“Spirituality is indeed the master-key of the Indian mind. The sense of the infinite is native to it. India saw from the beginning, and, even in her ages of reason and her age of increasing ignorance, she never lost hold of the insight, – that life cannot be rightly seen in the sole light, cannot be perfectly lived in the sole power of its externalities. She was alive to the greatness of material laws and forces… But she saw that the physical does not get its full sense until it stands in right relation to the supra-physical; she saw that the complexity of the universe could not be explained in the present terms of man or seen by his superficial sight. She saw too that man has the power of exceeding himself, of becoming himself more entirely and profoundly than he is… she saw that there were ranges of life beyond our life, ranges of mind beyond our present mind and above these she saw the splendours of the spirit. Then with that calm audacity of her intuition which knew no fear or littleness and shrank from no act whether of spiritual or intellectual, ethical or vital courage, she declared that there was none of these things which man could not attain if he trained his will and knowledge; he could conquer these ranges of mind, become the spirit, become one with God, become the ineffable Brahman. And with the logical practicality and sense of science and organised method which distinguished her mentality, she set forth immediately to find out the way. Hence from long ages of this insight and practice there was ingrained in her spirituality, her powerful psychic tendency, her great yearning to grapple with the infinite and possess it, her ineradicable religious sense, her idealism, her Yoga, the constant turn of her art and her philosophy. But this was not and could not be her own mentality, her entire spirit; spirituality itself does not flourish on earth in the void, even as our mountain-tops do not rise like those of an enchantment of dream out of the clouds without a base… Thus an ingrained and dominant spirituality, an inexhaustible vital creativeness and gust of life and, mediating between them, a powerful, penetrating and scrupulous intelligence combined of the rational, ethical and aesthetic mind each at a high intensity of action, created the harmony of the ancient Indian culture.

…A rebirth of the soul of India into a new body of energy, a new form of its innate and ancient spirit, prajna purani, must insist more finally and integrally than it has as yet done on its spiritual turn, on the greater action of the spiritual motive in every sphere of our living…. Now do we mean the exclusion of anything whatsoever from our scope, of any of the great aims of human life, any of the great problems of our modern world, any form of human activity, any general or inherent impulse or characteristic means of the desire of the soul of man for development, expansion, increasing vigour and joy, light, power, perfection. Spirit without mind, spirit without body is not the type of man, therefore a human spirituality must not belittle the mind, life or body or hold them of small account: it will rather hold then of high account of immense importance, precisely because they are the conditions and instruments of the life of the spirit in man.

… India can best develop herself and serve humanity by being herself and following the law of her own nature.”

- Do these affirmations evoke a sense of identification in our own being? Do we see them as an expression of our deepest self? – Are we able to live them out?

- In the context of the new world-views proposed by science today and the seeking for new paradigms, are these affirmations not of great significance?

- What is this ancient ‘ Soul of India ’? What kind of a ‘ new body ’ can it create?

“The recovery of the old spiritual knowledge and experience in all its splendour, depth and fullness is the first most essential work.”

- What was the basis of this knowledge and the essential truths of this experience?

- How was this experience arrived at?

- Why have we lost its effective dynamism in the present times?

- How can we create a basis for a new and greater dynamism for the future?

“ The flowing of this spirituality into new forms of philosophy, literature, art and critical knowledge is the second.”

- How can the spiritual dynamism re-create and infuse the activities of mind and heart and life? Is there an ‘integral whole’ of process and of being? A new dimension of the creative impulse for our times? What is its distinctive identity?

- Is such work beginning to take place? And can we identify the same?

- Are there means or environments that we can create which would help such growth?

“An original dealing with modern problems in the light of Indian spirit and the endeavour to formulate a greater synthesis of a spiritualised society is the third and the most difficult.”

- How do we identify the ‘Indian spirit’ in this context?

- Are we dealing with the modern problems in this light?

- How can we do so?

- At the present stage of a crisis of civilisation at which man finds himself, he is increasingly looking towards the India of ‘ancient wisdom and practice’ for a sense of direction in which to move, for a new vision of ‘wholeness’ which can effectively guide and remould life – a life of oneness but rich in her diversity of expression.

- Is India responding to this call in sufficient measure? As both vision and the path to follow for its realisation?