where there is unity, one without a second, that is the world of Brahman.

“The word swaraj is a sacred word,” he said, “a Vedic word, meaning self-rule and self-restraint, and not freedom from all restraint which ‘independence’ often means.”

Meditation, control of the senses And passions, and selfless service of all Are the body, the scriptures are the limbs, And truth is the heart of this wisdom. 9

as far as the true purpose of religion goes, external rites – however suitable for the short-term resolution of social problems – are unnecessary, or at best symbolic. The real sacrifice could then be done directly, not just attempted by symbolic manipulations.

what will move us closer to that day and what will only postpone it – that is, between what is good and what is merely pleasant; in Sanskrit, between shreya and preya. While there are no dualities and no compartments in reality, as long as there are dualities and compartments in personality, we have to pay careful attention to this distinction at

We live not by the breath that flows in And flows out, but by him who causes the breath To flow in and flow out.

This Self is all in all.

If rita is the moral law, yajna is the human response to live in accordance with that law, taking nothing from life for oneself but everywhere seeking to give of oneself to life.

The soul has so shrunken from view that far from standing awestruck by its infinitude we have difficulty remembering that it exists: indeed, why speak of soul; mind or consciousness play no role in the electrochemical image of the human being which popular imagination and some scientists today present unchallenged.