Sri Aurobindo

The Harmony of Virtue

Early Cultural Writings — 1890-1910

Passing Thoughts

Stray Thoughts and Glimpses [2]

The glories of the cross attract more than the laurel of victory. Still the laurel, and not the cross, must be our end.

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Man runs after the good, but incurs the evil, for the two are intertwined. He that sits in the Self beyond both, enjoyeth both; for the two are the extreme notes of a single gamut.

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Renunciation impoverisheth materially, materialism impoverisheth spiritually. Integral richness cometh from a divine living which consecrates itself to the Indwelling Deity and becometh a dynamic centre and instrument of God's creative power.

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Mere devotion maketh an intellectual pigmy, and mere knowledge an imperfect actor in God's drama. It is only into surrendered minds that God pours forth both devotion and knowledge, making these the twin bases of a mighty action.

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In every age man has awaited the advent of a Messiah or a Teacher, and found his highest glory in discipleship. But the Coming Teacher shall point out the Messiah and the follower, the Teacher and the disciple, in every man and reveal to his gaze the sempiternal glory of a perfect godhead.

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God is equally in joy and in suffering, in victory and in defeat. And the warrior in His cause shrinketh not before the suffering, nor is afraid of the defeat; for he seeth the Divine strategy which sometimes retires into ignominy and ridicule to exhaust the Satanic force of its exulting opponents, then rushes forward with immense vehemence and conquers.