this wisdom. Yet all are invited to participate in wisdom apprehension, whatever the degree of their burdens.

         Paul played peacemaker, saying the cessation of attending to incoming stimuli along with our ability to react to it in the form of vasanas — that’s a wonderful way to die but an even better way to live. He went on to speak of befriending our insanities. Being self-critical is a particularly heavy vasana, and if we can accept our screw ups as being inevitable due to the natural limitations of an embodied person they will have much less negative impact on us. For that matter, our criticism of others is the same: we should accept their faults as natural as well. He talked about how when his dad was getting dementia, some members of the family couldn’t tolerate it. They got angry or upset and tried to force him to ignore or deny what he was experiencing. Paul was brave enough to listen to his father and sympathize with his plight, without mounting any cover up. He could see that this helped his dad to let go of his anxiety, where the blocking approach made it worse.

         I noted that we are so afraid of making mistakes that we are prone to getting angry with ourselves for even slight transgressions. Instead of holding onto the wrongness of our actions like a misbehaving child, we should see the humor of our follies and laugh them off, along with a large dose of forgiveness. Humor demands a more expansive attitude, one that includes a universalized perspective too.

         Paul wanted to apply that attitude to now. He said if you look at history you can see that 99% of what we think will be proved wrong, so we might as well not hold so tightly to it. Maybe we could even enjoy a laugh. It’s just our best guess of the moment, a small dent in our inevitable ignorance.

         The whole topic reminded Deb of a friend of her friends, who was dying of cancer. As she got more ill, she because more joyous and her inward-going and outward-going both expanded. This can happen even if you are not literally dying but simply accessing a whole new understanding of who you are. It is definitely something we should plan for at the time of death, however.

         Nitya expands on the initial definition of nirvana with some classic imagery:

 

Nirvana literally means ‘burning out’ or ‘extinction’. A candle burns only until there is no more wax left to continue the process of oxidation. From a burned out candle a new candle will not emerge. This is not the case when a plant fruits and its characteristics are posited in a seed. Out of the seed there can again emerge the cyclic life of a plant. Therefore nirvana is sometimes compared to a roasted seed which no longer has the potential to sprout.

 

Those seeds, as you’ll recall, are the very vasanas that get such a bad name. If we were to rename them ‘genetic propensities’ they wouldn’t seem so dire. Similarly, maya still gets unfairly downplayed. Both Nitya and Nataraja Guru cite Professor Betty Heimann, in her Facets of Indian Thought (London: Allen & Unwin, 1963, p. 172) on maya:

 

The Sanskritist must at the outset feel repelled when, for example, the Indian concept of maya is translated as ‘illusion’. The western mind, according to the present use of ‘illusion’ sees here something unreal, deceptive and delusive. Yet this is not even the primary meaning of the Latin word illusio, from the root luclere, ‘to play’. Illusio originally, though this is now forgotten, meant ‘interplay’. As such, but only in its original meaning is it a near equivalent of maya. Maya, the ‘world of the measurables’ (from the root ma, to measure), is a relative and transitory display of forms. In this sense it actually corresponds to illusio, interplay in variant shapes and forms, manifestations of the underlying substance. Illusio, thus interpreted according to its original meaning, truly is analogous to the Sanskrit term lila, ‘play and display’ of the creative urge for world-formation and elusive world-manifestation, as taught in Indian cosmogony. (ISOA, I.435-6)

 

We impure beings are the ones who continue the play of life, which is the purpose of having a universe in the first place. So please don’t feel ashamed: let your light shine forth! Just know that letting go of your shades and blinds allows it to shine even brighter. Nitya gets to this immediately after the dire sounding definition:

 

However, this final cessation does not spell the exit into nothingness. As the glory and grandeur of nirvana is inestimable, a number of analogies are given to describe that state. Lord Buddha compares it to the merging of a dewdrop into the infinitude of the ocean. Jesus Christ compares it to the return of a prodigal son to acknowledge the profound love and compassion of an all-knowing Father. The source or ground of manifestation is also differently described as truth, knowledge, and the blissful delight of pure love, which is the solvent of all dualities.

 

Nataraja Guru has a remarkably poetic image describing this in one of the excerpts I have appended in Part II, from the Integrated Science. Here’s the part that fits with the above images:

 

Like moonlight spread equally on the huts of a quiet and peaceful seaside village, it is the feeling and activity involved in the uniform spreading of sympathy to all life that is the essential element here.

 

Nitya well knew his disciples were the impure sort. I’m sure you all know his letter to Ananda Evans, where he likened us to pigs who loved to frolic in the mud. He even admitted to being better suited to animal husbandry than cultural elitism:

 

If the muddy waters which I turn to my pigs who drink with relish is also to be given to noble men and ladies who would appreciate pure and distilled water, I need someone who can filter and remove the dirt from what I cater to people. I wouldn’t stop anyone from doing that. I am not good at it.

 

In case you don’t have it on your fridge, the full letter resides on Nitya’s website, here: http://aranya.me/uploads/3/4/8/6/34868315/letter_to_ananda.pdf.

         Nitya goes on to show the degrees of absorption at least begin with a sense of satisfaction, before that is also discarded in favor of perfect attunement:

 

The first and immediate experiential recognition of the release comes from the awareness of a total satisfaction or fulfillment. This ecstatic state of beatitude is called nirvritti, boundlessness. From there on there is no role to play, no program to be fulfilled, no mount to be ascended. The search has culminated in the profound beauty and joy of envisioning. Coming to such a state, where only peace prevails, is called nirvritti. There is no stir in consciousness. This non-modulated aspect where the yoga spoken of in the previous darsana becomes a reality, is described as nivritti. There is no well-being higher than this to achieve.

 

Of course the full darsana is going to present the whole range of nirvana, from impure to squeaky-clean pure. The last is guaranteed by death, when we will have to let go of absolutely everything. In the meantime we can selectively dispense with our attachments, starting with our worst qualities. It is truly amazing how tightly humans want to cling to the very features that are most binding. By now we are supposed to have come to terms with this innate fault of our species. The heavy lifting was done in the first nine darsanas, and now is the time to simply let go. As we do we will expand logarithmically.

         Nitya sums up with a nod toward perfection, hinting at the total surrender that we can practice ahead of time, or else let death do it for us:

 

In reality the individual does not exist. Only the Absolute is. For this reason, the state of the liberated is indicated as brahma bhuyam, identity with the Absolute. In such a state the liberated can be described only as ‘is’ or ‘be’. This aloneness is called kaivalya.

 

If we have practiced in advance, the final release is bound to be much easier to bear. Desperately trying to hold on as our identity is stripped away is a most painful condition. One way or another we will return to an unconditioned state.

         I often think of another friend’s grandmother, in a tale I have told before. She was a classic Texas fundamentalist Christian, hard-bitten and self-righteous, certain her whole life that she was going to heaven and pretty much everyone else was going to hell. Yet when she found out she only had a few weeks to live all her false beliefs abandoned her, and she ended her life miserable and terrified. It’s a good reminder not to lay up our treasures where moth and rust doth corrupt (Matt. 6), and our simplistic beliefs about things like heaven must be included. We need to let go of all such divisive ideas. And yes, we are all still full of them.

         Bill related about his lifelong intimate friend, who is coming to the end of a long struggle with cancer. He has clearly made a conscious choice about his passing. He has a date this next Saturday for Oregon’s Death with Dignity medicine, with many dear friends in attendance, and he hosted his own wake last weekend with a big party. Nitya’s words about death are perfectly in tune with his feelings. He has been letting go of all he holds dear, and this had led to a progression of really deep insights for him. He feels the profound love that comes from letting go and being absorbed. Bill knows that this deep yogic experience of union was something we should enjoy in life too. Let’s not wait for the last moment to tune in!

         Deb mentioned our preparation for death means living our deepest truth every day when we’re alive, of identifying with what is expansive and true.

         Nitya notes another important distinction to help us discriminate what truly matters:

 

Only in a state of becoming are there beginnings and ends, births and deaths. Where eternity prevails, death is not relevant. That is why nirvana is equated with amrita, immortality. Such a state of perfection is glorified as purnam.

 

That purnam, perfection, is the basis of the chant we do at the end of every class, meaning the plenum or totality that is the Absolute. The chant states that both this and that are the Absolute, and even if we remove a huge bundle from it, it is not diminished. Moreover, if we add a huge package to it, it is not increased.

         Nitya’s conclusion admits us into the final stage even as impure piggies, so long as we are willing to face the openness that does not take our individuality into account. We are in good hands with these gurus, beckoning us to a state/non-state that is nonetheless our true nature:

 

Even in this final stage there can be traces of previous conditioning. If any such vestige lingers on unresolved, the release should be looked upon as impure. On the other hand, when the attainment is without blemish, like pure light, and fully harmonized, as in a love that transcends duality, it is to be understood as pure. There are grades of purity, and they are going to be elucidated in the following verse.

 

In a way the Nirvana Darsana is the simplest of all the visions. There isn’t going to be much to say. Because of this I will bring in some supporting material that has presented itself along the way, mainly from the reediting of the Integrated Science of the Absolute. These gems will most often be found in Part II, as they are today.

         Susan has been reviewing That Alone lately, and read out the last paragraph from the original verse 4. I’ve included more of it in Part II, but this is what she read. It’s a perfect encompassing of the meaning the class derived from our first incursion into nirvana d:

 

At the end of the verse Guru makes this emphasis: this moving from your small love and small interest into the primeval love and primeval interest should be such that finally you become that. You should be able to say “I am that I am,” or tat tvam asi, That thou art. Ayam atma brahman, this shining consciousness within me is the Absolute. Prajnanam brahman, all that is visible, all that I perceive here, is the Divine. You should be filled with that one overwhelming thrill of life, continuously, so that we all live in the intoxication of that one love. This is for today’s meditation. Expand your love. Include everyone. Do not push anyone outside. It takes time but it will work.

 

Part II

 

         Swami Vidyananda’s commentary. Mine below it presents a contrasting interpretation:

 

The topic of this chapter is concerned with the ultimate purpose and value which has been reviewed in all the nine previous chapters. For this reason, this vision of nirvana is of greater importance than any of the previous visions. It is with this vision that this work comes to an end.

         Nirvana refers to the highest point that is attainable by man. In other words, it represents the perfection of life. Although the term is used more properly in the context of Jain and Buddhist thought, those who adhere to the thought of non-dual Vedànta can also use this term as having the same connotation. The following terms are synonyms for nirvana: nirvriti, escape or absolution; nirvritti, release, absence of functioning; nivritti, withdrawal; paramagati, ultimate goal; paramapadam, ultimate state; moksha, liberation; kaivalya, aloneness; mukti, salvation; amritam, immortality; apavargam, salvation; nissreyas, ultimate state; sreyas, spiritual progress; ÷ànti, peace; brahmabhåyam, attaining the Absolute; brahmatvam, absoluteness; brahmasàyujyam, union with the Absolute; brahmasamsparsham, absorption in the Absolute; paripurnatà, plenitude.

         The nirvana usually described under the term jivanmukti (release while yet in life), refers to the same state. That is to say, when a man has, by means of Self-contemplation, attained  (absolute) wisdom, and after attaining the practice of yoga etc. and while still in life is able to be free from all sufferings, what refers to this ultimate goal of a spiritual aspirant is called nirvana.

         Although nirvana refers to one and the same subject, as depending on the maturity of certain types of spiritual aspirants qualified for it, and the conditions applying to them, it has here been divided into many divisions, according to the types of expression proper to each. Initially in this verse it has been divided into two (divisions) called the pure and the impure. What is “free from incipient memory factors” is the pure and what is “qualified by incipient memory factors” is the impure.

 

*         *         *

 

My synopsis for the 2013 Kochi conference:

 

         The final darsana marks the progressive extinction of consciousness in the total fullness or total emptiness of the Absolute. As consciousness enters in the first darsana, it exits in the last. Life is not a linear progression to its terminus, but every bit of the journey—every flower of the garland— is important. The goal, so to speak, is to be fully present now, rather than deferring our experience until later.

         Nirvana is often taken to be the goal of realization, but not here. Each darsana is valuable in its own right. Ends and means are converged. Every effect is also a cause. If we transpose our happiness to a future state like heaven or worldly success, we will basically miss out on our life, which, no matter what the claims, might be our only moment in the sun.

         Much of the popular version of spirituality is about escape, seeking absence. There is a powerful attraction to getting away from our problems, whatever they may be, and for injured or abused people it may seem the only option.

         Because of the stresses that beset us, we have to first distance ourselves from them in order to gather ourselves back together. If our difficulties are grave enough we begin to imagine that if we didn’t exist, life would be much more pleasant. In any case, we have to find peace first of all. The hermit fantasy is a familiar aspect of insular spirituality, of an unwillingness to cope with the present. In rare cases escape by itself could produce a full cure, but not very often. Most of us learn much more from meaningful interactions with others, once we begin to properly know ourselves. That’s what Narayana Guru keeps underlining: the greatest “escape” is to be here now, to find truth within existence.

         There is a huge industry built around relieving suffering, or promising to. Come away, give up your daily chores, cut yourself away from society. It’s very appealing. But Nitya and his forebears, including Krishna of the Gita, were also teaching presence, in addition to absence. It may be that presence grows out of absence. We retire to develop wisdom so we can be more available, more present. We still strive for absence from our faults and intractable problems, but not from our value to our surroundings. For those who have recovered themselves, the practice is to become more in tune with the world and improve our capabilities to interact with it. Opting out is tragic. It is the child’s immediate response to a hurt ego. When a child’s ego recovers from an insult, they eagerly get back in the game. But if it is battered long enough, the child’s spirit is defeated, and they only seek surcease of sorrow. They may even commit suicide to escape the pain. Or they continue to live, but with an unbridgeable abyss between life and self.

         Narayana Guru’s teachings direct us to restore the connection: to develop presence, heightened involvement, in whatever we do. We don’t have to follow a formula or change our lifestyle, but only engage in what we do as completely as possible. We aim to be as alive as we can, if only at odd moments, when our focused attention is brought to bear.

         Perhaps the greatest appeal of Narayana Guru’s philosophy is that it is totally down to earth. There is no separation between the exalted state and us: there is no special place to go or thing to do. We live realization right where we are, in our daily activity. He assures us we are already realized. So many great teachers have an other-worldly air. He does too, and yet it's combined with a fiery intensity that pressures us to wake up and live, exactly where we stand. It’s a philosophy that can have a fantastic impact on our life if we have ears to hear with.

 

*         *         *

 

Excerpts from ISOA, Volume II. If you read only one, read the last:

 

On careful scrutiny we are able to recognize that Narayana Guru has not discarded any of the valuable elements or methodological features of the six darsanas which have been inherited by brahma-vidya. [i.e. Nyaya-Vaiseshika, Samkhya-Yoga, Purva and Uttara Mimamsa (Vedanta)] As a composer in a handset printing press redistributes the types in the cases in a methodical fashion, Narayana Guru employs a unitive methodology, epistemology and axiology respecting an overall structure at each stage, integrating the whole series of visions. He presents the same picture in a more orderly form, relegating to each technical term its proper place each in its own legitimate context. As we travel from the known to the unknown it is possible to think of six, ten or any other number of halting places from which to take snapshots at a moving target, as Bergson understands this possibility. One has to mentally immobilize oneself for a split second at least before taking a well- calculated shot. Each shot then results in a darsana, which each philosopher is free to take as long as he is careful in defining his own terms. In presenting ten darsanas instead of six, Narayana Guru is not violating any principle of methodology or epistemology. (74-5)

 

The final synthesis of brahmavidya as a complete Science of the Absolute… is perhaps best represented by the philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita. (76)

 

Philosophy must be primarily concerned with life’s problems and not with things of mere sense data. This position is quite correct to take although much misunderstood. The systematic doubting of Descartes is similarly concerned with solving problems and reaching certitude where graded doubts prevail about generally significant abstract ideas. (81)

 

Nature (prakriti) represents the centrifugal, while pradhana (prime potent power) represents the centripetal. There is also a subtle form of reciprocity between nature (prakriti) and spirit (purusha), which are complementary and fully cancellable. (95)

 

According to our schematic language, purusha represents the whole of the vertical axis as a pure, actionless, neutral reference. On the other hand, prakriti represents the whole of the horizontal axis. The ‘evolution’ of purusha, if any, belongs to the Bergsonian context of creative evolution, while the ‘evolution’ of prakriti might perhaps be considered Darwinian or even better still keeping in line with a theory of transformation. (99)

 

As we have often pointed out, the globe is left untouched by the lines of latitude and longitude marked on it. Schematic analysis therefore should never be mixed up with the reality of the Absolute. This ultimate Reality results when the final philosophical paradox is resolved. (126)

 

Absolutist mysticism cannot draw a line between human happiness and the happiness belonging naturally to the rest of life. The negative notion of non-killing is balanced with a positive notion of love of all life. Like moonlight spread equally on the huts of a quiet and peaceful seaside village, it is the feeling and activity involved in the uniform spreading of sympathy to all life that is the essential element here. Understood under the aegis of the Absolute and under the guiding watchwords of santi and ahimsa, mystical activity and expression take the form of an absolutely open or generous outlook for which intellectual awareness or reason or attitudes of behaviour are but natural corollaries. (207)

 

*         *         *

 

         Here’s the longer ending to the original verse 4 of That Alone. If you don’t have the original 1-8, let me know and I’ll send them to you. This is totally different than what went into the book:

 

         When all these frontiers are gone, you come to possess the frontierless love. Each day you should be able to break one frontier, one separation. Tagore prays, “Where the head is held high and the world is not broken into fragments of narrow domestic walls, lead me into that world.” That’s the world we look for. Some people say a good wall makes a good neighbor, but Robert Frost laughs at it. He says neither walling in nor walling out works.

         That supreme Light that shines without any frontiers, like the sun that shines above, caresses the sinner and the saint alike. It falls on the beautiful and the ugly in equal measure. In our meditation for the day we should look for the frontiers in our mind, for all the narrow domestic walls in it. We should break them down and even go beyond that. Walls are built out of fear. The more you are afraid the more vulnerable you become, and then you want to become invulnerable. So you make fortresses and mount machine guns on the walls, and inside you are busy building atomic bombs. We have to disarm ourselves. We have to disarm others also. A smile can disarm a person, a disarming smile. What pleases me most in the United States is when you go for a walk, an utter stranger who passes you will look at you and say “Hi! Have a good day.” In many countries people go stiff and won’t look at each other. It is a beautiful thing to look at another person and say how beautiful is the day, have a good day. But we shouldn’t stop there.

         At the end of the verse Guru makes this emphasis: this moving from your small love and small interest into the primeval love and primeval interest should be such that finally you become that. You should be able to say “I am that I am,” or tat tvam asi, That thou art. Ayam atma brahman, this shining consciousness within me is the Absolute. Prajnanam brahman, all that is visible, all that I perceive here, is the Divine. You should be filled with that one overwhelming thrill of life, continuously, so that we all live in the intoxication of that one love. This is for today’s meditation. Expand your love. Include everyone. Do not push anyone outside. It takes time but it will work.

 

Part III

 

More on the roasted seed, from Nataraja Guru (ISOA Vol. II):

 

Here we have to explain a favourite Vedantic analogy of the burnt seed which cannot sprout again. The seed is not totally destroyed and its potency is only abolished to the extent of eliminating the possibility of sprouting again. In other words, pure vitalistic tendencies which do not imply the accompaniment of their horizontal counterparts are alone meant to not be abolished by the burnt state of the seed. In the various lower types of spirituality this seed remains with different degrees of fecundity depending on the possibility of horizontal tendencies asserting themselves again when the seed is only partially burnt. When such a possibility is abolished by more positive verticalization, the status of a burnt seed intended by the analogy is attained. (450)

 


Scott Teitsworth

rsteitsworth(at)yahoo.com