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<p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>
<span style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Vision
of Dante</span></b></p>
<div class=Section1>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:11.25pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>DANTE is known as a great poet and also as a great seer: Sri Aurobindo
mentions him as one of the very greatest. He names three as the supreme poets
of <st1:place>Europe</st1:place>, of the very first rank: Homer of ancient <st1:country-region><st1:place>Greece</st1:place></st1:country-region>,
Dante in the Middle Ages, and nearer to us, Shakespeare. Along with these Sri
Aurobindo mentions also Valmiki of India. However I shall speak of Dante not so
much as a poet but as a seer: as such he was a Traveller of the Worlds in the
path of the life Divine in his own way; His poem is his autobiography. He
speaks of his long journey, even like King Aswapathy in Sri Aurobindo's <i>Savitri,
</i>as a traveller of the worlds. Dante describes his journey through the
three worlds well-known in Christian theology. He begins in this way his great
poem:</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;line-height:150%;
mso-pagination:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>I was in the middle of my 
life's journey, suddenly one day unexpectedly I found myself in the very heart 
of a mighty forest. It is a wild, grim, frightful place <i>– selva selvaggia ed aspra e forte.<o:p></o:p></i></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><i><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></i></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Some of you may remember the description of the Dandaka forest in the <i>Mahabharata,
</i>quoted so often by Sri Aurobindo, picturing the vast horror of the forest: <i>vanam
pratibhayam sunyam jhillikagananinaditam.¹ </i>Likewise
Dante also says that even now when he remembers the scene his heart is full of
fear and shivering. However he continues his narration:</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:0;text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:
7.9pt;mso-pagination:none; line-height:150%; margin-bottom:0'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:0;text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:
7.9pt;mso-pagination:none; line-height:150%; margin-bottom:0'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:
12.0pt'>¹ &quot;A void and dreadful forest ringing with the cricket's
cry.&quot; <span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>&nbsp;</span>(Sri Aurobindo)<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>

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<span style='font-size:10.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;'>Page – 48</span></p>

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<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:11.25pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>&quot;I proceeded on my way but I did not know
what to do and where to go. I did not know anything why I was here, still I
proceeded through masses of boulders and rocks, up and down a rough and,
difficult path. Suddenly I saw standing before me a figure, a human figure very
beautiful and luminous and noble.&quot; But who was this person? Dante
approached him and asked: &quot;Who are you? And what is this place I am
in?&quot; The person answered in a quiet and solemn voice, &quot;You have
surely heard of me. I am Virgil from <st1:City><st1:place>Mantua</st1:place></st1:City>
of <st1:country-region><st1:place>Italy</st1:place></st1:country-region>.&quot;
&quot;Oh, the great Virgil, the divine Virgil!&quot; I exclaimed.
&quot;Yes,&quot; he answered, &quot;the same.&quot; – Virgil who sang of the
glory of Roman civilisation, of Roman greatness and also it was he, wonderful
to say, <i>mirabile dictu, </i>who spoke of the advent of the new age and the
birth of the Divine Child. It was just before the birth of Christ when Virgil
made this prophecy. Dante answered, &quot;I am very fortunate and grateful to
you, but how is that you have come here to see me and speak to me?&quot; Virgil
replied, &quot;I will tell you presently. You are more fortunate than I am and
I envy you. You will know gradually. I have been sent to you by a person whom
you know. She is a divine person, you will recognise when I name her. She is
Beatrice.&quot; Dante was thunderstruck, almost stunned hearing the name. You
must have heard the story, it is a well-known legend. When he was young he met
a girl and immediately fell deep in love over head and ears. It was a most
casual meeting but it left its mark on his whole life and even the life after.
The girl died young and he had no occasion to get acquainted with her. Still he
continued to love her, her image in his heart was as vivid and living as ever.
So, after years when he had passed half of his lifetime, as he says, he slipped
over miraculously into the other world and had now these experiences he is
narrating. Virgil continued: &quot;So I am sent by Beatrice to be your guide
through this journey you have to undertake to reach her and to meet her in
another sphere. These are dangerous places and ugly and frightful, a guide is<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

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mso-pagination:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>
<span style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
'>Page – 49<o:p></o:p></span></p>

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<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>needed. You have to climb three worlds and pass through them to reach
your destination. The first world is Hell, Inferno; then there is Purgatory and
then Heaven, and finally the Beyond Heaven. All these domains, some dangerous,
some complicated and confusing, and <i>some </i>incomprehensible, but all
contributing to the growth of your knowledge and consciousness, purifying and
heightening your nature – you will know and go through them with my help and
the grace of divine Beatrice. Now, come, we begin our journey. There is a river
in front, we have to cross it, enter the first zone or domain. <span
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>It<b> </b></span>marks the end of earth and
earthly life. <span style='mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>It<b> </b></span>is
Acheron.&quot; – We in <st1:country-region><st1:place>India</st1:place></st1:country-region>
call it Vaitarani – <span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>&nbsp;</span>&quot;This water
gives you a bath, a wash that removes your earthly tenement, your skin as it
were, and leaves you bare with your inner body.&quot; We know however that the
physical body, although an impediment in a way, is a sort of protection also
to the human being in earthly life and blocks the way against any attacks from
outside. <span style='mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>It<b> </b></span>is a protective
fort, so to say. After death when this material sheath is not there, the subtle
body is helpless against such attacks, is exposed as it were to impacts from
elsewhere. So both of them now crossed the river, resumed their journey. All on
a sudden just in front of them rose a huge wall and in it a mighty door. Virgil
said: &quot;We have to go through this door. <span style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
bold'>It<b> </b></span>is the door to Hell.&quot; They approached and saw
inscribed there on the top of the door these terrible words like burning
tongues of fire:</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;line-height:150%;
mso-pagination:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>&quot;Through me you go into the city of sorrows, </p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;line-height:150%;
mso-pagination:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Through me you go into eternal grief, </p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;line-height:150%;
mso-pagination:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Through me you go among people lost for ever.</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;line-height:150%;
mso-pagination:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;line-height:150%;
mso-pagination:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Justice moved my supreme Creator,</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;line-height:150%;
mso-pagination:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>I was fashioned by the Divine Power, </p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;line-height:150%;
mso-pagination:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The <st1:City><st1:place>Summit</st1:place></st1:City>
Knowledge, the First Love.<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:150%;
mso-pagination:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>
<span style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
'>Page – 50<o:p></o:p></span></p>

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<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:0.5in'>Before me nothing created was there</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:0.5in'>Unless it was also eternal, and I eternally am.</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:0.5in'>Abandon all hope, you who enter here.&quot;!</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;tab-stops:11.25pt; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>This is Hell, Inferno. There is no hope, no cheer, no
ray of light, all dark, dismal, all lurid glare. Virgil tells Dante:</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:11.75pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>&quot;Be brave, be courageous. You will see here
the most terrible things, most agonising, most heart-rending, you cannot
imagine what sort of sufferings are here.&quot;</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:11.0pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Then Dante was taken down to different regions, to
the numberless sinners of the earth who had committed all kinds of sins for
which they were now being punished. <span style='mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>In<b>
</b></span>how many ways they were tortured, how they suffered – some burning
in leaping fire, some freezing in most unbearable cold, some torn to pieces by
hideous demons and goblins – the sight was unbearable. As if a thousand
concentration camps of Hitler's day were concentrated here, or even more
frightful than that. For every sin there is the cruellest retribution and these
people have no protection which, as I have said, their body gave them upon
earth, as a buffer. Even the poisons they nourished within them, now burst out
being no more pressed and contained within. Dante was overwhelmed, he could not
bear to look at the scene, man has to suffer so much: but how long? Virgil
shook his head and said, &quot;Much more he has to suffer, it is man's own
guilt. Long they will have to suffer.&quot; &quot;Long? How long?&quot;
&quot;That is Divine Justice.&quot;</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:.15in;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>There is atonement for many sins – various degrees
and kinds of atonement, some mild, some severe, some very difficult but still
in the end you get through them and can become free after a time from the
effects of your own Karma, but it seems there are lapses and transgressions
that are so formidable that no atonement can remedy them, there is no redemption
for these. Baudelaire, the great French poet (of the underworld) speaks of the
&quot;Irrémédiable&quot;. He says,</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt'>¹<i>Inferno, </i>Canto
<span style='mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>III<b>, </b></span>11. 1-9.<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:150%;
mso-pagination:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>
<span style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
'>Page – 51<o:p></o:p></span></p>

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<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>when Satan does a thing, if he means it, he
does it well. One remembers the frightful picture of Lady Macbeth trying to rub
out the damned spot on her hand: she found it impossible and &quot;all the
perfumes of Arabia&quot; would not sweeten the hand that bore it; the spot
corrodes, eats into the being carrying with it infinite pain and weird misery
and madness all through eternity – &quot;the murky hell.&quot;</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:.15in;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Dante then turned his
face, he could not see all this fearful ugliness. He said, &quot;Let us move
from this place.&quot; So they moved on. They now approached the next world,
the Purgatory. Here also there is a river dividing the two, Hell and
Purgatory. The river is named &quot;Lethe&quot;. It means forgetfulness. You
forget what you have suffered and enter into a quieter and clearer region. You
cannot say you are happy there, but only more quiet and more calm. The people
who come here have washed themselves in the waters of Lethe, they forget everything
else, they remember only that they committed a blunder and they repent for
that. This repentance, this recognition of their error has purified them, to that
extent they are given a certain gladness. Dante speaks of an interesting case.
It was that of a man who was there now: at the last moment of his life he
recognised his guilt, his error, and was thinking of repentance – thinking only
– but he died just at that moment. He said now in sadness, &quot;If I had
repented fully as I had intended, probably I would have gone beyond this
Purgatory, to <st1:place>Paradise</st1:place>, but then I am here thinking of
the chance I missed.&quot;</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:11.5pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>So the two arrived at
the end of their journey through Purgatory. Here the people were pursuing the
process of cleansing and correcting themselves, becoming more and more
conscious and shuffling off the past as much as possible. Virgil now looked at
Dante and said: &quot;Dante, my task is done. I am not allowed to go beyond
this region of Purgatory and have to turn back. You see the river beyond, that marks
the beginning of Heaven. You have to cross it. Another person will now come and
take<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

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mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>
<span style='font-size:10.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;'>Page – 52<o:p></o:p></span></p>

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<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>charge of you, do not grieve. Beatrice herself
will come.&quot; Dante was elated hearing the name of Beatrice but then to
leave Virgil was a great grief. He exclaimed: &quot;But why, why my sweet
guide, why are you not allowed to enter?&quot; Virgil answered: &quot;That is
my secret. But I keep nothing hidden from you. If you want to hear I will tell
you. Intellectual knowledge I had enough, I had also a kind of mental image of
the supreme realisation in spiritual life,. I had even a luminous
understanding, but what I lacked in was faith, true faith, the simple trust
that surpasseth all understanding. This I yearned for but I could not arrive
at. Perhaps it is a thing not to be acquired or attained through any effort, it
comes to you, it is given to you or you do not have it. So I am stuck up here
and awaiting the Lord's final decree. I am given a place which is called
'Limbo'.&quot; So Virgil stopped and remained silent for a while. Do you know
what is a limbo? Limbo seems to be a region for silent meditation, quiet musing
on God and Heaven, forgetting all else. It was even a kind of passive happiness
and man can continue to be in it eternally. However in this matter of recording
Virgil's somewhat sad fate, the poet Dante was not responsible, he could not do
otherwise: he had to conform to the prevalent orthodox Christian doctrine that
only Christians, the humanity who came after Christ, had the privilege and opportunity
to enter Heaven, naturally the Christian Heaven. The rest of mankind, the pagan
world could aspire to reach, the best of them, only the top of the Purgatory
and there pass their days, their life in purifying themselves till the doomsday
decide finally their destiny.</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:11.0pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Virgil now asked leave
of Dante. Dante was very sad to part from his friend but then Virgil waved his
hand and slowly retired. While Virgil was retiring, Dante noticed that Virgil
did not cast a shadow and was surprised to see that he himself had a shadow.
He now remembered that he had come all the way up to this region with his
physical earthly body itself. In fact he did not die, he simply disappeared or
was<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

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<span style='font-size:10.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;'>Page – 53<o:p></o:p></span></p>

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<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>transported into an unearthly region from the
earth. Commentators say that only one person in the Christian tradition went
to Heaven in the physical body, it was Mary, mother of Christ: nobody else was
given this special privilege except Dante. <span style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
bold'>In<b> </b></span>Indian tradition too there were some fortunate people
who could go to Heaven in their physical body – Yudhishthira with his dog (who
was not really a dog but Dharma metamorphosed) was one; Narada, Bibhishana,
Ashwatthama and Hanuman – these went up only in their subtle physical body,
they had to give up the gross material form (immortal, <i>cirañjivi).<o:p></o:p></i></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:11.25pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Then thinking of Virgil
he moved along the bank of the river that separates now Purgatory from Heaven.
The river is known significantly as &quot;Ennce&quot; – it is a word of Greek
origin – the root means mind, thinking, intelligence; here I take it to mean
mindedness, that is true mind, right consciousness. When you bathe in. its
waters you wash away your old mind; a fresh luminous divine mind gives you a
clear and complete vision of the Truth.</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:11.75pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>However as Dante was
walking along the bank he heard a beautiful music, heavenly sweet, coming
floating as it were from the other shore. He looked and saw two beautiful
damsels there who made a sign to him to follow them. They were moving in a
contrary direction to the current of the river. After a while he found himself
on the other shore and as he looked up he saw at a distance a figure divinely
beautiful and imposing. Oh! it was Beatrice herself! Directly he saw her he
was <i>so </i>overwhelmed that he forgot himself – Dante says, all his old
passion rose with renewed intensity, all that was suppressed in him. Was the
love, the passion earthly, was it heavenly? he was confused. Beatrice with a tone
of severity spoke and reprimanded him: &quot;Dante, do not yield to the pulls
of your past, do not yearn for the things that you have left behind. I noticed
your attachment to Virgil also. That too is an obstacle, that too you must
leave behind; look to your future, look to what is ahead. You have to<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

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<span style='font-size:10.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;'>Page – 54<o:p></o:p></span></p>

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<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>be strong, even severe, perhaps merciless at
times.&quot; Indeed Beatrice herself was at times severe, even stern towards
Dante; whenever he was about to stumble or slip into the past, into the mind he
was to cast aside, she corrected him, pulled him back as on the present
occasion. Now they walked on and moved upward towards the final destination.</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:11.0pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The Heaven is composed
of many circles or regions, tier upon tier, a hierarchy of worlds. They are
inhabited by saints and holy persons of various degrees of merit; the greater
the merit the higher the status of their dwelling. Dante describes the first
Heaven, it is the moon; and then follow one by one many of the planets. He saw
the habitat of saints and holy persons each busy with his own occupation, some
studying, some meditating, some assembled in a group engaged in conversation
and so on. We too, we have in India many heavenly <i>lokas, </i>Brahmaloka,
Shivaloka, Vishnuloka, Janaloka, Goloka, inhabited by various types of gods and
spiritual siddhas. We have Hell too in <st1:country-region><st1:place>India</st1:place></st1:country-region>,
an underworld Patala or Rasatala – they are supposed to be seven in number! Our
Heavens too are seven. Dante became very curious to know more of the mind of
the holy persons - their thoughts and experiences. When they reached one of
these worlds, he told Beatrice: &quot;I would like to talk to one of these
saints.&quot; &quot;Yes, you can.&quot; Then he approached one and asked him:
&quot;You are happy here?&quot; – &quot;Yes&quot; - &quot;You do not feel
monotonous and bored?&quot; The answer was, &quot;No, not at all.&quot;
&quot;You do not long to rise higher and higher upward in your ascent to
greater heavens? You have no impulse to progress in this way?&quot; Answer:
&quot;No, I am content with what I have and where I am. I rely on God's will,
whatever He has decided I accept without question. As long as 'He wishes me to
be in a particular place or in a particular condition I obey unquestioningly.
All things and happenings are equal to me. This is what I have learnt. <span
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>In<b> </b></span>His will lies our peace. <i>E'n
la sua volontade</i><span style='mso-bidi-font-style:italic'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:150%;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>
<span style='font-size:10.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-style:italic'>Page – 55<o:p></o:p></span></p>

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</div>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>è <i>nostra pace.¹” </i>It was he who thus
uttered the famous <i>mantra </i>so well known to all. Dante wondered and felt
illumined hearing the reply of the saint.</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:11.75pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Apart from the saints
and sages and wise men (theologians) of Christendom, the higher Heavens
sheltered also non-human, that is to say, godly or divine beings – angels and
archangels, cherubs and seraphs – powers of Love, powers of Knowledge – Thrones,
Dominations, Princedoms, Principalities, as Dante names them – various grades
and modes of the divine force and energy – or, as we say, Personalities and
Emanations.</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:11.75pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Indeed Dante's mind was
full of questions and doubts and Beatrice herself had noticed it and given
warnings to him. As she was purifying his heart movements lifting his human
love to the divine level, so she sought to cleanse his mind too and as they
moved on she was disclosing to him with her love and with her consciousness the
nature of true mind and consciousness. At one place she said almost echoing an
Upanishadic utterance: &quot;Truth is not attained by debate and discussion,
not by the normal intelligence and reason, but through a suspension of these
faculties.&quot; In the higher Heavens Truth reveals itself spontaneously,
whole and entire. Beatrice was lifting up both the mind and the heart of Dante
into her knowledge and consciousness, into her own love. Indeed through her
words, Dante says, Truth is visible, clear like a star in the sky.</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:11.25pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>They now moved on
further and arrived at the last lap, the highest Heaven. Saint Bernard now took
charge of him. The saint said: &quot;Henceforth I will be the guide, the last
guide. Beatrice now leaves you and goes to her place, beyond the Heaven, God's
own home, Perfection and Bliss – the Empyrean.&quot;</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:11.25pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Dante stopped, stood
still and was asked to look ahead. Oh, what a bewitching scene! Epiphany – a world
of dazzling light – circles and waves of bright gold and diamond! </p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:
12.0pt'>¹<i>Paradiso, </i>Canto III, 85.<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:150%;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>
<span style='font-size:10.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;'>Page – 56<o:p></o:p></span></p>

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mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none'>

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</div>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And those entrancing forms and figures!
The Supreme Lord, the Supreme Trinity and the Virgin Mother – and Beatrice
beside!</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:11.25pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The moving circles and
the glorious figures wove a beautiful faultless pattern – a perfect
geometrical kaleidoscope, gleaming and glittering. Dante tries to give an
accurate comprehensive description: he says, his mathematical mind sought to
arrange all that he saw in a seizable sizeable pattern. The complexity and the
enormousness of the content escaped all measures and counts. His brain reeled
and got confused. In the end he seems to have lapsed into a blank
unconsciousness and forgetfulness. When he woke up what a refreshing calmness
and clarity was there! What once was complex and incomprehensible has now
become crystal clear and beautiful. What was a baffling mystery revealed a
simple fact, a self-evident Truth and in ecstasy he chanted his hymn of
thanksgiving to his divine beloved:</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:11.25pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>“O <i>donna </i>in <i>cui la mia speranza
vige,<o:p></o:p></i></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><i><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>&nbsp;</span></i>E <i>che soffristi per la mia salute<o:p></o:p></i></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><i>In inferno lasciar Ie tue
vestige,<o:p></o:p></i></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Di <i>tante case, quant'i' </i>ho <i>vedute,<o:p></o:p></i></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><i>Dal tuo podere </i>e <i>dalla
tua bontate<o:p></o:p></i></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><i>Riconosco la grazia virtute.<o:p></o:p></i></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:11.0pt;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><i><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></i></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:11.0pt;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Tu m' <i>hai </i>di <i>servo
tratto </i>a <i>libertate¹<o:p></o:p></i></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:11.0pt;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><i><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></i></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:
none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Madonna, all my hope reposes in thee;</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:
none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>For my redemption thou didst leave</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:
none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The traces of thy footsteps through Hell.</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:
none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>In all things that I saw</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:
12.0pt'>¹ <i>Paradiso, </i>Canto XXXI, n. 79-85.<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:150%;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>
<span style='font-size:10.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;'>Page – 57<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;mso-line-height-alt:
10.05pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none'>

<hr size=2 width="100%" align=center>

</div>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>I recognise thy power and solicitude;</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>I t was ever thy grace and thy force.</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>From bondage thou hast pulled me out into
freedom.</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:
none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>It was her grace that led him to the miraculous vision and. realisation
which he describes in his hymn to the supreme Lord:</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:
none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:
none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>O <i>luee ettema, ehe sola in te sidi<o:p></o:p></i></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><i><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>&nbsp;</span>Sola
t'intendi, e da te intelletta <o:p></o:p></i></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><i>E intendente te ami ed arridi!<o:p></o:p></i></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:
none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><i><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></i></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:
none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><i>Q,uella eireula;;;ion ehe si eoneetta<o:p></o:p></i></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><i>Pareva in te come lume rejlesso, <o:p></o:p></i></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><i>Dalli oeehi miei alquanto eireunspetta,<o:p></o:p></i></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:
none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><i><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></i></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:
none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><i>Dentro da sé, del suo colore stesso,<o:p></o:p></i></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><i>Mi parve pinta delta nostra effige;<o:p></o:p></i></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><i>Per ehe </i>' <i>l mio visa in lei tutto
era messo.¹<o:p></o:p></i></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:
none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><i><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></i></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:
none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>O Light Eternal, alone thou dwellest in thyself,</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:
none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Alone thou understandest thyself, and known to thyself</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:
none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And knowing thyself, thou lovest thyself and smilest to thyself alone.</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;tab-stops:right 256.8pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:
none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>That wheeling was self-conceived,</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:
none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>I t appeared in thee as a reflected gleam,</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:
none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>As I was dwelling upon it for a while.</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:
none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:
none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Within itself, in its own hue</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:
none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>It appeared to me as a painted image of me; </p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:
none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>So immersed I was in it whole and entire.</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:
none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:
12.0pt'>¹<i>Paradiso, </i>Canto XXXII, 11. 124-132.<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:150%;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>
<span style='font-size:10.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;'>Page – 58<o:p></o:p></span></p>

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10.55pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none'>

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</div>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:10.3pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Dante calls his vision
the vision of the &quot;Divine Comedy&quot;. That is the name of his great
poem. Comedy means a play that ends in happiness and union – here it is the
supreme happiness, the bliss of union with God and the Divine Mother. It is the
culmination and denouement of an unrolling of God's play of creation and world
manifestation. Dante ends his vision of the play in a single line of summation –
indeed in a single word – the last line of the &quot;Divina Commedia&quot; :</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:
none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>&quot;Love moved me...</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Love that moves the sun and all the
stars.&quot;<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:150%;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>
<span style='font-size:10.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;'>Page – 59<o:p></o:p></span></p>

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mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none'>

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