Tat Tvam Asi, That Thou Art: The Path of Fire according to the Asparsavada (Aurea Vidya Collection) - Softcover

Raphael - Asram Vidya Order

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1931406022 ISBN 13: 9781931406024

Publisher: Aurea Vidya, 2002

Synopsis

"Tat tvam asi" (That thou art) is the most profound message of the Upanisads and constitutes the essence and the synthesis of the Advaita Vedanta and Asparsa Yoga teaching: «That, which is infinitely subtle, is the essence of all this [universe]. That is the Reality. That is the Self and That thou art, Avetaketu - Please, Venerable Sir, instruct me still further - So be it, my dear - said he» (Chandogya Upanisad, VI, XIV, 3) In this book a realizative dialogue takes place between Antonio, a seeker of the ultimate Truth, and Raphael, an asparsin. Antonio has participated in every possible kind of experience without finding fulfilment, or any solution to his problems. The way indicated by Raphael, at one with Tradition, teaches that being, in its essence, is nothing but the Absolute. Conflict, suffering, opposition and violence exist because one's attention is directed to the outside rather than within, where one's own real nature lies, which is Completeness.

About this title

From the Publisher:

This book tells of a psychological crisis, of an ascesis and of a consequent finding oneself again. It is presented in a dialogue form, and a dialogue is the meeting of two hearts, an osmosis of waves vibrating with experiences. It is the donation of oneself and the vitality that stimulates growth.

The universe is life existing on multiple dimensions on multiple systems of coordinates. The human individual is the sum or synthesis of these various systems. Man is not just a corporeal and functional complex, he is thought and also spirit, however vague and worn out this term may be.

Science itself has recognized the fact that the universe has more than just one dimension, and it is also becoming evident that the individual has "faculties" that extend into the extracorporeal. Yet to think of the human being as a simple functioning mechanism of glandular secretions and excretions seems to us to be irrationally stretching a point. To place the being exclusively and one-sidedly on his horizontal operating condition seems to be depriving him of his wholeness, confining his consciousness and intelligence to one sole system of coordinates.

The ultimate Truth lies in the heart of being and looking for it outside means alienating that very same Truth.

From the Author:

The universe is life existing on multiple dimensions on multiple systems of coordinates. The human individual is the sum or synthesis of these various systems. Man is not just a corporeal and functional complex, he is thought and also spirit, however vague and worn out this term may be.

Science itself has recognized the fact that the universe has more than just one dimension, and it is also becoming evident that the individual has "faculties" that extend into the extracorporeal. Yet to think of the human being as a simple functioning mechanism of glandular secretions and excretions seems to us to be irrationally stretching a point. To place the being exclusively and one-sidedly on his horizontal operating condition seems to be depriving him of his wholeness, confining his consciousness and intelligence to one sole system of coordinates.

Generally speaking, western man has always tended to look outwardly, directing his attention outside of himself in an attempt to objectively conquer nature around him. There is nothing wrong with this in itself, but it would be appropriate, indeed necessary, for him to look within himself too, and to comprehend himself in a better way, not limiting his cognitive effort to glands, molecules and tissues but extending it to something more profound. Undoubtedly one should change the direction and the method of investigation, but for the lovers of truth or knowledge obstacles are not so much an impediment but a spur, as is the case with the obstacles concerning the objective order of things.

The Eastern philosophical as well as scientific perspective has been to look inwards, striving to dominate not the nature of the elements without but the nature of man's inner elements.

We believe that both approaches, with their methods and directions, if united and synthesized, would truly produce remarkable results. Spirit and matter could co-exist because they would be recognized as polarities resolving into the Unity of Being.

The ultimate Truth lies in the heart of being and looking for it outside means alienating that very same Truth.

About this edition

• Publisher: Aurea Vidya
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 1931406022
• ISBN 13: 9781931406024
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 200