"Babaji's spiritual state is beyond human comprehension," Sri Yukteswar explained to me. "The dwarfed4 vision of men cannot pierce to his transcendental star. One attempts in vain even to picture the avatar's attainment6. It is inconceivable."
The Upanishads have minutely classified every stage of spiritual advancement7. A siddha ("perfected being") has progressed from the state of a jivanmukta ("freed while living") to that of a paramukta ("supremely free"-full power over death); the latter has completely escaped from the mayic thralldom and its reincarnational round. The paramukta therefore seldom returns to a physical body; if he does, he is an avatar, a divinely appointed medium of supernal10 blessings11 on the world.
An avatar is unsubject to the universal economy; his pure body, visible as a light image, is free from any debt to nature. The casual gaze may see nothing extraordinary in an avatar's form but it casts no shadow nor makes any footprint on the ground. These are outward symbolic13 proofs of an inward lack of darkness and material bondage14. Such a God-man alone knows the Truth behind the relativities of life and death. Omar Khayyam, so grossly misunderstood, sang of this liberated15 man in his immortal16 scripture2, the Rubaiyat:
"Ah, Moon of my Delight who know'st no wane17, The Moon of Heav'n is rising once again; How oft hereafter rising shall she look Through this same Garden after me-in vain!"
The "Moon of Delight" is God, eternal Polaris, anachronous never. The "Moon of Heav'n" is the outward cosmos18, fettered19 to the law of periodic recurrence20. Its chains had been dissolved forever by the Persian seer through his self-realization. "How oft hereafter rising shall she look . . . after me-in vain!" What frustration21 of search by a frantic22 universe for an absolute omission23!
Christ expressed his freedom in another way: "And a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head." 33-1
Krishna, Rama, Buddha25, and Patanjali were among the ancient Indian avatars. A considerable poetic26 literature in Tamil has grown up around Agastya, a South Indian avatar. He worked many miracles during the centuries preceding and following the Christian27 era, and is credited with retaining his physical form even to this day.
Babaji's mission in India has been to assist prophets in carrying out their special dispensations. He thus qualifies for the scriptural classification of Mahavatar (Great Avatar). He has stated that he gave yoga initiation28 to Shankara, ancient founder29 of the Swami Order, and to Kabir, famous medieval saint. His chief nineteenth-century disciple30 was, as we know, Lahiri Mahasaya, revivalist of the lost Kriya art.
babaji
BABAJI, THE MAHAVATAR
Guru of Lahiri Mahasaya
The Mahavatar is in constant communion with Christ; together they send out vibrations32 of redemption, and have planned the spiritual technique of salvation33 for this age. The work of these two fully34-illumined masters-one with the body, and one without it-is to inspire the nations to forsake35 suicidal wars, race hatreds36, religious sectarianism, and the boomerang-evils of materialism37. Babaji is well aware of the trend of modern times, especially of the influence and complexities38 of Western civilization, and realizes the necessity of spreading the self-liberations of yoga equally in the West and in the East.
That there is no historical reference to Babaji need not surprise us. The great guru has never openly appeared in any century; the misinterpreting glare of publicity39 has no place in his millennial40 plans. Like the Creator, the sole but silent Power, Babaji works in a humble41 obscurity.
Great prophets like Christ and Krishna come to earth for a specific and spectacular purpose; they depart as soon as it is accomplished42. Other avatars, like Babaji, undertake work which is concerned more with the slow evolutionary43 progress of man during the centuries than with any one outstanding event of history. Such masters always veil themselves from the gross public gaze, and have the power to become invisible at will. For these reasons, and because they generally instruct their disciples44 to maintain silence about them, a number of towering spiritual figures remain world-unknown. I give in these pages on Babaji merely a hint of his life-only a few facts which he deems it fit and helpful to be publicly imparted.
No limiting facts about Babaji's family or birthplace, dear to the annalist's heart, have ever been discovered. His speech is generally in Hindi, but he converses45 easily in any language. He has adopted the simple name of Babaji (revered father); other titles of respect given him by Lahiri Mahasaya's disciples are Mahamuni Babaji Maharaj (supreme ecstatic saint), Maha Yogi (greatest of yogis), Trambak Baba and Shiva Baba (titles of avatars of Shiva). Does it matter that we know not the patronymic of an earth-released master?
"Whenever anyone utters with reverence46 the name of Babaji," Lahiri Mahasaya said, "that devotee attracts an instant spiritual blessing12."
The deathless guru bears no marks of age on his body; he appears to be no more than a youth of twenty-five. Fair-skinned, of medium build and height, Babaji's beautiful, strong body radiates a perceptible glow. His eyes are dark, calm, and tender; his long, lustrous47 hair is copper-colored. A very strange fact is that Babaji bears an extraordinarily48 exact resemblance to his disciple Lahiri Mahasaya. The similarity is so striking that, in his later years, Lahiri Mahasaya might have passed as the father of the youthful-looking Babaji.
Swami Kebalananda, my saintly Sanskrit tutor, spent some time with Babaji in the Himalayas.
"The peerless master moves with his group from place to place in the mountains," Kebalananda told me. "His small band contains two highly advanced American disciples. After Babaji has been in one locality for some time, he says: 'Dera danda uthao.' ('Let us lift our camp and staff.') He carries a symbolic danda (bamboo staff). His words are the signal for moving with his group instantaneously to another place. He does not always employ this method of astral travel; sometimes he goes on foot from peak to peak.
"Babaji can be seen or recognized by others only when he so desires. He is known to have appeared in many slightly different forms to various devotees-sometimes without beard and moustache, and sometimes with them. As his undecaying body requires no food, the master seldom eats. As a social courtesy to visiting disciples, he occasionally accepts fruits, or rice cooked in milk and clarified butter.
"Two amazing incidents of Babaji's life are known to me," Kebalananda went on. "His disciples were sitting one night around a huge fire which was blazing for a sacred Vedic ceremony. The master suddenly seized a burning log and lightly struck the bare shoulder of a chela who was close to the fire.
"'Sir, how cruel!' Lahiri Mahasaya, who was present, made this remonstrance49.
"'Would you rather have seen him burned to ashes before your eyes, according to the decree of his past karma?'
"With these words Babaji placed his healing hand on the chela's disfigured shoulder. 'I have freed you tonight from painful death. The karmic law has been satisfied through your slight suffering by fire.'
"On another occasion Babaji's sacred circle was disturbed by the arrival of a stranger. He had climbed with astonishing skill to the nearly inaccessible50 ledge51 near the camp of the master.
"'Sir, you must be the great Babaji.' The man's face was lit with inexpressible reverence. 'For months I have pursued a ceaseless search for you among these forbidding crags. I implore52 you to accept me as a disciple.'
"'If you refuse me, I will jump from this mountain. Life has no further value if I cannot win your guidance to the Divine.'
"'Jump then,' Babaji said unemotionally. 'I cannot accept you in your present state of development.'
"The man immediately hurled54 himself over the cliff. Babaji instructed the shocked disciples to fetch the stranger's body. When they returned with the mangled55 form, the master placed his divine hand on the dead man. Lo! he opened his eyes and prostrated56 himself humbly57 before the omnipotent58 one.
"'You are now ready for discipleship59.' Babaji beamed lovingly on his resurrected chela. 'You have courageously60 passed a difficult test. Death shall not touch you again; now you are one of our immortal flock.' Then he spoke61 his usual words of departure, 'Dera danda uthao'; the whole group vanished from the mountain."
An avatar lives in the omnipresent Spirit; for him there is no distance inverse62 to the square. Only one reason, therefore, can motivate Babaji in maintaining his physical form from century to century: the desire to furnish humanity with a concrete example of its own possibilities. Were man never vouchsafed63 a glimpse of Divinity in the flesh, he would remain oppressed by the heavy mayic delusion64 that he cannot transcend5 his mortality.
Jesus knew from the beginning the sequence of his life; he passed through each event not for himself, not from any karmic compulsion, but solely65 for the upliftment of reflective human beings. His four reporter-disciples-Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John-recorded the ineffable66 drama for the benefit of later generations.
For Babaji, also, there is no relativity of past, present, future; from the beginning he has known all phases of his life. Yet, accommodating himself to the limited understanding of men, he has played many acts of his divine life in the presence of one or more witnesses. Thus it came about that a disciple of Lahiri Mahasaya was present when Babaji deemed the time to be ripe for him to proclaim the possibility of bodily immortality67. He uttered this promise before Ram8 Gopal Muzumdar, that it might finally become known for the inspiration of other seeking hearts. The great ones speak their words and participate in the seemingly natural course of events, solely for the good of man, even as Christ said: "Father . . . I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by i said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me." 33-2 During my visit at Ranbajpur with Ram Gopal, "the sleepless68 saint," 33-3 he related the wondrous69 story of his first meeting with Babaji.
"I sometimes left my isolated70 cave to sit at Lahiri Mahasaya's feet in Benares," Ram Gopal told me. "One midnight as I was silently meditating71 in a group of his disciples, the master made a surprising request.
"'Ram Gopal,' he said, 'go at once to the Dasasamedh bathing ghat.'
"I soon reached the secluded spot. The night was bright with moonlight and the glittering stars. After I had sat in patient silence for awhile, my attention was drawn72 to a huge stone slab73 near my feet. It rose gradually, revealing an underground cave. As the stone remained balanced in some unknown manner, the draped form of a young and surpassingly lovely woman was levitated74 from the cave high into the air. Surrounded by a soft halo, she slowly descended75 in front of me and stood motionless, steeped in an inner state of ecstasy76. She finally stirred, and spoke gently.
"'I am Mataji, 33-4 the sister of Babaji. I have asked him and also Lahiri Mahasaya to come to my cave tonight to discuss a matter of great importance.'
"A nebulous light was rapidly floating over the Ganges; the strange luminescence was reflected in the opaque77 waters. It approached nearer and nearer until, with a blinding flash, it appeared by the side of Mataji and condensed itself instantly into the human form of Lahiri Mahasaya. He bowed humbly at the feet of the woman saint.
"Before I had recovered from my bewilderment, I was further wonder- struck to behold78 a circling mass of mystical light traveling in the sky. Descending79 swiftly, the flaming whirlpool neared our group and materialized itself into the body of a beautiful youth who, I understood at once, was Babaji. He looked like Lahiri Mahasaya, the only difference being that Babaji appeared much younger, and had long, bright hair.
"Lahiri Mahasaya, Mataji, and myself knelt at the guru's feet. An ethereal sensation of beatific80 glory thrilled every fiber81 of my being as I touched his divine flesh.
"'Blessed sister,' Babaji said, 'I am intending to shed my form and plunge82 into the Infinite Current.'
"'I have already glimpsed your plan, beloved master. I wanted to discuss it with you tonight. Why should you leave your body?' The glorious woman looked at him beseechingly83.
"'What is the difference if I wear a visible or invisible wave on the ocean of my Spirit?'
"Mataji replied with a quaint84 flash of wit. 'Deathless guru, if it makes no difference, then please do not ever relinquish85 your form.' 33-5
"'Be it so,' Babaji said solemnly. 'I will never leave my physical body. It will always remain visible to at least a small number of people on this earth. The Lord has spoken His own wish through your lips.'
"As I listened in awe86 to the conversation between these exalted87 beings, the great guru turned to me with a benign88 gesture.
"'Fear not, Ram Gopal,' he said, 'you are blessed to be a witness at the scene of this immortal promise.'
"As the sweet melody of Babaji's voice faded away, his form and that of Lahiri Mahasaya slowly levitated and moved backward over the Ganges. An aureole of dazzling light templed their bodies as they vanished into the night sky. Mataji's form floated to the cave and descended; the stone slab closed of itself, as if working on an invisible leverage89.
"Infinitely90 inspired, I wended my way back to Lahiri Mahasaya's place. As I bowed before him in the early dawn, my guru smiled at me understandingly.
"'I am happy for you, Ram Gopal,' he said. 'The desire of meeting Babaji and Mataji, which you have often expressed to me, has found at last a sacred fulfillment.'
"My fellow disciples informed me that Lahiri Mahasaya had not moved from his dais since early the preceding evening.
"'He gave a wonderful discourse91 on immortality after you had left for the Dasasamedh ghat,' one of the chelas told me. For the first time I fully realized the truth in the scriptural verses which state that a man of self-realization can appear at different places in two or more bodies at the same time.
"Lahiri Mahasaya later explained to me many metaphysical points concerning the hidden divine plan for this earth," Ram Gopal concluded. "Babaji has been chosen by God to remain in his body for the duration of this particular world cycle. Ages shall come and go- still the deathless master, 33-6 beholding92 the drama of the centuries, shall be present on this stage terrestrial."
Chapter 33 Footnotes
33-1: Matthew 8:19-20.
33-2: John 11:41-42.
33-3: The omnipresent yogi who observed that I failed to bow before the Tarakeswar shrine93 (chapter 13).
33-4: "Holy Mother." Mataji also has lived through the centuries; she is almost as far advanced spiritually as her brother. She remains94 in ecstasy in a hidden underground cave near the Dasasamedh ghat.
33-5: This incident reminds one of Thales. The great Greek philosopher taught that there was no difference between life and death. "Why, then," inquired a critic, "do you not die?" "Because," answered Thales, "it makes no difference."
33-6: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying (remain unbrokenly in the Christ Consciousness), he shall never see death."-John 8:51.
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1 secluded | |
adj.与世隔绝的;隐退的;偏僻的v.使隔开,使隐退( seclude的过去式和过去分词) | |
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2 scripture | |
n.经文,圣书,手稿;Scripture:(常用复数)《圣经》,《圣经》中的一段 | |
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3 scriptures | |
经文,圣典( scripture的名词复数 ); 经典 | |
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4 dwarfed | |
vt.(使)显得矮小(dwarf的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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5 transcend | |
vt.超出,超越(理性等)的范围 | |
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6 attainment | |
n.达到,到达;[常pl.]成就,造诣 | |
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7 advancement | |
n.前进,促进,提升 | |
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8 ram | |
(random access memory)随机存取存储器 | |
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9 pointed | |
adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
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10 supernal | |
adj.天堂的,天上的;崇高的 | |
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11 blessings | |
n.(上帝的)祝福( blessing的名词复数 );好事;福分;因祸得福 | |
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12 blessing | |
n.祈神赐福;祷告;祝福,祝愿 | |
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13 symbolic | |
adj.象征性的,符号的,象征主义的 | |
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14 bondage | |
n.奴役,束缚 | |
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15 liberated | |
a.无拘束的,放纵的 | |
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16 immortal | |
adj.不朽的;永生的,不死的;神的 | |
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17 wane | |
n.衰微,亏缺,变弱;v.变小,亏缺,呈下弦 | |
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18 cosmos | |
n.宇宙;秩序,和谐 | |
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19 fettered | |
v.给…上脚镣,束缚( fetter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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20 recurrence | |
n.复发,反复,重现 | |
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21 frustration | |
n.挫折,失败,失效,落空 | |
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22 frantic | |
adj.狂乱的,错乱的,激昂的 | |
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23 omission | |
n.省略,删节;遗漏或省略的事物,冗长 | |
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24 spacious | |
adj.广阔的,宽敞的 | |
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25 Buddha | |
n.佛;佛像;佛陀 | |
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26 poetic | |
adj.富有诗意的,有诗人气质的,善于抒情的 | |
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27 Christian | |
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒 | |
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28 initiation | |
n.开始 | |
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29 Founder | |
n.创始者,缔造者 | |
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30 disciple | |
n.信徒,门徒,追随者 | |
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31 likeness | |
n.相像,相似(之处) | |
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32 vibrations | |
n.摆动( vibration的名词复数 );震动;感受;(偏离平衡位置的)一次性往复振动 | |
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33 salvation | |
n.(尤指基督)救世,超度,拯救,解困 | |
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34 fully | |
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地 | |
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35 forsake | |
vt.遗弃,抛弃;舍弃,放弃 | |
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36 hatreds | |
n.仇恨,憎恶( hatred的名词复数 );厌恶的事 | |
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37 materialism | |
n.[哲]唯物主义,唯物论;物质至上 | |
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38 complexities | |
复杂性(complexity的名词复数); 复杂的事物 | |
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39 publicity | |
n.众所周知,闻名;宣传,广告 | |
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40 millennial | |
一千年的,千福年的 | |
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41 humble | |
adj.谦卑的,恭顺的;地位低下的;v.降低,贬低 | |
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42 accomplished | |
adj.有才艺的;有造诣的;达到了的 | |
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43 evolutionary | |
adj.进化的;演化的,演变的;[生]进化论的 | |
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44 disciples | |
n.信徒( disciple的名词复数 );门徒;耶稣的信徒;(尤指)耶稣十二门徒之一 | |
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45 converses | |
v.交谈,谈话( converse的第三人称单数 ) | |
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46 reverence | |
n.敬畏,尊敬,尊严;Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称;v.尊敬,敬畏,崇敬 | |
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47 lustrous | |
adj.有光泽的;光辉的 | |
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48 extraordinarily | |
adv.格外地;极端地 | |
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49 remonstrance | |
n抗议,抱怨 | |
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50 inaccessible | |
adj.达不到的,难接近的 | |
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51 ledge | |
n.壁架,架状突出物;岩架,岩礁 | |
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52 implore | |
vt.乞求,恳求,哀求 | |
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53 chasm | |
n.深坑,断层,裂口,大分岐,利害冲突 | |
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54 hurled | |
v.猛投,用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 );大声叫骂 | |
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55 mangled | |
vt.乱砍(mangle的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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56 prostrated | |
v.使俯伏,使拜倒( prostrate的过去式和过去分词 );(指疾病、天气等)使某人无能为力 | |
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57 humbly | |
adv. 恭顺地,谦卑地 | |
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58 omnipotent | |
adj.全能的,万能的 | |
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59 discipleship | |
n.做弟子的身份(期间) | |
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60 courageously | |
ad.勇敢地,无畏地 | |
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61 spoke | |
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
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62 inverse | |
adj.相反的,倒转的,反转的;n.相反之物;v.倒转 | |
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63 vouchsafed | |
v.给予,赐予( vouchsafe的过去式和过去分词 );允诺 | |
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64 delusion | |
n.谬见,欺骗,幻觉,迷惑 | |
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65 solely | |
adv.仅仅,唯一地 | |
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66 ineffable | |
adj.无法表达的,不可言喻的 | |
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67 immortality | |
n.不死,不朽 | |
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68 sleepless | |
adj.不睡眠的,睡不著的,不休息的 | |
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69 wondrous | |
adj.令人惊奇的,奇妙的;adv.惊人地;异乎寻常地;令人惊叹地 | |
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70 isolated | |
adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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71 meditating | |
a.沉思的,冥想的 | |
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72 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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73 slab | |
n.平板,厚的切片;v.切成厚板,以平板盖上 | |
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74 levitated | |
v.(使)升空,(使)漂浮( levitate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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75 descended | |
a.为...后裔的,出身于...的 | |
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76 ecstasy | |
n.狂喜,心醉神怡,入迷 | |
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77 opaque | |
adj.不透光的;不反光的,不传导的;晦涩的 | |
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78 behold | |
v.看,注视,看到 | |
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79 descending | |
n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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80 beatific | |
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81 fiber | |
n.纤维,纤维质 | |
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82 plunge | |
v.跳入,(使)投入,(使)陷入;猛冲 | |
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83 beseechingly | |
adv. 恳求地 | |
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84 quaint | |
adj.古雅的,离奇有趣的,奇怪的 | |
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85 relinquish | |
v.放弃,撤回,让与,放手 | |
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86 awe | |
n.敬畏,惊惧;vt.使敬畏,使惊惧 | |
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87 exalted | |
adj.(地位等)高的,崇高的;尊贵的,高尚的 | |
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88 benign | |
adj.善良的,慈祥的;良性的,无危险的 | |
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89 leverage | |
n.力量,影响;杠杆作用,杠杆的力量 | |
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90 infinitely | |
adv.无限地,无穷地 | |
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91 discourse | |
n.论文,演说;谈话;话语;vi.讲述,著述 | |
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92 beholding | |
v.看,注视( behold的现在分词 );瞧;看呀;(叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现)哎哟 | |
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93 shrine | |
n.圣地,神龛,庙;v.将...置于神龛内,把...奉为神圣 | |
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94 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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