Interior Rose Window Strasbourg Cathedral (1439)

Centre Symbolism Edited by Peter Y. Chou WisdomPortal.com

Circle Stone at Mêm-an-Tol Cornwall, UK (Bronze Age)

J. E. Cirlot, A Dictionary of Symbols, Philosophical Library, New York, 1971, pages 40-42 Centre To leave the circumference for the centre is equivalent to moving from the exterior to the interior, from form to contemplation, from multiplicity to unity, from space to spacelessness, fom time to timelessness. In all symbols expressive of the mystic Centre, the intention is to reveal to Man the meaning of the primordial 'paradisal state' and to teach him to identify himself with the supreme principle of the universe. The centre is in effect Aristotle's 'unmoved mover' and Dante's 'L'Amore che muove il sole a l'altre stelle' [Paradiso 33:145]. Similarly, Hindu doctrine declares that God resides in the centre, at that point where the radii of a wheel meet at its axis. In diagrams of the cosmos, the central space is always reserved for the Creator, so that he appears as if surrounded by a circular or almond-shaped halo (formed by the intersection of the circle of heaven with the circle of the earth), surrounded by concentric circles spreading outwards, and by the wheel of the Zodiac, the twelve-monthly cycled of labour upon the land, and a four-part division corresponding both to the seasons and to the tetramorph. Among the Chinese, the infinite being is frequently symbolized as a point of light with concentric circles spreading outwads from it. In Western emblems, an eagle's head sometimes carries the same significance. In some Hindu mandalas, such as the Shri-Yantra, the centre itself is not actually portrayed, but has to be supplied mentally by the contemplator; the Shri-Yantra is a 'form in expansion' (and a symbol, therefore, of the creation), composed of nine intersecting triangles circumscribed by a lotus flower and a square. A great many ritual acts have the sole purpose of finding out the spiritual 'Centre' of a locality, which then becomes the site, either in itself or by virtue of the temple built upon it, of an 'image of the world'. There are also many legends which tell of pilgrimages to places with characteristics which relate them to Paradise. This Chinese tale, for example, retold by the orientalist Richard Wilhelm in his work on Lao-Tse: "King Huangti had a dream. He crossed into the kingdom of the Hua Hsü. The kingdom of the Hua Hsü is west of the far West and north of the far North. It is not known how many hundreds of thousands of leagues it is from the Ch'i state. It can be reached neither by boat nor by carriage, nor on foot. It can be reached only by the spirit in flight. This country has no sovereign: everyone acts according to his own dictates; the people have no lawmakers: everyone acts according to his own dictates. The joys of life are not known, nor is the fear of death; so there is no premature death. Self-withdrawal is not known, nor is the shunning of one's fellows; so there is not love and no hate. Revulsion from what is distasteful is not known, nor is the search for pleasure; so there is no profit and no harm. No one has any preference, no one has any dislike. They enter the water and are not drowned, walk through fire and are not scorched. They rise up into the air as others walk on the face of the earth; they rest in space as others sleep in beds; clouds and mist do not veil their gaze. Claps of thunder do not deafen their ears. Neither beauty nor ugliness dazzles their hearts. Neither mountain nor ravine impedes their progress. They walk only in the spirit." [Lao- Tse und der Taoismus (1925)]. This concept of the Centre coincides, of course, with that of the 'Land of the Dead', in which the theme of the coincidentia oppositorum of mystic tradition comes to signify not so much 'opposition' as neutralization, in the characteristically oriental sense. The Centre is located at the point of intersection of the two arms of the essential, three-dimensional cross. In this position, it expresses the dimension of the 'infinite depth' of space, that is, the seed of the eternal cycle of the flux and flow of forms and beings, as well as the dimensions of space itself. In some liturgical crosses, as for example that of the Cong in Ireland, the centre is marked by a precious stone. (pp. 40-42) Centre, Spiritual In Le Roi du Monde, René Guénon speaks of the 'spiritual centre' which was established in the terrestrial world to conserve intact a treasure of 'non-human' knowledge. This, he suggests, is no less than the origin of the concept of 'tradition' from which are derived all the religious, mythical and philosophical customs and explanations of the world. Guénon points out that Alexandre Saint-Yves d'Alveydre, in a posthumous work (La Mission de l'Inde, 1901), places Agarttha at the centre. The author connects this symbolic city with the Rosicrucians' 'solar citadel' and Tommaso Campananella's City of the Sun. (p. 42) ****************************************************************************************************************************** J. C. Cooper, An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Traditional Symbols, Thames & Hudson, London, 1978, page 32 Centre Totality; wholeness; absolute reality; pure being; the origin of all existence; unmanifest being; the world axis; the pole; the point around which everything revolves; Paradise; the potential; the point containing the totality of all possibilities; sacred space; a break in space and the point of intercommunication between the three worlds, transcending time and space; an axis uniting the cosmos both vertically and horizontally; the intersection of macrocosm and microcosm; cosmic order; the 'Pivot of the Law'; the point of resolution and reconciliation where all opposites disappear; the Eternal Now; the 'point quiescent'; the 'unmoved mover' of Aristotle. The centre is also the point of origin of departure and the point of return; all emerges from it, revolves round it, and returns to it in the two complementary movements, the centrifugal and centripetal, also symbolized by outbreathing and inbreathing and by the circulation of the blood from the heart centre. Moving from the centre to the circumference is the journey into manifestation and multiplicity, while the journey back is to the spiritual centre, unity, the One. It is also the point from which space is produced, from which motion emantes and form arises, both the point of expansion and of contraction in drawing multiplicity back to unity, to harmony, knowledge and illumination.     The sun represents the centre of the universe, as the heart, the 'inner place', is the centre of man. There is a symbolic centre, or kingdom, in every domain: the sun, or gold, among metals; a jewel among stones; the lotus, lily, or rose in plants; the lion among animals; the eagle in birds; the dolphin among fishes, and man among all living creatures; the hearth in the home and the altar in the temple or church. The fixity of the centre symbolizes eternity and perfect simultaneity. Any central projection, such as the central boss in an ancient metal mirror, or the oculus in a dome, marks the Sun Door or Gate of Heaven, the apex of the universe and the upper end of the world axis, a point of communication between heaven and earth; this symbolism is found in many oriental traditions and was once common in Christianity. Symbols of the centre are the pillar, Cosmic Tree, Sacred Mountain, heart, fire altar, the spring or well of life, the hearth, spiral, labyrinth, pyramid, or and sacred space. On the cross the central point is sometimes shown as a jewel or flower. Amerindain: The Great Spirit, which is the centre, but is also everywhere. Buddhist: Pure Being; enlightenment; Nirvana. Chinese: Perfect peace; divine immanence; stillness; being at one with the will of Heaven; the 'Pivot of the Law' (Chuang Tzu); the invariable mean. Hebrew: The Shekinah, the central presence of God; the Holy Place; the Inward Palace where God dwells; the One; the beginning of existence; thought. Hindu: Pure Being, unity; Ishvara; the place of the unconditioned, Brahman, 'the dark source of all light'; the point beyond time; the Inner Witness. The chakras are the symbolic spiritual centres of the body. Islamic: The Point; the 'Divine Abode'; the 'Divine Station' of harmony, equilibrium and order; the secret centre; the incommunicable; the 'eye of the heart'. Taoist: The Tao; Pure Being; 'nought but infinity, which is neither this nor that' (Chuang Tzu). ****************************************************************************************************************************** Nadia Julien, The Mammoth Dictionary of Symbols: Understanding the Hidden Language of Symbols, Carroll & Graf Publishers, NY, 1996, pages 67-68 CENTRE: the origin of movement Delphi Omphalos     The centre of the world is the omphalos, the earth's navel, symbolized by the fat prehistoric figures of Venus. Later, with the advent of a patriarchal society, this centre was symbolized by a mound on which a stone in the shape of a phallus was erected, a central pillar on which the continuation of the human race depended. Each tribe had its own centre/axis of the world: it may have been a sacred mountain like the Hindu Mount Meru, a temple or a royal palace. These were their sources of reality. • The cosmic centre/axis, like the tree of life, which served as the central pivot of space and time, has its equivalent in the body: this is the vertical column, on which different levels of consciousness (the Indian chakras) are set out in tiers; the highest represents fraternization with the gods, and freedom, the lowest is devoted on insinct. • The centre also symbolizes order, in the administrative law (central power, centralization) of the state, and, on a higher level, of the world, and of thought, and spiritual ascensions. • It is also the heart of the new Jerusalem a symbol of accomplished man. To reach the centre of his personality implies integrating the three levels of consciousness (in Freudian terms); the id (instinctive impulses), the ego (consciousness) and the super-ego (the subconscious, superior mental processes). This integration leads to psychological maturity. • The symbolism of the centre is linked to the point, the pivot on which everything depends. ****************************************************************************************************************************** Jean Chevalier & Alain Gheerbrant, The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols, Penguin Books, London, 1996, pages 173-175 Centre With the circle, the cross and the square, the centre is one of the four fundamental symbols.     Above all the centre is the beginning of all things and absolute reality. The centre of centres can be none other than God. Nicholas of Cusa states that "the poles of the spheres meet together with the centre which is God. He is both circumference and centre, who is both everywhere and nowhere." One is immediately reminded of Pascal quoting Hermes Trismegistus: "God is a sphere whose centre is everywhere and circumference nowhere." [Pascal's Sphere] This means that his presence is boundless and universal and that it is therefore at the invisible centre of being, unaffected by time or space.     If the centre may be conceived as Nicholas of Cusa's meeting of opposites, it may also be seen as the reservoir of dynamic intensity. It is the spot at which opposing forces accumulate and co-exist, the place where energy is at its most concentrated. It is the balance of opposing forces.     In symbolism, the centre should never be thought of merely as some fixed point. It is a storehouse from which flow the movements of the one towards the many, the inner towards the outer, the immanent towards the manifest, the eternal towards the temporal and all the processes of emanation and divergence, and, being the place from which they originated, to which are directed all processes of return and convergence to a oneness.     Mircea Eliade [Patterns in Comparative Religion, Sheed, London, 1958, p. 375] observes that, in general terms, the symbolism in question expresses itself in three connected and complementary things. 1. The 'sacred mountain' where heaven and earth meet, stands at the centre of the world. 2. Every temple or palace, and by extension, every sacred town and royal residence is assimilated to a 'sacred mountain' and thus becomes a centre. 3. The temple or sacred city, in turn, as the place through which the Axis Mundi passes is held to be a point of junction between heaven, earth and hell.     Again, the Tree of Life grows in the centre of the world. It should be remembered that the images of the centre of the AXIS are correlative in symbolic dynamism and only differ according to the angle from which they are observed. Look down upon its summit and a COLUMN is no more than a central point, when viewed from horizontal distance, it stands perpendicular and is an axis. Thus the Holy of Holies, which always tries to stand upon an elevation, is at one and the same time the centre and the axis of the world, and hence a spot set apart for the manifestation of the godhead.     The centre of the world often takes the form of something elevated— a MOUNTAIN, HILL, TREE, OMPHALOS OF STONE— but it should be noted that while the centre of the Earth is unique in Heaven, it is not so on Earth. Every race— one might almost say every individual— has its own centre of the world, its own viewing point, its own magnetic POLE. This may be conceived as the human power which is capable of satisfying it, be it a desire for knowledge, love or action. Where the desire and that power intersect is the centre of the world. No race is without its holy mountain which it regards as the centre of its world.     This notion of centre is also closely connected with that of a channel of communication. In fact the centre is called the NAVEL of the world. It is extraordinary to observe in African carvings the way in which the navel is often given the dimensions of a long tube, making it larger even than the penis. The navel is the centre from which life originates. The Greeks regarded the omphalos (navel-stone) of Delphi as the centre of the world. Tabor derives its name from tabor meaning 'navel'. The centre has as strong a spiritual as a physical meaning. Mystical food flows as strongly from the centre as does the biological food of the mother's blood.     The centre also symbolizes law and social organization. We speak of the central power which organizes the state. At a higher level it organizes the universe, physical evolution and the ascent of the spirit. In this symbol 'may be perceived the underlying and dynamic opposition of unorganized and chaotic TOHU-BOHU into which obsolete or vanquished forms sink and from which new forms arise, and the organized cosmos ascending towards the light, organized life and ultimately spiritual genesis' [ G. de Champeaux & Dom Stercks, Introduction au monde des symbols, Paris, 1966, p. 166]     In what may be termed its horizontal radiations, the centre may be seen as an image of the world, a microcosm containing within itself all the potentiality of the universe; and in its vertical radiations, as a place of passage, a shrine of initiation, the pathway between celestial, terrestrial and infernal levels, the boundary to be crossed and, consequently, the breaking point. The crucial centre is the place of highest concentration, the place where decisions are taken, the dividing line.     In Gaul the idea of the centre is enshrined in the place-name Mediolanum, from which is derived, among some fifty other known examples, the name of the northern Italian city, Milan, originally in Cisalpine Gaul. The name apparently means 'centre of perfection' as well as 'central plain'. In his De bello gallico, Caesar mentions a 'holy place' in the forests between the River Loire and Seine where the druids assembled to choose their chief. In Ireland the county of Meath (Midhe: centre) was created by taking portions of each of the four original provinces. It was the site of national and religious festivals and its capital, Tara, was the seat of the High Kings of Ireland. The centre was the link which ensured the unity of the four different parts. [Celticum 1, pp. 159ff]     In Central American civilizations, the centre of the cross formed by the four CARDINAL POINTS corresponds to the 'fifth Sun' and hence to the present world. In the Codex Borgia it is depicted surrounded by the four gods who corresponded to the four first suns, painted in the four fundamental colours— red, black, white, and blue— and joined together by blood-red lines. The central figure is that of Quetzalcoatl, god of the rising Sun. Other illustrations in this codex depict a multicoloured Tree of Life growing in the centre, and perched on the tree the quetzal bird. The Aztecs regarded FIVE as the number of the centre, allotted frequently by tradition to the human personality.     Cruciform signatures, or seals with a centre shaped like a circle or lozenge, signify universal sovereignty. Charlemagne's is not unique in this respect. The four consonants in his name, Karolus, were written as the four cardinal points, while the vowels were grouped in a lozenge in the centre. This arrangement of a ruling centre and of cardinal points which simultaneously co-ordinate and obey, is a feature of the signatures of all the Carolingian emperors. [ G. de Champeaux & Dom Stercks, Introduction au monde des symbols, Paris, 1966, p. 443]   A name, sign, or DOT at the centre of a figure displays the pivotal role upon which all rests and depends, of the person so symbolized. ****************************************************************************************************************************** Emma Jung & Marie-Louise von Franz, The Grail Legend, Sigo Press, Boston & Coventure Ltd., London 1986 (Google Books) Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Sir Galahad (1864) Tate Gallery, London (cover of book)     It was thought that the mythical inhabitants of Ireland, the Tuatha De Danann, "the people of the goddess Danu", had withdrawn into the hills (meaning the burial mounds) and lived there in everlasting youth and beauty, in magnificent palaces called sidh. Additional Irish names for the other world were Mag Mor (Great Plain) and Mag Mell (Pleasant Plain, also Other World, Land of Youth, Land of the Living and Land of Promise)... Or else— and as such it is known to all of us— it is to be found in the midst of the everyday world but concealed by a magic haze, and it only becomes visible under special conditions and to particular people. Such a situation has now arisen in our story [Holy Grail]. Perceval, arriving at a place where the road leads no further, sees a fisherman who directs him to the castle. The castle then suddenly appears before his eyes, after he has thought that the fisherman has played a trick on him; he finds the gate open, as if he were expected, and the Fisher King, now the suffering Lord of the Castle, is seated in the great hall waiting to receive him. All of this has a dream-like character, just as subsequent events will also have. Perceval therefore has suddenly arrived unawares, as if in a dream, at this central place which is an archetypal image, a fact that explains the numinous atmosphere of the Grail Castle [Corbenic]. (p. 67)     Although the figure of Christ, the Son of Man, can be regarded as one such representation of the Self, it lacks certain features which form part of the empirically known symbollism of the Self. The heart of Jesus which is depicted a the centre of the mandala is, on the other hand, a quaternary symbol of the Self and it is therefore not by chance that it has gradually become the object of a specific ritual veneration. Various medieval illustrations place the heart of Jesus in the centre of such a typical mandala, while in the four corners are his hands and feet pierced by nails [Sigmund Grimm, 1520]. (p. 99)     The novel of Pseudo-Kallisthenes, written in Alexandria, about 200 A.D. records the legend of Alexander. It contains a "letter from Alexander to his mother": We sailed away from the river and reached a large island, a hundred and fifty stadia distant from the land, and there found a City of the Sun, on to which had been built twelve towers of gold and emerald... In the centre of the city was an altar constructed of gold and emerald and having seven steps. On top stood a chariot to which horses were harnessed and a charioteer of gold and emerald... In the centre of the temple a transparent golden crown was hanging from a golden chain. A precious stone, which lit the whole temple, took the place of a fire. A golden cage, with a large bird inside, was also hanging from the ceiling. (p. 105)     L.J. Ringbom, in his comprehensive work Graltempel und Paradies, has tried to take up I.E. Iselin's old hypothesis to show that the idea of the Grail Castle (especially as it is described in the Jüngere Titurel) came to Europe from Persia, and that this castle or temple— a mandala-shaped structure— represents Paradise, or a spititual Beyond, whose prototype he sees in the Parsee sanctuary of the holy fire at Siz (Gazak). It is the pattern of the royal tomb as well as a sanctuary at the centre of the world and an image of the whole universe. Ringbom also compares its structure with that of Western mandalas and with the mountain sanctuary of the Moslem sect of the Assassins, a secret brotherhood under the authority of an "Old Man of the Mountain", with which the Templars cultivated particularly close relations. (p. 107)     All of the descriptions, from the City of the Sun in the story of Alexander to Thomas the Apostle's sepulchre in the legend of Prester John, present a picture of what is without question a mandala, a symbol of the Self. Significantly, in the legend of Alexander, the limitations of the young world conqueror are pointed out to him each time he encounters the symbol. He is sent back from the City of the Sun, and when he is close to the old man in the temple, a bird with a human voice calls out to him, "Alexander, desist henceforth from setting thyself up agaainst the gods." In the Historia de Préliis and in the French versions, his death is foretold him. It is precisely the Self, as the inner "guide", which tries to reducee the man striving for Olympus to his human proportions. Perhaps there is a corresponding significance when the turbulent young Perceval is banished from the Grail Castle and can only find it again after he has achieved the necessary maturity. (p. 108)     In the dreams and fantasy pictures of modern man this hidden, invisible something is occasionally depicted as a meaningful and numinous void. There is one picture in which an egg-shaped void, from which rays stream forth, forms the centre of a world or of a mandala with an empty centre. The words of Meister Eckhart beautifully express what is meant by this image: "Everything must be lost, the soul must exist in unhampered nothingness," or "Whosoever would come to God must come as nothing." Or, expressed in Eastern imagery: "In the purple hal of the city of jade dwells the God of Utmost Emptiness and Life." The Confucians call it "the centre of the void". A nothingness, a void, is therefore the inescapable condition for the emergence of the Self. The Self is not already present from the beginning in a comprehensibble form, but manifest itself only through the outer and inner realizations of a life lived to its end. (p. 133)     The tree, as Jung says, "symbolizes a living process as well as a process of enlightenment, which, though it may be grasped by the intellect, should not be confused with it". In many of the rites of primitive peoples, a post is set up to mark the centre of the world, and around it revolves the ritual event. In this sense the post is a centre, like the point of all psychic happenings. The mountain also has a similar meaning. (p. 285)     Adam, before his death, calls his sons together to bless them. He charges Seth to embalm him after his death and lay him in the Cave of Treasures until the Flood. Then his body is to be laid in a ship, and when the Flood has passed, it is to be buried in the centre of the earth, together with the gold, the incense and the myrrh. "For the spot where my body shall be laid is the centre of the earth; from there God will come and save our entire race." (p.327)     The Syrian collection of legends known as The Cave of Treasures relates the same story even more interestingly. Noah says to his son Shem, "Take Adam's body and lay it in the centre of the earth, and Melchizedek shall establish himself there. And the angel of the Lord will guid thee on thy way and show thee the place where thou shalt lay the body of Adam, which is in fact the centre of the earth. There the four quarters of the earth come together; for when God created the world, his power went before him like the wind, from all the four quarters, and in the centre his power stood still. There will salvation take place for Adam and all his descendants. This secret was transmitted by Adam to all generations." (p. 328)     A meaningful feature of the legend of Adam is that his grave is on Golgotha, in the centre of the world. As early as Ezekial we read (Ezekiel 5:5): "Thus saith the Lord Gord; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her." According to Judaic tradition, Jerusalem was situated in the centre of the land of Israel, the Sanctuary was in the centre of Jerusalem, the Hall of the Temple was in the center of the Sanctuary, the Ark of the Covenant was in the centre of the Hall and before the Ark lay the foundation stone of the world; for it was said that the world was established from that centre. According to another legend, Adam was created in the centre of the earth, in Jerusalem, on the site where later the Cross was to be erected. In the Chrisliche Adamsbuch it is written: "And angels carried Adam's body forth and buried it in the centre part of the earth, in Jerusalem, on the same spot where God was to be crucified." Obviously, the Christian legends also preserved these ideas. A memorial to this belief, still found today in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, is the so-called omphalos, i.e. navel of the earth. This is an upright pillar of marble, about two feet high, topped by a flattened cupola surrounded by wickerwork, said to denote the centre of the world. (p. 331) ****************************************************************************************************************************** Dante Alighieri, Divine Commedy: Paradiso, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1984 (Allen Mandelbaum translation) Six citations of centro (center) in Paradiso: 10.65, 13.51, 14.1 (2), 21.80, 28.51 Paradiso I0.64-66 (pp. 86-87): Io vidi più folgór vivi e vincenti far di noi centro e di sé far corona, più dolci in voce che in vista lucenti: And I saw many lights, alive, most bright; we formed the center, they became a crown, their voices even sweeter than their splendor: Paradiso I3.49-51 (pp. 112-113): Or apri li occhi a quel ch'io ti rispondo, e vedrai il tuo credere e 'l mio dire nel vero farsi come centro in tondo. Now let your eyes hold fast to my reply, and you will see: truth centers both my speech and your belief, just like a circle's center. Paradiso I4.1-3 (pp. 120-121): Dal centro al cerchio, e sì dal cerchio al centro movesi l'acqua in un ritondo vaso, secondo ch'é percosso fuori o dentro: From rim to center, center out to rim, so does the water move in a round vessel, as it is struck without, or struck within. Paradiso 21.79-81 (pp. 188-189): Né venni prima a l'ultima parola, che del suo mezzo fece il lume centro, girando sé come veloce mola; And I had yet to reach the final word when that light made a pivot of its midpoint and spun around as would a swift millstone. Paradiso 28.49-51 (pp. 254-255): ma nel mondo sensibile si puote veder le volte tanto più divine, quant'elle son dal centro più remote. but in the world of sense, what one can see are spheres becoming ever more divine as they are set more distant from the center. ****************************************************************************************************************************** Wei Wu Wei, Open Secret, Hong Kong University Press, 1965, pages 12-13, 24 (Online Archive) Chapter 5: Geometrically regarded     If phenomenality may be equated with tri-dimensional perception, then may we not assume that the essential characteristic of noumenality is perception from a further direction? Should that be so, then— geometrically regarded— what we term 'Awakening' is waking up to a further field of vision, that what we term 'Liberation' is freedom from the limitation of the cubic vision within which we have been confined, and 'Enlightenment' is the sudden brightness of a further 'universe' encompassing the three in the limited darkness of which we have been groping; i.e., that these are three terms for the displacement of the subject to a centre from which he can perceive objects in a further, richer, and more complete perspective.     If this should be so, then those who are 'awakened', perceiving a further dimension— that one from which we normally observe and which therefore is ours— are themselves perceiving from a still further direction, from a fifth. I, then, there were any entity to perceive the 'awakened', such entity would perceive the fifth dimension from a centre in the sixth.     But is not this the exact counterpart of what we have sought to establish geometrically? We have suggested that a displacement of the centre of the supposed entity (pseudo-centre) to a further, more profound centre will reveal a further dimension wherefrom all inferior dimensions are perceived in a greater perspective. Assuming that this is the ultimate perspective, or even if it is not, even if there be perspectives ad infinitum, is this not precisely a description of the mechanism of what the term 'Awakening' connotes? (pp. 12-13) Chapter 12: The Cosmic Continuum     A circle has only one centre. But the cosmic circle, being infinite, has an infinite number of centres, and each one is the centre of the whole, which, on account of its infinitude, is neither a circle nor not a circle, so that its centre also, is neither a centre nor not a centre.     Therefore, the centre, being ubiquitous, is itself the circle, and the notion of individual centres of individual circles within the infinite circle is a vain and superfluous concept.     Methaphysically such is a diagram of the cosmos, and a simple illustration of the position of phenomenal beings in a five-dimensional phenonmenal universe, in which they are neither something nor nothing, neither centres nor not centrers— for they are at the same time the centre and the whole. (p. 24) Wei Wu Wei, The Tenth Man, Hong Kong University Press, 1966, pages 127, 172-173 (Online Archive) Chapter 63: 'I am This, Here, Now!' Why Awakening is not a Personal Experience     Understanding is 'sudden' (a flash), i.e. im- or non-mediate, because it is intemporal. It is understanding of intemporality, and, therefore, it can only be 'sudden', that is time-less.     Note: This higher direction of measurement is not 'beyond' those we use normally: those which we know are elements of it, as length and breadth are elements of volume; 'ours' are within it, parts of it, technically. That is why the flash of fuller vision is released by a sensory perceept, and whey there is no 'beyond' to seek for— since it is always 'here'. In fact it is very precisely 'where' we are; and what we are is evident as soon as we perceive fully at last! It is our centre. (p. 127) Chapter 79: Note on Time     'Forever' or 'everlasting' in Time is "Now' in Intemporality.     'Now' is at the heart of things, i.e. the centre of eternity and infinity. We look at the universe from outside, Now sees it from within. That is what is meant by 'seeing things the other way round'. As 'Now' we are no longer helpless little lookers-on, we are at the helm. We no longer see the universe as 'the way it is, for good or ill', but as it must be— for we know that we are manifesting it, and that it is an objectivisation of what we are. (p. 172)     Eckhart said that the beginning of spirituality is dependent on recognising what one is as a being outside time. (p. 173) Wei Wu Wei, Posthumous Pieces, Hong Kong University Press, 1968, pages 23-24 (Online Archive) Chapter 10: Sequentia Fugit         I     The future should not be envisaged as some 'thing' that is awaiting us, any more than the past should be envisaged as some 'thing' that is gone-for-ever.     Neither has either come or gone, is either to-come or to-go, because neither is a 'thing' at all or has any objective existence whatever.     Both are what we call 'the present' which to us only appears to exist as an imaginary line separating two temporal states which we are obliged to experience sequentially. They are just Presence, which has for aspects 'past' and 'future' as a coin has head and tail.         II     The future is already 'now', has never been anywhen else, and will never go elsewhen. It does not exist as a 'future' at all, nor will it ever exist as a 'past'. It is entirely here now, always has been and will be 'forever' - in a time-context.     It is the 'time-context' which is imagined, according to which events are experienced in sequence. 'Sequence' appears to 'fly' and we call it 'Tempus'. Nothing else suffers any kind of displacement in Mind.         III The centre of infinity is in all "places", And I am the centre of infinity. The centre of intemporality is at all "times", And I am the centre of intemporality. Therefore here-and-there, near-and-far, Are measurements from where-I-am, And now-and-then, passed and to-come, Are measurements of my presence-and-absence, From my eternal centre. Wei Wu Wei (1895-1987) ****************************************************************************************************************************** Sivaya Subramuniya, Merging with Siva, Himalayan Academy, 1999, pages 223, 226-227 (Online) Lesson 106: Everything Is Perfect!     Nowadays meditation is becoming very popular. Everyone is talking about being centered. If you're right in the center of yourself, you don't hear any of the noise or activity. You're just peaceful within yourself. It's only when we come into the cross-section, the cross-fire of life, that we feel we're not all right.     My satguru, Yogaswami, made the very bold statement once, "There is not even one thing in this world that is not perfect!" You have to take a master like that very seriously. (p. 223) Subramuniya (1927-2001) Lesson 108: Realization Is the Key     What does it mean to "get centered" and to "be centered"? Actually, what it means is to feel the primal source within, to feel so centered that you are the center...     The entire spiritual unfoldment process, oddly enough, is designed to throw you off center so that you have to work to pull yourself on center. First life throws you off center. You have all kinds of experiences. You make mistakes and, with your indomitable will, have to control that fluctuating awareness to get it right on center and be all right, right now. (p. 226)     My guru, Yogaswami, would always throw his disciples off center and set them spinning. They had to work hard with themselves to get on center again.     What is this center? Well, it's like the inside of an empty glass. You know something is there, and when you're aware of it, you know that you're aware inside that empty glass... Now imagine you are like the glass. Become aware of the space inside. That is the tangible intangible you have to grasp. (p. 227) ****************************************************************************************************************************** Paul Brunton, Notebooks of Paul Brunton, Larson Publications, Burdett, NY, 1984-1988 (Online) Anthony Damiani introduced me to Paul Brunton's writings at his American Brahman Bookstore (1968-1970) in Ithaca, NY. PB blessed me with 14 meetings in Switzerland (1972-1979). The Notebooks of Paul Brunton have 296 paras on "centre". Here are 64 insightful paras from this venerable sage: Just as there is not a single radius only from the centre of a circle to its circumference but countless ones, so there is not a single path only from man to God but as many paths as there are men. Each has to find the way most appropriate to him, to the meaning and experience of truth. (1352) We who live in the world's fastest moving epoch have to keep hold of our inner still centre all the more. (4126) The ideal ashram or centre should be a sanctuary favouring mental quiet and emotional harmony, goodwill and tranquil study. (4332) We must find ourselves, our spiritual centre. We know that the discovery comes only in solitude. (4525) As dusk begins, the sacred call is heard and the mind turns inward to its centre. (4808) It is an aim of meditation to approach closer and closer to the Centre of one's being. (5060) When meditation deepens into contemplation, the man penetrates the still centre of his being and there finds the best part of himself— the Overself. (5153) If one returns daily to the Centre of his being, keeps the access to it open by meditation, he withdraws more and more from the body's domination and the intellect's one-sidedness. That is to say, he becomes more and more himself, less and less limited by his instruments. (5219) The word "centre" is a purely mystical term: it is unphilosophical. Where is the possibility of a central point in the mind which is so unlimited? But for practising mystics seeking to retire within, the centre is an excellent goal to aim at. (6010) Declaration 15: "I am a centre of life in the Divine Life, of intelligence in the Divine Intelligence." (6583) How close is his relationship to that other Self, that godlike Overself! And not only his mind's relationship but also his body's. For in the centre of every cell in blood, marrow, flesh, and bone, there is the void that holds, and is, pure Spirit. (6809) The true self of man is hidden in a central core of stillness, a central vacuum of silence. This core, this vacuum occupies only a pinpoint in dimension. All around it there is ring of thoughts and desires constituting the imagined self, the ego. This ring is constantly fermenting with fresh thoughts, constantly changing with fresh desires, and alternately bubbling with joy or heaving with grief. Whereas the centre is forever at rest, the ring around it is never at rest; whereas the centre bestows peace, the ring destroys it. (10599) The ego is the centre of human individuality. (10716) The body, the emotional feelings, and the intellect, are all placed on the circle-line. That which is at the centre of being is consciousness-in-itself. (10828) Only the deepest kind of reflection, or the most exciting kind of mystical experience, or the compelling force of a prophet's revelation can bring a man to the great discovery that his personal ego is not the true centre of his being. (11321) The degree of ego-attachment which you will find at the centre of a man's consciousness is a fairly reliable index to the degree of his spiritual evolution. (11508) Mentalism says that most of one's misery is inflicted on oneself by accepting and holding negative thoughts. They cover and hide the still centre of one's being, which is infinite happiness. (13953) My Initiations into the Overself (6): I found myself at the centre of my being. It was the real "I." Time was then brought to a standstill. (14437) We live in a society driven by compulsive restlessness, knowing no peace either on its surface or at its centre. (16811) The true self is the creative centre within us. (17460) The Grace works from his centre outward, transforming him from within, and therefore its earliest operation is unknown to his everyday mind. (23544) The momentary pause in every heartbeat is a link with the still centre of the Overself. Where the rhythm of activity comes to an end— be it a man's heart or an entire planet— its infinite and eternal cause is there. All this vast universal activity is but a function of the silent, still Void. (24209) The esoteric meaning of the circle, when situated within the very centre of the star, is the Divine Overself-atom within the human heart. (24250) A man is able to balance a pair of scales if he holds them at their centre. He is able to balance the various human functions if he finds his true centre. From that point he can see where one has been neglected and where another has been overused. From that source he can get the strength and guidance to make the necessary adjustments. (25374) A well-balanced man cannot be thrown down. He may be pushed about by circumstances but he will always keep, or return to, his centre. (25414) External activity may be likened to life at the circumference of a wheel; internal meditation may be likened to life at the centre of the wheel. (25527) Stillness at the Centre, activity on the circumference— this is equilibrium that is set by Nature (God) as the human ideal. (25528) He will look at experience from a new centre. He will see all things and creatures not only as they are on earth but also as they are "in heaven." (25956) His attention should always have God at its centre. (27144) He who commands his thoughts and senses from his divine centre, commands life. (27393) There is a centre in every one's Self which is divine and radiant. (27548) What this harmony means is that the hidden centre of consciousness within the other person will be alike to the centre within himself. (27577) Out of this deep mysterious centre within himself, he will draw the strength to endure distresses with fortitude, the wisdom to manage situations without after-regrets, the insight to keep the great and little values of everyday living in proper perspective. (27593) At the centre of every man's being there is his imperishable soul, his guardian angel. (27669) Each Overself is like a circle whose centre is in some individual but whose circumference is not in any individual. (27865) When he retreats to his centre, he has retreated to the point where the Glimpse of truth may be had. (28183) It is there, in the deep centre of himself, that he finds holiness and liberation. (28406) His old centre in the ego has mysteriously gone. His new centre in the Overself has taken its place. (28567) When he shifts the centre of his interest from the ego to the Stillness his life begins to manage itself. Happenings pertaining to it come about without his doing anything at all. (29208) In this state the thought-making activity comes to an end, the intellect itself is absorbed in the still centre of being, and a luminous peace enfolds the man. (30247) In this state the world is not presented to consciousness. Consequently none of the problems associated with it is present. No ego is active with personal emotions and particular thoughts. No inner conflicts disturb the still centre of being. (30248) Place the mind where it belongs— at the Centre. (30371) If he has succeeded in holding his mind somewhat still and empty, his next step is to find his centre. (30475) When we find the still centre of our being, we find it to be all happiness. When we remain in the surface of our being, we yearn for happiness but never find it. For there the mind is always moving, restless, scattered. (30773) Seek the centre of inner gravity and try to stay in it. Try to avoid being pulled out of it by emotions and passions, whether your own or other people's, by anxieties and troubles— in short, by the ego. (30809) This truth, taught by Greek sage and Zen master, that action is best done from a tranquil centre, is logical in theory and provable in practice. (30869) He has created a secret, invulnerable centre within himself, a garden of the spirit which neither the world's hurts nor the world's joys can touch. He has found a transcendental singleness of mind. (30885) The man who knows how to live in his centre and not stray away from it, frequently finds that he need not make any move towards satisfying a need. It will often come by itself at the right moment drawn by the magnetic central power. (31085) If he establishes himself first in this vital creative centre, all else will be added unto him inevitably and inescapably. (31088) There is a fixed centre deep within every man. He may live in it, if he can find and keep to it, so tranquilly that all else in his thoughts and feelings and actions will be affected by its magic without being able to affect it. (31297) In the ordinary person, consciousness remains only at his periphery, but in the adept it can be drawn at any moment and at will to this centre. (31330) This centre of his own being never moves. It is forever in stillness. (31410) In that silent centre there is immense power and rocklike strength. (31423) Here, in the divine centre, he can turn at will and rest completely absorbed for a while and completely lost to the world. No thinking will then penetrate its stillness. Here is peace indeed. (31492) The complete silence which he finds in the centre of his being cannot be conveyed in words to others without passing into the intellect, which originates and arranges them. But to do this is to leave that centre, to desert that silence, and to step down to an altogether lower level. (31522) I am not God but rather an emanation from God. I am still a man but there is something Godlike in the centre of my being. The Deity is inaccessible but that centre is not. (31663) The illuminate stands in the centre of the world-movement, himself unmoving and unmoved. (32039) At the centre of each man, each animal, each plant, each cell, and each atom, there is a complete stillness. A seemingly empty stillness, yet it holds the divine energies and the divine Idea for that thing. (33399) The Void which man finds at the centre— whether of his own being or of the universe's— is divine. It holds both godlike Mind and godlike Energy. It is still and silent, yet it is the source of all the dynamic energies, human and universal. (33400) The same energy which runs in waves or flows in streams of particles through the universe's atoms courses through man. In both cases it issues forth from a centre which is divine. (33403) Each individual centre of life and intelligence is a replica in minuscule of the World-Mind itself. (33409) The man who, according to the Bible, is made in the image of God is not the earthly man, visible to all and speaking in a voice that sounds in physical ears. He is to be found in the deep centre of consciousness, where there is only a Void, and he speaks in silence to the attentive mind, not to other persons. (33679) The ego is not really killed— how without body and intellect, emotion and will, could anyone act in this world?— but the centre of being is moved out of it to the Overself. (34709) This is what he has to learn— and it can be learnt only by personal practice, not from any book— how to keep in beautiful equipoise receptivity to his sacred Centre and efficiency in attending to the world's demands. This is answering Jesus' call to be in the world but not of it. This is the union of busy actuality with central tranquillity. (34939) As his centre moves to a profounder depth of being, peace of mind becomes increasingly a constant companion. This in turn influences the way in which he handles his share of the world's activities. Impatience and stupidity recede, wrath at malignity is disciplined; discouragement under adversity is controlled and stress under pressures relaxed. (34972) ****************************************************************************************************************************** Web Sites on Centre Symbolism • Center (wikipedia.org) • The Centre: Absolute (philosophy) (wikipedia.org) • Centre of the Labyrinth (By Jeff Saward) • Axis mundi (wikipedia.org) • Circled Dot — Circum Point (symbols.com) • Solar Symbolism, Ancient and Modern (By Stanford SOLAR Center) • The Omphalos and Baetyl Stone (firstlegend.info) • The Tree of Life (firstlegend.info) • Stonehenge a 'symbol of unification' at centre of Ancient Britain     (By Nick Collins, The Telegraph, UK, June 22, 2012) Gustave Doré's engraving depicts Dante's vision of the Empryean (Paradiso XXXI)

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