Only if we realize that it is in our hands to bridge the chasm of death and to determine and direct the course of our future life in such a way that we can pursue or accomplish in it what we regard our highest task, then only can we give depth and perspective to our present existence and to our spiritual aspirations.
The torn and tortured human being of our time, who knows neither of his infinite past, nor the infinity of his future, because he has lost connection with his timeless being, is like a man suffering from incurable amnesia, a mental disease which deprives him of the continuity of his consciousness and therefore of the capacity to act consistently and in accordance with his true nature. Such a man really dies, becauses he identifies himself with his momentary existence.
Directed consciousness is that which has "entered the stream" towards liberation or enlightenment, in which its universal nature is realized. Undirected consciousness allows itself to be driven hither and thither by blind urges and external sense-stimuli.
The Way of the White Clouds,
Lama Anagarika Govinda
Picture taken from: http://www.alexandra-david-neel.org
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