Swami Narayanananda (1902–1988) Indian guru
Selected Articles 1933-1986 (2002), p. 301
The Science of the Heart
Swami Narayanananda (1902–1988) Indian guru
Selected Articles 1933-1986 (2002), p. 301
Weston La Barre (1911–1996) anthropologist
Source: Hallucinogens and the Shamanic Origins of Religion (1972), p. 263
Paramahansa Yogananda (1893–1952) Yogi, a guru of Kriya Yoga and founder of Self-Realization Fellowship
Songs of the Soul by Paramahansa Yogananda, Quotes drawn from the poem "Samadhi"
Baba Hari Dass (1923–2018) master yogi, author, builder, commentator of Indian spiritual tradition
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book III, 2013
Context: Samyama, which is the application of concentration (dharana), meditation (dhyana), and superconscious trance (samadhi) in lightning succession, is practiced with the intent to gain specific knowledge of the object of concentration. The object is seen from all sides, in all its aspects, with full depth and breadth. As such, this complete absorption of the mind using the process of samyama brings complete and specific knowledge of the object. This power of knowing is vibhuti. (Bk. III, Sutra 4, p.7)
“An infant or child is not "free" to select the nature of his sensory environment”
James W. Prescott (1930) American psychologist
"Before Ethics and Morality" (1972)
Context: An infant or child is not "free" to select the nature of his sensory environment but is dependent upon adults for the quality of his sensory environment and, thus, [for] his neurobiological development and psychobiological predispositions for certain kinds of behavior. From this perspective, it is evident that before a child can reason and before reason can establish principles of moral behavior, the course of an ethical and moral life has already been set.
Gottfried Leibniz (1646–1716) German mathematician and philosopher
Et comme tout présent état d'une substance simple est naturellement une suite de son état précédent, tellement, que le présent y est gros de l'avenir.
La monadologie (22).
The Monadology (1714)
Ralph Waldo Emerson book Nature
Source: 1830s, Nature http://www.emersoncentral.com/nature.htm (1836), Ch. 1, Nature <br class="br">Context: The stars awaken a certain reverence, because though always present, they are inaccessible; but all natural objects make a kindred impression, when the mind is open to their influence. Nature never wears a mean appearance. Neither does the wisest man extort her secret, and lose his curiosity by finding out all her perfection. Nature never became a toy to a wise spirit. The flowers, the animals, the mountains, reflected the wisdom of his best hour, as much as they had delighted the simplicity of his childhood.
Diane Ackerman book A Natural History of the Senses
Source: A Natural History of the Senses (1990), Chapter 5 “Vision” (p. 256)