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This interplay of the infinite and the finite is of the essence of aphorism. One aspect realises, the other binds; one carries the breath of the sublime, the other announces the sublime.
In addition to the office of announcing, the poet may seek to enhance the affective value of his expression. Herein, perhaps, lies the secret to aphorisms affinity with rhetoric, the art of swaying the emotions. Aphorism undoubtedly seeks to compel acceptance of the general truth it asserts. This persuasive power is an intrinsic part of the spontaneity, universality and simplicity of the thought. If rhetorical figures are linked with this emotional efficacy, as suggested previously, it is not because the poet is necessarily a student of classical rhetoric but because he has discovered in these figures a natural form for the forceful expression of his intuitive perceptions.
In the following poem, for example, the poet has adopted a rhetorical form of interrogation to increase the cogency of his argument:
WHERE IS THE TRUTH?
0 Lord, where is the Truth?
"Where your Beloved is."
Who is my Beloved, Who?
"In Whom your life is peace. "[9]
The seeker addresses his timeless questions to God and, in reply, receives answers that are enigmatic, almost to the point of being riddle-like. They suggest that truth is to be found where love abides, but the identity of the Beloved is sheathed in the sense of peace that His presence imparts.
The nature of this encounter between the seeker and God is not as simple as might appear initially from this question and answer format. Within the elemental vestigial situation that this creates, and from the pressure of what remains undisclosed to the questioner, the poet is able to reproduce something of the mystery of God's presence. The rejoinders attributed to God are highly formal and detached, the more so when we contrast them with the pressing and urgent tones of the questioner. If it is God's role to lead and man's to follow, then what Sri Chinmoy presents is a modified picture of God as a guide and man as a chooser. Here God lays no claim on the seeker, issues no imperative command. His is the prompting voice leading the seeker ineluctably to the source but ensuring at every step that the seeker maps his own path. The irony of this poem is that God Himself is the Beloved to whom He refers and the haven of peace for the seeker's heart. This ultimate identification, however, presupposes the end of the seeker's journey and can only be made in the illumination of that final moment.
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