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Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book III · 52 of 55 · tr. Charles Johnston

Sutra 52

From perfectly concentrated Meditation on the divisions of time and their succession comes that wisdom which is born of discernment. The Upanishads say of the liberated that 'he has passed beyond the triad of time'; he no longer sees life as projected into past, present and future, since these are forms of the mind; but beholds all things spread out in the quiet light of the Eternal. This would seem to be the same thought, and to point to that clear-eyed spiritual perception which is above time; that wisdom born of the unveiling of Time's delusion. Then shall the disciple live neither in the present nor the future, but in the Eternal.
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Themes
Cosmic Consciousnessanthropology

A state of awareness transcending ordinary human consciousness, often involving unity with the universe or higher dimensions.

The passage describes a state where the practitioner transcends ordinary temporal perception and attains clear-eyed spiritual perception above time.

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Divine Lighttheology

The uncreated luminous quality of the divine, sometimes experienced directly in mystical states; illumination as revelation.

The text explicitly mentions beholding all things in the 'quiet light of the Eternal'.

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Meditationpraxis

Disciplined inward attention — sitting, focused, or open-awareness practice — as a stand-alone term that umbrellas active_contemplation, inner_silence, and dhyana-style sitting.

The passage explicitly describes 'perfectly concentrated Meditation on the divisions of time' as the practice that leads to wisdom.

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