(1247,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:07','2021-11-23 17:21:07','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-003_Lines of the Descent of Consciousness.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"6\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">LINES OF THE DESCENT OF CONSCIOUSNESS\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">I \n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nTHE world has been created by a descent\nof consciousness; it maintains itself, it proceeds and develops through a series of descent. In fact, creation itself is a descent, the first and original one, the descent of the supreme Reality into Matter and as Matter. The supreme Reality—the fount and origin of things and even that which is beyond— although essentially something absolute, indescribable, ineffable, indeterminable, has been, for purposes of the human understanding, signalised as a triune entity of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss. That is to say, first of all, it is, it exists always and for ever—invariably, in unbroken continuity; secondly, it exists not unconsciously, but consciously, in and as full consciousness; thirdly,\n</p><br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-15</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">it exists in delight—through delight and for and as delight; it has no other reason for existence but the pleasure and joy of simply existing. This primal, this original truth or reality transcends creation and is beyond and antecedent to it. What then is creation, what is its nature, and character?- Strange to say, it is the very opposite of the primal reality. First of all, it is not really existent: its existence is only another name for non-existence, as, in its phenomenal constitution, it is variable, ephemeral, transient and fragmentary or even seems made, as it were, of the stuff of dream. Secondly, it is not conscious; on the contrary, it is unconsciousness. And lastly it is not delight; there is an original insensibility and much undelight, grief and sorrow. That is the actual physical creation; or so, at least, it appears to be. How is this paradox to be explained? What is the significance of this riddle?\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nDescent is the master-key that unravels the mystery—that is to say, the descent of the delightful conscious existence as the material world. But why this descent at all? What was\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-16</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">the need? What was the purpose? The <i>why </i>of a thing is always difficult, if not impossible, to gauge. But we shall try to understand the <i>how </i>of the phenomenon, and in so doing perhaps we may get at the why of it also. At present let us content ourselves by saying that such was His will—<i>la sua voluntade—such. </i>was His wish—<i>sa aichhat. </i>For once perhaps instead of saying, &quot;Let there be light&quot;, He (or something in Him) must have said, &quot;Let there be darkness&quot;, and there was Darkness.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nBut the point is, this darkness did not come all on a sudden but arrived gradually, through a developing process—we do not refer to physical time here but something antecedent, something parallel to it in another dimension. Let us see how it all came about.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe Absolute in its triple or triune status (not in its supreme being but as we see it prior to manifestation) is in essence and principle an infinity and unity. Indeed it is <i>the </i>infinite unity, and its fundamental character is a supreme and utter equality—<i>samam brahma. </i>It is then a <i>status or statis, </i>that is to say, a state of perfectly stable equilibrium in\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-17</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">which there is no movement of difference or distinction, no ripple of high and low or ebb and flow, no mark of quantity or quality. It is a stilled sea of self-identity, a vast limitless or pure consciousness brooding in trance and immobility. And yet in the bosom of this ineffable and inviolable equality, in the very hush and lull there lies secreted an urge, a pressure, a possibility towards activity, variation and even an eventual inequality. For the presence and possibility of dynamism is posited by the very infinity of the Infinite, since without it, the Infinite would be incapable of motion, expression and fulfilment of its Force.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThere is thus inherent in the vast inalienable equality of the absolute Reality, a Force which can bring out centres of pressure, nuclei of dynamism, nodes of modulation. It is precisely round these centres of precipitation that the original and basic unity crystallises itself and weaves a pattern of harmonious multiplicity. Consciousness, by self-pressure, <i>—tapas taptva</i>—turns its even and undifferentiated pristine equanimity into ripples and\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-18</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">swirls, eddies and vortices of delight, matrices of creative activity. Thus the One becomes Many by a process of self-concentration and the self-limitation.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nAt the very outset when and where the Many has come out into manifestation in the One—here also it must be remembered that we are using a temporal figure in respect of an extra-temporal fact—there and then is formed a characteristic range of reality which is a perfect equation of the one and the many: that is to say, the one in becoming many still remains the same immaculate one in and through the many, and likewise the many in spite of its manifoldness—and because of the special quality of the manifoldness—still continues to be the one in the uttermost degree. It is the world of fundamental realities. Sri Aurobindo names it the Supermind or Gnosis. It is something higher than but distantly akin to Plato\'s world of Ideas or Noumena (<i>ideai, nooumena) </i>or to what Plotinus calls the first divine emanation <i>(nous). </i>These archetypal realities are realities of the Spirit, Idea-forces, truth-energies, the root\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-19</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">consciousness-forms, <i>rita chit, </i>in Vedic terminology. They are seed truths, the original mother-truths in the Divine Consciousness. They comprise the fundamental essential many aspects and formulations of an infinite Infinity. At this stage these do not come into clash or conflict, for here each contains all and the All contains each one in absolute unity and essential identity. Each individual formation is united with and partakes of the nature of the one supreme Reality. Although difference is born here, separation is not yet come. Variety is there, but not discord, individuality is there, not egoism. This is the first step of Descent, the earliest one—not, we must remind again, historically but psychologically and logically—the descent of the Transcendent into the Cosmic as the vast and varied Supermind—<i>chitra praketo ajanishta vibhwa</i>—of the Absolute into the relational manifestation as <i>Vidyashakti </i>(Gnosis).\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe next steps, farther down or away, arrive when the drive towards differentiation and multiplication gathers momentum, becomes accentuated,  and   separation  and\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-20</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">isolation increase in degree and emphasis. The lines of individuation fall more and more apart from each other, tending to form closed circles, each confining more and more exclusively to itself, stressing its own particular and special value and function, in contradistinction to or even against other lines. Thus the descent or fall from the Supermind leads, in the first instance, to the creation or appearance of the Overmind. It is the level of consciousness where the perfect balance of the One and the Many is disturbed and the emphasis begins to be laid on the many. The source of incompatibility between the two just starts here as if Many is not-One and One is not-Many. It is the beginning of Ignorance, Avidya, Maya. Still in the higher hemisphere of the Overmind, the sense of unity is yet maintained, although there is no longer the sense of absolute identity of the two; they are experienced as complementaries, both form a harmony, a harmony as of different and distinct but conjoint notes. The Many has come forward, yet the unity is also there supporting it—the unity is an immanent\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-21</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">godhead, controlling the patent reality of the Many. It is in the lower hemisphere of the Overmind that unity is thrown into the background half-submerged, flickering, and the principle of multiplicity comes forward with all insistence. Division and rivalry are the characteristic marks of its organisation. Yet the unity does not disappear altogether; only it remains very much inactive, like a sleeping partner. It is not directly perceived and envisaged, not immediately felt but is evoked as a reminiscence. The Supermind, then, is the first crystallisation of the Infinite into individual centres, in the Overmind these centres at the outset become more exclusively individualised and then jealously self-centred.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe next step of Descent is the Mind where the original unity and identity and harmony are disrupted to a yet greater degree, almost completely. The self-delimitation of consciousness—which is proper to the Supermind and even to the Overmind, at least in its higher domains—gives way to self-limitation, to intolerant egoism and solipsism. The consciousness withdraws from its high and wide sweep,\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-22</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">narrows down to introvert orbits. The sense of unity in the mind is, at most, a thing of idealism and imagination; it is an abstract notion, a supposition and a deduction. Here we enter into the very arcana of Maya, the rightful possession of Ignorance. The individualities here have totally isolated and independent and mutually conflicting lines of movement. Hence the natural incapacity of mind, as it is said, to comprehend more than one object simultaneously. The Supermind and, less absolutely, the Overmind have a global and integral outlook: they can take in in its purview all at once the total assemblage of things, they differentiate but do not divide—the Supermind not at all, the Over-mind not categorically. The Mind has not this synthetic view, it proceeds analytically. It observes its object by division, taking the parts piecemeal, dismantling them, separating them, attending to each one at a time. And when it observes it fixes itself on one point, withdrawing its attention from all the rest. If it has to arrive at a synthesis, it can only do so by collating, aggregating and summing.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-23</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">Mental consciousness is thus narrowly one-pointed : and in narrowing itself, being farther away from the source it becomes obscurer, more and more outward gazing <i>(paranci khani) </i>and superficial. The One Absolute in its downward march towards multiplicity, fragmentation and partiality loses also gradually its subtlety, its suppleness, its refinement, becomes more and more obtuse, crude, rigid, dense.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nBetween the Overmind and the Mind proper, varying according to the degree of immixture of the two, according to the degree of descent and of emergence of one and the other respectively, there are several levels of consciousness of which three main ones have been named and described by Sri Aurobindo. The first one nearest to the Overmind and the least contaminated by the Mind is pure Intuition; next, the intermediary one is called the Illumined Mind, and last comes the Higher Mind. They are all powers of the Overmind functioning in the Mind. The higher ranges are always more direct, intense synthetic, dynamic than the lower ones where\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-24</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">consciousness is slower, duller, more uncertain, more disintegrated. The lower the consciousness descends the more veiled it becomes, losing more and more the directness, the sureness, the intensity and force and the synthetic unity native to the highest ranges of our consciousness and being.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nA further descent into obscurity occurs when consciousness passes from Mind to Life. Darkness is almost visible here: there is a greater withdrawal on the part of each unit from its surrounding reality, a narrower concentration upon one\'s own separative existence —shades of the prison-house have gathered close around. The light, already dulled and faint in the mind, has become a lurid glare here. Passion has arisen and desire and hunger and battle and combat.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nHere also in the vital three ranges can be distinguished—the lower becoming more and more turbid and turbulent and fierce or more and more self-centred and selfish. These levels can best be seen by their impact on our vital being and formations there. The first, the highest one, the meeting or confluence\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-25</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">of the Mind and the Vital is the Heart, the centre of emotion, the knot of the external or instrumental vehicle, of the frontal consciousness, behind which is born and hides the true individualised consciousness, the psyche. The mid-region is the Higher Vital consisting of larger (egoistic) dynamisms, such as high ambition, great enterprise, heroic courage, capacity for work, adventure, masterfulness, also such movements as sweeping violences, mighty hungers, intense arrogances. The physical seat of this movement is, as perhaps the <i>Tantras </i>would say, the domain ranging between the heart and the navel. Lower down ranges the Lower Vital which consists of small desires, petty hankerings, blind cravings—all urges and impulses that are more or less linked up with the body and move to gross physical satisfactions.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nBut always the Consciousness is driving towards a yet greater disintegration and fragmentation, obscuration and condensation of self-oblivion. The last step in the process of transmutation or involution is Matter where consciousness has wiped itself out or buried\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-26</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">itself within so completely and thoroughly that it has become in its outward form totally dark, dense, hard, pulverised into mutually exclusive grains. The supreme luminous Will of Consciousness in its gradual descent and self-obliteration finally ends in a rigid process of mere mechanised drive.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThis is, so far then, the original and primal line of descent. It is the line down which the absolute Reality, the absolute Consciousness and the absolute Delight have turned into unreality and unconsciousness and undelight. But it is not all loss and debit. There is a credit side too. For it is only in this way, viz., by the manifestation of utter Ignorance, that the supreme Absolute has become concrete, the Formless has entered into form, the Bodiless has found a body: what was originally an indeterminate equal Infinity of pure consciousness, has become determinate and dynamic in the individual multiplicity of corporeal consciousness. What is the sense in all that, what is the gain or upshot? We shall presently see.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nWhen consciousness has reached the farthest\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-27</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">limit of its opposite, when it has reduced itself to absolutely unconscious and mechanical atoms of Matter, when the highest has descended into and become the lowest, then, by the very force of its downward drive, it has swung round and begun to mount up again. As it could not proceed farther on the downward gradient, having reached the extreme and ultimate limit of inconscience, consciousness had to turn round, as it were, by the very pressure of its inner impetus. First, then, there is a descent, a gradual involution, a veiling and closing up; next, an ascent, a gradual evolution, unfoldment and expression. We now see, however, that the last limit at the bottom—Matter—although appearing to be unconscious, is really not so: it is inconscient. That is to say, it holds consciousness secreted and involved within itself; it is, indeed, a special formulation of consciousness. It is the exclusive concentration of consciousness upon single points in itself: it is consciousness throwing itself out in scattered units and, by reason of separative identification with them and absorption into\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-28</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">them, losing itself, forgetting itself in an absolute fixation of attention. The phenomenon is very similar to what happens when in the ordinary consciousness a worker, while doing a work, becomes so engrossed in it that he loses consciousness of himself, identifies himself with the work and in fact becomes the work, the visible resultant being a mechanical execution.</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nNow this imprisoned consciousness in Matter forces Matter to be conscious again when driven on the upward gradient. This tension creates a fire, as it were, in the heart of Matter, a mighty combustion and whorl in the core of things, of which the blazing sun is an image and a symbol. All this pressure and heat and concussion and explosion mean a mighty struggle in Matter to give birth to that which is within. Consciousness that is latent must be made patent; it must reveal itself in Matter and through Matter, making Matter its vehicle and embodiment. This is the mystery of the birth of Life, the first sprouting of consciousness in Matter. Life is half-awakened consciousness, consciousness yet in a dream state.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-29</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">Its earliest and most rudimentary manifestation is embodied in the plant or vegetable world. The submerged consciousness strives to come still further up, to express itself to a greater degree and in a clearer mode, to become more free and plastic in its movement; hence the appearance of the animal as the next higher formulation. Here consciousness delivers itself as a psyche, a rudimentary one, no doubt, a being of feeling and sensation, an elementary mentality playing in a field of vitalised Matter. Even then it is not satisfied with itself, it asks for a still more free and clear articulation: it is not satisfied, for it has not yet found its own level. Hence after the animal, arrives man with a full-fledged Mind, with intelligence and self-consciousness and capacity for self-determination.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThus we see that evolution, the unfolding of consciousness follows exactly the line of its involution, only the other way round: the mounting consciousness re-ascends step by step the same gradient, retraces the same path along which it descended. The descending steps are broadly speaking  \n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-30</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">(1) Existence-Consciousness-Bliss, (2) Supermind and its secondary form Overmind, (3) Mind—<i>(i) </i>mind proper and <i>(ii) </i>the intermediary psyche, (4) Life, (5) Matter. The ascending consciousness starting from Matter rises into Life, passes on through Life and Psyche into Mind, driving towards the Supermind and Sachchidananda. At the present stage of evolution, consciousness has arrived at the higher levels of Mind; it is now striving to cross it altogether and enter the Overmind and the Supermind. It will not rest content until it arrives at the organisation in and through the Supermind: for that is the drive and purpose of Nature in the next cycle of evolution.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nPhysical Science speaks of irreversibility and entropy in Nature\'s process. That is to say, it is stated that Nature is rushing down and running down: she is falling irrevocably from a higher to an ever lower potential of energy. The machine that Nature is, is driven by energy made available by a break-up of parts and particles constituting its substance. This katabolic process cannot be stopped or retraced; it can end only when the break-up\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-31</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">ceases at dead equilibrium. You cannot lead the river up the channel to its source, it moves inevitably, unceasingly towards the sea in which it exhausts itself and finds its last repose and—extinction. But whatever physical Science may say, the science of the spirit declares emphatically that Nature\'s process is reversible, that a growing entropy can be checked and countermanded: in other words, Nature\'s downward current resulting in a continual loss of energy and a break-up of substance is not the only process of her activity. This aspect is more than counterbalanced by another one of upward drive and building up, of re-energisation and re-integration. Indeed evolution, as we have explained it, is nothing but such a process of synthesis and new creation.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nEvolution, which means the return movement of consciousness, consists, in its apparent and outward aspect, of two processes, or rather two parallel lines in a single process. First, there is the line of sublimation, that is to say, the lower purifies and modifies itself into the higher; the denser, the obscurer, the\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-32</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">baser mode of consciousness is led into and becomes the finer, the clearer, the nobler mode. Thus it is that Matter rises into Life, Life into Psyche and Mind, Mind into Over-mind and Supermind. Now this sublimation is not simply a process of refinement or elimination, something in the nature of our old Indian <i>nivritti </i>or <i>pratyahara, </i>or what Plo-tinus called <i>epistrophe </i>(a turning back, withdrawal or re-absorption): it includes and is attended by the process of integration also. That is to say, as the lower rises into the higher, the lower does not cease to exist thereby, it exists but lifted up into the higher, infused and modified by the higher. Thus when Matter yields Life, Matter is not destroyed: it means Life has appeared in Matter and exists in and through Matter and Matter thereby has attained a new mode and constitution, for it is no longer merely a bundle of chemical or mechanical reactions, it is instinct with life, it has become organic matter. Even so, when Life arrives at Mind, it is not dissolved into Mind but both Life and Matter are taken up by the mental stuff, life becomes dynamic\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-33</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">sentience and Matter is transformed into the grey substance of the brain. Matter thus has passed through a first transformation in Life and a second transformation in Mind; it awaits other transformations in other levels beyond Mind. Likewise, Life has passed through a first transformation in Mind and there are stages in this transformation. In the plant, Life is in its original pristine mode; in the animal, it has become sentient and centralised round a rudimentary desire-soul; in man, life-force is taken up by the higher mind and intelligence giving birth to idealism and ambition, dynamisms of a forward-looking purposive will.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nWe have, till now, spoken of the evolution of consciousness as a movement of ascension, consisting of a double process of sublimation and integration. But ascension itself is only one line of a yet another larger double process. For along with the visible movement of ascent, there is a hidden movement of descent. The ascent represents the pressure from below, the force of buoyancy exerted by the involved and secreted consciousness. But the mere drive\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-34</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">from below is not sufficient all alone to bring out or establish the higher status. The higher status itself has to descend in order to be manifest. The urge from below is an aspiration, a yearning to move ever upward and forward; but the precise goal, the status to be arrived at is not given there. The more or less vague and groping surge from below is canalised, it assumes a definite figure and shape, assumes a local habitation and a name when  the  higher  descends  at  the  crucial moment, takes the lower at its peak-tide and fixes upon it its own norm and form. We have said that all the levels of consciousness are created—loosened out—by a first Descent; but in the line of the first Descent the only level that stands in front at the outset is Matter, all the other levels are created no doubt but remain invisible in the background, behind the gross veil of Matter. Each status stands confined, as it were, to its own region and bides its time when each will be summoned to concretise itself in Matter. Thus Life was already there on the plane of Life even when it did not manifest itself in Matter,\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-35</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">when mere Matter, dead Matter was the only apparent reality on the material plane. When Matter was stirred and churned sufficiently so as to reach a certain tension and saturation, when it was raised to a certain degree of maturity, as it were, then Life appeared: Life appeared, not because that was the inevitable and unavoidable result of the churning, but because Life descended from its own level to the level of Matter and took Matter up in its embrace. The churning, the development in Matter was only the occasion, the condition precedent. For, however much one may shake or churn Matter, whatever change one may create in it by a shuffling and re-shuffling of its elements, one can never produce Life by that alone. A new and unforeseen factor makes its appearance, precisely because it comes from elsewhere. It is true all the planes are imbedded, submerged, involved in the complex of Matter; but, in point of fact, all planes are involved in every other plane. The appearance or manifestation of a new plane is certainly prepared, made ready to the last—the last\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-36</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">but one—degree by the urge of the inner, the latent mode of consciousness that is to be; still the actualisation, the bursting forth happens only when the thing that has to manifest itself descends, the actual form and pattern can be imprinted and established by that alone. Thus, again, when Life attains a certain level of growth and maturity, a certain tension and orientation—a definite vector, so to say, in the mathematical language— when it has, for example, sufficiently organised itself as a vehicle of the psychic element of consciousness, then it buds forth into Mind, but only when the Mind has descended upon it and into it. As in the previous stage, here also Life cannot produce Mind, cannot develop into Mind by any amount of mechanical or chemical operations within itself, by any amount of permutation and combination or commutation and culture of its constituent elements, unless it is seized on by Mind itself. After the Mind, the next higher grade of consciousness shall come by the same method and process, viz. first by an uplifting of the mental consciousness-—a certain widening and\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-37</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">deepening and katharsis of the mental consciousness—and then by a descent, gradual or sudden, of the level or levels that lie above it.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThis, then, is the nature of creation and its process. First, there is an Involution, a gradual foreshortening—a disintegration and concretisation, an exclusive concentration and self-oblivion of consciousness, by which the various levels of diminishing consciousness are brought forth from the plenary light of the one supreme Spirit, all the levels down to the complete eclipse in the unconsciousness of the multiple and disintegrate Matter. Next, there is an Evolution, that is to say, embodiment in Matter of all these successive states, appearing one by one from the downmost to the topmost; Matter incarnates, all other states contribute to the incarnation and uphold it, the higher always transforming the lower in a new degree of consciousness.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nCreation, the universe in its activity, is thus not simply a meaningless play, a pointless fancy. It has a purpose, an end, a goal, a  fulfilment,   and it   follows   naturally  a\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-38</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">definite pattern of process. The goal is the concrétisation, the materialisation (which includes, of course, vitalisation and mentalisa-tion) of the Spirit and the spiritual values. It means the establishment of divine names and forms in terrestrial individuals leading a divine life, individually and collectively here below.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">II\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nWe have so far spoken of two lines of descent. But in either case the descent was of a general and impersonal character. Consciousness was considered as a mere force, movement or quality. There is another aspect, however, in which the descent is of a particular and personal character and consciousness is not force or status only but conscious being or Person.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe various movements or forces of consciousness that play in the various fields or levels of creation are not merely states or degrees and magnitudes, currents and streams of consciousness: they are also personalities\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-39</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">with definite forms and figures—not physical indeed, yet very definite even when subtle and fluidic. Thus the supreme Reality, which is usually described as the perfect status of Existence-Consciousness-Bliss, is not merely a principle but a personality. It is the Supreme Person with his triune nature (Purushottama). It is the Divine as the supreme Knower and Doer or Creator and Lover. The creation in or from that status of consciousness is not simply a play or result of the force of consciousness, it is even more truly the embodiment of a conscious Will; it is the will of the Divine Father executed by the Divine Mother.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nNow, as the Reality along with its consciousness, in the downward involutionary course towards materialisation, has been gradually disintegrating itself, multiplying itself, becoming more and more obscure and dense in separated and isolated units, even so the Person too has been following a parallel course of disintegration and multiplication and obscuration and isolation. At the origin lies, as we have said, the Perfect Person, the Supreme Person, in his dual aspect of being\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-40</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">and nature, appearing as the supreme <i>Purusha </i>and the supreme <i>Prakriti, </i>our Father and our Mother in the highest heaven.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nNext is the domain of the Supermind with which the <i>manifestation </i>of the Divine starts. We have said it is the world of typal realities, of the first seed-realities, where the One and the Many are united and fused in each other, where the absolute unity of the Supreme maintains itself in undiminished magnitude and expresses and formulates itself perfectly in and through the original multiplicity. Here take birth the first personalities, absolute truth-forms of the Divine. Here are the highest gods, the direct formations of the Divine himself. Here are the Four Powers and Personalities of <i>Ishwara </i>whom Sri Aurobindo has named after the Vaishnava terminology: <i>(i) </i>Mahavira, embodying the Brahmin quality of Knowledge and Light and wide Consciousness, <i>(ii) </i>Balarama, embodying the Kshatriya quality of Force and intense dynamism, <i>(iii) </i>Pradyumna, embodying the quality of love and beauty—the Vaisya virtue of mutuality and harmony and solidarity, and <i>(iv) </i>Aniruddha,\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-41</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">embodying the Sudra quality of competent service, of organisation and execution in detail. Corresponding with these Four there are the other Four Powers and Personalities of the Divine Mother—<i>Ishwari: (i) </i>Mahesh-wari, <i>(ii) </i>Mahakali, <i>(Hi) </i>Mahalakshmi and <i>(iv) </i>Mahasaraswati. Next in the downward gradient comes the Overmind where the individualised powers and personalities of the Divine tend to become self-sufficient and self-regarding; their absolute unity is loosened and the lines of multiplicity begin to be more independent of each other, each aiming at a special fulfilment of its own. Still the veil that is being drawn over the unity is yet transparent which continues to be sufficiently dynamic. This is the abode of the gods, the true and high gods: it is these that the Vedic Rishis appear to have envisaged and sought after. The all gods <i>(visve devah) </i>were indeed acknowledged to be but different names and forms of one supreme godhead <i>(devah)</i>: it is the one god, says Rishi Dirgha-tamas, who is called multifariously whether as Agni or Yama or Matariswan; it is the\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-42</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">one god, again, who is described as having a thousand heads and a thousand feet. And yet they are separate entities, each has his own distinct and distinctive character and attribute, each demands a characteristic way of approach and worship. The tendency towards an exlcusive stress is already at work on this level and it is the perception of this truth that lies behind the term <i>henotheism </i>used by European scholars to describe the Vedic Religion.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe next stage of devolution is the Mind proper. There or perhaps even before, on the lower reaches of the Overmind, the gods have become all quite separate,—self-centred, each bounded in his own particular sphere and horizon. The overmind gods—the true gods—are creators in a world of balanced or harmoniously held difference; they are powers that fashion each a special fulfilment, enhancing one another at the same time <i>(parasparam bhavayantah)</i>. Between the Overmind and the Mind there is a class of lesser gods—they have been called &quot;Forma-teurs&quot;; they do not create in the strict sense\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-43</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">of the term, they give form to what the anterior gods have created and projected. These form-makers that consolidate the encasement, fix definitely the image, have most probably been envisaged in the Indian <i>dhyanamurtis. </i>But in the Mind the gods become still more fixed and rigid, &quot;stereotyped&quot;; the mental gods inspire exclusive systems, extreme and abstract generalisations, theories and principles and formulae that, even when they seek to force and englobe all in their cast-iron mould, can hardly understand or tolerate each other.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nMind is the birth-place of absolute division and exclusivism—it is the &quot;own home&quot; of egoism. Egoism is that ignorant mode—a twist or knot of consciousness which cuts up the universal unity into disparate and antagonistic units: it creates isolated, mutually exclusive whorls in the harmonious rhythm and vast commonality of the one consciousness or conscious existence. The Sankhya speaks of the principle of ego coming or appearing after the principle of vastness <i>(mahat). </i>The Vast is the region above the Mind, where the unitary consciousness is still intact; with\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-44</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">the appearance of the Mind has also appeared an intolerant self-engrossed individualism that culminates, as its extreme and violent expression, in the <i>Asura</i>—Asura, the mentalised vital being.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe Asura or the Titan stands where consciousness descends from the Mind into the Vital or Life-Force. He is the personification of ambition and authority and arrogance, he is the intolerant and absolute self-seeker—he is Daitya, the son of division. The Asura belongs to what we call the Higher Vital; but lower down in the Mid Vital, made wholly of unmixed life impulses, appear beings that are still less luminous, less controlled, more passionate, vehement and violent in their self-regarding appetite. They are the Rakshasas. If the Asura is perverse power, the Rakshasa is insatiate hunger.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nAll the ancient legends about a principle— and a personality—of Denial and Ignorance, of an Everlasting Nay—refer to this fact of a descending consciousness, a Fall. The Vedantic <i>Maya, </i>spoken of sometimes as the Dark Mother, seems to be the personification\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-45</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">of the lower Overmind. Jehovah and Satan of the Hebrews, Olympians and Titans of the Greeks, Ahriman and Ahura Mazda of old Iran, the sons of Diti and Aditi the Indian Puranas speak of, are powers and personalities of consciousness when it has descended entirely into the mind and the vital where the division is complete. These lower reaches have completely lost the unitary consciousness; still there are beings even here that have succeeded in maintaining it as a memory or an aspiration, although in a general way the living reality of the oneness is absent. It is significant that the term <i>asura </i>which came to mean in classical and mythological ages <i>a+sura, </i>not-god, the Titan, had orginally a different connotation and etymology, <i>asu+ra, </i>one having force or strength, and was used as a general attribute of all the gods. The degia-dation in the sense of the word is a pointer to the spiritual Fall: Satan was once Lucifer, the bringer or bearer of light. We may mention in this connection that these beings of which we are speaking, dwelling in unseen worlds,  are  of two  broad  categories—(1)\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-46</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">beings that are native to each plane and immutably confined and bound to that plane, and (2) those that extend their existence through many or all planes and assume on each plane the norm and form appropriate to that plane. But this is a problem of individual destiny with which we are not concerned at present.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nWe were speaking of the descent into the Vital, domain of dynamism, desire and hunger. The Vital is also the field of some strong creative Powers who follow, or are in secret contact with the line of unitary consciousness, who are open to influences from a deeper or higher or subtler consciousness. Along with the demons there is also a line of <i>daimom, </i>guardian angels, in the hierarchy of vital beings. Much of what is known as aesthetic or artistic creation derives its spirit from this sphere. Many of the gods of beauty and delight are denizens of this heaven. Gandhar-vas and Kinnaras are here, Dionysus and even Apollo perhaps (at least in their mythological aspect—in their occult reality they properly belong to the Overmind which is the\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-47</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">own home of the gods), many of the angels, seraphs and cherubs dwell here. In fact, the mythological heaven for the most part can be located in this region.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nAll this is comprised within what we term the Higher or the Middle Vital. In the lower vital, we have said, consciousness has become still more circumscribed, dark, ignorantly obstinate, disparately disintegrated. It is the seed-bed of lust and cruelty, of all that is small and petty and low and mean, all that is dirt and filth. It is here that we place the <i>Pisachas, </i>djinns, ghouls and ghosts, and vampires, beings who possess the &quot;possessed&quot;.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nFurther down in the scale where life-force touches Matter, where Life is about to precipitate as Matter, appear beings of a still lower order, of smaller dimensions and magnitudes—imps, elfs, pixies, goblins, gnomes, fairies or dryads and naiads. There are even creatures or entities so close to Matter that they come into being and pass away with the building up and breaking of a definite pattern of material organisation. This individualisation of consciousness as beings or\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-48</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">persons seems to disappear altogether when we enter the strictly material plane. There is here only an agglomeration of uniform dead particles.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nWe have thus far followed the course of the break-up of Personality, from the original one supreme Person, through a continuous process of multiplication and disintegration, of panellation and crystallisation into more and more small self-centred units, until we reach the final pulverisation as purely material physico-chemical atoms. Now with the reversal of consciousness, in its return movement, we have again a process of growth and building up of individuality and personality, with the awakening and ascension of consciousness from level to level on the physical plane and in the material embodiment, there occurs too an evolution of the personal aspect of the reality.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nWe say that at the lowest level of involution, in Matter, where consciousness has zero magnitude, there is no personality or individuality. It is all a mechanical play of clashing particles that constantly fly apart or\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-49</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">come together according to the force or the resultant of forces that act upon them. An individuality means a bounded form as its basis of reaction and a form that tends to persist and grow by assimilation; it means a centre of a definite manner and pattern of reaction. Individuality, in its literal sense, designates that which cannot be divided <i>(in+dividus). </i>Division is only another name for death for the particular entity. Even in the case of cell-division or self-division of some lower organisms, in the first instance the original living entity disappears and, secondly, the succeeding entities, created by division, always re-form themselves again into integral wholes. A material particle, on the other hand, is divisible <i>ad infinitum. </i>We have been able to divide even an atom (which means also <i>that which cannot be divided) </i>to such an extent as to reduce it to a mere charge of energy, nay, we have sublimated it to a geometrical point. Individualisation starts with the coming of life. It is a ganglion of life-force round which a particular system of action   and  reaction   weaves   itself.<br>\n</p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-50</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">The characteristic of individuality is that each one is unique, each relates itself to others and to the environment in its own way, each expresses itself, puts forth its energy, receives impacts from outside in a manner that distinguishes it from others. It is true this character of individuality is not very pronounced in the earlier or rudimentary forms of life. Still it is there: it grows and develops slowly along the ladder of evolution. Only in the higher animals it attains a clear and definite norm and form.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nIn man something else or something more happens. For man is not merely an individual, he is also a personality. He is the outcome of a twofold growth and revelation. He has outgrown the vital and climbed into Mind, and he has dived into the Heart and touched his inner soul, his true psychic centre. It is this soul that is the source of his personality.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe formulation or revelation of the Psyche marks another line of what we have been describing as the Descent of Consciousness. The  phenomenon  of individualisation has\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-51</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">at its back the phenomenon of the growth of the Psyche. It is originally a spark or nucleus of consciousness thrown into Matter that starts growing and organising itself behind the veil, in and through the movements and activities of the apparent vehicle consisting of the triple nexus of Body (Matter) and Life and Mind. The extreme root of the psychic growth extends perhaps right into the body, consciousness of Matter but its real physical basis and tenement is found only with the growth and formation of the physical heart. And yet the psychic individuality behind the animal organisation is very rudimentary. All that can be said is that it is there, in potentia, it exists, it is simple <i>being: </i>it has not started <i>becoming. </i>This is man\'s especiality: in him the psychic begins to be dynamic, to be organised and to organise, it is a psychic personality that he possesses. Now this flowering of the psychic personality is due to an especial Descent, the descent of a Person from another level of consciousness. That Person (or Super-person) is the <i>Jivatman, </i>the Individual Self, the central being of each individual formation.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-52</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">The Jivas are centres of multiplicity thrown up in the bosom of the infinite Consciousness: it is the supreme Consciousness eddying in unit formations to serve as the basis for the play of manifestation. They are not within the frame of the manifestation (as the typal formations in the Supermind are), they are above or beyond or beside it and stand there eternally and invariably in and. as part and parcel of the one supreme Reality —Sachchidananda. But the Jivatman from its own status casts its projection, representation, delegated formulation—&quot;emanation,&quot; in the phraseology of the neo-Platonists—into the manifestation of the triple complex of mind, life and body, that is to say, into the human vehicle, and thus stands behind as the psychic personality or the soul. This soul, we have seen, is a developing, organising focus of consciousness growing from below and come to its own in the human being: or we can put it the other way, that is to say, when it comes to its own, then the human being appears. And it has come to its own precisely by a descent   of its   own   self from  above, in\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-53</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">the same manner as with the other descents already described. Now, this &quot;coming to its own&quot; means that it begins henceforth to exercise its royal power, its natural and inherent divine right, viz. of consciously and directly controlling and organising its terrestrial kingdom which is the body and life and mind. The exercise of conscious directive will, supported and illumined by a self-consciousness, that occurs with the advent of the Mind is a function of the Purusha, the self-conscious being, in the Mind; but this self-conscious being has been able to come up, manifest itself and be active, because of pressure of the underlying psychic personality that has formed here.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThus we have three characteristics of the human personality accruing from the psychic consciousness that supports and inspires it:— (1) self-consciousness: an animal acts, feels and even knows, but man knows that he acts, knows that he feels, knows even that he knows. This phenomenon of consciousness turning round upon itself is the hall-mark of the human being; (2) a conscious will holding\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-54</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">together and harmonising, fashioning and integrating the whole external nature evolved till now; (3) a purposive drive, a deliberate and voluntary orientation towards a higher and ever higher status of individualisation and personalisation,—not only a horizontal movement seeking to embrace and organise the normal, the already attained level of consciousness, but also a vertical movement seeking to raise the level, attain altogether a new poise of higher organisation.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThese characters, it is true, are not clear and pronounced, do not lie in front, at the beginning of the human personality. The normal human person has his psyche very much behind; but it is still there as <i>antaryamin, </i>as the secret Inner Controller. And whatever the vagaries of the outer instruments or their slavery to the mode of Ignorance, in and through all that, it is this Inner Guide that holds the rein and drives upward in the end.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThus naturally there appear gradations of the human personality; as the consciousness in the human being rises higher and higher, the psychic centre organises a higher and\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-55</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">higher—a richer, wider, deeper—personality. The first great conversion, the first turning of the human personality to a new mode of life and living, that is to say, living even externally according to the inner truth and reality, the first attempt at a conscious harmonisa-tion of the psychic consciousness with its surface agents and vehicles, is what is known as spiritual initiation. This may happen and it does happen even when man lives in his normal mental consciousness. But there is the possibility of growth and evolution and transformation of personality in higher and higher spiritual degrees through the upper reaches of the higher Mind, the varying degrees of Overmind and finally the Supermind. These are the spheres, the fields, even the continents of the personality, but the stuff, the substance of the personality, the inner nucleus of consciousness-force is formed, first, by the flaming aspiration, the upward drive within the developing and increasing psychic being itself, and secondly,  by the descent to a greater and greater degree of the original Being from which it emanated. The final\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-56</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">coalescence of the fully and integrally developed psychic being with the supreme splendour of its very source, the Jivatman, occurs in the Supermind. When this happens the supramental personality becomes incarnate in the physical body: Matter in the material plane is transformed into a radiant substance made of pure consciousness, the human personality becomes a living form of the Divine. Thus the wheel comes full circle: creation returns to the point from which it started but with an added significance, a new fulfilment.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe mystery of rebirth in the evolution of the human personality is nothing but the mystery of the developing Psyche. At first this psyche or soul is truly a being &quot;no bigger than the thumb&quot;—it is the hardly audible &quot;still small voice&quot;. The experiences of life— sweet or bitter, happy or unhappy, good or bad, howsoever they may appear to the outward eye and perception—all the dialectics of a terrestrial existence contribute to the growth and development of the psychic consciousness. Each span of life means a special\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-57</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">degree or mode of growth necessitated by the inner demand and drive of the divine Individual seated within the heart. The whole end in view of this secret soul is to move always towards and be united again with its Oversoul, its original and high archetype in the Divine Consciousness: the entire course of its earthly evolution is chalked and patterned by the exact need of its growth. Whatever happens in each particular life, all the currents of all the lives converge and coalesce, and serve the psychic consciousness to swell in volume and intensity and be one with the Divine Consciousness. Or, in a different imagery, one can say that the multifarious experiences of various lives are as fuel to the Inner Fire—this Psychic Agni which is just a spark or a thin tongue at the outset of the human evolutionary course; but with the addition of fuel from life to life this Fire flames up, indeed, becomes ultimately a conflagration that burns and purifies, the entire outer vehicle and transforms it into radiant matter—a fit receptacle, incarnation of the supernal Light. The mounting\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-58</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">Fire (the consciousness-energy secreted in the earth-bound heart of Matter) finally flares up, discloses itself in its full amplitude and calls and attracts into it the incandescent supramental Solar Sphere which is the type and pattern it has to embody and express. This is the marriage of Heaven and Earth, of which the mystics all over the earth in all ages spoke and sang—to which the Vedic Rishi refers when he declares: &quot;<i>Dyaur me pita mata prithiviriyam.&quot;</i>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe supramentalisation of the personality which means the perfect divinisation of the personality, is yet not the final end of Nature\'s march. Her path is endless, since she follows the trail of infinity. There are still higher modes of consciousness, or, if they cannot properly be called higher, other modes of consciousness that lie in waiting to be brought out and placed and established in the front of terrestrial evolution. Only, supramentalisation means the definite crossing over from Ignorance, from every trace and shadow of Ignorance, into the abiding and perennial Knowledge and Freedom. Thenceforward the\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-59</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">course of Nature\'s evolution may be more of the kind of expression than ascension; for, beyond the Supermind it is very difficult to speak of a higher or lower order of consciousness. Everything thereafter is in the full perfect light—the difference comes in the mode or manner or stress of expression. However, that is a problem with which we are not immediately concerned.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nWe have spoken of four lines of Descent in the evolution and organisation of consciousness. There yet remains a fifth line. It is more occult. It is really the secret of secrets, the <i>Supreme Secret. </i>It is the descent of the Divine himself. The Divine, the supreme Person himself descends, not indirectly through emanations, projections, partial or lesser formulations, but directly in his own plenary self. He descends not as a disembodied force acting as a general movement, possessing, at the most, other objects and persons as its medium, or instrument, but in an embodied form and in the fullness of his consciousness. The Indian word for Divine Incarnation, <i>Avatara, </i>literally means <i>he who has descended.</i>\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-60</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">The Divine comes down himself as a terrestrial being, on this material plane of ours, in order to raise the terrestrial and material Nature to a new status in her evolutionary course—even so He incarnated as the Great Boar who, with his mighty tusk, lifted a solid earth from out of the waters of Deluge. It is his purpose to effect an ascension of consciousness, a transmutation of being, to establish a truly New Order, a New Dharma, as it is termed <i>(dharmasamsthapanarthaya). </i>On the human level, he appears as a human person—for two purposes. First of all, he shows, by example, how the ascension, the transmutation is to be effected, how a normal human being can rise from a lower status of consciousness to a higher one. The Divine is therefore known as the Lord of Yoga—for Yoga is the means and method by which one consciously uplifts oneself, unites oneself with the Higher Reality. The embodied Divine is the ideal and pattern: he shows the path, himself walks the path and man can follow, if he chooses. The Biblical conception of the Son of God—God made flesh—as the inter-\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-61</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">mediary between the human and the Divine, declaring, &quot;I am the Way and the Goal&quot;, expresses a very similar truth. The Divine takes a body for another—occult—reason also. It is this: Matter or terrestrial life cannot be changed—changed radically, that is to say, <i>transformed—by </i>the pure spiritual consciousness alone, lying above or within; also it is not sufficient to bring about only that much of change in terrestrial life which can be effected by the mere spiritual force acting in a general way. It looks as if the physical transformation which is what is meant by an ascension or emergence in the evolutionary gradient were possible only by a physical impact embodying and canalising the spiritual force: it is with his physical body that the Divine Incarnation seems to push and lift up physical Nature to a new and higher status.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe occult seers declare that we are today on the earth at such a crisis of evolution. Earth and Man and man\'s earthly life need to be radically transfigured. The trouble and turbulence, the chaos and confusion that are now overwhelming this earth, indicate the\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-62</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">acute tension before the release, the <i>detente </i>of a New Manifestation.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-63</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-003_Lines of the Descent of Consciousness','','publish','closed','open','','003_lines-of-the-descent-of-consciousness','','','2021-11-23 17:21:07','2021-11-23 17:21:07','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/003_lines-of-the-descent-of-consciousness/',0,'post','',0),(1248,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:07','2021-11-23 17:21:07','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-000_Contents.htm</title>\n</head>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">\nTHE YOGA OF SRI  AUROBINDO</p>\n	<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n	<p class=\"paracenter\">\n	Part Two</p>\n	<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n	<p class=\"paracenter\">CONTENTS</p>\n	<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">\n<a href=\"the-yoga-of-sri-aurobindo-part-2-001_Pre_Content\">Pre-Content</a></p>\n	<div align=\"center\">\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"6\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse\" width=\"100%\">\n	<tr>\n<td align=\"center\">\n<p class=\"para\">\n<a href=\"-002_Our-Ideal\">Our Ideal</a></td>\n	</tr>\n	<tr>\n<td align=\"center\">\n<p class=\"para\">\n<a href=\"-003_Lines-of-the-Descent-of-Consciousness\">Lines of the \nDescent of Consciousness</a></td>\n	</tr>\n	<tr>\n<td align=\"center\">\n<p class=\"para\">\n<a href=\"-004_An-Aspect-of-Emergent-Evolution\">An Aspect of \nEmergent Evolution</a></td>\n	</tr>\n</table>\n	</div>\n</html>','the-yoga-of-sri-aurobindo-part-2-00_Contents','','publish','closed','open','','the-yoga-of-sri-aurobindo-part-2-00_contents','','','2021-11-23 17:21:07','2021-11-23 17:21:07','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/the-yoga-of-sri-aurobindo-part-2-00_contents/',0,'post','',0),(1249,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:07','2021-11-23 17:21:07','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-004_An Aspect of Emergent Evolution.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"6\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">AN ASPECT OF EMERGENT EVOLUTION\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">The theory of Emergent Evolution should be considered no longer as a theory, but as a statement of fact. The fact, at its barest, stripped of all assumptions and even generalisations, is the fact observed and implicit in all evolution, which can be denied only by the perverse and purblind. It is this, that at each crucial step Nature undergoes a sudden and total change, brings forth a new element which was not there before and which could not be foreseen or foretold by any process of deduction from the actual factors in play.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nAt the very outset of the evolutionary march, when material Nature meant only a mass or masses of incandescent gaseous elements, the first miracle that happened was the formation, the advent of water. There was Hydrogen and there was Oxygen existing and\n</p>\n<p class=\"pageno\">Page-64</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">moving side by side, for millions of years perhaps, but only at a given moment did an electric current happen to pass through a certain mixture of the two elements somewhere, and behold, a liquid drop was the product, an absolutely new, unforeseen, unpredictable and wonderful object! Examples can be multiplied.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe fact is admitted, on the whole, unless one is a Fundamentalist and prefers still to live in the consciousness of a bygone century. Difference comes in when the question of explanations and of view-points regarding them is raised. A materialist like Professor Broad would consider Mind and Life as fundamentally formations of Matter, however different they might seem from each other and from the latter. Water, the so-called miracle-product of Oxygen and Hydrogen, according to him, is as material as these two; even so, Life and Mind, however miraculously produced, being born of Matter, are nothing but the same single reality, only in different forms. Others, who are more or less idealists, Alexander and Lloyd Morgan, for example (some\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-65</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">of them call themselves neo-realists, however), would not view the phenomenon in the same way. Alexander says that Matter and Life and Mind are very different from each other; they are truly emergents, that is to say, novelties; but how the thing has been possible, one need not inquire; one should accept the fact with &quot;natural piety.&quot;\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nMorgan proffers an explanation. He says that whatever there is, exists in God who is the all-continent. In fact, everything that is or was or shall be is in Him. And the evolutionary gradation expresses or puts in front, one by one, all the principles or types of existence that God holds in Himself. The explanation hardly explains. It simply posits the existence of Matter and Life and Mind and whatever is to come hereafter in the infinity of God, but the passage from one to another, the connecting link between two succeeding terms, and the necessity of the link, are left as obscure as before. Life is tagged on to Matter and Mind is tagged on to Life in the name of the Lord God.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nBertrand Russell made a move in the right\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-66</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">direction with a happy suggestion which unhappily he had not the courage to follow up. Mind (and Life), he says, are certainly emergents out of Matter; that is because the reality is neither, it is a neutral stuff out of which all emergents issue. The conclusion is logical and sensible. But as he was initially bound to his position of scientific scepticism, he could not further question or probe the &quot;neutral&quot; and stopped on the fence.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe problem in reality, however, is simple enough, if we allow the facts to speak for themselves and do not hesitate to accept the conclusions to which they inevitably lead. After Matter came Life; that is to say, out of Matter came Life, and that can only be because Life was involved in Matter. And if such a conclusion makes of Matter a potentially living thing, we shall have to accept the position. In the same way, Mind that followed Life came out of life, because Mind was involved in Life; and if that means endowing Life with a secret mentality, well, there is no help for it. And if, as a natural consequence of the two premisses we have to\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-67</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">admit the existence of some kind of mind or consciousness secreted in Matter—a minimal psychic life, according to McDougall—that would be but what the <i>Upanishads </i>always declared: Creation is a vibration of consciousness, and all things and all kinds of existence are only forms and modalities of consciousness.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nHowever, we thus arrive at Mind in following the evolutionary process. Now after Mind there emerges another principle which has been termed Deity. By Deity the emergent evolutionists mean the embodiment of the religious feeling—piety, charity, worship, love of God or of God\'s creatures. Indeed, saints and prophets are visible deities, embodiments of the Deity in the making. These represent another element in the evolutionary process— a new evolute.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nDoes this point to the emergence of a new type of superhuman beings forming a class or a species by themselves? The possibility has been envisaged by some of the protagonists of emergent evolution, but has not been sufficiently examined or considered. Philosophers seem to walk in this region with caution and\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-68</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">incertitude, as if on quicksand and quagmire. But in this connection we are faced with a problem which Morgan had the happy intuition to seize and to bring forward. It is our purpose to draw attention to this matter.</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nProfessor Alexander spoke of the emergence of deities who would embody emergent properties other than those manifest in the Mind of man. Morgan asks whether there is not also a Deity—or <i>the </i>Deity—in the making. He establishes the logical necessity of such a consummation in this way: the evolutionary urge (or <i>nisus, </i>as it has been called) in its upward drive creates and throws up on all sides, at each stage, forms of the new property or principle of existence that has come into evidence. These multiple forms may appear anywhere and everywhere; they are strewn about on the entire surface of Nature. These are, however, the branchings of the evolutionary nisus which has a central line of advance running through the entire gradation of emergents; it is, as it were, the central pillar round which is erected a many-storeyed\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-69</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">edifice. The interesting point is this, that at the present stage of emergence, what the central line touches and arrives at is the Deity. Or, again, the thing can be viewed in another way. At the bottom the evolutionary movement is broad-based on Matter but as it proceeds upward its extent is gradually narrowed down; Life is less extensive than Matter and Mind is still less extensive than Life. Thus the scheme of the movement can be figured as a pyramid—the base of the pyramid represents Matter, but the apex where the narrowing sides converge is what is called the Deity.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nWhat is the implication of such a conclusion? It comes perilously near the Indian conception of Avatarhood! The central line of evolutionary nisus is the line of Avatarhood. At each point of the line, on the level of the newly emerged principle, there is a divine embodiment of that principle. The esoteric significance of the graded scale of Avatarhood, as illustrated in Vishnu\'s ten Forms, has long ago been pointed out, by some thinkers, in this light.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-70</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe principle of Avatarhood stands justified in this scheme as a necessary and inevitable element in the terrestrial evolutionary movement. An Avatar embodies a new emergent property: he incarnates a new principle of being and consciousness, he manifests— unfolds from below or brings down from above upon earth—a higher and deeper principle of organisation. He is the nucleus round which the new organisation crystallises. A Rama comes and human society attains a new status: against a mainly vitalistic and egoistic organisation whose defender and protagonist is Ravana, is set up an ideal of sattwic humanity. A Krishna appears and human consciousness is lifted, potentially at least, to a still higher level of spiritual possibility. The Avatar following, rather tracing, in his upward movement the central line of the evolutionary nisus, cuts a path, as it were, in the virgin forest of a realm of consciousness still unknown and foreign to human steps. As the Avatar presses and passes on, the way is cleared for other, ordinary human beings to come up and naturalise   themselves   in   a   new   country\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-71</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">promising a higher destiny which He discovers and conquers—for them.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nNow at this point we reach the crux of the problem, the supreme secret—<i>rahasyam utta-mam</i>—as the <i>Gita </i>would say. For the apex of the pyramid, the crown of evolution, the consummation of the central line of emergence would then be nothing less than the manifestation, the terrestrial incarnation of the Supreme Divine. The Deity thus fully emerged would embody the truth and play of creation in its widest scope and highest elevation; it would mean the utter fulfilment of human destiny and terrestrial Purpose.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nIn Indian terminology, it would be the advent of the Purna Bhagavan in the human body—<i>manushim tanumasritam. </i>All previous Avatars are only a preparation for the coming of this Supreme Divine. It is said also that the present epoch marks a crucial turn and transition. We await the Kalki Avatara who will wipe off the past, the Iron Age, and bring in the Golden Age, Satya Yuga.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nA question inevitably arises here—what next? Once the evolutionary movement has\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-72</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">reached the apex, does it stop there? After the apex, the Void? It need not be so. The completion of the pyramid would mean simply the end of a particular order of creation, the creation in Ignorance. This is, indeed, what Sri Aurobindo envisages in his conception of the creation in supramental Gnosis. The evolutionary nisus, on its arrival at the apex, according to him crosses a borderland, leaps into another order of world, the world of infinite Truth-Consciousness. Thereafter another new creation starts, the building perhaps of another pyramid (if we want to continue the metaphor). The progression of the evolutionary course is naturally expected to be an unending series. The pyramids rise tier upon tier <i>ad infinitum. </i>Only it is to be noted that in the basic pyramid the evolution starts from inconscience and moves from more ignorance to less ignorance through a gradually lessening density of darkness until the apex is reached where all shade of darkness is eliminated for ever. Beyond there is no mixture, however thin and diluted: it is a movement from light to light,  from one\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-73</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">expression of it to another, perhaps richer, but of the same quality.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThis however, is an aspect of the problem with which we are not immediately concerned. There is one question with which we have omitted to deal but which is nearer to us and touches present actualities. We spoke of the emergence of the Deity—and of the Supreme Deity—<i>after </i>Mind. The question is, how long after? I do not refer to the duration of time needed, but to the steps or the stages that have to be passed. For between Mind and Deity, certainly between Mind and the Supreme Deity (Purushottama, as we would say), there may presumably still lie a course of graded emergence. In fact, Sri Aurobindo speaks of the Overmind and the Supermind, as farther steps of the evolutionary progress coming after Mind. He says that Mind closes the inferior hemisphere of man\'s nature and consciousness; with Overmind man enters into the higher sphere of the Spirit. In this view, the religious feeling or perception or conduct would be but an intermediary stage between Mind and Overmind. They are not\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-74</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">really emergent properties, but reflections, faint echoes and promises of what is to come, mixed up with attributes of the present mentality. The Overmind brings in a true emergence.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nStill Overmind—whose characteristic is a cosmic consciousness and a transcendence of all ego-sense—is not the firm basis on which a new terrestrial organisation can stand and endure. It is still a basis of unstable equilibrium. For it is not the supernal light and, although it transcends all ignorance, yet does not possess that absolute synthetic unity, that transcendent power of consciousness which is at once the cosmic and the individual. That is the domain of the Supermind.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe whole urge of evolutionary Nature today is to bring out first the Overmental principle and then through it the Supra-mental which will establish and fix upon earth the principle of Deity and the Supreme Divine.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-75</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\"> <i>Works by the Author</i>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The Yoga of Sri Aurobindo <i>(in five parts)</i>\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe Coming Race\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nTowards a New Society\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe Malady of the Century\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe Approach to Mysticism\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe World War (1939-45)—Its Inner Bearings\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nTowards the Light <i>(Aphorisms)</i>\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nTowards the Heights <i>(Prose Poems)</i>\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nPoets and Mystics\n</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-004_An Aspect of Emergent Evolution','','publish','closed','open','','004_an-aspect-of-emergent-evolution','','','2021-11-23 17:21:07','2021-11-23 17:21:07','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/004_an-aspect-of-emergent-evolution/',0,'post','',0),(1250,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:07','2021-11-23 17:21:07','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-002_Our Ideal.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"6\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">OUR IDEAL \n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nOUR ideal—the ideal of Sri Aurobindo —we may say without much ado, is to divinise the human, immortalise the mortal, spiritualise the material. Is the ideal possible? Is it practicable? Our task will be precisely, first of all, to show that it is possible, next that it is probable and finally that it is inevitable.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nNow to the first question. It is usually contended that the ideal is an \nimpossibility, a chimera, since it involves on the face of it a \nself-contradiction. For, is not divinity the very opposite of humanity, \nimmortality that of mortality and Matter that of the Spirit? These pairs, all of \nthem, are formed of two mutually exclusive terms. This is what Mayavada posits. But need it be necessarily and inevitably so? What is affirmed is after all a postulate and one can start from other postulates as well. The truth, of course, is that all theories or views of existence are centrally\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-1</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">formulations of an experience; and each experience has its own postulate.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nTo begin with, we refuse to admit or recognise that there is or is bound to be a contradiction or opposition between Matter and Spirit, between body, and soul or between the human and the divine. We start with an experience, a realisation which declares the essential unity and identity of the duality. That is the thing that has to be posited first clear and nett. The question next arises how the two are one and identical; this demands some clarification. For, is it meant that they are one and the same in the sense that Zeus and Jupiter are the same or that water and H<sub>2</sub>O are the same? Apart from any barren theorising, is it not a universal and eternal and invariable experience that to attain to the Divine one must leave behind the human, to become the immortal one must cease to be a mortal and to live in the Spirit one has to deny Matter? The real answer, however, is that it is so and it is not so. The dilemma is not so trenchant as it has been made out to be.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-2</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">\nTo the regard of one line of experience, Matter seems opposed to Spirit only so far as the actual and outer formulation of Matter is concerned: even then the opposition is only apparent and relative. This is the very crux of the problem. For, to such a regard Spirit becomes Matter also, it is also Matter <i>—annam brahma eva. </i>Spirit is consciousness, <i>chit; </i>and Matter, it is said, is unconsciousness, <i>achit. </i>But unconsciousness need not be and is not, in our view, the absolute negation or utter absence of consciousness, it is only an involved or involute consciousness. If consciousness is wakefulness, unconsciousness is nothing more than forgetfulness: it is only an abeyance or suspension of consciousness, not annihilation.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThus the spiritualisation of Matter becomes possible simply because Matter and Spirit are not absolutely different, contradictory or incommensurable entities; they are one and the same reality, in different modes—even as water or water vapour and ice are in substance one and identical, although different in appearance. Spirit has become Matter and\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-3</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">Matter at heart is Spirit. Spirit is latent in Matter, as Matter itself is a possible formulation involved in Spirit. Matter has come out of Spirit as Spirit pressed upon itself and gradually condensed and consolidated into the concrete material reality. Spirit has become Matter by a process of crystallisation, of self-limitation and exclusive concentration. The movement follows a definite line of self-modification, along a downward gradient till it is consummated: it is one among an infinite variety of possible self-modifications, chosen and exclusively developed with a special purpose and a definite fulfilment in view.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nA movement of involution through a series of terms—of consciousness—of gradually diminishing facial value has made the Spirit terminate in Matter. If it is so, it stands to reason that a movement of evolution, a return journey would make Matter culminate in Spirit. Thus the very fact of Spirit having become Matter, of Matter being a mode of the Spirit, at once creates the possibility of Matter being transmuted into Spirit. Now even granting such a possibility, it may be argued- yet\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-4</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">that the thing achieved is a resolution of Matter into Spirit; it means the destruction of the characteristic form and consistency that is called Matter. We know, thanks to modern Science, that Matter can be transmuted into pure energy, but then it loses its materiality, it is dematerialised.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThat is what some of the old spiritual disciplines taught. Even if there is no unbridgeable gulf between Spirit and Matter, they said, even if they are not incommensurabies but form one reality, Spirit is the reality in essence, Matter is an inferior formulation. Matter has unrolled itself out of the infinite, it can only be and it has got to be rolled back again into the Spirit.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nHere comes the second cardinal principle in Sri Aurobindo\'s vision of the reality, viz. that an &quot;inferior&quot; formulation of the Spirit, and involute on a &quot;lower&quot; plane is not essentially or truly, even in its outer and dynamic nature and character, a mere temporary or by-the-way reality, an &quot;epiphenomenon&quot;; its sole function is not simply to impede, diminish and obscure the real reality so that it has\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-5</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">to be gradually rejected and eliminated on the way back to the source. As a matter of fact, an inferior formulation has a double function; in the line of descent it limits, obscures, deviates and in the end falsifies the higher reality; at the same time, however, it concretises, energises, incarnates what it obscures. But in the ascending line, that is to say, in the movement of reversal from the inferior to the superior, the movement need not be always that of disincarnation and dissolution, it may be that of purification and illumination and fulfilment. The analogy will not be, then, that of Matter being demateria-lised into pure energy but that of Matter being transformed into a radiant substance, not losing itself in the process of radiation, being wholly made of the undying luminous stuff.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nSuch a movement of transforming evolution is not merely a possibility or a probability: it is a fact of Nature. Indeed, natural evolution means nothing less than that. First of all, evolution means the reversibility of Nature; for, it is the  backward movement of an\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-6</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">involutionary process. We have said that the supreme truth and reality—<i>sat-chit-ananda, </i>as it is called—multiplied and concretised itself gradually through various steps and stages of a diminishing power of expression or an increasing entropy of self-concealment: the main grades being the Supermind, the Overmind, the Higher Mind, the Mind, Life and lastly the body or Matter. Having arrived at the extreme end that Matter represents,—the farthest apparently from the original source,—the movement turns round and seeks to go up the ladder through the same gradations it has traversed. But this process of reversal is not merely a resolution and dissolution, it is a process of greater fulfilment and synthetisation, of sublimation as well as of integration.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nMatter is the starting-point of evolution, it is there mere physico-chemical entity. But it undergoes a change, the first of its kind, a transmutation when it is taken up by life, when it becomes the basis and receptacle of a living organism: vitalised Matter behaves differently from physico-chemical Matter. A\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-7</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">farther and greater change is brought about in Matter when it is raised still higher and taken up by the mind, when it answers to the vibrations of a mental organism: menta-lised Matter has yet a third norm of behaviour. The transformation of Matter in slow degrees towards a greater plasticity and spontaneity, a growing sentiency and luminosity is evident as one proceeds up the rungs of natural evolution.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThis drive of evolution is a constant and permanent fact of Nature and she is in travail to bring about higher and higher stages of material transformation. It may not be easy to forecast from the present status what the future mode or modes of Matter would be like, even as it was surely impossible to forecast mentalised Matter or living Matter, but that does not make the thing less inevitable.</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe inevitability arises from the very fact of this evolutionary urge that a stage will come when Matter will undergo another, more radical and crucial change; it will be taken up by a higher reality than mind and\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-8</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">suffused with a light and power belonging to that reality: a spiritual consciousness will emerge and with it spiritualised Matter, even as a mental consciousness emerged and mentalised (however inadequately) Matter, and yet anterior to that a vital consciousness emerged and vitalised Matter. There cannot be a limit to the degree of spiritualisation also; for the degree of the Spirit that Nature manifests in an earthly body will also be the measure to which the body itself is spiritualised. A perfectly dynamic spiritual consciousness will have the power to perfectly spiritualise the body and life and mind. And this grade and power of the supreme Spirit Sri Aurobindo calls the Supermind.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nWe will try to understand the nature of sublimation and transformation by analogy and illustration. Mind, for example, we know, is an instrument which by itself is incapable of attaining to the knowledge of the Spirit or the consciousness of the Truth. As it is constituted at present, it is not only not capable of that knowledge and consciousness, but is an obstacle  to  them.  Its vibrations  and\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-9</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">formulations disturb and vitiate the higher rhythm. That is why it is repeated so often in the Upanishads:\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<i> Naisa tarkena matirapaneya    </i>(Katha)</p>\n<p class=\"para\">or <i> Tan manasa na manute</i>(Kena)\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">or again Na <i>manasa praptum sakyah    </i>(Katha)\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">and so on. Yet the same mind when it is not independent and master but subservient and obedient to the higher light becomes a channel for its dynamic embodiment, a conduit for its canalisation and expression in earthly life. Therefore the Upanishad says also,\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<i>Manasaivedamaptavyam</i>(Katha)\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\n&quot;By the mind too this has to be seized.&quot;\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nA mind that is not rigidly limited to the ratiocinative process, but has been remoulded in the light and rhythm of inspiration and intuition and revelation and other higher sources still beyond becomes at once a transfigured vessel, an apt instrument to incarnate\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-10</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">and dynamise in the physical and material field truths and realities that normally lie far and above. Something of the kind, though in a small measure, happens in a poet or an artist, for example. A poet who moves by vision and inspiration is not, at least need not be, devoid of mind: the mind in his case is not annihilated or even kept in abeyance, but sublimated, undergoing a reorientation and reorganisation, acquiring a new magnitude. Even if there is a suspension of the ratiocinative faculty, it would not mean a suspension of the mental power in itself, but rather an enhancement in a new degree. The same may happen to the other parts and planes of human consciousness and existence.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nOf course, if one chooses, one can sidetrack these intervening ranges of consciousness between the Spirit and Matter, and strike something like a chord line between the two; but also one need not follow this bare straight ascetic line of ascension; one can pursue a wider, a cicular or global movement which not only arrives but fulfils. The latter is\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-11</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">Nature\'s method of activity, Nature being all reality. The exclusive line is meant for individuals, and even as such it has a value and sense in the global view, for this too is contributory to the total urge and its total consummation.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nWe have seen that spiritualisation of Matter is an inevitable consummation that is being worked out by evolutionary Nature. We can go now still further and say that it is not merely a far-off inevitability that will come about some day or other, but a more or less imminent certainty. For Nature\'s evolutionary dynamis is not the only agent at work, it is not the only assurance of the <i>grand finale </i>envisaged. The Divine himself descends and meets and takes up the evolutionary force: he comes down as a dynamic conscious force in the terrestrial movement carrying the truth that is to be established here and now, acts and drives, first from above and then in and through the level actuality, and thus speeds and fulfils within a brief span what Nature left to herself would perhaps take aeons— Brahmic   Yugas—to    accomplish.    Indeed\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-12</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">Nature\'s evolutionary crises, where she had to effect a transcendence from one plane of creation to another, are always worked out swiftly by such a descent which imposes an inexorable physical pressure as it were upon an earthly material which otherwise is slow to move and change.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nEven of this descent of the Divine Consciousness, however, there are varying degrees, in accordance with the nature of the work it has got to do. In the inferior ranges of evolutionary Nature—the lower hemisphere, as it is called, of Mind, Life and Matter— Descent is partial and indirect and relative, the aim being a more or less reconditioning of Matter, not its thorough transformation: this becomes possible when Nature has risen to Mind and has prepared herself to take the further, the crucial leap into the higher hemisphere, the sphere of dynamic spiritual truth.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nNature\'s attempt at the transcendence of Mind opens the door for a more and more direct and integral descent of the Divine Consciousness, and in its highest degrees—\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-13</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">the degrees of the Supermind—the Descent means a reversal of the normal values, a swift and total transfiguration of earthly life into the mould of supernal spiritual realities. An absolute degree of the Descent, an irruption of the Divine Consciousness in its supreme purity and fullness becomes inevitable in the end: for that alone can bring about the fulfilment that Nature ultimately has in view. Matter will yield completely, and life-power too, only to the direct touch and embrace of the Divine\'s own self.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nIn this age we stand at some such critical juncture in Nature\'s evolutionary history. Its full implications, the exact degree of the immediate achievement, the form and manner of the Descent are things that remain veiled till the fact &quot;is accomplished. Something of it is revealed, however, to the eye of vision and the heart of faith, something of it is seized by those to whom it chooses to disclose itself—\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<i>Yamevaisa minute Una labhyah</i>\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-14</p></td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-002_Our Ideal','','publish','closed','open','','002_our-ideal','','','2021-11-23 17:21:07','2021-11-23 17:21:07','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/002_our-ideal/',0,'post','',0),(1251,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:07','2021-11-23 17:21:07','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-021_Savitri.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"5\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>XX\n</b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>SAVITRI\n</b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">(i)\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">Savitri, the poem, the word of Sri Aurobindo is the cosmic Answer to the cosmic Question. And Savitri, the person, the Godhead, the Divine Woman is the Divine\'s response to the human aspiration.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe world is a great question mark. It is a riddle, eternal and ever-recurring. Man has faced the riddle and sought to arrive at a solution since he has been given a mind to seek and interrogate.</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nWhat is this universe ?From where has it come? Whither is it going? What is the purpose of it all? Why is man here? What is the object of his existence?\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nSuch is the mode of human aspiration. And Ashwapati in his quest begins to explore the world and see what it is, the way it is built up. He observes it rising tier upon tier, level upon level of consciousness. He mounts these stairs, takes cognisance of the modes and functions of each and passes on enriched by the experiences that each contributes to his developing consciousness. The ascent he finds is from ignorance to knowledge. The human being starts from the darkest bed of ignorance, the solid basis of rock as it were, the body, the material existence. Ignorance here is absolute inconscience. Out\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-94</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">of the total absence of consciousness, the being begins to awake and rise to a gradually developing—widening, deepening and heightening—consciousness. That is how Ashwapati advances, ascends from a purely bodily life and consciousness, to the next rung of the ladder, the first appearance and expression of life-force, the vital consciousness—energies and forms of the small lower vital. He moves on, moves upward, there is a growing light in and mixed with the obscurity; ignorance begins to shed its hard and dark coatings one by one and gives place to directed and motivated energies. He meets beings and creatures appropriate to those levels crawling and stirring and climbing, moved by the laws governing the respective regions. In this way Ashwapati passes on into the higher vital, into the border of the mental.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nAshwapati now observes with a clear vividness that all these worlds and the beings and forces that inhabit them are stricken as it were with a bar sinister branded upon their bodies. In spite of an inherent urge of ascension the way is not a straight road but devious and crooked breaking into by-lanes and blind alleys. There is a great corruption and perversion of natural movements towards Truth: falsehoods and pretensions, arrogance of blindness reign here in various degrees. Ashwapati sought to know the wherefore of it all. So he goes behind, dives down and comes into a region that seems to be the source and basis of all ignorance and obscurity and falsehood. He comes into the very heart of the Night, the abyss of consciousness. He meets there the Mother of Evil and the sons of\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-95</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">darkness. He stands before\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n&quot;...the gate of the false Infinite, \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> An eternity of disastrous absolutes.&quot;<sup>1</sup>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nHere are the forces that pull down and lure away to perdition all that man\'s aspirations and the world\'s urge seek to express and build of Divine things. It is the world in which the forces of the original inconscience find their primitive play. They are dark and dangerous: they prey upon earth\'s creatures who are not content with being vassals of darkness but try to move to the Light. Dangerous is this passage for the celestial aspirant:\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n&quot;Where the red Wolf waits by the fordless stream And Death\'s black eagles scream to the precipice...&quot;<sup>2</sup>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nHe must be absolutely vigilant, absolutely on his guard, absolutely sincere.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n&quot;Here must the traveller of the upward way— For daring Hell\'s kingdoms winds the heavenly route— Pause or pass slowly through that perilous space, A prayer upon his lips and the great Name.&quot;<sup>3</sup>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nBut there is no escape. The divine traveller has to pass through this region. For it lies athwart his path to the\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<sup>1</sup>Book II: Canto 8: P. 250.</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<sup>2</sup>Bk. II: Canto 8: P. 260.</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<sup>3</sup>Bk. II: Canto 7: P. 238.</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-96</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">goal. Not only so, it is necessary to go through this Night. For Ashwapati\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">&quot;Knew death for a cellar of the house of life, \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">In destruction felt creation\'s hasty pace, \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">Knew loss as the price of a celestial gain \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">And hell as a short cut to heaven\'s gates.&quot;<sup>1</sup>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nAshwapati now passes into the higher luminous regions. He enters regions of larger breath and wider movement —the higher vital and then into the yet more luminous region of the higher mind. He reaches the heavens where immortal sages and the divinities and the gods themselves dwell. Even these Ashwapati finds to be only partial truths, various aspects, true but limited, of the One Reality beyond. Thus he leaves all behind and reaches into the single sole Reality, the transcendental Truth of things, the status vast and infinite and eternal, immutable existence and consciousness and bliss.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n&quot;A Vastness brooded free from sense of Space, \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> An Everlastingness cut off from Time... \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> &quot;A stillness absolute, incommunicable...&quot;<sup>2</sup>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nHere seems to be the end of the quest, and one would fain stay there ever and ever in that status\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<sup>1</sup>Bk. II: Canto 8: P. 262.</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<sup>2</sup>Bk. III: Cantos 1-2: Pp. 349; 351.</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-97</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">\n&quot;...occult, impenetrable,—\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nInfinite, eternal, unthinkable, alone.&quot;<sup>1</sup>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nAshwapati was perhaps about to be lured into that Bliss but suddenly a doubt enters into him—there is a hesitation, a questioning; he hears a voice:\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n&quot;The ego is dead; we are free from being and care,\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nWe have done with birth and death and work and fate.\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nO soul, it is too early to rejoice!\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThou hast reached the boundless silence of the Self,\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThou hast leaped into a glad divine abyss;\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nBut where hast thou thrown self\'s mission and self\'s power ?\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nOn what dead bank on the Eternal\'s road?&quot;<sup>2</sup>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nAshwapati veers round. A new perception, a new consciousness begins to open within him. A new urge moves him. He has to start on a new journey, a new quest and achievement. The world exists neither as a Truth nor as an illusion in itself. It exists in and through the Mother of the worlds. There is a motive in its existence and it is her will that is being worked out in that existence. The world moves for the fulfilment of a purpose that is being evolved through earth-life and human-life. The ignorant incomplete human life upon earth is not the be-all and end-all of the life here. That life has to evolve into a life of light and love and joy perfect here below. Nature as it\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<sup>1</sup>Bk. III: Canto I: p. 350.\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<sup>2</sup>Bk. III: Canto 2: p. 351.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-98</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">is now will be transmuted into a new pure and radiant substance. Ashwapati is filled with this new urge and inspired by this new vision. He sees and understands now the truth of his life, the goal that has to be achieved, the great dream that has to be realised here upon earth in and through matter. He sees how nature has been labouring ceaselessly and tirelessly through aeons through eternity onward. He is now almost impatient to see the consummation here and now. The divine Voice however shows him the wisdom of working patiently, hastening, slowly. The Voice admonishes him:\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n&quot;I ask thee not to merge thy heart of flame\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nIn the Immobile\'s wide uncaring bliss...\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThy soul was born to share the laden Force;\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nObey thy nature and fulfil thy fate:\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nAccept the difficulty and godlike toil,\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nFor the slow-paced omniscient purpose live....\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nAll things shall change in God\'s transfiguring hour.&quot;<sup>1</sup>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nBut the human flame once kindled is hard to put down. It seeks an immediate result. It does not understand the fullness of time. So Ashwapati cries out:\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n&quot;Heavy and long are the years our labour counts \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> And still the seals are firm upon man\'s soul \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> And weary is the ancient Mother\'s heart....\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<sup>1</sup> Bk. III: Canto 4: pp.380; 386.</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-99</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">Linger not long with thy transmuting hand \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">Pressed vainly on one golden bar of Time... \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">Let a great word be spoken from the heights \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">And one great act unlock the doors of Fate.&quot;<sup>1</sup>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThis great cry of the human soul moved the Divine Mother and she granted at last its prayer. She answered by bestowing of her motherly comfort on the yearning thirsty soul:\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">&quot;O strong forerunner, I have heard thy cry. \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">One shall descend and break the iron Law... \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">A seed shall be sown in Death\'s tremendous hour, \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">A branch of heaven transplant to human soil; \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">Nature shall, overleap her mortal step; \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">Fate shall be changed by an unchanging will.&quot;<sup>2</sup>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nAnd She herself came down upon earth as Ashwapati\'s daughter to undertake the human labour and accomplish the Divine work.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">(2)\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe Divine Mother is upon earth as a human creature. She is to change the mortal earth into an immortal paradise. Earth at present is a bundle of material in conscience. The Supreme Consciousness has manifested itself\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<sup>1</sup> Bk. III: Canto 4: pp. 390-391.</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<sup>2</sup> Bk. III: Canto 4: pp. 391-392.</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-100</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">as supreme unconsciousness. The Divine has lost itself in pulverising itself, scattering itself abroad. Immortality is thus entombed here below in death. The task of the incarnate Supreme Consciousness is to revive the death-bound divinity, to free the human consciousness in its earthly life from the obscurity of the material unconsciousness, re-install it in its original radiant status of the Divine Consciousness.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nSuch is Savitri\'s mission. This mission has two sessions or periods. The first, that of preparation; the second, that of fulfilment. Savitri, the human embodiment was given only twelve months out of her earthly life and in that short space of time she had to do all the preparation. She knew her work from her very birth, she was conscious of her nature and the mission she was entrusted with. Now she is facing the crisis. Death is there standing in front. What is to be done, how is she to proceed? She was told she is to conquer Death, she is to establish immortal life upon mortal earth. The Divine Voice rings out:\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n&quot;Arise, O soul, and vanquish Time and Death.&quot;<sup>1</sup>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nYes, she is ready to do it, but not for herself, but for her Love, the being who was the life of her life. Savitri is the Divine Consciousness but here in the mortal body she is clothed in the human consciousness; it is the human consciousness that she is to lead upward and beyond and\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<sup>1</sup> Bk. VII: Canto 2: p. 539.</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-101</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">it is in and through the human consciousness that the Divine Realisation has to be expressed and established. The human Savitri declares: If Death is conquered, it is for the sake of Satyavan living eternally with her. She seems to say: What I wish to see is the living Satyavan and I united with him for ever. I do not need an earthly life without him; with him I prefer to be in another world if necessary away from the obscurity and turmoil of this earth here.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n&quot;My strength is taken from me and given to Death,\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nWhy should I lift my hands to the shut heavens...\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nWhy should I strive with earth\'s unyielding laws\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nOr stave off death\'s inevitable hour?\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThis surely is best to pactise with my fate\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nAnd follow close behind my lover\'s step\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nAnd pass through night from twilight to the sun...&quot;<sup>1</sup>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nBut a thunderous voice descends from above shaking Savitri to the very basis of her existence.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n&quot;And what shall thy soul say when it wakes and knows \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> The work was left undone for which it came?&quot;<sup>2</sup>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThus a crisis very similar to that which Ashwapati had to face now confronts Savitri also. Both of them were at the crossroads away from the earth in the pure delights.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n <sup>1</sup> Bk. VII: Canto 2: p. 539.</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> <sup>1</sup> Bk. VII: Canto 2: \np. 540.</p>\n<p class=\"pageno\">Page-102</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">of the heavens or in the world labouring on earth\'s soil. Savitri\'s soul was now revealed to her in its fullness. She viewed the mighty destiny for which she had come down and the great work she had to achieve here upon earth, not any personal or individual human satisfaction or achievement but a cosmic fulfilment, a global human realisation. The godhead in Savitri is now fully awake, established in its plenitude—the Divinity incarnate in the human frame. All the godheads, all the goddess-emanations now entered into her and moulded the totality of her mighty stature.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nHere begins then the second stage of her mission,— her work and achievement, the conquest of Death. Only the Divine human being can conquer Death. Savitri follows Death step by step revealing gradually the mystery of Death, his personality and his true mission, although the dark God thinks that it is he who is taking away Satyavan and Savitri along with him, to his own home, his black annihilaion. For Death is that in its first appearance, it is utter destruction, nothing-ness, non-existence. So the mighty Godhead declares in an imperious tone to the mortal woman Savitri:\n</p>\n<blockquote>\n	<blockquote>\n<p class=\"para\">&quot;This is my silent dark immensity, </p>\n<p class=\"para\">This is the home of everlasting Night, </p>\n<p class=\"para\">This is the secrecy of Nothingness </p>\n<p class=\"para\">Entombing the vanity of life\'s desires... </p>\n<p class=\"para\">Hopest thou still always to last and love?&quot;<sup>1</sup>\n</p>\n	</blockquote>\n</blockquote>\n <sup>1</sup> Bk. VII: Canto 2: \np. 661.</p>\n<p class=\"pageno\">Page-103</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">\nIndeed Death is not merely a destruction of the body, it is in reality nothingness, non-being. The moment being, existence, reality manifested itself, established itself as a material fact, simultaneously there came out and stood against it, its opposite non-being, non-existence, non-reality; against an everlasting \'yes\' there was posited an everlasting \'no\'. And in fact, this everlasting No proves to be a greater effective reality, it has wound itself around every constituent atom of the universe. That is what has expressed itself in the material domain as the irreversible degradation of energy and in the mortal world it is denial and doubt and falsehood—it is that which brings about failure in life, and frusration, misery and grief. But then Savitri\'s vision penetrated beyond and she saw, Death is a way of achieving the end more swiftly and more completely. The negation is an apparent obstacle in order to increase, to purify and intensify the speed of the process by which the world and humanity is being remodelled and re-created. This terrible Godhead pursues the human endeavour till the end; until he finds that nothing more is to be done; then his mission too is fulfilled.<sup>1</sup> So a last cry, the cry of a desperate dying Death, pierces the universe and throws the final challenge to Savitri:\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<sup>1</sup> We are reminded here of a parallelism in Goethe\'s conception of the role of Satan (the Negative Principle) in human affairs. Satan is not merely a destorying devil, he is a constructive angel. For it is he\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"><i> Who must goad and tease \n</i>\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"><i> And toil to serve creation.</i>\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nwhenever \n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> <i>Man\'s efforts sink below his proper level.</i>\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-104</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">\n&quot;O human claimant to immortality,\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nReveal thy power, lay bare thy spirit\'s force,\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThen will I give back to thee Satyavan.\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nOr if the Mighty Mother is with thee,\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nShow me her face that I may worship her;\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nLet deathless eyes look into the eyes of Death...&quot;<sup>1</sup>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nDeath\'s desire, his prayer too is fulfilled. He faces Savitri but this is not the Savitri against whom he fought. Whose is this voice?\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n&quot;I hail thee almighty and victorious Death, \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> Thou grandiose Darkness of the Infinite... \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> I have given thee thy awful shape of dread \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> And thy sharp sword of terror and grief and pain \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> To force the soul of man to struggle for light...&quot;<sup>2</sup>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nWhat happens thereafter is something strange and tremendous and miraculous. Light flashed all around, a leaping tongue of fire spread out and the dark form of Death was burnt—not to ashes but to blazing sparks of light:\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n&quot;His body was eaten by light, his spirit devoured.&quot;<sup>3</sup>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThus Death came to his death—not to death in reality but to a new incarnation. Death returned to his original\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<sup>1</sup> Bk. X: Canto 4: p. 745.</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<sup>2</sup>Bk. X: Canto 4: p. 747.</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<sup>3</sup>Bk. X: Canto 4: p. 749.</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-105</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">divine Reality, an emanation of the Divine Mother.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n&quot;A secret splendour rose revealed to sight Where once the vast embodied Void had stood. Night the dim mask had grown a wonderful face.&quot;<sup>1</sup>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nIn that domain of pure transcendent light stood face to face the human Savitri and the transformed Satyavan.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">(3)\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nSavitri has entered into the deathless luminous world where there is only faultless beauty, stainless delight and an unmeasured self-gathered strength. Savitri heard the melodious voice of the Divine:\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nYou have now left earth\'s miseries and its impossible conditions, you have reached the domain of unalloyed felicity and you need not go back to the old turbulent life: dwell here both of you and enjoy eternal bliss.</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nBut Savitri answered firm and moveless:\n</p>\n<blockquote>\n	<blockquote>\n<p class=\"para\">&quot;I climb not to thy everlasting Day, </p>\n<p class=\"para\">Even as I have shunned thy eternal Night.... </p>\n<p class=\"para\">Earth is the chosen place of mightiest souls; </p>\n<p class=\"para\">Earth is the heroic spirit\'s battlefield... </p>\n<p class=\"para\">Thy servitudes on earth are greater, king, </p>\n<p class=\"para\">Than all the glorious liberties of heaven.&quot;<sup>2</sup>\n</p>\n	</blockquote>\n</blockquote>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<sup>1</sup> Bk. XI: Canto 1: p. 762. \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<sup>2</sup> Bk. XI: Canto 1: p. 770. \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<br>\n</p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-106</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">\nOnce more Savitri, even like Ashwapati, has to make a choice between two destinies, two soul-movements—although the choice is already made even before it is offered to her. Ashwapati had to abandon, we know, the silent immutable transcendent status of pure light in order to bathe in this lower earthly light. Savitri too as the prototype of human consciousness chose and turned to this light of the earth.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe Rishi of the Upanishad declared: they who worship only Ignorance enter into darkness, but they who worship knowledge alone enter into a still darker darkness. This world of absolute light which Savitri names \'everlasting day\' is what the Upanishadic Rishi sees and describes as the golden lid upon the face of the Sun. The Sun is the complete integral light of the Truth in its fullness. The golden covering has to be removed if one is to see the Sun itself—to live the integral life, one has to possess the integral truth.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nSo it is that Savitri comes down upon earth and standing upon its welcoming soil speaks to Satyavan as though consoling him for having abandoned their own abode in heaven to dwell among mortal men:\n</p>\n<blockquote>\n	<blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n	<blockquote>\n<p class=\"para\">&quot;Heaven\'s touch fulfils but cancels not our earth... \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">Still am I she who came to thee mid the murmur \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">Of sunlit leaves upon this forest verge... </p>\n<p class=\"para\">All that I was before, I am to thee still...&quot;<sup>1</sup>\n</p>\n	</blockquote>\n</blockquote>\n	</blockquote>\n</blockquote>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<sup>1</sup> Bk. XII: p. 808. \n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"pageno\">Page-107</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">\nVoicing Satyavan\'s thought and feeling, all humanity, the whole world in joy and gratefulness, utters this <i>mantra. </i>of thanksgiving:\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n&quot;If this is she of whom the world has heard, Wonder no more at any happy change.&quot;<sup>1</sup>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">(4)\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nIn her <i>Prayers and Meditations </i>the Mother says: \n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> &quot;Comme l\'homme n\'a pas voulu du repas que j\'avais. préparé avec tant d\'amour et de soin, alors j\'ai invité le Dieu à le prendre. \n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Et mon Dieu, Tu as accepté mon invitation et Tu es venu T\'asseoir à ma table; et en change de ma pauvre et humble offrande Tu m\'as octroyé la finale libération.&quot;<sup>2</sup>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nWhat is this banquet that she prepared for man and which man refused? It is nothing else than the Life Divine here below—the life of the Gods enjoying immortality, full of the supreme light and power, love and delight. Man refused because for him it is something too high, too great. Being a creature earth-bound and of small\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<sup>1</sup> Bk. XII: p. 812. \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<sup>2</sup> &quot;Since the man refused the meal I had prepared with so much lover and care, I invoked the God to take it.\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nMy God, Thou hast accepted my invitation, Thou hast come to sit at my table, and in exchange for my poor and humble offering Thou. hast granted to me the last liberation.&quot;\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-108</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">dimensions he can seize and appreciate only small things, little specks of a material world. He refused, first of all, because of his ignorance, he does not know, nor is he capable of conceiving that there are such things as immortal life, divinity, unobscured light, griefless love, or a radiant, tranquil, invisible energy. He does not know and yet he is arrogant, arrogant in his Utile knowledge, his petty power, in his blind self-sufficiency. Furthermore, besides ignorance and arrogance there is an element of revolt in him, for in his half-wakefulness with his rudimentary consciousness, if ever he came in contact with something that is above and beyond him, if a shadow of another world happens to cross his threshold, he is not at peace, does not want to recognise but denies and even curses it.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe Divine Mother brings solace and salvation. For the Grace it is such a small and easy thing, it is a wonder how even such a simple, natural, inconspicuous thing could be refused by anybody.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nIf man finds no use for the gift she has brought down for him, naturally she will take it back and return it to Him to whom it belongs, for all things belong to the Supreme Lord, even She belongs to Him, as She is one with Him. The Gita says: there is nothing else than the Brahman in the creation—the doer, the doing and the deed, all are essentially He. In the sacrifice that is this moving, acting universe, the offerer, the offering and the offered, each and every element is the Brahman—<i>brahm</i>&#257;<i>rpanam brahma havi</i>&#7717;<i>.</i>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThis gesture of the Divine Mother teaches us also\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-109</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">what should be the approach and attitude of human beings in all their activities. In all our movements we should always remember Him, refer to Him, consider that in the last analysis each and every movement comes from Him and we must always offer them to Him, return them to the parent-source from where they come, therein lies freedom, the divine detachment which the individual must possess always in order to be one with Him, feel one\'s identity with Him.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">(5)</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nMan\'s refusal of the Divine Grace has been depicted very beautifully and graphically in a perfect dramatic form by Sri Aurobindo in <i>Savitri, </i>The refusal comes one by one from the three constituent parts of the human being. First of all man is a material being, a bodily creature, as such he is a being of ignorance and misery, of brutish blindness. He does not know that there is something other than his present state of misfortune and dark fate. He is not even aware that there may be anything higher or nobler than the ugliness he is steeped in. He lives on earth-life with an earth-consciousness, moves mechanically and helplessly through vicissitudes over which he has no control. Even so the material life is not a mere despicable thing; behind its darkness, behind its sadness, behind all its infirmities, the Divine Mother is there upholding it and infusing into it her grace and beauty. Indeed, she is one with this world of sorrows, she has in effect become it in\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-110</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">her infinite pity and love so that this material body of hers may become conscious of its divine substance and manifest her true form. But the human being individualised and separated in egoistic consciousness has lost the sense of its inner reality and is vocal only in regard to its outward formulation. It is natural for physical man therefore to reject and deny the physical Godhead in him, he even curses it and wants to continue as he is. He yells therefore in ignorance and anguish:\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n&quot;I am the Man of Sorrows, I am he\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nWho is nailed on the wide cross of the Universe...\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nI toil like the animal, like the animal die.\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nI am man the rebel, man the helpless serf...\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nI know my fate will ever be the same,\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nIt is my Nature\'s work that cannot change....\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nI was made for evil, evil is my lot;\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nEvil I must be and by evil live;\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nNaught other can I do, but be myself;\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nWhat Nature made, that I must remain.&quot;<sup>1</sup>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe Divine glory manifests itself for a moment to the earthly consciousness but man refuses to be pulled out of its pig-sty. The Grace withdraws but in its Supreme Consciousness of unity and love consoles the fallen creature and gives it the assurance:\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<sup>1</sup> Bk. VII: Canto 4: P.574-6.<br>\n</p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-111</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">\nOne day I will return, a bringer of strength... \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> Misery shall pass abolished from the earth; \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> The world shall be freed from the anger of the Beast... &quot;<sup>1</sup>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe basic status or foundation of Man, in fact of creation, is earth, the material organisation. After the body, next comes the life and Life-power. Here man attains a larger dynamic being of energy and creative activity. Here too, on this level, what man is or what he achieves is only a reflection, a shadow, but mostly a misshapen resemblance, an aberration of the divine reality that hides behind, and yet half-reveals itself. That Godhead is the Mother\'s form of Might, we name it variously, Kali and Durga and Lakshmi, for it is Her Grace that is ultimately expressed and fulfilled in this world of vital power. It is because of this realising power of the Mother that\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n&quot;Slowly the Light grows greater in the East,\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nSlowly the world progresses on God\'s road.\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nHis seal is on my task, it cannot fail;\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nI shall hear the silver swing of heaven\'s gates\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nWhen God comes out to meet the soul of the world.&quot;<sup>2</sup>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nBut man in the strength of his ignorance and arrogance does not recognise this Goddess. Human power, we have said, is a reflection, a shadow of the Divine Power but most often it is a deformed, a perverted Divine Power. Man is\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<sup>1</sup> Bk. VII: Canto 4: P.576.<br>\n<sup>2</sup> Bk. VII: Canto 4: P.579.</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-112</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">full of his egoistic vital self-confidence: he believes it is his own will that is realising all, all which is achieved here; whatever he has created, it is through the might of lis own merit and whatever new creations will be done in the future will be through the Grace of his own genius. A mighty vital selfhood obscures bis consciousness and he sees nothing else, understands nothing else beyond the reach of that limited vision. This is the Rakshasa, this is the Asura in man. Here is his philosophy of life:\n</p>\n<blockquote>\n	<blockquote>\n<p class=\"para\">&quot;I climb, a claimant to the throne of heaven. </p>\n<p class=\"para\">The last born of the earth, I stand the first... </p>\n<p class=\"para\">I am God still unevolved in human form; </p>\n<p class=\"para\">Even if he is not, he becomes in me... </p>\n<p class=\"para\">No magic can surpass my magic\'s skill. </p>\n<p class=\"para\">There is no miracle I shall not achieve.&quot;<sup>1</sup>\n</p>\n	</blockquote>\n</blockquote>\n<p class=\"para\">\nSo this vital being in man in bis Rakshasic hunger and Asuric self-conceit rejects the Divine Power that is in fact behind him too, supporting him. The Goddess, in the wake of her predecessor, goes back from where she came, leaving however a consoling word, assuring that one day she will return; she will bide her time. For one day,\n</p>\n<blockquote>\n	<blockquote>\n<p class=\"para\">The cry of the ego shall be hushed within, </p>\n<p class=\"para\">Its lion-roar that claims the world as food, </p>\n<p class=\"para\">All shall be might and bliss and happy force.<sup>2</sup>\n</p>\n	</blockquote>\n</blockquote>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<sup>1</sup> Bk. VII: Canto 4: P.580-2.<br>\n<sup>2</sup> Bk. VII: Canto 4: P.583.</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-113</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">\nIn his body man is the beast, in the vital he is the Rak-shasa and the Asura, he rises now into the mind. And in the mind he is the human being proper, he has attained his own humanity. Here he has received the light of knowledge, a wider and deeper consciousness, he has unveiled the secret mysteries of Nature, brought to play hidden forces that were unknown and untapped. All these achievements have been possible for man because it is the Mother of Light that is behind and has come forward to shed something of her luminous presence around. But man has no inkling of the presence of this luminous Deity, his own light has been a screen in front of the inner divine light. It is not possible for the human mind to seize the higher light: his consciousness, his knowledge is too narrow, too superficial, too dull to comprehend what is beyond. This Divine Light is also a thing of delight, the consciousness it possesses is also the very essence of Joy and Felicity. But all that is occult to the human knowledge. Man considers Truth is his property, whatever truth is there his understanding can grasp it and bring it to play: Truth and Reality are commensurate with his own consciousness, his mental comprehension. What others speak of as realities of the spirit, truths transcendental, are an illusion and delusion. This is what is usually known as the scientific mind, the rational consciousness. An orthodox scientific mentality is in the first instance a thing of overweening self-confidence, of arrogant self-assertion. It declares in its formidable pride:\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-114</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">&quot;I have seized the cosmic energies for my use. I have pored on her infinitesimal elements And her invisible atoms have unmasked... If God is at work his secrets I have found.&quot;<sup>1</sup>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThis imperiousness in man seems however to be a sheer imperviousness: it is a mask, a hollow appearance; for with all his knowledge, at the end he has attained no certainty, no absoluteness. There is something behind, all the outer bravado he flourishes has a sense of helplessness, at times almost as pitiable as that of a child; for he finds at last\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n&quot;All is a speculation or a dream:\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nIn the end the world itself becomes a doubt.&quot;<sup>2</sup>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nIt is true his survey of the universe, his knowledge of boundless Nature and the inexhaustible multiplicities of creation have given him a sense of the endless and the infinite but he has not the necessary light or capacity to follow those lines of infinity, on the contrary, there is a shrinking in him at the touch of such vastnesses; his small humanity makes him desperately earth-bound, his aspiration follows the lines of least resistance:\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n&quot;Our smallness saves us from the Infinite. \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> In a frozen grandeur lone and desolate\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<sup>1</sup> Bk. VII: Canto 4: P.589.<br>\n<sup>2</sup> Bk. VII: Canto 4: P.589.</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-115</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">\nCall me not to die the great eternal Death...\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nHuman I am, human let me remain\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nTill in the Inconscient I fall dumb and sleep.&quot;<sup>1</sup>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThus, this Goddess too, is rejected like her previous comrades, the Mother of Light, the Deity who is properly the guide and ruler of man\'s own destiny. Even she is refused but hers is not to complain, in tranquil quietness she brings comfort and hope to the troubled human mind and says she goes to come back in the fullness of her incarnation. She utters divinely:\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n&quot;One day I shall return, His hands in mine, \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> And thou shalt see the face of the Absolute. \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> Then shall the holy marriage be achieved, \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> Then shall the divine family be born.&quot;<sup>2</sup>\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">(6)\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nTo the inconscient and ignorant human nature, Savitri, the Divine\'s delegate presents the powers and personalities that are behind man\'s present infirmities—these broken images of true realities lying scattered about in the front of existence. Man will be made conscious, he is being made conscious step by step precisely by such relations from time to time. The Vedic image is that of the eternal\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<sup>1</sup> Bk. VII: Canto 4: P.590.<br>\n<sup>2</sup> Bk. VII: Canto 4: P.591.</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-116</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">succession of dawns whose beginning no one knows, nor the end, that creation proceeds from light to light, from consciousness to higher reaches of consciousness. From the material life through the vital and the mental life he first reaches the spiritual life and finally the Life Divine. From the animal he rises to manhood, and in the end to Godhood.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nBut there are intermediaries. The fullness of the realisation depends on the fullness of the incarnation. The Evil in the body, the Evil in the vital, the Evil in the mind are, whatever their virulence and intransigence, subsidiary agents, for they serve only a mightier Lord. The first original Sin is Death, the God of Denial, of nonexistence. That is the very source—<i>fons et origo</i>—the fount and origin of all the misfortune, the fate that terrestrial life involves. This demon, this anti-Divine has to be tracked and destroyed or dissolved into its original origin. This is the Nihil that negates the Divine—<i>Asat </i>that seeks to nullify <i>Sat </i>and that has created this world of ignorance and misery, that is to say, in its outward pragmatic form. So Savitri sees the one source and knows the remedy. Therefore she pursues death, pursues him to the end, that is, to the end of death. The luminous energy of the Supreme faces now its own shadow and blazes it up. The flaming Light corrodes into the substance of the darkness and makes of it her own transfigured substance. This then is the gift that Savitri brings to man, the Divine\'s own immortality, transfusing the mortality that reigns now upon earth.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-117</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">\nIn view of the necessity of the age, for the crucial, critical and, in a way, final consummation of Nature\'s evolutionary urge, the Divine Himself has to come down in the fullness of His divinity; for only then can the earth be radically changed and wholly transformed. In the beginning the Divine once came down, but by sacrificing Himself, being pulverised, scattered and lost in the infinitesimals of a universal, material, unconsciousness. Once again He has to come down, but this time in the supreme glory of His victorious Luminosity.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThis then is the occult, the symbolic sense of the Mother\'s gesture turning away from man with her gifts and retarning to the Divine Himself, and inviting Him as the chief guest of honour upon this earth. Or, in the Vedic image, He is to come as the flaming front and leader of the journeying sacrifice that is this universal existence.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-118</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-021_Savitri','','publish','closed','open','','021_savitri','','','2021-11-23 17:21:07','2021-11-23 17:21:07','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/021_savitri/',0,'post','',0),(1252,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:07','2021-11-23 17:21:07','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-028_The Mystery of the five Senses.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"5\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>VII\n</b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>THE MYSTERY OF THE FIVE SENSES </b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe senses are the doors opening out on the external world for the consciousness to act and range abroad. That is the usual outward movement which is generally so much condemned by spiritual seekers. The doors and windows of the senses, whatever they are, all openings should be closed, shut up, hermetically sealed. One should then return within away from them, if one is to come into contact with the true consciousness, the true reality. Even the Gita says, the conscious being is seated in tranquility within, closing all the nine gates of the city, himself doing nothing nor causing anything to be done.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nWell, that is one way of procedure in dealing with the senses. When you consider that the senses always pull you out, they always entice you to run after the sweet perishable goods of the world, invite you to the enjoyment of pleasure and pain, to all the dualities of a life of ignorance normally lived upon earth, then indeed the senses become terribly suspect. But this need not be so. The senses instead of being tempters leading you out into the ignorance may verily be inspirers calling you, guiding you inward. Instead of opening out on the world of maya they may open out on the world of light and truth.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nHow can that happen? The clue is given in one of the Upanishads. The Kena Upanishad says: This eye does not really see, there is an eye behind that sees, and so on\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-144</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">with the other senses. Even this mind does not know, there is a mind of the mind that knows. That is the crucial point. With the eye of the eye one must see, with the hearing of an inner ear one must hear, and one must know by the mind of the mind. Instead of opening these windows and doors outward they should be opened inward, turned round about as it were like the flare of a lighthouse. Then instead of being instruments of illusory knowledge or maya as now, they become instruments of real knowledge, receptacles or transmitters of the truth and reality behind and above.</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Indeed we say habitually, when speaking of spiritual realisation, that one <i>sees </i>the truth, one has to <i>see </i>the truth: to know the truth, to know the reality is taken to mean to see the truth, to see the reality, and what does this signify? It signifies what one sees is the light, the light that emanates from truth, the form that the Truth takes, the radiant substance that is the Truth. This then is the special character or gift of this organ, the organ of sight, the eye. One sees the physical light, of course, but one sees also the supraphysical light. It is, as the Upanishad says, the eye of the eye, the third eye in the language of the occultists. What we say about the eye may be equally said in respect of the other sense-organs. Take hearing, for example. By the ear we hear the noises of the world, its deafening cries and no doubt at times also some earthly music. But when the ear is turned inward, we listen to unearthly things. Indeed we know how stone-deaf Beethoven heard some of those harmonies of supreme beauty that are\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-145</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">now the cherished possessions of humanity. This inner ear is able to take you by a process of regression to the very source of all sound and utterance, from where springs the <i>an</i>&#257;<i>hata v</i>&#257;<i>k, </i>the <i>undictated </i>voice, the n&#257;da-brahman, the original sound-seed, the primary vibration. So the ear gives that hearing which reveals to you a special aspect of the Divine: the vibratory rhythm of the being, that matrix of all utterance, of all speech that mark the material expression of consciousness. Next we come to the third sense, that of smell. Well, the nose is not a despicable organ, in any way; it is as important as any other more aristocratic sense-organ, as the eye or the ear. It is the gate to the perfumed atmosphere of the reality. Even like a flower, as a lotus for example, the truth is colourful, beautiful, shapely, radiant to the eye; to the nostrils it is exhilarating perfume, it distils all around a divine scent that sanctifies, elevates the whole being. After the third sense we come to the fourth, the tongue. The mouth gives you the taste of the truth and you find that the Truth is sweetness, the delicious nectar of the gods: for the truth is also soma, the supreme <i>rasa, am</i>&#7771;<i>ta, </i>immortality itself. Here is Aswapathy\'s experience of the thing in <i>Savitri:</i>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nIn the nostrils quivered celestial fragrances,</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> On the tongue lingered the honey of Paradise.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nFinally we come to the sense of touch. It is the last. But in another way, it is the first and the foremost—psychologically and chronologically—it is the most primary\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-146</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">and primitive among the senses, as the eye comes last as the final stage in the course of the sensory evolution. The eye is the manifestation of a developed consciousness; perfectly developed eyes as in man represent a perfectly developed consciousness. But touch is the organ with which an organism starts its life-course. It is the only organ a living cell is given when it begins its forward journey. Plants are endowed with that organ and faculty and that only. It is the most generalised, the least specific, and the most sensitive of the organs. Touch gives a closer, more intimate, even more direct perception of the object, it is contact, it means identification, it means becoming and being. And it is through the touch, the sublimated and most intense physical contact, that you have the direct contact with the substance of the Supreme, his very body. For what is Sat up there is Annam here, both are the same identical thing in a dual aspect.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nContinuing farther, if we go beyond the five senses, we have still another sense, it is mind, the sixth sense as the orthodox Indian view states. In this field too the same law we have been expounding holds good. Mind here is the chief instrument of knowledge: it is in and through the mind that man has knowledge; it is in and through the mind that the other five senses distil their perceptions allowing a coordinated picture of the sense-experiences. Now, to attain, to realise, to possess the Truth means, first of all, to know the Truth: for, knowing as we know, is the function of the mind. It is said, however, that the mind knows only the outward form of things, its knowledge is\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-147</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">the knowledge of an outside world, elements of which are supplied by the senses. It is a Knowledge of or in Ignorance. The true knowledge,is not attained by the mind or through the mind. For the true knowledge, it is declared, the mind is to be expunged altogether or silenced at least. One must get away, one must withdraw from that play of activity and be far from it. True knowledge comes through revelations. It descends from above, it does not enter by a level side-door and it comes only when the mind is not there. But this also, as in the other cases, as in respect of the other senses, is an extreme view. Like the other senses the mind too can be turned inward or upward, made a receptive organ or instrument. When turned round, when it is the Mind of the mind, then there begins to appear the true knowledge. Then even this physical mind remains no more ignorant or obscure, it becomes trans-parept and luminous: it is able to bring its own gift, it can serve with its own contribution to the real knowledge; for it is the mind that gives a form and shape, a local habitation and a name to the higher truth, to the real light, to the true knowledge. It is the <i>sur</i>&#363;<i>pa </i>(beautiful and perfect form) chanted by the Vedic Rishis that the purified mind models for the Gods to inhabit—it is what the poets and prophets always aspire for in their creative consciousness.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nBut these separate senses with their separate qualities are not really separate. In the final account of things, the account held in the Supreme Consciousness, at the highest height, these diverse elements or movements are diverse\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-148</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">but not exclusive of one another. When they find themselves in the supreme consciousness, they do not, like the rivers of which the Upanishads speak, move and merge into the sea giving up their separate individual name and function. These senses do maintain their identity, each its own, even when they together are all of them part and parcel of the Supreme Universal Consciousness. Only, they become supple and malleable, they intertwine, mix together, even one doing another\'s work. Also, as things exist at present, modern knowledge has found out that a blind man can see, literally see, through some part of his body; the sense of hearing is capable of bringing to you the vision of colours. And the olfactory organ can reveal to you the taste of things. Indeed it has been found that not only at the sight of good food, but in contemplating an extraordinarily beautiful scenery or while listening to an exquisite piece of music, the mouth waters. It is curious to note that Indra, the Lord of the gods, the Vedic lord of the mind and the senses, is said to have transformed the pores of his skin into so many eyes, so that he could see all things around at once, globally: it is why he was called Sahasralochana or Sahasraksha, one with a thousand eyes. The truth is that all the different senses are only extensions of one unitary sensibility and the variation depends on a particular mode of stress on the generalised sensibility.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThis is what the Rishis meant when they named and represented even the senses as \ngods. The gods are many, each has his own attribute and function, but they form \none</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-149</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">indivisible unity.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe senses therefore are not merely externaliser but they are also <i>internalisers. </i>They are modes and movements That work separately and conjointly and present aspects of the Supreme Reality. These aspects are there in the very essence and the constitution of the One Truth, also they are projected outwards to manifest and embody those very elements in the material manifestation and incarnation of the Supreme Divine:</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nA magical accord quickened and attuned\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nTo ethereal symphonies the old earthy strings...\nit made\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe body\'s means the spirit\'s acolytes.\n<i>Savitri, </i>Book I: Canto 3: P.32</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-150</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-028_The Mystery of the five Senses','','publish','closed','open','','028_the-mystery-of-the-five-senses','','','2021-11-23 17:21:07','2021-11-23 17:21:07','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/028_the-mystery-of-the-five-senses/',0,'post','',0),(1253,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:08','2021-11-23 17:21:08','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-018_Miracles - Their True Significance.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"5\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">XVII\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>MIRACLES: THEIR TRUE SIGNIFICANCE\n</b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\"> Miracles are happenings where we \nsee the result only without the process that leads to the result. It is like a \nmathematical problem where the solution only is given and not the gradual steps \nleading to the solution. The steps may be shortened or altogether suppressed, in \nthe latter case it looks like a puzzle or a riddle or a paradox. We know of \nmathematical prodigies, we marvel at the capacity they show in performing \nformidable calculations for which an ordinary mind would need sheets of paper \nand considerable amount of time. But the prodigy can do it in the twinkling of \nan eye. He has a consciousness that can contain the whole process in a \nsimultaneous grasp or speed through it like a lightning flash. Therefore the \nwhole thing has the look of a miracle.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Usually, the name \'miracle\' is \ngiven to something that seems to us &quot;unnatural&quot;, that is to say, something that \ndoes not conform to the laws of nature or what we think to be the laws of \nnature. A man standing in the air without any support or squatting on the \nwater—feats familiar to the yogis—are termed veritable miracles. The famous rope \ntrick is a legendary miracle. Some of these miracles done by yogis are authentic \nfacts. They apparendy seem to violate the prevailing so-called laws of nature, \nbut if we knew the process, the mechanism behind the event\n<br>\n</p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-64</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">because it is not apparent to the \nexternal logical mind, if we had a slightly different perception, the whole \nglamour of a miracle would fall to the ground.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> A miracle is nothing but the \nintervention of a force from another plane of consciousness. It must be \nrecognised at the very outset that the physical plane of existence is not the \nonly reality, there are many other planes superimposed one upon another, each \nhaving its own special consciousness and power, its own laws of being and \naction. Obviously we all know apart from the material <i>or </i>physical being \nthere is the vital being, the life-force and there is the mental being, the \nmind-force. And there are many other levels like these. A miracle happens, that \nis to say, a material formation behaves in an abnormal way because a force has \ncome down from the vital region and has influenced or taken control of the \nmaterial object. So the material object instead of obeying the material law is \nobliged to obey a vital law which is of a much greater potency. Yogis who do \nmiracles possess this vital power, they have acquired it through a regular \ndiscipline and training. Spirit-calling, table-turning, even curing diseases and \nailments in a moment and many other activities of the kind are manifestations of \nvery elementary energies of life. From the occult point of view these are very \ncrude and rudimentary examples of what a different kind of force can achieve on \na different plane. Even the vital plane possesses deeper and higher energies \nwhose action on the materiel plane is of deeper and higher category. A deeper or \nhigher vital power can change radically your character and\n</p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-65</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">long-standing habits, help to \nmould them into a different, nobler and more beautiful pattern. The mind too is \ncapable of performing miracles, a strong mental energy can dictate its terms to \nlife and even to the body. Only the miracles here are not of a dazzling kind \nthat astound or confound you. They have a subder composition, yet they belong to \nthe same category. In the mind itself miracles happen also when a higher light, \na superior consciousness —intuition, inspiration, revelation—descends into the \nnormal mental working and creates there a thing that is abnormal in beauty and \ntruth and reality. Thus for example, a matter of fact mind is seen turned into a \nfine poet or a workaday hand is transmuted into a consummate artist (as Mother \nhas described).\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> A miracle can be said to be \ndoubly a miracle; first of all, because it means an intervention from another \nplane, a superior level of being, and secondly because the process or the action \nof the intervention is not deployed or staged out but is occult and telescoped, \nthe result being almost simultaneous with the pressure of the moving force.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The supreme miracle, the miracle \nof miracles happens when the Supreme, the Divine Himself descends and enters \ninto this lower formation and gradually lifts it up in. an incredibly unforeseen \nway to its divine image. \n<br>\n</p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-66</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-018_Miracles - Their True Significance','','publish','closed','open','','018_miracles-their-true-significance','','','2021-11-23 17:21:08','2021-11-23 17:21:08','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/018_miracles-their-true-significance/',0,'post','',0),(1254,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:08','2021-11-23 17:21:08','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-026_God^s Debt.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"5\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>V</b></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>GOD\'S DEBT </b>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">Here is a line from <i>Savitri:</i>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n&quot;And paying here God\'s debt to earth and man.&quot;\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nWhat is this debt that God owes to earth and man? We understand the debt that man and earth owe to God, their creator. But how is God indebted to his creation? Besides we learn that God pays his debt through his representative, his protagonist upon earth, the aspiring human being.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nFirst let us understand the mystery of God\'s debt toman. We know, in ordinary life a subordinate has a duty towards his superior, the lesser owes a debt to the greater. That is easily understood. Likewise the superior also has a duty to his subordinate, the greater has his duty to the smaller. The child owes a debt to his parents; no less is the debt that the parents owe to the child. The parent not only bring forth the child, but they have to bring him up, nourish, foster, educate and settle him in life. We know also, as the scriptures tell us, that there is a debt man owes to the gods. The paying of the debt is described in the institution of the sacrifice <i>(yaj</i>ñ<i>a). </i>It is through his sacrifice that man achieves what he has to achieve upon earth. It is the giving—of what one is and what one has —to the gods—the sacrifice mounts carrying the offering\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-137</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">to the gods. But the sacrifice is not a mere one-sided movement, the sacrifice brings from the gods gifts for the man— material prosperity and spiritual fulfilment. Man increases himself in this way, but thereby increases the gods also. The offering that man brings in his sacrifice—all his possessions—his earthly possessions, but chiefly his possessions of the inner world, the wealth of his spirit, the virtues of his consciousness—all go to the gods and increase them, that is to say, they become more manifest and more powerful upon earth and in earthly existence and in the service of man.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe sacrifice going up to the gods as offered by man means the sadhana, the inner discipline that he follows by which he lifts up his being with its mental and vital and physical formulations to their higher and higher potencies upon earth. The dedication of the normal powers and faculties to the gods means purification and release from the bondages of ignorance and egoism. This serves to make the gods living to us, bring them near to our terrestrial life, to our normal consciousness. This is what is meant by increasing the gods—man\'s duty or debt to the gods. In answer there is a corresponding gesture from the gods, with their immortalising reality they dwell in us and fill our being with their godlike qualities, their light, their energy, their delight, their very immortality. Man increases the gods and the gods increase man and by their mutual increasing they attain the supreme increment, the Divine status, so says the Gita.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nNow, we go beyond the gods, to the very origin, God\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-138</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">himself, the Supreme. What is the debt that God, the Supreme, the Divine, owes to us human beings? We owe to God everything, our life, our very existence, our soul and substance given to us by him, then how is he indebted to us? What kind of debt he has incurred which he has to pay to his creature, the human being. Primarily because he is the Divine Father, he has to take charge of his own creation, see to its growth and fruition and fulfilment. Indeed that is the role of the Divine in us (and above us and around us): that is his work, the Divine Work. Since he has put us out of his consciousness (for a special experience of growth and development), it is also his work (and duty) to bring us back to him: after a process of self-separation a process of self-integration. Man, so long as he is a separate consciousness has to dedicate, lift up and unify this separative conscious being to the whole being and consciousness. This is how he discharges his debt to the Divine, and the answering grace of the Divine is the clearing of the debt which He owes to His creatures.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nWhat has been said of man is equally applicable to earth. The destiny of man is the destiny of earth as also the destiny of earth is the destiny of man. For man is an earthly creature, is born out of earth and he grows with the growth of the earth; equally the earth grows with the growth of man.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nIn reality it is God\'s growth in man and earth that is reflected and embodied in the growth of man and earth. The debt spoken of is the debt of God himself to himself. In other words, it is a work, a mission that he has himself <i>10</i>\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-139</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">taken upon himself for his own mysterious delight of existence.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nEarth moves forward through man who is its flowering and man moves forward through his representative, the higher man, who reveals and embodies still greater potentialities of God\'s creation, having the privilege of being so conscious as to contact the gods and God Himself—-he is master of life-force <i>(a</i>&#347;<i>wapati); </i>he climbs to the summits and brings down upon earth the heavenly riches and the Divine Grace, which fulfils, transmuting all debits into credits.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-140</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-026_God\'s Debt','','publish','closed','open','','026_gods-debt','','','2021-11-23 17:21:08','2021-11-23 17:21:08','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/026_gods-debt/',0,'post','',0),(1255,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:08','2021-11-23 17:21:08','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-005_Transfiguration.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"5\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">IV\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>TRANSFIGURATION </b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\"> The Divine attributes—such as \nPeace and Joy, Consciousness and Power, Freedom, etc.—each and all of them are \nself-existent realities, existing by themselves in their fullness and \nperfection. They are not mere qualities that are acquired by effort through \ngradual culture and development, they are not acquired piecemeal as other human \npossessions, material or mental. They are there near us, about us in their \nfullness and wholeness. We do not see them or seize them as there happens to be \na veil in between. We need not strain and struggle, labour and sweat, go through \nall the pains of the world in order to find them, realise them. It is, as I say, \na veil interfering. Remove the veil or even shift it a little, you have a \nglimpse of them in their full glory.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Brahman, the supreme Reality, is \nsaid to be of the same nature and its relation to the world is also of the same \nkind. Brahman is not there because the world is there. Brahman is not realised \nthrough a long process of negating experiences; it is not the sum of all \nnegations, it is an immediate and absolute realisation. When the vision of the \nworld-maya is not there, Brahman stands self-revealed in its absoluteness, then \none realises that Brahman only exists, has existed and will exist; there is no \nmaya, it not only does not exist, it never existed. Brahman alone is\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-18</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">there always.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> That is what the Upanishad also \nsays. This experience cannot be acquired by mental knowledge and argumentation \nor study of books. Only when it reveals its own body then one stands before it \nface to face</p>\n<p class=\"para\">.\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> As of the Brahman, even so of the \nBrahman\'s qualities. They are various aspects, living aspects or personalities \nof the One Divine. The Vedas therefore consider them as Gods and Goddesses and \ngive each one a name and a form. They are adored and worshipped as such so that \nthey may enter into the worshipper and transmute him into something of His \nimage. The Gods bring riches to man. But these riches are they themselves. Vasu \nis the richness, of their substance, Ratna is the wealth of their delight.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Agni is the energy of \nconsciousness, Varuna is the vast-ness of consciousness, Mitra is the harmony. \nIla is the revelation, Saraswati inspiration, Bharati is the Goddess, of the \nDivine Word.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> In the mental world we meet \nabstractions, lifeless ideas, forms without a soul. In reality, however, all \nmovements in man, all forces in nature are more than mere movements and forces, \nthey are personalities, embodiments of conscious beings. Indeed the Puranic \ntradition has elaborated this conception almost to its extreme limit. Those \npeople crowded the world with an infinite number of Gods and Goddesses. They \nspeak of 33 crores of Gods. The earth is the playfield of all godlings.\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> In this way we come very far from \nthe Supreme Brahman,</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-19</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">the Mayavadin\'s inane Unity. The Puranic multiplicity is perhaps \na corrective of the Vedantin\'s empty Absolute.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The Vedantin\'s negation of the \nworld for the realisation of the Brahman, the Supreme Consciousness, is an \neffective way so far as it goes but it does not really negate the world. One \nonly turns one\'s back to the world and says, &quot;It is not there&quot;. We face the Sun \nand cast our shadow behind. The real solution is not to cut away or wipe off the \nshadow but instead of an obscure formulation, to make of it a luminous radiant \nimage. The world is not abolished or eclipsed by the Sun but is made luminous, \nin every particle a radiant and glorious body.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> This transfiguration is possible, \nnay, inevitable, because the higher realities, the truth-expressions of the \nSupreme Consciousness are there always self-existent in their total purity and \npressing down upon earth and displacing the lower mayic shadow-realities. We \nneed not seek to pull down what is already descending of itself. One must be \nopen and receptive and welcoming in tranquillity the descending Godheads.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-20</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-005_Transfiguration','','publish','closed','open','','005_transfiguration','','','2021-11-23 17:21:08','2021-11-23 17:21:08','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/005_transfiguration/',0,'post','',0),(1256,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:08','2021-11-23 17:21:08','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-034_The Golden Bridge.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"5\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>XIII\n</b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>THE GOLDEN BRIDGE </b>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe Truth, the Supreme Truth cannot be expressed here below, neither in words, nor in mental ideas: It is inexpressible, indeterminable—<i>anirvacyam, anirde</i>&#347;<i>yath. </i>For, it exists, it is found only where the creation ceases to <i>exist—prapa</i>ñ<i>copa</i>&#347;<i>am</i>&#257;<i>m.</i>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nIf it is asked how does then the world itself exist? has it not come out of the Truth? is it not an expression of the Divine? well, an easy answer is: Look at the world and see what kind of expression it is. Is it a divine creation? What truth is there? In truth, it is an expression of falsehood, it is all an error. So it has been declared by the great sages of the past that this is a false creation; it is an illusion, a delusion. Why is it so? How is it so? Go beyond it, into the Truth beyond, you will know. Being in the illusion, how can you perceive that it is an illusion, or why or how is it an illusion? This is one way of looking at the problem, we may say, a very categorical or radical way. But there are other possibilities, other lines of approach.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThis creation as an expression of the Divine Truth may not be altogether a falsehood. It is an inadequate expression, as it stands at present, as it has been till now; but it is a growing, a progressive expression. In other words, the instruments of expression, to start with, are not fully\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-176</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">developed, they have to be developed; they are being developed, through the evolutionary movement of Nature, in the course of advancing time. Indeed evolution in Nature means that and a great deal of that.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nTake for example, speech, which is a special organ of expression for man. Now, originally speech, that is to say, the vocabulary on man\'s tongue consisted of vocables related only to the familiar objects around him, in the ordinary day to day movement of life. The field was narrow and limited, level to the ground. Observe the language also, the written language.The original written language started with images, pictorial diagrams: there was no alphabet but things and movements were presented, that is represented, almost actually. Thus for man a figure of man was drawn, that is to say, straight lines sticking out representing hands and legs and a dot for the head; the sun was a circle and so on. As consciousness grew and as the mind developed and reason became active, the images, the figures and the symbols gradually changed into more and more abstract signs. At first there was the pictogram, then the ideogram, and then, at the end, came the alphabet. Evidently, it appears, language could not develop so quickly as the consciousness or the mind did, for we see even in the earlier epochs of human civilisation \nand culture, man could and did come in contact with the Truth and Realities \nbeyond his normal sense-bound consciousness. And the experiences the seers had \non those levels were of such a kind that whenever they sought to express them, \ncommunicate them to others in the outward\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-177</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">mind and speech, they had to take refuge in symbolism: they had to use the words of everyday life as signs and symbols pointing to other realities, other-worldly and unfamiliar. Thus, horse was to them life-force, cow the radiance of truth, the wind thought-energies, the sun consciousness or Truth, night as ignorance, light as knowledge, wine (<i>soma </i>\nmeans both wine and moon) as delight and ecstasy, the sky as infinity or \ntranscendence. And so on.</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nIndeed, that is the hiatus, the inadequacy that still cripples and stultifies the mind, the physical mind in its attempt to seize other realities beyond. It is the mind which gives the formal structure, the pattern of expression in the material frame. The mind being bound to the life of the ignorant and outgoing senses is constitutionally incapable of receiving or holding or expressing facts of the higher life, the life beyond—what we name as the spiritual or the divine. Not only so, the mind in trying to express the higher or supraterrestrial truths inevitably diminishes, dilutes, devalues, even negates and annuls them. The attempt through parables and allegories is the story of the difficulty—the impossibility of expressing through the mind truths beyond the mind. We land into the weird and confused worlds of myths and mythologies, —myths and mythologies for example about popular Radha and Krishna, and Kali or Shiva. We are compelled to reduce to our human measures, to accentuate our human failings in order to present graphically to us the inexpressible intensities or extensions of the high experiences\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-178</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">above. The Vaishnava lyrics or the songs of Solomon become to us high spiritual documents.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nMan started his life on earth as an animal and is still continuing to be so in a large measure: his mental equipment also was almost wholly conditioned by the necessities of such a situation: his language, his culture even built upon an outward view of things, upon the mode and manner of his physical reactions to impacts of the gross outward world, the brute objects of physical life.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe liberation of the mind, at least the higher mind, as an instrument of expression for the human consciousness was achieved to a remarkable degree in the Upanishads generally, particularly in some, although the beginnings of it might be traced even in some of the earliest of the Vedic Riks. A serious and persistent attempt for this liberation was made later, in the age or rather ages of the Gita, the Mahabharata, the Darshanas. It was the rational spirit that impelled and inspired the Buddhist consciousness and in Europe it had its heyday in the age of Socrates and Plato. Those were intellectual ages and the intellect was trying to find and explore its own domain in its full and free power and sovereignty. And the human language too, as a necessary corollary was remoulded, remodelled, rationalised: it shook itself away as far as possible from the prejudices and prepossessions of the sense-bound mind. That is the inner story of the growth of language from the synthetic inflexional cohesive stage to its modern analytic discursive character.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nStill, however, it is not easy to completely ignore or\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-179</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">efface the influence of a concrete truth, a fact which is at the basis of human birth—the truth and fact of the body, of the external material objects. For example, how to express That which does not belong to this world, has not the measures of this body? The Upanishad has perforce to speak negatively of the Supreme positive Reality. It has to say, &quot;It is not this, it is not this, it is quite other than all this, it has no parallel here below although it is the source and origin of all this.&quot; We have found some positive words indeed—<i>sat-cit-</i>&#257;<i>nanda; </i>but the other key-word is a negative in structure— <i>am</i>&#7771;<i>tam, </i>not death. Immortality means not mortality, and <i>ananta </i>too is a negative expression. We remember the famous lines: <i>&quot;Na tatra s</i>&#363;<i>rya bh</i>&#257;<i>ti </i>etc.&quot;, it is a supreme revelation, it is supremely evocative but it is built up of negatives. The Vedic rishis followed a different line, as I said; they did not evade or reject the materials of a physical life, they boldly grasped them and used them as signs, symbols, embodiments of other truths and realities. They accepted the sun, the moon, the stars, man and woman, even the normal activities of life but they gave these quite a different connotation. They filled them with a new depth and density, a higher specific gravity.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe instruments being inadequate, it was necessary <i>to </i>by-pass them and take to an indirect way for expressing realities that are beyond them. Neither the language nor the mental concepts were the vessels that could hold the divine drink. And sometimes the result was not very happy.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-180</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe movement of freeing the consciousness from the hold of sense-perceptions has continued and has attained an unprecedented success. Rational mind, in order to find its autonomy has abstracted itself so much from the data of life-experiences that it has become almost an esoteric domain. Mathematical logic of today has brought forth a language that has almost no kinship with either the popular or the aristocratic tongue. Modern science has so much sublimated the facts of life, the contents of experience, that it has become only a system of geometrical formulae.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe recoil from the brute facts of life, the concrete living realities has affected even the world of artistic creation. We are very much familiar with what has been called abstract art, that is to say, art denuded of all content. The supreme art today is this sketch of bare skeleton —even a skeleton, not in its organised form but merely dismembered bits strewn about. Even poetry, the art that is perhaps most bound to the sense-pattern, as no other, so indissolubly married to sense-life, seems to be giving way to the new impact and inspiration. A poetry devoid of all thought-content, pure of all sentiment and understandable imagery is being worked out in the laboratory, as it were, a new poetry made of a bizarre combination of tones and syllables with a changed form too in regard to arrangement of lines and phrases. It is the pure form that is aimed at—the very essence, it is said, what is quintessential!\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nIn other words, mind, that is to say, the rational mind\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-181</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">on which stands man\'s superiority has now been so developed, developed along a single line, has specialised itself so much that it has almost defeated its own purpose. Today it has entered a <i>cul-de-sac, </i>a blind alley where it has bogged itself and does not know where and how to move.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe recoil from the normal, the rich and lush physico-mental expression of human consciousness and experience has been so radical and complete that it has catapulted us into an opposite extreme of bareness and nudity, at the most into a world of pure signs and symbols of notches and blotches, the disjointed mimics and inarticulate groans of a deaf and dumb man. The process of abstraction has gone so far that it has now been reduced to an absurdity. It has its parallel in the movement that led man away from the world of Maya to the Transcendent featureless Brahman. In either case the reason is that the link that joins the two ends could not be found—a living truth that is of the Transcendent, yet denying not, but affirming in a new manner the mayic existence. That is because man till now sought to create from a level of consciousness, by a force of consciousness that is not adequate to the task; for it belongs still to the mental region, to this inferior hemisphere although at present it seems to be the acme and topmost hemisphere in the scale. It is not an extension or intensification of the mind and its capacities that will solve the problem: a radical change in the very nature of the mind, a reversal of the mental consciousness—a turning of it inside out\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-182</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">as it were, an opening out and up is needed to discover the true source of the Light. Therefore it has been said that man must transcend himself, find a new status in the other hemisphere. In fact there is a domain, a status of being and consciousness, a master-force which when revealed and made active will remould inevitably and spontaneously human creation and expression as a reality embodying the Highest. It is the world of Idea-Force which Sri Aurobindo has named Supermind: it is beyond the mind, even the highest mind: it is the typal concentration of the Supreme Consciousness. It is the fulcrum for the Supreme Consciousness to create and express a new formulation of the Truth in the world of matter. The mind, the highest mind, in its attempt to grasp the Supreme Reality is prone to reject, annul and efface the Cosmic Reality. The Supermind has no need to do that. It links the two ends in a supreme and miraculous synthesis negating neither, giving the full value to each, for the two are united, concentrated in its substance. Thus is found the golden bridge uniting earth and heaven.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe physical mind, with its satellite, the human speech, must indeed be rescued from the thraldom of the animal life, the life of the ordinary senses. They should be put under the regimen of the new consciousness, the status of the Idea-Force. The action of that consciousness will create its own norm and pattern adequate for expressing and embodying supra-sensuous realities. It will not have to depend upon allegories and parables, symbols and signs seized from ordinary life. What exactly this will be is.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-183</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">difficult to say at present. Evidently there is likely to be an intermediary creation—a passage leading from the sensuous to the supra-sensuous, the higher not totally rejecting the lower or primitive formula, the lower not altogether englobing and swallowing the higher.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe mantra of Savitri wields a language and expresses a physical mind that already shows how the alchemy will be done or is being done: the transmutation of the ordinary experience into a suprasensuous or the supra-sensuous embodying itself in the sensuous. The process is still in a state of transition, and as a sample of the process in action and a prefigure or fortaste of the achievement, may be recognisable in the famous sonnet of Sri Aurobindo which I quote here in full and conclude.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>The Golden Light </b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\">Thy golden Light came down into my brain\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nAnd the grey rooms of mind sun-touched became\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">A bright reply to Wisdom\'s occult plane, \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> A calm illumination and a flame.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">Thy golden Light came down into my throat, \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> And all my speech is now a tune divine,\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">A paean-song of thee my single note;\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nMy words are drunk with the Immortal\'s wine.\n<br>\n</p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-184</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">Thy golden Light came down into my heart\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nSmiting my life with Thy eternity; \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">Now has it grown a temple where Thou art \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">And all its passions point towards only Thee.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">Thy golden Light came down into my feet \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">My earth is now thy playfield and thy seat.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-185</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-034_The Golden Bridge','','publish','closed','open','','034_the-golden-bridge','','','2021-11-23 17:21:08','2021-11-23 17:21:08','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/034_the-golden-bridge/',0,'post','',0),(1257,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:08','2021-11-23 17:21:08','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-011_Education is Organisation.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"5\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>X\n</b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>EDUCATION IS ORGANISATION </b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\"> Education is organisation. Mind\'s \neducation means organisation of mental faculties. Organisation naturally \ninvolves development. The faculties in the normal and natural state are an \nundeveloped disorganised lot, a confused mass,—unformed, ill-formed ideas, \nnotions, thoughts, form a jumble. They have no purpose, no direction, no common \nimpulse or end, each runs in its own way. The mind\'s faculties such for example \nas attention, memory, discrirnination, reasoning, cogent thinking have to be \nclear and efficient and learn how to work harmoniously for a common objective. \nIn the process and for that purpose they have to be developed, that is to say \neach of them has to be strong, able, ample, concentrated. They have to present a \nunited front and function towards an ever-increasing consciousness and \nknowledge.\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> As for the mental faculties so \nfor the faculties of the vital. The normal vital being in man is in a greater \nand perhaps more dangerous chaos. The impulsions, emotions, upsurges that belong \nto this domain have not so much to be developed or increased as to be purified, \nmade conscious, yoked together in a common drive towards a harmonious dynamic \nrealisation in life and life\'s achievements. And lastly the organisation in the \nphysical body. The limbs of the body have not even growth, they do not move \ntogether\n</p>\n	<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-41</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">in a balanced and rhythmic way. \nSome are unhealthy, some do not work, some others are overworked. These too have \nto be co-ordinated, each set in its place and made to function in unison with \nothers. That is physical education and that too means perfect organisation.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> We have said that organisation \nmeans working for a common end and common purpose. That comes from an opening \ninto a deeper and higher level of being. We name it the soul. The soul\'s \npurpose, the soul\'s destiny has to be achieved and fulfilled. An organised and \neducated mind and life and body means to be the best and the most perfect \nvehicle for the expression upon earth of the soul\'s consciousness.\n<br>\n</p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-42</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-011_Education is Organisation','','publish','closed','open','','011_education-is-organisation','','','2021-11-23 17:21:08','2021-11-23 17:21:08','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/011_education-is-organisation/',0,'post','',0),(1258,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:08','2021-11-23 17:21:08','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-007_Beyond the Dualities.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"5\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">VI\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>BEYOND THE DUALITIES </b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\"> It is true that mind in its \nnatural state seeks the truth, seeks to know the fact, know what is what. But \nthe difficulty is, it has its own criterion of truth, it has a mould and \nwhatever does not fit into that mould is brushed aside or doubted as untruth. \nThe most simple and the most categorical of its canons is that a thing is always \nitself and cannot be anything else (it is the famous logical law of identity and \nlaw of contradiction). One is always one and cannot be two. So by extension the \nmind affirms if the reality is one it cannot be also many. I£ the Brahman is \nthere, the world cannot be, and if the world is there, Brahman cannot be. There \nbegins also the unending theological dispute that either God has a form or He is \nformless. He cannot be both at the same time.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> What the mind forgets or ignores \nis that the law of self-contradiction belongs exclusively to the finite. It does \nnot hold good in infinity. The Infinite is infinite because it has transcended \nthe laws and categories of the finite, even as Eternity has transcended the \ntemporal. In the transcendental consciousness the reality is single and multiple \nat the same time, simultaneously (although the conception of time is not there \nat all); also God is both with form and without form at the same time. The mind \nmay not be able to conceive it but the fact is that,\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-25</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">for one can rise above the mind and see and experience the \nreality.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> There are other dualities that \nare confusing to the mind. It is said two objects cannot occupy together the \nsame spot or position. One object must drive out another to occupy its position. \nObviously this is a truth belonging to the material world—for it is said matter \nis impenetrable. But this law, however valid in the material plane, becomes less \nand less applicable in regions subtler and less and less material. Two movements \nor two vibrations of consciousness may exist together without annihilating each \nother\'s identity, being a total identity.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> And there is a law, a law of \nscientific rational inquiry which they have posited and called the law of \nParsimony which means that a simpler solution to a problem is always to be \npreferred to a complex solution. But if it means that a simpler truth is more \ntrue than a complex one then we would be on a doubtful and even dangerous \nground. To find a simple truth one may be tempted to slice off truth, that is to \nsay, reject or ignore or shut one\'s eyes to some forms or aspects of the truth, \neven those that belong to its very essence. In fact the real world is not a very \nsimple thing, it is complex to its core. Contraries and even contradictories \nco-exist in the universe and they have to be equally accepted in an inevitably \ncomplex solution. Modern science is in such a delicate situation. How can the \nsame thing be a particle and a wave at the same time? How can a point be also a \nline at the same time? How to reconcile, assimilate, synthetise electric energy\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-26</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">and gravitational force which seem to be two distinct and \nincommensurable entities governing, between them, the universe in its ultimate \nanalysis? In other fields also, social and political, there are ideologies, \nforces that run contrary to each other but claim equal allegiance of mankind.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> There are no unitary solutions to \nthese problems; the unitary solutions are constructions of the mind that lead \nnowhere except in a merry-go-round. We have to rise out of the mind and go \nbeyond and realise that unity in plurality or plurality in unity is a \nself-evident fact, somewhere else than in the mind.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-27</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-007_Beyond the Dualities','','publish','closed','open','','007_beyond-the-dualities','','','2021-11-23 17:21:08','2021-11-23 17:21:08','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/007_beyond-the-dualities/',0,'post','',0),(1259,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:08','2021-11-23 17:21:08','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-032_The Moral and the Spiritual.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"5\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">XI\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>THE MORAL AND THE SPIRITUAL </b>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nIs there anything essentially wrong, evil in its very being and nature? Some religious traditions say, there is: Satan is such a thing, Ahriman is such a thing, and what else is <i>m</i>&#257;<i>y</i>&#257;<i> </i>or <i>m</i>&#257;<i>r</i>&#257;<i>?</i>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nHowever that may be, the sense of something essentially wrong is the fount and origin of the moral sense. The moral sense stems from and lives on the sense of sin and guilt.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe sense of sin is the fundamental inspiration behind some religious disciplines, even the sense of something irrevocably bad or something irreparable; for that gives a stronger impetus, a more dynamic urge to the spur of the religious consciousness. The sense of something irreparable, a final doom has before it the vision of an eternal hell, the Lord of hell and his hosts and his captives. Upon this basic picture of Hell has loomed out Dante\'s vision of Paradise.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe Indian consciousness did not consider anything essentially evil, anything irrevocably and eternally condemned to perdition. Even the Asura, the anti-Divine is viewed, in the last analysis of things, also as an aspect, a formation of the Divine himself. Diti and Aditi are sisters, twin aspects of the same Supreme Being. All the legends in narrating the life-history of the Asura describe his end</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-165</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">as a submission to the Divine Will and a merging in Him. An entire life of bitter hostility culminates in the same degree of love for the Divine. The process of enmity seems to have a deeper occult meaning conducive to the more perfect union with the Divine. We know in Savitri how Sri Aurobindo speaks of Death as only a mask of Immortality.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nIn fact, evil, as we usually know it, as human mind construes it, is only a misplacement of a thing, a thing not in its place—a thing need not be essentially wrong, it is wrong because it is not in its right place. Even things considered reprehensible by the moral sense are not so when they are viewed from another standpoint.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe moral consciousness seeks to rescue man from the animal consciousness. Its effort is to be delivered from the inferior vital instincts and rise to something higher, genuinely human. It does that or tries to do that by cultivating a feeling of repulsion, even of horror towards things that are sought to be rejected, cast out. The feeling of repulsion, of revulsion and horror is indispensable to the growth and maintenance of the moral feeling.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe Indian discipline, on the other hand, teaches that to rise to a higher state of consciousness one need not have, one must not have, any feeling of revulsion or hatred. There is no such thing as saintly hatred. One must be free from attachment to the movements of inferior nature, one must cultivate detachment from them, but not necessarily through hatred or horror. The spiritual discipline bases itself upon a sense of perfect equality.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-166</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">\n&quot;When you have hatred or horror for a thing it means you are on the same plane with it, your consciousness is level with the consciousness of the opposite feelings. You have to rise above the status of the lower nature and this can be done only by a calm detachment, a quiet withdrawal. One need not entertain repulsion or hatred for animal life in order to rise superior to it, one automatically rises superior to it when one links oneself to the higher status, when one is imbued with the superior consciousness. The animal consciousness is not a wrong consciousness in itself, it is a life of the animal; the human consciousness may regard it as such and may still discover a superior consciousness looking at the movements of the lower world dispassionately, indifferently, or even appreciatively, for a thing of beauty is there even in the animal life, for the Divine is everywhere.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe moral impulse is towards a self-exceeding but this self-exceeding, I have said, is to be done in perfect equanimity, in absolute detachment and indifference. To rise in consciousness, from the physical and animal to the divine, means, of course, abandoning the inferior, reaching the higher: but \'inferior\' does not mean something low, something be despised and reviled, but simply some-thing to be passed over, transcended. And the ideal would \nbe not only to surpass but to find out a secret parallelism between the two, discover the seed of the higher embedded even in the lower. In the Indian discipline including the school that advocates total rejection of the lower and enjoins simple detachment and separation, does not</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-167</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">approve of any feeling of contempt or disgust.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe states of being or consciousness from the animal, or down from Matter itself up to the Supreme—&#257;<i>brahma-stamba</i>—constitute what is called a hierarchy. Hierarchy means a structure rising upward tier upon tier, step by step: it is a scale, as it were, of increasing values, only the values are not moral, they indicate only a measure, a neutral measure respecting position or a kind of mass content. As in a building where brick is laid upon brick, or stone upon stone, the one laid above is not superior to the one laid below; the terms inferior and superior indicate only the simple position of the objects. Even the system of the four social orders in ancient India was originally such a hierarchy. The higher and lower orders did not carry any moral appreciation or depreciation. The four orders placed one above the other schematically denote only the respective social functions classified according to the nature of each, even as the human body represents such a hierarchy, rising from the feet at the bottom towards the head at the top. This is to say all objects and movements in nature are <i>right </i>when they are confined each to its own domain, following its own dharma of that domain. Thus one can be perfectly calm and at ease witnessing the catastrophies and cataclysms in nature, for one knows it is the dharma of material nature. Man terms them disasters for he judges them according to his own convenience. Even so, one should not be perturbed at the wild behaviour—man calls it wild—of wild animals. Likewise the gods in their sovereign tranquillity smile\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-168</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">at the crudeness and stupidities of human beings. One has to lift oneself up, withdraw and stand high above all that one wishes to surpass and look at it, with a benign godly smile.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe world is a gradation of developing consciousness, of growing states or status of being. There is a higher and lower level in point of the measure of consciousness but that involves no moral judgement: the moral judgement is man\'s; it is man\'s, one might almost say, idiosyncracy, that is to say, a notion that is a prop to help him mount the ladder. Though it might be necessary at a certain stage, in certain circumstances, it is not a universal or ineluctable law, not even in his personal domain. The growing consciousness is like the growing tree rising upward first into a trunk, then spreading out into branches, into twigs and tendrils, then in flowers and finally, in fruits. These are mounting grades of growth, but the growth above is not <i>superior </i>to the growth below. It is a one unified whole and each portion has its own absolute value, beauty and utility.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe modern mind has forgotten this lesson. It is terribly moral—I say moral, not immoral—its immorality has found play, has almost been cultured so that its moral <i>sense may </i>remain intact. Its dislike and even abhorrence for things it chooses to call immoral is the ransom it pays for rescuing its sense of morality, and paradoxically this very abhorrence for unholy things has pushed it all the more into their grasp. This is the characteristic turn or twist of the modern consciousness, the perversity unknown.</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-169</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">to the ancient \'sinners\'. Perversity means, you yield, not only yield, but take delight in the thing you dislike, detest or abhor even. In the vein of St. Augustine who said &quot;I believe because it is impossible,&quot; the modern consciousness says: I love because I hate.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nA strange fascination for the forbidden fruit has gripped the modern mentality and the most significant part of the thing is that the forbidding comes from within oneself, not from any authority outside—it is self-forbidden. We are reminded here of the Kantian moral absolute—the categorical imperative. This is a gospel based upon the Christian and Semitic tradition, polished by the Greek (that is, Socratic) touch, quickened and sharpened by the intellectual and social stress of European Culture. India admitted no such moral absolute or mental categorical imperative. The urge of her spiritual consciousness was always to go beyond, beyond the dualities, beyond the trinities (the three <i>gu</i>&#7751;<i>as)</i>—all mental or scriptural rules and regulations. For her there is only one absolute—the transcendent, the Supreme Divine himself—the Brahman, nothing else, <i>netaram.</i>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe Indian spiritual consciousness considers the secular distinction of good and evil as otiose: both are maya, there must neither be attachment to the Good, nor repulsion from Evil, the two, dwandwas, belong to the same category of relativity, that is, unreality.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nIndian artists and poets were steeped in that tradition, wholly inspired by that spirit. Orthodox morality often wonders, is even shocked at the frankness, the daring\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-170</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">non-chalance in Indian art creations,—a familiar prudery would call it shamelessness and even vulgarity, but to the Indian view, the Brahmin and the cow and the elephant\' are of equal value and merit. The movement conventional morality calls \'libidinous\' has a nobler name in Indian tradition: it is &#257;<i>dirasa, </i>the first or primary delight of existence. As I have said, the modern consciousness finds it a horror and is therefore all the more fascinated by it and dives into it head foremost.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nTo cure the modern malady we have to go back again to something of the ancient mentality. We have to cultivate a consciousness, now forgotten and alienated but once natural to the human mind, the consciousness and status of a transcendence built with the sense of absolute calm an equality, all serene and all englobing, that is God\'s consciousness.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-171</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-032_The Moral and the Spiritual','','publish','closed','open','','032_the-moral-and-the-spiritual','','','2021-11-23 17:21:08','2021-11-23 17:21:08','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/032_the-moral-and-the-spiritual/',0,'post','',0),(1260,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:08','2021-11-23 17:21:08','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-030_On Discipline.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"5\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>IX\n</b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>ON DISCIPLINE </b>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe Mother says: &quot;No big creation is possible without discipline&quot;. The true and original meaning of discipline is to be a disciple. And a disciple is one who learns, is ready to learn from a master. So the first requisite for a disciple or a learner is to obey. Obedience then is the beginning and the very basis of discipline. We know from ancient stories and legends how this discipline of obedience was exacted from a disciple or learner. For knowledge or learning was not considered at that time as a bundle of information to be acquired or collected by the pupil. It is not a mass of dead materials that is laid before the learner to possess and store; it is something living that the teacher passed from his consciousness into that of his pupil, and for the free passage of the knowledge from the master to the disciple a passive, receptive mentality and absolute obedience is an indispensable condition — a <i>sine qua non. </i>In the spiritual domain this was the procedure that was universally accepted and followed, although always in the name of individual freedom and free will protestant movements arose and flourished and traced their own way.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nBut obedience to person is in the last analysis a symbol —symbol of obedience to a principle. The person signifies and embdies a principle, a law to which we render our\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-157</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">obedience. In normal life it is these principles or laws that demand our obedience. These laws or rules are meant for the welfare of collective living and therefore individuals are expected to restrain or forego their personal impulses, their so-called liberties in order to live together in harmony. Discipline is meant exactly to control one\'s personal idiosyncracies, place them under the yoke of the common collective law. All laws or rules that make for a harmonious collective living, that is, social or national welfare, are limbs of discipline. By submitting himself to such a process of self-abnegation the individual gains in self-control and self-mastery. But there are rules and rules, laws and laws. For that depends on the ideal or the purpose set before oneself. If the purpose is narrow, limited, superficial, the rules are necessarily likewise, and although effective in a particular field, they have a restricting, even deadening effect on the consciousness of the individual. If discipline means obedience, the obedience must be to a larger and higher law, and the perfect discipline will come only from obedience to the highest law.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe heart of discipline then is the effort to surmount oneself. Instead of a lower self following the law of an inferior consciousness one is to rise to a higher level of consciousness and a greater law of being. Discipline thus is only another term for <i>tapasy</i>&#257;<i>, </i>replacing the lower law gradually by a higher and higher law.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nMother speaks of three lines of this higher law. First of all, the individual law which at its lowest and its most common form is the law of selfishness. It is the most elementary\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-158</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">and superficial degree of consciousness when the being is confined to its own little person, confined mostly to its hungers and desires, to its sense of possession and appropriation. The human being starts with this addiction to selfishness but he moves towards a gradual enlargement and rearrangement of this sense of personal value and importance. Therefore he is given a family, a nation, a grouping more or less large in which he can find other selves to meet and learn to live with harmoniously. A collective life whether in a nation or in the family or in any other group formation demands a control over the selfish impulses and egoistic urges. That is the discipline, that is to say, the necessity of submitting the law of one\'s ego-self to the law of collective selves, needed for the realisation of a collective ideal. When you play a game you have to obey the rule of the game and you have to dovetail your movements into the movements of your comrades, you cannot move as you please but must integrate your gestures with those of others. Even so as a member of a particular family or as a citizen of a particular country you have to rearrange your personal habits and movements in accordance with a more general and wider plan of living. The extent of this obedience depends upon the ideal that a particular collectivity pursues and the value of the obedience depends on the ideal thus pursued. And the largest collectivity is of course the human race, the humanity as a whole. The submission of the personal law to the law of humanity in general is also a discipline demanded of man but here too\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-159</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">the value of the submission depends upon the exact nature of the humanity to which one is asked to submit. For as I have said, there are degrees of consciousness and levels of being mounting higher and higher in an increasing value in respect of width and intensity and essential character. For along with the widening of the consciousness there must be a heightening of it, a horizontal movement of the being must be supported or accentuated by a vertical movement. Even the widest consciousness, a consciousness one with the universe, as wide as creation itself, can still have a core of ego-sense left behind, however attenuated it may be; the ego-sense can be abolished only by a transcendence even of the universal consciousness and rise into the supra-conscious. And this brings us to the other line of discipline, the supreme discipline which means obedience not merely, not even to the cosmic law but to the transcendent Divine Law. Here the individual is absolutely, utterly, free from his little self, the minor self-law, he is totally merged in the Divine, his being and living becomes the Divine\'s own law of existence.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nDiscipline then is the obedience of a learner to an ever-expanding and ever-ascending law of consciousness and being, until the law of the supreme status is realised which is the law of divine living: it is the utter submission or total obedience to the Divine Himself, when one is identified with the Divine in being and nature, where Law and Person are one and the same.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-160</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-030_On Discipline','','publish','closed','open','','030_on-discipline','','','2021-11-23 17:21:08','2021-11-23 17:21:08','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/030_on-discipline/',0,'post','',0),(1261,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:09','2021-11-23 17:21:09','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-008_The World is One.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"5\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>VII\n</b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>THE WORLD IS ONE </b>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">The world is one, in fact and in potentia.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> There is already a realised \nunity; that unity runs as the fundamental chord in and through differing and \ndiscordant notes. These different and discordant and even denying notes have to \nbe re-conditioned, blended, harmonised; that is the effective and patent unity \nthat lies in potentia and has to be brought forth in front. The world is one at \nbottom; it is to be made one up to the brim.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The material world is a factual \nunity. For it is one matter that exists everywhere; the same fundamental \nelements constitute, although in different degrees, the earth, the sun, the \nstars, the distant galaxies and the extra-galactic rays. It is in the last \nanalysis charges of electricity —infinitesimal and infinite charges of electric \nforce, points of energy that form the entire creation—pullulating particles that \nfill the universe; but they are not isolated, disconnected, disunited, they are \na continuum. This, continuum was called \'ether\' at one time, it is now called \n\'field\'. This material unity consists in the one extension that turns and swirls \ninto creases and eddies giving the impression of separativeness and disunity. \nThe task of the scientist is to know how to recondition the swirling dispersing \nexpanse so as to assimilarise, polarise the disparate elements. That is the \nmeaning of what the\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-28</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">scientists are now handling as the \'laser\' or \'maser\' beams<sup>l </sup>\nLikewise, the vital world is also one. It is one life that pulsates in and \nthrough all living formations—one sea as it were, swaying and heaving and \nbreaking into innumerable waves and ripples. In spite of infinite variations \nthere is one over-all pattern that persists through the living creation. Anatomy \nand more clearly physiology links in a strange way even the plant and the animal \nand man. And in humanity if there is a great vital upsurge somewhere, it spreads \nits vibration far and wide like a seismic motion. And it is because of this \nvital unity that there arises the phenomenon known as contagion or pest and \npestilence—that is to say, mass-movements are occasioned by one indivisible \nlife-urge. A common suffering or a common elation is normal to human life.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> This fundamental unity, here too, \nworks through discord and disunion, battle and conflict, denial and negation. \nHere too the drive or purpose of progress and of evolution is towards the same \npolarisation, that is to say, reorientation, evocation of vibrations that are a \npure or harmonious expression of the unity.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Coming next to Mind, the unity \nhere too, is quite marked, clearly discernible. There is only one Mind that \nrules the myriad mentalities of this world. Thoughts and\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> <sup>1</sup> \nLaser: Light amplifications due to the stimulated emission of Radiation. \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> Maser: \nMultiple amplifications, etc \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> The \nresult is that the light ray cuts diamonds, bores rocks, welds metals, and works \nas a surgeon\'s knife. \n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-29</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">ideas are not in reality personal creations, they are various \nformulations of the one universal Mind; they enter into and possess individual \nminds as receptacles, and no doubt in the process undergo particular \nmodifications in their general character. It is a very common experience to see \nthe same or very similar ideas and thoughts expressed by individuals (or groups) \nliving far from each other, having practically no mutual contact. We have known \nof &quot;independent discoveries&quot; of the same truth or fact and innumerable instances \nof this kind has history provided for us. It is not a freak of nature that we \nfind Socrates and Buddha and Confucious as contemporaries. Contemporaries also \nwere India\'s Akbar, England\'s Elizabeth and Italy\'s Leo X. Also the year 1905 \nhas been known as Annus Mirabilis, a year of seminal importance—the sowing of \nthe seed of a new earth-life—significant for the whole human race, for the East \nand for the West, particularly for India, for Japan, for Russia and even for \nEngland. And today\'s world has indeed become a world of compact unity in human \nachievement and also, alas, in human distress!\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Now if one goes to the very \nsource, the very root of the matter, the cardinal fact of unity is that of the \nsupreme Consciousness, the original oneness of the one Divine Existence. It is \nthe Ultimate One, inviolate, inviolable <i>—ekam sat. </i>\nThat unity is transferred or translated or imaged on all the levels and strands \nof creation. That is the basic reality that holds together all tiered \nmultipli­cities. True, there has been side by side a movement of</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-30</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">aberration, denial, disjunction in the multiple formulations and \ntranslations of the One. A re-union remains to be achieved conveying and \nembodying the basic unity.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The disturbing factor in the \nuniversal sway of unity is the sense of individualisation, the sense of ego. \nThat is the dark ray that cuts across the radiant harmony and produces the \napparent discordance and disunion with all its attendant and consequent evil and \nbale.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The sense of separated and \nisolated existence, the feeling of a closed system that one assumes in \nopposition to others is the Maya of which the Vedanta speaks. It is real so long \nas it is taken to be real. But it possesses no inherent or absolute reality. A \nre-orientation or a remodelling of the individual self is the way towards \nreestabhshiag in the forefront, the background unity. Egoism, as it happens to \nbe now, is the broken-up and scattered unity. Polarisation means precisely \nre-ordering and re-orienting the dispersal movement of ignorance and bringing \ninto a new purposeful existence the unity that already exists.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-31</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-008_The World is One','','publish','closed','open','','008_the-world-is-one','','','2021-11-23 17:21:09','2021-11-23 17:21:09','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/008_the-world-is-one/',0,'post','',0),(1262,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:09','2021-11-23 17:21:09','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-019_Short Notes.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"5\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>XVIII\n</b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>SHORT NOTES </b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>\n<a name=\"(i)_The_sense_of_Earthly_Evolution__\">(i) The sense of Earthly \nEvolution </a> </b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\"> Ignorance is usually equated with \ninnocence. A child is; ignorant, therefore he is innocent. Although it is said \nthat ignorance of law is no excuse. Spiritually however, ignorance does not mean \ninnocence. Ignorance or unconsciousness or inconscience—different degrees of the \nsame thing —that is to say lack of consciousness, mean, at bottom, falsehood. It \nis through the ignorance that Maya, the great illusion, was born. Ignorance is \nfalse apprehension, it begins with the sense of separation, &quot;I am other than the \nDivine.&quot; That is how Jiva is born in or through the ignorance. The world is \nseparate from the Divine. That is how Matter is born as or in inconscience. And \nthe creation appears as evil. This sense of separation is a falsehood for in \nreality nothing is separate from the supreme Consciousness, all is That.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> To regain the Truth-sense, to \nmove upward in the cycle of ignorance and falsehood towards this Truth-sense is \nthe world-labour and also human labour.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Even in the state of separation \nunder conditions of the inconscience and falsehood, in spite of all appearances \nthe Unity, the Truth-consciousness remains intact behind It is never effaced or \nobliterated. \n<br>\n</p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-67</p>\n<hr>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The sense of earthly evolution is \nthe gradual unfolding of the Divine, the Supreme Consciousness in and through \nthe gradations of consciousness from the inconscience through unconsciousness \nand consciousness to supra-consciousness—Matter wholly transmuted into Light.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>\n<a name=\"(2)_God_above_and_God_within__\">(2) God above and God within </a> </b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\"> God is not only above or beyond \nthe creation. He is also here within the creation. He is not only over our head \nlooking down upon us. He is within our heart inspiring us, enlightening us, \nloving us. This is the dynamic Divine, the Supreme Consciousness concealed \nwithin the apparent inconscience of the material existence. It is that which \npushes creation upward in its evolutionary course. It is that which lies behind \nman\'s ignorance purifying his obscurity leading him to a more and more luminous \nrevelation.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> In the Vedic image above shines \nSurya, here below burns Agni. Both are aspects of the same Truth.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>\n<a name=\"(3)_Emptying_and_Replenishment__\">(3) Emptying and Replenishment </a> </b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\"> The body is composed of cells, \nliving cells. These cells from the standpoint of consciousness are desire-cells, \nthat is to say particles of desire, concrete and consolidated packets of hunger \nand thirst. A string of such innumerable packets of hunger and thirst is \nlife—the Buddha said. The cells are to be emptied completely. Emptiness\n<br>\n</p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-68</p>\n<hr>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">of cells is Nirvana.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Not necessarily. For one may \nempty the cells of their obscure contents but replenish them with something of a \npurer order. This is a possibility we envisage and which we are working for. The \nDivine life empties the cells of desire hut fills it with the energy of solar \nLight.\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b><a name=\"(4)_Ego\">(4) Ego</a> </b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\"> To renounce is a greater delight \nthan to enjoy.\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> To give is a greater joy than to \ntake.\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> To love is a greater ravishment \nthan to be loved.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> In one it is the ego, man\'s \nself-centredness that limits, dilutes, and even perverts his happiness. In the \nother, it is precisely the egolessness that brings the pure felicity. For ego is \nhunger, hunger that is death, says the Upa-nishad.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> It is the ego, the personal shift \nthat cuts the Infinite, obscures the consciousness which otherwise in its \nnatural condition is always the supreme bliss and beatitude.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> It is the ego that turns reality \ninto unreality, light into darkness, immortality into death.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> And whatever the interim \nnecessity and utility of the ego, originally and also ultimately it has no space \nor standing. For originally and ultimately and absolutely, it is the Divine that \nexists in and through the Divine, moves in and through the Divine to the Divine.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> It is the Divine that knows the \nDivine through the Divine. \n<br>\n</p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-69</p>\n<hr>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> It is the Divine that dynamises \nthe Divine through the Divine.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> It is the Divine that enjoys, \nloves the Divine through the Divine.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The Vedic Rishis declared the \nsame truth, in their own language and imagery when they said &quot;The sacrifice is \nmade a sacrifice through the sacrifice&quot;.\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>\n<a name=\"(5)_Consciousness_and_Dimensions_of_View_\">(5) Consciousness and Dimensions \nof View </a> </b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\"> The material world is, as we all \nknow, three-dimensional; it has a length, a breadth and a depth. In fact every \nmaterial object is material because it has these three dimensions. That is what \nwe knew till now. But Einstein has added another dimension to complete the \npicture of material reality. He says, time is the fourth dimension. For along \nwith space, time also is to be taken into consideration for fixing or situating \na physical object. Not space alone with its three dimensions determines the \nphysical character of an object but time also has its share. A material object \nexists in space; it exists also in time. It occupies a portion of space and it \noccupies a portion of time. Indeed time, sometimes, becomes a more important \nfactor; for it brings about a change in the spatial dimension.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> But dimension, in reality, that \nis to say, the configuration it gives to an object is a function of \nconsciousness. The four-dimensional aspect of material reality is given or \nprojected by what we call the physical consciousness..\n</p>\n<p class=\"pageno\">Page-70</p>\n<hr>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Material time and material space \nare the two norms through which the physical consciousness deploys itself.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> But physical consciousness, the \nconsciousness that plays through the senses is only one form of it—the lowest, \nthe most material formation. For there is a ladder of consciousness and in it we \nrise rung by rung to other—what are known as higher formulations.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> As we rise we find that the \ndimensions increase in number. Our consciousness, our being becomes more and \nmore multiple. In the physical and material, our perception is limited to the \nfour dimensions because of two factors—one, things are spaced out that is to \nsay, they are separate and discrete from one another. We know the law of \nmaterial space that two things cannot occupy the same space. Secondly, things or \nevents are separated in time, that is to say, there is the law of succession. \nBut in the higher regions, higher or subtler regions, this separation due to \ntime and space loses much of its exclusive force. Things tend to coalesce, even \nto get identified with each other. The obstructions that time and space offer to \nintercommunication are minimised more and more as our consciousness or being \nsoars up or dives down into deeper and deeper and higher and higher regions. The \ndimensions increase in number; that means we begin to apprehend things from many \nangles and sides at the same time, we have more and more a simultaneous view of \nthe total or global reality of an object. So instead of a fourfold view of \nthings we may have a fivefold, sixfold, tenfold, hundredfold view of things \ndepending on our status of\n</p>\n<p class=\"pageno\">Page-71</p>\n<hr>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">consciousness. In the highest \nstatus,—we call it Sachchid-ananda, the infinite and eternal \nconsciousness—things attain infinite dimensions, all merged in the Ultimate\'s \nunitary consciousness.\n</p>\n<p class=\"pageno\">Page-72</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-019_Short Notes','','publish','closed','open','','019_short-notes','','','2021-11-23 17:21:09','2021-11-23 17:21:09','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/019_short-notes/',0,'post','',0),(1263,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:09','2021-11-23 17:21:09','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-014_Go through.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"5\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">XIII\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>GO THROUGH </b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\"> It is said one must be free from \nhuman love if one is to enjoy Divine Love. But to be free is usually taken to \nmean to reject, to reject naturally by force, that is to say, to coerce, to \nrepress and suppress. &quot;But who can coerce a force of Nature?&quot; the Gita asks. \nIndeed a force of Nature like human passion cannot be dominated or obliterated \nby force; it is sure to come back with a redoubled vigour. Nor can such an \nelemental feeling be overlooked, side-tracked or by-passed. This way also the \nelement is sure to come back and catch you from behind.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The best way to tackle the thing \nis, as the Mother says, to go through it. To go through means to stand and face \nit and not run away from it. To go through does not mean, however, to satisfy or \nto indulge the urge—that makes you a slave of it more and more; you get all the \nmore entangled and can never hope to be free. You stand and face in order to \nseize the truth, the reality of the thing you have to deal with. You have to \npurify it and clean it in order to remove the dust that covers the gold. If it \nis human love, to purify means to free it from selfishness, from egoistic \ndesire, the sense of possession. Instead, you love simply for the joy of loving \nwithout any expectation or demand of return. You find in the end that this way\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-49</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\"> of loving brings to you a greater \ndelight, a new thrill and poignancy, proper to a pure feeling.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Indeed not only love but all \nhuman impulses and urges are to be dealt with in the same way. The Gita \nfurnishes a beautiful and crucial example. The Gita teaches man to go through \nthe field of activity and not to reject or avoid it. The whole of the Gita is an \nideal lesson in the technique of going through. The Gita says, do not renounce \nwork but dedicate it—not <i>karmaty</i>&#257;<i>ga. </i>\nWhat does this dedication mean? The first step in the pro­cess of dedication is desirelessness—to do work without desire. It is usually thought that desire is the source and origin of work. If you have no desire, you have no need or impulse to work. But this is a very superficial view of things. The impulse for work springs from elsewhere, from a deeper and impersonal source. The true spirit in which you should work is, as the Gita enjoins, to do a work because it is a thing to be done, not because you desire it. So naturally you do not hanker for the fruit of your action. First then, no attachment to the action itself, then no attachment to the fruit that it brings. This can be done only when you are unselfish. Not only unselfish­ness but you have to go a step farther, to selflessness. So then there are these three stages in the process of dedica­tion or purification. First to work without desire, with­out attachment to the result of the work. Then you will be able to see that you are an instrument only, the work is being done through you. At the beginning you are a desireless, unselfish doer of works, next you see yourself<br></p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-50</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">as a detached witness of your \naction and finally you see that the action happening in you is Nature working in \nyou, Nature the instrument of the Divine. Finally yourself is no longer there, \nit is the Divine alone that is and acts.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> What has been said of works is \ntrue of all activities in man, his thoughts, feelings, impulses, physical acts. \nIt is the process of going through and meeting the reality beyond, which hides, \nencloses itself with all its envelopes or coverings which you pass through.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> In fact it is to the Divine that \nthe dedication has to be made. Dedication means offering. All works, says the \nGita, have to be offered to the Supreme, that is the meaning of sacrifice, the \nsacrifice of works (Karmayajna), all works come from the Divine and they are to \ngo back to Him, that is how they are purified and through them thus purified and \nelevated, man attains his goal, union with the Supreme. However, not works alone \nbut each and every element of the human being —even love and passion and all the \ngrosser urges—do come from the only one Source, the Divine. They become impure \nand distorted, muddy and poisonous when man seeks to appropriate, that is to \nsay, misappropriate them as his own personal belongings. To give up the sense of \nownership is the core of dedication. You are not the possessor, the Divine is \nthe only possessor. In fact, you also do not belong to yourself, you belong to \nthe Divine. That is the ceremony of sacrifice you have to undertake— install the \nDivinity in all your parts and functions. That \n<br>\n</p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-51</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">is how you purify and divinise \nyour human elements. That is how you go through ignorance and mortality and \narrive at knowledge and immortality. \n<br>\n</p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-52</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-014_Go through','','publish','closed','open','','014_go-through','','','2021-11-23 17:21:09','2021-11-23 17:21:09','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/014_go-through/',0,'post','',0),(1264,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:09','2021-11-23 17:21:09','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-016_The Evolution of Language.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"5\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>Section Four </b>\n</p>\n<br><hr></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>XV\n</b>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>THE EVOLUTION OF LANGUAGE </b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\"> Human language was born out of \nthe necessity of intercommunication among human beings living together. The \nnecessity naturally related to the physical life and its demands and \nrequirements. Man being a mental being sought intercommunication through his \nmind. So mind yoked to the physical demands gave the first form and pattern to \nhuman speech.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Language in the beginning must \nhave been an echo or a graphic expression of man\'s sense-bound mind. But as the \nmind developed, became more and more rational and intellectual, language also \ntended to become more and more abstract and intellectualised. Even so at its \nbest, language could be the vehicle and embodiment of man\'s mental and \nintellectual world.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> But man moves on, his mind opens \non new horizons, his consciousness is not tethered to sense-experiences nor even \nlimited to the region of thought and ideation built or grown in accordance with \nthe mode and schema of sense-experiences.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Man began to possess, to acquire \nintuitions and inspirations, that is to say, movements of consciousness that lie \nbeyond the frame given by the sense-mind. These new perceptions could naturally \nbe expressed with difficulty through what one may call the earth-nurtured or \nearthbound\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<br>\n</p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-59</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">language. The aerial \nluminous character of the mystic consciousness is always said to be beyond \nspeech, beyond even mental formulation.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> And yet poets, mystic poets have \nalways sought to express themselves, to express something of their experience \nand illumination through the word, the human tongue. It is extremely interesting \nto see how a material, constructed or formed to satisfy the requirements of an \nordinary physical life is being turned into an instrument for luminous and \neffective communication and expression of other truths and realities in the \nhands of these seer-creators <i>(kavi-kratu</i>&#7717;<i>). </i>\nThey take the materials from ordinary normal life, familiar objects and happenings but use them as images and allegories putting into them a new sense and a new light. Also they give a new, unfamiliar turn to their utterance, a new syntax, sometimes uncommon construction and novel vocabulary to the language itself so that it has even the appearance of something very irre­gular and twisted and obscure. Indeed obscurity itself in the expression, in the form of the language has often been taken as the very sign of the higher and hidden experience and mumination.</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The Vedic rishis speak of the \ndifferent levels of speech —the human language is only one form of speech, its \nlowest, in fact the crudest formulation. There are other forms of speech that \nare subtler and subtler as one rises in the scale of consciousness. The highest \nformulation of language, the supreme Word—<i>v</i>&#257;<i>k</i>\n—is \'OM\'—<i>n</i>&#257;<i>da —</i>&#347;<i>abda-brahma<b>. \n</b> </i>That is the supreme speech-vibration.</p>\n<p class=\"pageno\">Page-60</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">the rhythmic articulation of the \nSupreme Consciousness Sachchidananda; the expression there is nearest to \nsilence, almost merges into silence.</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Our human language cannot expect \nto attain that supreme height of felicity of expression but wherever something \nof the vibration has been communicated to it by the magic hand of the creative \npoet, we have the \'mantra\', the supreme, the mantric poetry.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-61</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-016_The Evolution of Language','','publish','closed','open','','016_the-evolution-of-language','','','2021-11-23 17:21:09','2021-11-23 17:21:09','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/016_the-evolution-of-language/',0,'post','',0),(1265,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:09','2021-11-23 17:21:09','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-022_How to Read Sri Aurobindo.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"5\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">Series Two\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<br>\n<hr>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">I</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>HOW TO READ SRI AUROBINDO AND THE MOTHER\n</b>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nWhy do we read the works of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother? And if we read them, how to read them?\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nDo we read for the sake of study? to know things? to acquire knowledge? That is a secondary aspect, a profit gained by the way. The real purpose of coming in contact with the words of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo is to become conscious, to acquire consciousness, to be more and more conscious, increase more and more the consciousness. To understand, that is to say, to seize by the mind, to grasp intellectually the writings of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo \nis rather difficult. The easier, the more right way would be to enter into the \natmosphere of the world that they have created with their words, to feel the \nvibration that the words emanate. For the words that they have uttered are not \nmere words taken or found in the dictionaries, they are not mere sounds, dead \nsyllables, they are living entities, symbols of consciousness, the consciousness \nof which I have just spoken. These symbols, being symbols of consciousness are \nluminous, they shed light all along, they are full of power and extend power all \nalong, they have life and they are full of delight. It is this inner world that \nis behind the outer world of words that one has. to be in touch with, be aware \nof, in the first instance, before</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-121</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">one can have a mental understanding; in other words you must cultivate the right attitude, a turn of your consciousness in tune with the consciousness that has worked out the words of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo. You have to take a plunge, as it were, dip into the waters, and be soaked in the caress of that element, to come in the living touch of the substance of words, go behind the meaning, if necessary, avoiding it even. You must contact the living sap, the <i>rasa, </i>that has poured itself out in the creation. If you have tasted of that, then—it has its own light—that will suffuse you automatically with its radiance; the delight of bathing in the living spring will formulate itself in rhythms of knowledge and true understanding.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nAt least such should be the basis of approach to the works of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo. You may have possessed a rich intellectual apparatus, you may have all the information that sciences and philosophies have gathered, you may have perused the whole story of the evolution of human knowledge up to the present time, all these are lesser lights, they do not illuminate the light before which you stand. That light is shown and recognised by its own reflection or emanation in you, the little light that is in you, your soul.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nIndeed, there have been instances where great intellectuals, famed savants found themselves bewildered before the simplest magic phrases of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo. On the other hand, simpler minds with no burden of learning, nor pride of pedantry, with their pure streak of light in the depth of their consciousness were\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-122</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">able to seize and unveil the secret sense.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nYour mental understanding, your intellectual apprehension may or will add to the joy of your discovery; one that is perhaps at the end or subsequently, when your brain, your physical treason has been washed by the flow of the inner light, when it has been made pure and plastic and docile.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nIn another way, to understand the Truth—the Truth that the words of the Mother or Sri Aurobindo express— you must start by living it, approaching it not merely through your mind, in fact not even through your heart, <i>but </i>possessing it in the very body. The Mother says Teal \n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-123</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-022_How to Read Sri Aurobindo','','publish','closed','open','','022_how-to-read-sri-aurobindo','','','2021-11-23 17:21:09','2021-11-23 17:21:09','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/022_how-to-read-sri-aurobindo/',0,'post','',0),(1266,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:09','2021-11-23 17:21:09','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-024_Consciousness.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"5\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>III</b></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>CONSCIOUSNESS\n</b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nI spoke of consciousness and dimensions of consciousness. What then is consciousness itself? Well, we may begin by knowing what it is not, what is not consciousness. Not consciousness means the absence of consciousness, otherwise unconsciousness. You are conscious, conscious of things when you are aware, aware of their presence; when you are not aware, when you do not perceive, you are unconscious, you do not have consciousness. It is the difference between being asleep and being awake. When you are asleep things are lost, you become unconscious of them; when you are awake, things reappear and you are conscious of them. The difference is analogous to the difference of night and day. Night in its darkness swallows up things, annihilates them as it were, it is unconsciousness. The day dawning brings for the things and gives their normal concrete form, tangible reality. It is consciousness. So we may say consciousness is light, and unconsciousness darkness. Consciousness is creation— unconsciousness annihilation.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nBut consciousness has two modes or status. First of all, when consciousness is the consciousness of things, when one is conscious of the existence of objects, this mode may be called objective consciousness, but consciousness may exist in itself without reference to any\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-128</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">object of consciousness; the light is there, there is no object to illumine, it is self-luminous. This is consciousness in its essence, its own reality.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThis essential consciousness is an unchanging reality existing everywhere in the universe but it expresses itself in different modes and apparent forms, its essential quality does not change but acquires a different colour and vibration in accordance with its degree and level of expression. For example, the body has a consciousness, life-force has a consciousness, mind has a consciousness, and the levels above the mind, each has a consciousness. All these types or modes or, as I have said, dimensions of consciousness are essentially the same consciousness. The vessels are different, their shape and colour differ but they all hold as it were the same transparent, clear water. We all know the different movements of light, seen and unseen; but however much they differ in their vibration, all have the same speed of light. And it is always the same composition, as scientists have taught us a light particle is a fusion of an electron and a positron; even so consciousness is also an invariable entity.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nMother said of love the same thing as I have been saying of consciousness. She says, there is only one love, the divine love and none other. There are various expressions of that love according to the conditions in which it manifests, to the degree or status of being but every where it is the same divine love behind in essence. Because of inadequate expression it becomes blurred or faint and muddy but the living fire is there below the ashes. You have simply</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-129</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">to shake off the outer coating to allow the inner reality to shine forth in its own nature.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nLove in the mind, love in the heart, love in the vital, love in the physical, love human and animal are not negations of the Divine love, it is not that you have to reject, cut off these so-called inferior formulations of love, these do not necessarily deny or reject the Divine love in their heart of hearts; even there in their true reality, glows the pure Divine love. To reach the Divine love, to enjoy its divine &#257;<i>nanda, </i>it is not necessary to make a bonfire of these earthly goods and go beyond into the transcendent. Even here in this earthly mould the Divine love in its full purity can be established for it is already there behind and needs only earnest evocation.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nConsciousness essentially is always and everywhere the same. Its own quality is unvarying but in its expression there is growth and development, an increase in intensity and amplitude. The light that your candle gives and the light that comes from the sun are not different in quality but they differ in expression or manifestation, because of the receptacle, the seat or abode of the light. The Vedic fire was lighted on a sacred altar, that is the seat for the God from where to manifest himself. There was a regular ceremony for the preparation of the seat (Barhi) and the value and the success of the sacrifice depended largely on a proper preparation of the seat. The seat, the basic status also indicates that there is an ascending movement of the sacrifice. The sacrifice symbolises \nconsciousness and radiant energy, mounting and travelling upward and forward;</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-130</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">the progress or ascent of consciousness means bringing out its inherent potential strength that is behind and within and placing it in front as power of expression. As I have said, if consciousness in matter is like a light of single candle power, on the level of life it becomes a light of multiple candle power and in the mind this multiple power is again multiplied. In this way the consciousness finally attains its solar incandescence on the highest height of the being.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nWhen we speak of the dimensions of consciousness, it means these different levels or status of ascending, expression. They also form according to the mode of expression each one a world of its own. We may compare the mounting consciousness to a growing tree, it is the same sap-substance that appears at the outset as a seed, then as the seed opens out and develops it appears or throws up a stem or trunk and as it proceeds it throws up branches and higher up leaves and then flowers and fruit. Apparently however different and diverse these formulations, they are but expressions of the same sap-substance in the original seed. Even so an original seed-consciousness is the basis and essential reality of all the forms in the material universe.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nIt must now be apparent that consciousness is not. merely consciousness, simple awareness, it is also power or energy. The Vedic word is <i>cit-tapas, </i>consciousness-energy. It is one indivisible entity: consciousness is energy. It is not however in the sense as when we say knowledge is power. It does not mean that consciousness.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-131</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\"><i>has </i>power or gives power, but conscousness <i>is </i>power. The nearer analogy would be with light-energy. Light, we know today, thanks to modern science, does not merely illumine, it energises, activises, moves things, that is to say, matter and material objects. The ray of light, we know now, acts even more effectively than the surgeon\'s knife. The inherent quality of light is energy. This energy has been discovered to be electro-magnetic energy, a photon (unit-light or light-unit) is, as we have said, an electro-magnetic quantum. In the same way consciousness is also a vibration of energy. It is the self-impulsion of consciousness. This impulsion need not always go out, cast or spread itself abroad in outward expressions and activities, it may be a stilled self-contained impulsion. It is awareness pregnant with power. Consciousness is luminosity, consciousness is energy, consciousness is also delight. It may be said the very soul of consciousness is a happiness, a gladness absolute and inviolate, the delight which is love in its supreme mode.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nIndeed, in the final account, we come back to the supreme <i>mantra </i>formulating the mystery of ultimate reality, given by the ancients that we all know and repeat so often <i>—saccid</i>&#257;<i>nanda.</i>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nSuch then is the ultimate Truth or Reality: there is the Being or pure Existence with its norms or modes or functions or self-formulations as Consciousness-Force and as Delight. This triune entity is absolutely one and the same. &quot;What exists, declares the Vedic Rishi, is one; it is called variously as Light and Infinity and Harmony and Delight.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-132</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-024_Consciousness','','publish','closed','open','','024_consciousness','','','2021-11-23 17:21:09','2021-11-23 17:21:09','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/024_consciousness/',0,'post','',0),(1267,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:09','2021-11-23 17:21:09','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-002_Cycles of Creation.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"5\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b><i>Series One </i></b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>Section One </b>\n</p>\n<hr></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">I\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>CYCLES OF CREATION</b></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\"> The present cycle of creation has \nfor its goal the advent of the Supermind, the coming of a supramental race of \nbeings.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The world, it seems, moves in \ncycles. There are periods of creation with a hiatus or a gap in between of \ndissolution. Present day science too speaks of the universe proceeding in \npulsations, that is to say, alternate expansion and contraction. Indian \nmythology speaks of alternate \'Pralaya\' and \'Srishti\'. The Indian system speaks \nalso of \'Maha-pralaya\', utter dissolution or \'Yoga-nidra\' of the Supreme. In \nother words, there are periods when the universe retires altogether into its \norigin and when it comes out it manifests itself in an entirely new way. In a \ngiven creation between two major dissolutions, \'Maha-pralaya\', that is to say, \nin a major cycle, there are minor cycles (epicycles) marked by minor \ndissolutions, \'Khandapralaya\'.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The present major cycle aims, as \nI have said, at the manifestation of the Supermind and the installation of the \nsupramental race. The cycle started, one does not know when, billions of years \nago perhaps, but the principle of the creation seems to be clear enough. It has \nmatter for its base, earth as its centre and man as its dynamic agent. For all \nwe know there may be, there are other principles-and modalities of creation. One \nmay well conceive of air,\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-3</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">for example, as the basis of creation and some other heavenly \nbody, an airy globe in a far-off galaxy, for example, being the basis of \ncreation and an airy creature as the vehicle for the play based upon that \nprinciple. Even fire may be the basic principle of another creation and \nsalamander-like beings its natural inhabitants. There may be quite other \nprinciples or modes of creation conceivable or inconceivable by the human mind. \nHowever, we speak now of the present terrestrial creation of which we human \nbeings are representative participants.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The present cycle, the great \ncycle that is to say, has, as I have said, for its ultimate motive and purpose \nthe advent and reign of the Supermind. But this proceeds through stages, each \nstage forming a minor or lesser cycle. The stages of these cycles are the \ndifferent degrees of what is called evolution. The evolution starts upon the \nbasis of an apparently simple substance and goes on unfolding gradually an \ninherent complexity. As we know, the different cycles of evolution in the past \nwere at the outset a purely material universe of inorganic elements, then came \nthe cycle of organic combinations, then the manifestation of life and next the \nmind and at present the mind at its peak capacity, which means the advent of the \nstrange creature that has a miraculous destiny to accomplish. And that is to \nbring forth out of him the achievement and fulfilment of the next cycle. For the \nmind is there to bring forth, to usher in the Supermind and man is there as the \nlaboratory and the vanguard as well of the Supermind.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-4</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\"> At the present time the human \nconsciousness in general has been so prepared and its dwelling and playfield the \nearth-consciousness made ready to such a degree that it has been possible for \nthe still secreted higher perfection to enter into the arena. The evolution, the \ngrowth has been a gradual expression and revelation of the light, the \nconsciousness in a higher and higher degree of purity and potency through an \nencasement hard and resistant at first but gradually yielding to the impact of \nthe higher status and even transforming itself so as to become its instrument \nand embodiment. We speak of the present situation, we are concerned with man and \nwhat he is to grow into or bring out of himself. Here also there seem to be \nstages or cycles of creation leading to the final achievement. The whole burden \nof the present endeavour is how to transcend, transform or modify the animalhood \nwhich is the basis of humanity even now and in and through which man is growing \nand seeking to manifest and incarnate his superior potencies. Man\'s supramental \ndestiny means that he totally outgrows the animal, outgrows even his manhood in \nso far as it is merely human; for he has to incorporate the principle of the \nsupramental which wholly transcends the mental.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The first step in this momentous \nmovement has been taken, the first act achieved, for the supramental is now here \nestablished in the earth\'s atmosphere and is already percolating into general \nhuman consciousness. It is no longer a far-off object residing away in its own \nhome, its higher transcendent status, but a concrete reality as\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-5</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">something like earth\'s own. It is at work in this material \nenvelope, this animal encasing of humanity and is vigorously transforming, \ndemolishing and building, preparing the new structure.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The embodiment of the supramental, \nthe supramental consciousness in its supramental body is indeed even now rather \na far-off event. But the beginning of a supramen-talised humanity, a section of \nit as the spearhead is quite a possibility in a comparatively near future. A \nrace of elite in whom the grosser elements of humanhood, its physical animality \nand mentality have been purified of their dross, refined into something of the \npure luminous reflection of the higher consciousness—that is the immediate end \nfor which the new force seems to be labouring. And the consequence too of this \nachievement is expected to be also very considerable. The whole human race or \neven a majority of it is not likely to be transfigured into the élite, the race \nof the pioneers just referred to. The advent or the preparation of such a body \nwill in its turn naturally influence the rest of mankind and act so effectively \nand largely that the human race in general will put on a different aspect, the \naspect of a humanity not of the Kaliyuga but of the Satyayuga. That is what the \ngeneral human mind has been aspiring for and calling &quot;Ramarajya&quot;. A humanity \nwith a radiant mind, a purified, generous, un-egoistic, yet creative vital and a \nphysical consciousness enjoying, revealing, building forms of true beauty seems \nto be a nearer and intermediary probability—and animal-born humanity retaining \nits normal animal structure, still\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-6</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">out-growing its grosser movements and instincts, controlling and \nguiding, modifying and utilising them to higher purposes (Pashupati) may well be \na happy stage towards the final appearance of the supramental race wholly \ntranscending the frame of animality, born and existing in the purely supramental \nway.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> A supramentalised material \nuniverse or rather physical earth may itself put on a different, a radiant \nappearance and also the beings and creatures of the other levels of life and \nphysical existence may also undergo a sea-change, but of that nothing need be or \ncan be previewed at present.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-7</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-002_Cycles of Creation','','publish','closed','open','','002_cycles-of-creation','','','2021-11-23 17:21:09','2021-11-23 17:21:09','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/002_cycles-of-creation/',0,'post','',0),(1268,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:09','2021-11-23 17:21:09','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-006_Mind and the Mental World.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"5\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">V\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>MIND AND THE MENTAL WORLD </b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\"> The world of the mind is a vast \nfield, even vaster it seems than the physical world. The physical world extends, \nscience tells us, to minions of light-years. We may say practically, it is an \ninfinite extension and mind is a thing which surrounds, envelops this \nmeasureless extension. Mind surpasses the physical on another count, that is to \nsay, in respect of speed. A material body at its best travels at the speed of \nlight, that is to say, in a second it goes about 200000 miles (a little less). \nBut thought does not meet any obstruction in respect of distance; whatever the \ndistance, it reaches its goal immediately, it does not take account of time.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Perhaps because of its \nexpansiveness and its speed, a Vedic Rishi sends up a prayer to it not to be so \nelusive, not to go away too far but to return and dwell in its home. Evidently \nthe Rishi speaks of gathering and collecting together the dispersed uncontrolled \nthoughts and settling them in an ordered way in his consciousness. We must note, \nhowever, that mind and matter are two different categories and have different \ndimensions. Material space is not the same as mental space and the speed of \nlight and the speed of thought are not commensurable.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The mental world, the world of \nthoughts, is a world in itself. It is autonomous. It moves in its own way with\n</p>\n<p class=\"pageno\">Page-21</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">its own laws. We human beings, we believe that it is we who \nthink, that is, produce or create our thoughts. We are the makers of our notions \nand ideas. But in reality it is not so. Thoughts, ideas, notions, all movements \nof the mind are self-existent realities. They go about or flow on like the waves \nof a vast sea. Human beings are mere instruments, receptacles that capture or \nseize some undulations of this vast ocean. Man is man, that is to say, a mental \nbeing, because in him the brain has developed to such an extent and in such a \nmanner that it serves as antennae or as an aerial to receive vibrations from the \nmental world. Indeed the ordinary human mind is a sort of crossroads where all \nkinds of thoughts from all places meet, cross one another and make an ideal \nmarket place. In fact, an individual does not possess any thought-movement which \ncan be called his own. He only catches a contagion. And like a contagion \nthought-movements pass from one person to another although one may think or feel \nthat the movement is one\'s own.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> In order to have one\'s own \nthought, in order to think by oneself, a long process of education and training \nis necessary. A growing personal individual consciousness is the first requisite \nand for that one must do what the Vedic Rishi I spoke of sought to do, gather \nthe thoughts that one has, collect them, sift them and try to have a control \nover them. One must develop the habit of admitting certain thoughts and \nrejecting others. Thoughts that are useful, that carry light and peacefulness \nand happiness, are naturally those that are worth accepting. Those\n<br>\n</p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-22</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">that are of a contrary nature should be pushed out. This is an \nexercise that develops the individual consciousness and the individual will.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Furthermore, one may try to \nrecognise thoughts that are of a different category, that do not seem to belong \nto the accustomed level of consciousness but carry a vibration that is of \nelsewhere, in other words, thought-movements that filter through and come down \nfrom higher ranges of consciousness. It means an elevation of consciousness, \nyour being rises into higher realities.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The true individual, the being \nwho is capable of living and creating independently, is formed of a stuff that \nlies in these higher regions.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> It is only when one has found \none\'s individual self seated in the Divine centre secret behind, organised \naround the centre all lesser movements, marshalled them according to an inner \nlaw, that one becomes master of one\'s environment and creative in the true sense \nof the word.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Mind is a force, thought and \nenergy but that can be truly and fully effective when it is organised, directed, \nthat is to say, it becomes then a guided missile. In an ordinary mind the \nthoughts are, as I have said, dispersed, they go about in all directions, to all \nobjectives and therefore their efficacy is at its minimum. It is like light. \nLight-energy becomes immensely, incredibly powerful when it is concentrated, \ngathered towards one point. It is in this way the light-ray nowadays is trying \nto replace the surgeon\'s knife.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Usually when we think of a person \nor a thing, our \n<br>\n</p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-23</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">thought-vibration reaches its object but because the vibration \nis diffuse—not polarised—it touches or just brushes its object very faintly \nwithout almost any reaction from it. An organised, truly individualised \nconsciousness has its thought-movements too, so organised and controlled and \ndirected that it moves with a clear and forceful momentum. A mental vibration, a \nthought-movement becomes fully dynamic, totally effective, however, when it gets \nits support from the vital. The vital too in an organised and individualised \npersonality loses its capaciousness and lends its support to the directing \nconsciousness. \n<br>\n</p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-24</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-006_Mind and the Mental World','','publish','closed','open','','006_mind-and-the-mental-world','','','2021-11-23 17:21:09','2021-11-23 17:21:09','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/006_mind-and-the-mental-world/',0,'post','',0),(1269,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:10','2021-11-23 17:21:10','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-000_Contents.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<div class=\"paragraph\" style=\"text-align: center; padding-left: 0.00pt; padding-right: 1.44pt; padding-top: 0.00pt; padding-bottom: 0.00pt\">\n<b>THE YOGA</b><b> \nOF</b><b> SRI AUROBINDO</b></div>\n	<b>Part Ten</b></p>\n	<b>Content</b></p>\n	<a href=\"the-yoga-of-sri-aurobindo-part-10-000_Pre_Content\">\n	Pre-Content</a></p>\n	<a href=\"-001_Author-Notes\">\n	Author Notes</a></p>\n	<b>Series One</b></p>\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"5\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\"></td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	Section One</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\">I.</td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-002_Cycles-of-Creation\">Cycles of Creation</a></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\">II.</td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-003_Beyond-Vedanta\">Beyond Vedanta</a></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\">III.</td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-004_Life-in-and-through-Death\">Life in and \n	through Death</a></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\">IV.</td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-005_Transfiguration\">Transfiguration</a></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\">V.</td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-006_Mind-and-the-Mental-World\">Mind and the \n	Mental World</a></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\">VI.</td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-007_Beyond-the-Dualities\">Beyond the Dualities</a></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\">VII.</td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-008_The-World-is-One\">The World is One</a></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\"></td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\"></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\"></td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	Section Two</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\">VIII.</td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-009_Consciousness-as-Freedom\">Consciousness as \n	Freedom</a></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\">IX.</td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-010_Education-as-the-Growth-of-Consciousness\">\n	Education as the Growth of Consciousness</a></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\">X.</td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-011_Education-is-Organisation\">Education is \n	Organisation</a></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\"></td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\"></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\"></td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	Section Three</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\">XI.</td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-012_Beyond-Love-and-Hate\">Beyond Love and Hate</a></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\">XII.</td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-013_The-Divine-Grace-and-Love\">The Divine \n	Grace and Love</a></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\">XIII.</td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-014_Go-through\">Go through</a></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\">XIV.</td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-015_Night-and-Day\">Night and Day</a></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\"></td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\"></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\"></td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	Section Four</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\">XV.</td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-016_The-Evolution-of-Language\">The Evolution of Language</a></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\">XVI.</td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-017_The-Relative-Best\">The Relative Best</a></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\">XVII.</td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-018_Miracles---Their-True-Significance\">Miracles: Their True Significance</a></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\">XVIII.</td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	Short Notes:</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\"></td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-019_Short-Notes.htm#(i)_The_sense_of_Earthly_Evolution__\">(i)The Sense of Earthly Evolution</a></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\"></td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-019_Short-Notes.htm#(2)_God_above_and_God_within__\">(ii)God Above and God Within</a></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\"></td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-019_Short-Notes.htm#(3)_Emptying_and_Replenishment__\">(iii)Emptying and Replenishment\n	</a></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\"></td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-019_Short-Notes.htm#(4)_Ego\">(iv)Ego</a></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\"></td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-019_Short-Notes.htm#(5)_Consciousness_and_Dimensions_of_View_\">(v)Consciousness and Dimensions of View</a></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\"></td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\"></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\"></td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	Section Five</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\">XIX.</td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-020_Prayers-and-Meditations-of-the-Mother\">Prayers and Meditations of the \n	Mother</a></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\">XX.</td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-021_Savitri\">Savitri</a></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\"></td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\"></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td align=\"right\" colspan=\"2\">\n	<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>\n	Series Two</b></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\">I.</td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-022_How-to-Read-Sri-Aurobindo\">How to Read Sri Aurobindo and the Mother</a></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\">II.</td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-023_A-True-Professor\">A True Professor</a></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\">III.</td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-024_Consciousness\">Consciousness</a></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\">IV.</td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-025_Love-and-Love\">Love and Love</a></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\">V.</td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-026_Gods-Debt\">God\'s Debt</a></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\">VI.</td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-027_India,-the-World-and-the-Ashram\">India, the World and the Ashram</a></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\">VII.</td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-028_The-Mystery-of-the-five-Senses\">The Mystery of the five Senses</a></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\">VIII.</td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-029_The-Mystery-of-the-five-Elements\">The Mystery of the five Elements</a></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\">IX.</td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-030_On-Discipline\">On Discipline</a></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\">X.</td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-031_Effort-and-Grace\">Effort and Grace</a></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\">XI.</td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-032_The-Moral-and-the-Spiritual\">The Moral and the Spiritual</a></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\">XII.</td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-033_Cling-to-Truth\">Cling to Truth</a></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\" align=\"right\">XIII.</td>\n	<td width=\"52%\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-034_The-Golden-Bridge\">The Golden Bridge</a></td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','the-yoga-of-sri-aurobindo-part-10-00_Contents','','publish','closed','open','','the-yoga-of-sri-aurobindo-part-10-00_contents','','','2021-11-23 17:21:10','2021-11-23 17:21:10','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/the-yoga-of-sri-aurobindo-part-10-00_contents/',0,'post','',0),(1270,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:10','2021-11-23 17:21:10','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-003_Beyond Vedanta.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"5\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">II\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>BEYOND VEDANTA </b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\"> The first step in the spiritual \nlife is the Vedantic experience that the world is an illusion, an absolute \nillusion. Rather it is the Buddhist experience of <i>nihil, </i>\nnothingness, extinc­tion that is the first step, the very basic realisation of \nall spiritual life. It is not the summit—the  <i>\nnec plus \nultra,  </i>beyond which there is nothing—but it is the very foundation, \nthe absolute minimum of spirituality—<i>sine qua non, \n </i>\nwithout which it is not. The one experience with which you start your spiritual \njourney is the total negation of whatever exists, reducing existence to zero: \nworld-existence being equated with Ignorance. Life is a false­hood, one has to \nreject it outright. The next step in Vedanta would be, when you have eliminated \neverything, reduced all to zero, to contemplate, to find what remains, the \nirreducible reality—the unity, the One, Sat, Brahman.</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> First, then, the total &quot;and \nabsolute dissolution of this creation of ignorance, the Creation which is \nignorance, and attaining a status of nothingness, absolute annihilation, then in \nthat blank void emerges the Residue, the One True Reality—a silent, infinite \neternal immobility, a pure Existence. In the beginning the Non-Existence (Asat), \nthen there arises the Pure Existence (Sat). That pure Existence is gradually \nfound to possess or be Delight also. As Being is not the being in creation even \nso the Consciousness</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-8</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">is not the normal or mental consciousness, and Delight too is \nnot the joy of life; they are all of quite another quality and category.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> In other words Purusha is given \nthe exclusive reality, while Prakriti is negated, being identified with \nunconsciousness and ignorance, is relegated to a status of relative reality. \nPrakriti is considered as <i>m</i>&#257;<i>y</i>&#257;<i>, </i>\nthe illusory con-sciousness, the ignorance. Purusha is the Brahman, the \nConscious Being, the One Absolute Pure Reality.</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The Tantra comes next in the \nscale. Tantra does not consider Prakriti as absolutely separate from Purusha and \nopposite in character. Prakriti is not unconsciousness (Achit); it is instinct \nwith consciousness. Indeed Prakriti as conceived by Sankhya or Mayavada is only \na lower formulation, an inferior aspect of the higher Prakriti which is one with \nthe higher Purusha, Purushottama. Tantra worships the higher Prakriti as \nParashakti, the Divine Mother, who holds in herself the supreme Purusha. The \nworld is created and exists not by the power of Maya but by the formative power \nof the Mother, which was the original meaning of the word \'maya\', the Divine \nMaya. The Divine Mother creates the world and maintains the world in the Delight \nof her Conscious Existence. She is the Supreme Consciousness (Chinmayee), she is \nthe Power of Delight (Hladini Shakti).\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The Whole bifurcation between \nTantra and Vedanta hinges upon one point. The Vedanta overlooked one term of the \nTruth and missed thereby a whole world of experience and reality. The central \nterm of Vedanta is taken\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-9</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">as Consciousness, Consciousness pure and simple. It omitted the \nfact that Consciousness is also Energy. That Chit is Tapas is the central \nprinciple in Tantra. The exclusive stress on Chit, Pure Consciousness, led to \nthe realisation of the Pure Purusha as mere Witness, Observer, a passive \nconsciousness. Subsequently it was also added that the Purusha is not merely a \nWitness, <i>(s</i>&#257;<i>k</i>&#7779;&#299;<i>), </i>\nbut the Upholder  <i>\n(bhart</i>&#257;<i>), \n </i>even Enjoyer  <i>\n(bhokt</i>&#257;<i>) \n </i>of the world and creation; finally it was added also \nthat the Purusha may  <i>\nbe \n </i>a creator also  <i>\n(kart</i>&#257;<i>), \n </i>but all this is somewhat outside the pale of orthodox \nVedanta, Mayavada. Tantra equated Consciousness with Energy; for it Conscious \nEnergy or Consciousness-Energy is the indivisible Mother-Reality.</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The Vedanta ends in Ananda, it is \na static unitary Ananda. The Tantra posits a dynamic Ananda, a <i>dual </i>\nAnanda between Ishwara and Ishwari, Shiva and Shakti. The Vaishnava takes a \nfurther step and transmutes Ananda into Love, a terrestrial humanised love.</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> An earlier form of this humanised \nlove was given in Buddha\'s Compassion. The transcendent Delight (Ananda) was \nmade terrestrial and human in Buddha. But Buddha\'s compassion was a universal \nfeeling and had no personal frame as it were. Vaishnavism gave it a personal \nframe and a human form. Radha and Krishna are not figures of an allegory but \nconcrete realities. Vrindavan is not merely the land of heart\'s desire, a garden \nof paradise but real habitation in a real and concrete consciousness and life. \nThe human frame assumed by Radha and Krishna is not merely an assumption, an \nillusion but an etersal</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-10</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">reality in an eternal domain. The gradation of the spiritual \ndomains is thus sometimes given as (I) Brahma-loka of the Vedantin, (2) \nShivaloka of the Tantrik and finally (3) Goloka of the Vaishnava.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The relation between the Supreme \n(over and above the creation) and the individual in the creation representing \nthe creation is sometimes described in human terms to give it a concrete and \ngraphic form. This relationship characteristically indicates the fundamental \nnature of the Reality it deals with. Thus in the Vedantic tradition the Supreme \nis worshipped as the Father <i>(pit</i>&#257;<i> no asi). </i>\nIt is also a relation of Master and disciple, the leader and the led. It brings \nout into prominence the Purusha aspect of the Reality. In the Tantra the \nrelation is as between Mother and child. The supreme Reality is the Divine \nMother holding the universe in her arms. The individual worships and adores the \nSupreme Prakriti as a human child does. The Vaishnava makes the relation as \nbetween the lover and the beloved, and the love depicted is in­tensely vital and \neven physical, as intense and poignant as the ordinary ignorant human passion. \nIt is to show that the Love Divine can beat the human love on its own ground, \nthat  is to  \nsay,  \nit  \ncan be \nor  \nit is as passionately sweet and as intensely intimate as any human \nlove. It is why Bhakta Prahlad said  \nto  \nhis beloved \nVishnu &quot;O Lord,  \nWhat \n ordinary men feel and enjoy  \nin  \nand through their physical senses, may I have the same enjoyment \nin  \nand through Thee.&quot;</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Still the Vaishnava love in its \nconcrete reality is a manifestation\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-11</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">in a subtle world, the world of an inner physical consciousness.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Therefore one more step has to be \ntaken when the Divine Love will incarnate in its integral and absolute reality \nupon this physical earth in a concretely material frame.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-12</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-003_Beyond Vedanta','','publish','closed','open','','003_beyond-vedanta','','','2021-11-23 17:21:10','2021-11-23 17:21:10','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/003_beyond-vedanta/',0,'post','',0),(1271,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:10','2021-11-23 17:21:10','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-031_Effort and Grace.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"5\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>X</b></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>EFFORT AND GRACE </b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThere are, we know, as Sri Aurobindo says, two powers which in their conjunction bring about the great consummation we aim at. It is personal effort from below and Divine Grace from above. The one prepares the field, the other fructifies and fulfils.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nIt has, however, always been declared that personal effort is not absolute in its effectivity, it is limited, relative and conditional: it does not by itself lead you to the final and supreme realisation; it takes you at the most to the threshold of Grace which follows up the work and brings it to its goal. Indeed it has also been said that personal effort itself is operative when inspired and impelled by the Grace from behind or from above. The Gita says in effect: By your effort and <i>tapasy</i>&#257;<i> </i>you are capable of withdrawing yourself from the mayic world of the senses, get detached from the sense-objects; but the secret attachment, the taste, the subtle interest for them goes only when the Supreme is visioned:\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<i>Raso\'pyasa param d</i>&#7771;&#7779;&#7789;<i>v</i>&#257;<i> nivartate   </i>(2.59.)\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe Upanishad also says: the highest is visible only when of its own accord It unveils itself:\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-161</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\"><i>Yamevai</i>&#7779;<i>a v</i>&#7771;&#7751;<i>ute tena labhya</i>&#7717;<i>   </i>(Katha: 2.23)\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe actual function or role of personal effort is that of a guide, like Virgil taking Dante through Hell and Purgatory and then arriving at the frontier of Paradise and there entrusting him into the hands of Beatrice. It is to give the preliminary experiences, initiate into the basic mysteries in order to prepare the vessel that is to house the Supreme. The Supreme is not amenable to your control whatever your effort may be, it is free, even eccentric— the wind bloweth where it listeth—the Grace goes wherever it chooses to go; it does not weigh or examine the amount of your preparation, it has its own manner of choosing. But the preparation that your personal effort effectuates is helpful for the working of the Grace not so much for its initial descent—it is, as I said, to prepare the &#257;<i>dh</i>&#257;<i>r </i>for holding, maintaining and establishing it.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nWe know too well:\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n&quot;Only a little the God-light can stay...&quot;\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe whole problem is there: how to make the God-light stay here, stay here for ever. The higher light does come down, but fitfully, one is never certain of it. For it is as it were, &quot;a scout in a reconnaissance from the sun.&quot; Here then is this special utility of personal effort, the service it can render,—to do the dredging, salvaging work. Personal effort with the ego-sense has been put there to find out and note the barriers and pitfalls, the faults and\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-162</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">fissures in the human system, to overcome, remedy and correct them as far as possible. The human receptacle is normally impure and obscure, resistant and recalcitrant: the personal will and endeavour has to be called in to labour, to level and smoothen the field, breathe into it air and light. That is the work of the individual will, to make of the &#257;<i>dh</i>&#257;<i>r </i>a strong base, strong and capacious, to receive and hold the descent. The temple is to be made clean and pure and inviting so that when the deity arrives he will find a happy home for a permanent dwelling.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nIt must be noted however, in the last account the personal effort for self-purification and self-preparation is not altogether personal and mere effort; it is, as I have said, always supported and inspired by the secret presence and pressure of the higher Influence.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nStill, personal effort on our part has a unique value in this sense that it means collaboration and goodwill and readiness of the being to fall in line with the cosmic work and the Divine plan: it signifies the assent of the lower consciousness to the working of the higher. What is required is conscious cooperation: unconscious cooperation is always there but it is, as it were, forced labour: does, not the Lord declare to Nature\n</p>\n<blockquote>\n	<blockquote>\n<p class=\"para\">&quot;I will pursue thee across the century; </p>\n<p class=\"para\">Thou shalt be hunted through the world by love, </p>\n<p class=\"para\">Naked of ignorance protecting veil... </p>\n<p class=\"para\">Nowhere shalt thou escape my loving eyes.&quot; </p>\n	</blockquote>\n</blockquote>\n<p class=\"pageno\">Page-163</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">\nInstead of the ill-will or unwillingness of the normal original ignorant being there comes about a change, a conversion to the light and truth. First the Inferno, then the Purgatory, finally there will be the Paradise. At the outset in the ignorance the being withdraws, contracts, wriggles under the light touching it, its first impulse is to repel the new-comer. A conscious effort is a movement of correction against the instinctive reaction, it is a movement towards the right reaction of the being to the impact of the light. The whole being, the whole nature in all its parts and functions has to be corrected, re-oriented, gradually tempered and stream-lined—polarised so that it is made one-pointed, supple and obedient and responsive. That is the process of fixing upon earth the fleeting Godhead.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nPersonal effort is thus a training in collaboration. From inertia and indifference, unwillingness and even positive hostility to rise into cooperation and comradeship, that is the discipline that personal effort gives to the mortal being, and then from cooperation and collaboration to union and identity with the Supreme Goal, effort merging into the spontaneous execution of the Divine Will, the personal melting into the impersonal Person—that is the consummation brought about by Grace.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-164</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-031_Effort and Grace','','publish','closed','open','','031_effort-and-grace','','','2021-11-23 17:21:10','2021-11-23 17:21:10','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/031_effort-and-grace/',0,'post','',0),(1272,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:10','2021-11-23 17:21:10','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-010_Education as the Growth of Consciousness.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"5\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>IX\n</b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>EDUCATION AS THE GROWTH OF \nCONSCIOUSNESS </b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\"> All knowledge is within you. \nInformation you get from outside, but the understanding of it? It is from \nwithin. The information from outside gives you dead matter. What puts life into \nit, light into it is your own inner light.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> All education, all culture means \ndrawing this inner light to the front. Indeed the word \'education\' literally \nmeans, \'to bring out.\' Plato also pointed to the same truth when he said that \neducation is remembrance. You remember what is imbedded or secreted within, you \nbring to the light, the light of your physical mind, what you have within, what \nyou already possess in your being and inner consciousness. Acquisition is not \neducation. Indeed a miser is not a rich man, rich is he who knows how to utilise \nhis wealth, even so a possessor of much information is only a carrier of loads.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> True education is growth of \nconsciousness. It is consciousness that carries the light and the power of the \nlight. We are born upon earth with this consciousness at the centre of our \nbeing. And a growing child is nothing but a growing consciousness. Growth of \nconsciousness means an increasing intensity and a<i>n </i>increasing amplitude \nor wideness of the light. Unfortunately, placed as we are under the \ncircumstances of life as it is, this light of consciousness\n<br>\n</p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-39</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">is not allowed to grow in its natural and normal way. The \nexternal demands of life and the world put a pressure upon it which turns it \naway from its straight path. Things are demanded of this light or consciousness \nwhich do not belong to its nature, which are not an expression of its nature. As \nthough it is twisted, tortured or smothered under utilitarian necessities.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The brain should be a flowering \nof this consciousness, a developing vehicle for the expression of the increasing \nconsciousness. For that a guidance is needed so that one may always turn within \nand look for that consciousness, feel it growing, and with one\'s will and \nthought and act help its growth and development. A brain is not developed by the \nmass of information that may be pressed into it. Informations are necessary but \nthey should be presented in such a way that they serve as fuel, helpful fuel to \nthe mounting fire; they must not be merely piled up upon and around the fire or \nbe as so many wet faggots crushing it down with their weight. A true learner is \none who seeks sincerely this inner consciousness which is one\'s own; the true \nteacher is one who knows how to lead the learner towards this inner light.\n</p>\n<p class=\"pageno\">Page-40</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-010_Education as the Growth of Consciousness','','publish','closed','open','','010_education-as-the-growth-of-consciousness','','','2021-11-23 17:21:10','2021-11-23 17:21:10','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/010_education-as-the-growth-of-consciousness/',0,'post','',0),(1273,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:10','2021-11-23 17:21:10','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-015_Night and Day.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"5\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">XIV\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>NIGHT AND DAY </b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\"> The night is the background to \nthe day or otherwise the day is the stage and the night the green room, that is \nto say, whatever is expressed in the day, all your activities physical or \nmental, are in a large part determined or coloured by your activities at night \nin sleep. The day represents your conscious activities, products of choice and \nthe exercise of conscious will, but of the night we are wholly unconscious and \nwe have no control over its hidden activities. Even so, it exercises a \ntremendous influence on the life of the day. The mood, the rhythm in the \nsleep-state colours, as I say, very much the mood and rhythm of the active life \nof the day. The contrary also is true. For the nature of the day-life has an \ninfluence also on the nature of the night that follows.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> As the day-life is consciously \ncontrolled, so also the night-life has to be controlled. Otherwise half of our \nlife goes to waste. As we seek to utilise the day to our benefit we must know in \nthe same way how to utilise the night. Indeed the night and the day must work \ntogether in union for a common purpose. The Vedic Rishi says, &quot;The Night and the \nDay, although they look different, are of one mind.&quot;\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> To have control over the night \none must, first of all, be conscious of what happens in the night, that is to \nsay\n</p>\n<p class=\"pageno\">Page-53</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">one must remember the events that \noccur in sleep. Usually one forgets and cannot recall easily the experiences \nthat one has gone through while asleep. The first exercise then is, as soon as \nyou awake, to retain whatever happens to linger still in memory, and then with \nthis as the leading string to go backward to happenings associated with it. Even \notherwise when you cannot recall any particular happening or experience, you can \nbegin your enquiry by noting the nature of the feeling that the experiences have \nleft on you, that is to say, you note whether you passed a good night or a bad \nnight. A bad night means either a tamasic state or a disturbed state. Tamasic \nmeans when you get up you feel inert, heavy, depressed, still feeling like going \nto sleep again. The disturbed state is one in which you feel agitated, unable to \ncontrol, unable to do any organised work. Instead of this unhappy condition the \nnight may bring to you peace and happiness, a positively pleasurable sensation. \nThat is the first step of the discipline of what I may call night-control viz. \nto distinguish these two states and react accordingly through your conscious \nwill. The next step would be to distinguish two other categories of the \nexperiences. The one is the confused and chaotic condition in which sensations \nand ideas and impulsions are in a jumble, a meaningless whirl or otherwise you \nfind your sensations or notions or impulsions moving in an organised and \npurposeful way. The first naturally brings you discomfort and sadness, the \nsecond, on the contrary, gives you a sense of uncommon happiness.\n<br>\n</p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-54</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\"> There are occasions when the \ndream experience comes to you with a clear authenticity as if you were taking \npart in a real drama. Everything is happening truly and un-disputably exactly \nlike a happening in the normal life. Indeed when it is happening you feel it is \nhappening in your waking life. You find the difference only when you wake up. As \na matter of fact it is a region very near to the material world running parallel \nto it. And at times we are lifted bodily as it were into it and the experiences \nand adventures we go through are very analogous to those in normal life. Still \nwhen we are awake and compare the two, we notice there is a difference in \npattern and movement. Yet there are other experiences of quite a different \nnature. You feel and see, you are transported to a region made, it would appear, \nof elements of a different kind. The atmosphere gives a different feel from the \nearthly atmosphere, there is a light which seems to have a different vibration, \neven the earth there, for the earth still exists, is made of a different density \nand solidity. These are the worlds perhaps, which Sri Aurobindo refers to when \nhe speaks of &quot;the other earths.&quot; Beings and things have a happy, a pure beauty \nin their form and movement. This does not come to you merely as a thought or an \nimagination but a very concrete reality in which you live and move and have your \nbeing.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Your sleep-world is full of many \nworlds, rising tier upon tier like hills in a mountain range. Quite at the \nbottom is an almost physical, a subtle physical world and at the top is the \nworld of the spiritual or psychic being or consciousness.\n<br>\n</p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-55</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">You range through all of \nthem in some way or other but you remember only partially and in snippets and \nyou do not know which is which. It is by focussing your attention upon them and \ntrying to distinguish the different modes of each in regard to your feeling and \nperception that you gradually begin to unravel them, untie the knots and spread \nout the threads separately. \n<br>\n</p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-56</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-015_Night and Day','','publish','closed','open','','015_night-and-day','','','2021-11-23 17:21:10','2021-11-23 17:21:10','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/015_night-and-day/',0,'post','',0),(1274,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:10','2021-11-23 17:21:10','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-025_Love and Love.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"5\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>IV\n</b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>LOVE AND LOVE </b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe Mother says: there is only one Love, there are not two. And it is Divine Love. The difference arises only in its expression, in its application. In its essential quality and substance it is always the same. Take for example human love; stripped of the mere human element, love remains the same original thing. Because the old ascetic orders of spiritual discipline, in the main, considered love essentially and wholly earthy and human, they rejected this limb altogether, cut it out as undivine. But that is an error.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nWe do not regard love, even human love, as an error but a power, a force and energy. Love, even human love, is not to be amputated or rooted out but like gold as ore, it has to be purified. The work is hard but it is worth the trouble.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nAs a matter of fact, however, all the divine qualities— supernals as they have been sometimes called—are of that nature, that is to say, all are universal they are never nonexistent, they are never and can never be negatived. Divine Consciousness, Divine Delight, Divine Power, indeed, Divine Being—they each and all exist as absolute and unitary realities, that is to say, one without a second. Even like Divine Love, there is only one Divine Consciousness, one Divine Power, one Divine Bliss, one Divine\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-133</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">Being, however various they may appear in outward name and form.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nBut the physical consciousness, the physical body, this very material frame have for us upon earth, a divine significance. They are not to be despised or thrown out. On the contrary, our object is to take special care of the body, to cleanse it of its outward dross, make it sound and free from disease, to immortalise it if possible. And it is possible notwithstanding the old teachings. In their nature as a matter of fact, the cells of the body are immortal. Science today has discovered that each living cell is potentially deathless (a corn-seed of the age of the Pharaohs, unearthed from pre-historic tombs, they have succeeded in sprouting today). It is their aggregate and their milieu that cause wear and tear in the cells, exposing them to decay and disintegration. But in itself, each cell has an infinite vitality. Thus the problem is, if one cell is essentially immortal, then how can they be made, in their collective life, to avoid conflict and decay, undergo rejuvenation and youthfulness.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nScience in a practical way through material means tries to prolong life as far as possible, as for us, we are not limited to that necessity. What we have to do is to clean the energy which is now obscure in the material cell, make it luminous. The way is the way of consciousness. Every human being has in him the possibility, the capacity of making his own consciousness come forth, pure, transparent, luminous and then in and through that pure light charge the body too with a transfiguring force or energy.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-134</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">This material body of man has the marvellous advantage of being united, of being able to unite itself with the Supreme Consciousness. Indeed as through his consciousness man has the privilege of ascending to the supreme consciousness, even so in and through the same consciousness, the physical cell also has the privilege of establishing a contact with the Supreme Substance. What is true of man\'s mind and life is true also of the material cell. Even as life impulses and mental knowings can be uplifted and transfigured, these physical cells too may achieve the same transfiguration because in man all these elements share equally in the Divine Substance lodged there. Of the animal, the lower creation, we cannot say the same thing for it does not possess overtly the Divine element that dwells in man. This Divine Element is what we call the psychic consciousness, the Divine himself formed secretly or framed in matter. It is that which comes in contact with the human mental and the human vital and the human body, and succeeds in remoulding them in the Supreme Nature.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nOf course, there was always in the ancient days also, in some disciplines or others, an aspiration, an urge to immortalise the body, but the means they adopted, the instruments they chose for the operation were indirect and secondary. It was either through the force of a luminous mind influencing the body or through the pressure of concentrated vital force making the body an obedient and docile instrument. The former was the process followed by the Vaishanavas who envisaged a luminous body, the\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-135</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">second was the aim of the Tantriks who sought to rejuvenate the body, possess it youthful and vigorous indefinitely. The Hatha yogis also in their turn through physico-vital exercises attempted to acquire a new body changing the modalities of the old. The ancient alchemists tried more material means, the use of alchemic substances for cleansing the body making it free from disease and, if possible, death. But the secret power lies in the body itself, that is, in the very self of the body, not anywhere else. The hidden consciousness lodged in the cell, the material cell, that is the key to the problem, that secret consciousness and its energy asleep in the cell, has to be awakened and brought into play. When the physical cell itself awakes and declares its purpose, the thing is done.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThis secret consciousness-energy appearing as a material form is also intrinsically the delight of existence. Its other name is Divine Grace and Love.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-136</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-025_Love and Love','','publish','closed','open','','025_love-and-love','','','2021-11-23 17:21:10','2021-11-23 17:21:10','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/025_love-and-love/',0,'post','',0),(1275,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:10','2021-11-23 17:21:10','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-020_Prayers and Meditations of the Mother.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"5\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>Section Five </b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<hr></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>XIX\n</b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>PRAYERS AND MEDITATIONS OF THE \nMOTHER </b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">(I)\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\"> The \'Prayers and Meditations of \nthe Mother\'. It is Life Divine in song, it is Life Divine set to music—made \nsweet and lovely, near and dear to us—a thing of beauty and a joy for ever.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> To some the ideal has appeared \naloof and afar, cold and forbidding. The ascent is difficult involving immense \npains and tiresome efforts. It is meant for the high-souled ascetic, not for the \nweak earth-bound mortals. But here in the voice of the Mother we hear not the \ncall for a hazardous climb to the bare cold wind-swept peak of the Himalayas but \na warm invitation for a happy trek back to our own hearth and home. The voice of \nthe Divine is the loving Mother\'s voice.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The Prayers and Meditations of \nthe Mother are a music, a music of the lyre—I say lyre, because there is a lyric \nbeauty and poignancy in these utterances. And true lyricism means a direct and \nspontaneous outflowing of the soul\'s intimate experiences.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> This wonder-lyre has three \nstrings, giving out a triple note or strain: there is a strain of philosophy, \nthere is a strain of yoga and there is a strain of poetry. We may also call them \nvalues and say there is a philosophical, a yogic\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-75</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">and a poetic value in these \ncontemplations. The philosophical strain or value means that the things said are \npresented, explained to the intellect so that the human mind can seize them, \nunderstand them. The principles underlying the ideal, the fundamental ideas are \nelaborated in terms of reason and logical comprehension, although the \nsubject-matter treated is in the last analysis beyond reason and logic. For \nexample, here is true philosophy expressed in a philosophic manner as neatly as \npossible.—&quot;A quoi servirait l\'homme s\'il n\'était pas fait pour jeter un pont \nentre Ce qui est éternellement, mais qui n\'est pas mani-festé, et ce qui est \nmanifesté, entre toutes les transcen-dances, toutes les splendeurs de la vie \ndivine et toute l\'obscure et douloureuse ignorance du monde matériel? L\'homme \nest le lien entre ce qui doit être et ce qui est; il est la passerelle jetée sur \nl\'abîme, il est le grand X en croix, le trait d\'union quaternaire. Son domicile \nveritable, le siège effectif de sa conscience doit être dans le monde \nintermédiate au point de jonction des quatre bras de la croix, là où tout \nl\'infini de l\'impensable vient prendre forme precise pour être projeté dans \nl\'innombrable manifestation...&quot;<sup>1</sup>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> <sup>1</sup> Of what use would be \nman if he was not made to throw a bridge between That which eternally is, but is \nnot manifested, and that which is manifested; between all the transcendences, \nall the splendours of the divine life and all the obscure and sorrowful \nignorance of the material world? Man is the intermediary between that which has \nto be and that which is; he is a bridge thrown over the abyss, he is the great X \nin the cross, the quaternary link. His true abode, the effective seat of his \nconsciousness, should be in the intermediate world at the: \n<br>\n</p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-76</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">Or again\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> — &quot;Que de degrés différents dans \nla conscience! II faudrait réserver ce mot pour ce qui, dans un être, est \niUuminé par Ta présence, s\'est identifié à Toi et participe à Ta Conscience \nabsolue, ce qui est &quot;parfaitement éveillé&quot;, comme dit le Bouddha.<sup>1</sup>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> &quot;En dehors de cet état, il y a \ndes degrés infinis de conscience descendant jusqu\'à l\'obscurité complète, la \nveritable inconscience qui peut être un domaine pas encore touché par la lumière \nde ton amour (ce qui paraît improbable dans la substance physique), ou bien ce \nqui est, pour une raison d\'ignorance quelconque, hors de notre région \nindividuelle de perception.&quot;<sup>2</sup>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> However, we note that the \nphilosophical strain merges into the yogic, rather the yogic strain is already \ninvolved in the philosophical. Here is an obvious and clear expression of this \nstrain:\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> joining point of the four arms of \nthe cross, where all the infinity of the Unknowable comes to take precise form \nfor being projected into the multitudinous manifestation....\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> <sup>1</sup> How many and \ndifferent are the degrees of consciousness! This word should be reserved for \nthat which, in a being, is illumined by Thy Presence, identifies itself with \nThee and participates in Thy absolute Consciousness, for that which has \nknowledge, which is &quot;perfectly awakened&quot; as says the Buddha.\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> 2 Outside this state, there are \ninfinite degrees of consciousness descending down to the complete darkness, the \nveritable inconscience which may be a domain not yet touched by the light of Thy \ndivine love (but that appears improbable in physical substance), or which is by \nreason of some ignorance, outside our individual region of perception. \n</p>\n<p class=\"pageno\">Page-77</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\"> —&quot;II faudrait que chaque jour, \nchaque instant, soit l\'occasion d\'une consecration nouvelle et plus complète; et \nnon pas une de ces consécrations enthousiastes et tré-pidantes, suractives, \npleine de l\'illusion de l\'ceuvre, mais une consécration profonde et\nsilencieuse qui n\'est pas<sup> </sup>forcément apparente, mais qui pénètre \net transfigure toute action. Il faudrait que notre esprit paisible et solitaire \nrepose toujours en Toi, et que de ce pur sommet il ait la perception exacte des \nréalités, de la Réalité unique et éternelle, derrière les instables et fugitives \nappa-rences.&quot;<sup>1</sup>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> We are given all the disciplines \nnecessary for the growth of the spiritual life: the processes, the procedures \nthat have to be followed—object-lessons are given even for the uninitiated and \nfor the very beginner, as well as instructions for those who aim at the highest \nheights; thus:\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> —&quot;Il est toujours bon de \nregarder de temps en temps en soi et de voir qu\'on n\'est et ne peut rien, mais \nil faut en suite tourner son regard vers Toi en sachant que Tues tout et que Tu \npeux tout.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Tu es la vie de notre vie et \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> la lumière de notre être,\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> <sup>1</sup> Each day, each \nmoment, must be an occasion for a new and completer consecration; and not one of \nthose enthusiastic and trepidant consecrations, overactive, full of the illusion \nof the work, but a profound and silent consecration which need not be apparent, \nbut which penetrates and transfigures every action. Our mind, solitary and at \npeace, must rest always in Thee, and from this pure summit it must have the \nexact perception of realities, of the sole and eternal Reality, behind unstable \nfugitive appearances. \n<br>\n</p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-78</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\"> Tu es le maître de nos \ndestinées.&quot;<sup>1 </sup>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">Indeed philosophy and yoga go hand in hand. Yoga is \napplied philosophy. What is at first mentally perceived and recognised, what is \naccepted by the reason is made active and dynamic in life.The character embodies \nthe abstract and general principles, the vital energy executes them, that is \nyoga. Philosophy brings in the fight of consciousness, yoga the energy of \nconsciousness. Here we have an expression of what may be called &quot;yogic \nphilosophy&quot;.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> — &quot;Il faut à chaque moment \nsecouer le passé com-me une poussière qui tombe, afin qu\'elle ne salisse pas le \nchemin vierge qui, à chaque moment aussi, s\'ouvre devant nous.&quot;<sup>2</sup>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Once again we see emerging the \nthird note, the note of poetry. In fact the Prayers and Meditations abound in \nthe most beautiful poetry, what can be more beautiful, even more poetically \nbeautiful than these cadences !\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> — &quot;Ta voix est si modeste, si \nimpartiale, si sublime de patience et de miséricorde qu\'elle ne se fait entendre \navec\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> <sup>1</sup> It is always good to \nlook within ourselves from time to time and see that we are nothing and can do \nnothing, but we must then turn our look towards Thee, knowing that Thou art all \nand that Thou canst do all.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Thou art the life of our life and\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> the light of our being, \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">Thou art \nthe master of our destiny. \n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"><sup> </sup>\n<sup>2</sup> We must at each moment shake off the \npast like falling dust, so that it may not soil the virgin path which, also at \neach moment, opens before us.\n<br>\n</p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-79</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">aucune autorité, aucune puissance \nde volonté, mais com-me une brise fraîche, douce et pure, comme un murmure \ncristallin qui donne la note d\'harmonie dans le concert discordant. Settlement, \npour celui qui sait écouter la note, respirer la brise, elle contient de tels \ntrésors de beauté, un tel parfum de pure sérénité et de noble grandeur, que \ntoutes les folles illusions s\'évanouissent ou se transforment dans une joyeuse \nacceptation de la merveilleuse vérité entrevue.&quot;<sup>1</sup>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Or more beautiful than the \nbeautiful simplicity of these lines!\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> —&quot;Comme une flamme qui brûle \nsilencieusement, comme un parfum qui monte tout droit, sans vaciller, mon amour \nva vers Toi...&quot;<sup>2</sup>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> If one asks for a classical \nperfection, here is a line that is on a par with a Racinian verse—\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> —&quot;Mon coeur s\'est endormi \njusqu\'au tréfonds de l\'être...&quot;<sup>3</sup>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> And here is a line flowing with \nall the milk and honey\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> <sup>1</sup>Thy voice is so \nmodest, impartial, sublime in its patience and its mercy that it does not make \nitself heard with any authority, any potency of will; it is like a cool, soft \nand pure breeze; it is like a crystalline murmur that imparts a note of harmony \nto a discordant concert. Only for him who knows how to listen to that note, how \nto breathe that breeze, it contains such a treasure of beauty and such a perfume \nof pure serenity and noble grandeur, that all extravagant illusions vanish or \nare transformed into a joyful acceptance of the marvellous truth that has been \nglimpsed. \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> <sup>2</sup>Like a flame that \nburns in silence, like a perfume that rises straight upward without wavering, my \nlove goes to Thee...\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> <sup>3</sup>My heart has fallen \nasleep, down to the very depths of my being.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-80</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">of the Romantic muse:—\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> —&quot;Et les heures s\'évanouissent \ncomme des rêves in-vécus...&quot;<sup>1</sup> which possesses furthermore the magic \nof an indefinable mysticism so rare in the French language. The mystic element \ngives a special grace and flavour, a transcendent significance serving as an \nenveloping aura to the whole body of these Prayers and Meditations.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> One cannot, for example, but be \nbewitched by the mystic grandeur of this image:—\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> —&quot;O Conscience immobile et \nsereine, Tu veilles aux confins du monde comme un sphinx d\'éternité. Et \npour-tant à certains Tu livres Ton secret.&quot;<sup>2</sup>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> In fact three notes blend \ntogether indissolubly and form what we call \'mantra\'—even like the triple mystic \nsyllable AUM.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Once, in connection with \nShakespeare, I said that a poet\'s language, which is in truth the poet himself, \nmay be considered as consisting of unit vocables, syllables, that are as it were \nfundamental particles, even like the nuclear particles, each poet having his own \ntype of particle, with its own charge and spin and vibrations. Shakespeare\'s, I \nsaid, is a particle of Life-energy, a packet of living blood-vibration, \npulsating as it were, with real heart-beat. Likewise in Dante one feels it to be \na packet of Tapas—of ascetic energy, a bare clear concentrated flame-wave of\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> <sup>1</sup>And the hours pass \nlike dreams unlived.\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> <sup>2</sup>O serene and \nimmobile Consciousness, Thou watchest on the boundaries of the world like a \nsphinx of eternity. And yet to some Thou givest out Thy secret. \n<br>\n</p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-81</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">consciousness, of thought-force. \nIn the Prayers and Meditations the fundamental unit of expression seems to be a \npacket of gracious light—one seems to touch the very hem of Mahalakshmi.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The voice in the Prayers and \nMeditations is Krishna\'s flute calling the souls imprisoned in their worldly \nhousehold to come out into the wide green expanses of infinity, in the midst of \nthe glorious herds of light, to play and enjoy in the company of the Lord of \nDelight.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">(2)\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> We have spoken of the three notes \nor strains in the Prayers and Meditations. Apart from this triple theme which \nafter all means mode or modulation in expression, there is a triplicity in \ndepth. Along with the strains, there are strands. Besides the value or quality \nof the things, the thing itself is a composite reality containing different \nlevels. It is not a single, unilateral, one-dimensional world, but it is \nmulti-dimensional consisting of many worlds, one within another, all telescoped \nas it were, to form a single indivisible whole.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Now these prayers—who prays? And \nto whom? These meditations—who meditates? And who is the object of the \nmeditation? First of all there is the apparent obvious meaning, that is on the \nvery surface. It is the Mother\'s own prayers offered to her own beloved Lord. It \nis her own personal aspiration, the preoccupation of the individual human being \nthat she is. It is the secret\n</p>\n<p class=\"pageno\">Page-82</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">story, the inner history of all \nthat she desires, asks for, questions, all that she has experienced and realised \nand the farther more that she is to achieve, the revelations of a terrestrial \ncreature of the particular name and form that she happens to possess. Thus for \nexample, the very opening passage of these prayers:\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> <sup>1</sup>&quot;Quoique tout mon \nêtre Te soit théoriquement con-sacré, ô Maître Sublime, qui est la vie, la \nlumière et l\'amour de toute chose j\'ai peine encore à appliquer cette \nconsécration dans les détails. Il m\'a fallu plusieurs semaines pour savoir que \nla raison de cette méditation écrite, sa légitimation, réside dans le fait de Te \nl\'adresser quotidiennement. Ainsi je matérialiserai chaque jour un peu de la \nconversation que j\'ai si fréquemment avec Toi; je Te ferai de mon mieux ma \nconfession...&quot; (2.11.1912)\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> But we notice immediately that \nthese are not exclusively personal, absolutely individual assertions. While \nspeaking of herself, spontaneously she seems to be speaking on behalf of all \nmen. The words that she utters come as it were, from the lips of all mankind. \nShe is the representative human being. She gives expression to all that man \nfeels or might feel but is not able or does not\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> <sup>1</sup> Although my whole \nbeing is in theory consecrated to Thee, O Sublime Master, who art the life, the \nlight and the love in all things, I still find it hard to carry out this \nconsecration in detail. It has taken, me several weeks to learn that the reason \nfor this written meditation, its justification lies in the very fact of \naddressing it daily to Thee. In this way I shall put into material shape each \nday a little of the conversation I have so often with Thee; I shall make my \nconfession to Thee as well as it may be... (2.11.1912)\n<br>\n</p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-83</p>\n<hr></p>\n<p class=\"para\">know how to express and \narticulate. Here is how she describes her function as a representative person—so \nbeautifully, so poignantly:\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> <sup>1</sup>&quot;Alors j\'ai pensé à \ntous ceux qui veillaient sur le bateau pour assurer et protéger notre route, et \navec reconnaissance, dans leur cœur, j\'ai voulu faire naître et vivre Ta Paix; \npuis j\'ai pensé à tous ceux qui, confiants et sans souci, dormaient du sommeil \nde l\'inconscience, et avec solhcitude pour leurs misères, pitié pour leur \nsouffrance latente s\'éveillant en eux en même temps que leur réveil, j\'ai voulu \nqu\'un peu de Ta Paix habite leur cœur, et fasse\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> <sup>1</sup> &quot;I then thought of \nall those who were watching over the ship to safeguard and protect our route, \nand in gratitude, I willed that Thy peace should be born and live in their \nhearts; then I thought of all those who, confident and carefree, slept the sleep \nof inconscience and, with solicitude for their miseries, pity for their latent \nsuffering which would awake in them in their own waking, I willed that a little \nof Thy Peace might dwell in their hearts and bring to birth in them the life of \nthe Spirit, the light which dispels ignorance. I then thought of the dwellers of \nthis vast sea, visible and invisible, and I willed that over them might be \nextended Thy Peace. I thought next of those whom we had left far away and whose \naffection is with us, and with a great tenderness I willed for them Thy \nconscious and lasting Peace, the plenitude of Thy Peace proportioned to their \ncapacity to receive it. Then I thought of all those to whom we are going, who \nare restless with childish preoccupations and fight for mean competitions of \ninterest in ignorance and egoism; and ardently, in a great aspiration for them I \nasked for the plenary light of Thy Peace. I next thought of all those whom we \nknow, of all those whom we do not know, of all the life that is working itself \nout, of all that has changed its form and all that is not yet in form, and for \nall that, and also for all of which I cannot think, for all that is present to \nmy memory and for all that I forget, in a great ingathering and mute adoration, \nI implored Thy Peace.&quot; (10.3.1914) \n<br>\n</p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-84</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">naître en eux la vie de l\'esprit, \nla lumière dissipant l\'igno-rance. Puis j\'ai pensé à tous les habitants de cette \nvaste mer, les visibles et les invisibles, et j\'ai voulu que sur eux s\'étende Ta \nPaix. Puis j\'ai pensé à ceux que nous avions laissé au loin et dont l\'affection \nnous accompagne, et avec une grande tendresse, pour eux j\'ai voulu Ta Paix \ncon-sciente et durable, la plénitude de Ta Paix proportionnée à leur capacité de \nla recevoir. Puis j\'ai pensé à tous ceux vers qui nous allons, que des \npréoccupations enfantines agitent et qui se battent pour de mesquines \ncompétitions d\'intérêt dans l\'ignorance et l\'égoisme; et avec ardeur, dans une \ngrande aspiration, pour eux, j\'ai demandé la pleine lumière de Ta Paix. Puis \nj\'ai pensé à tous ceux que nous connaissons, à tous ceux que nous ignorons, à \ntoute la vie qui s\'élabore, à tout ce qui a changé de forme, à tout ce qui n\'est \npas encore en forme, et pour tout cela, ainsi que pour tout ce à quoi je ne puis \npenser, pour tout ce qui est présent à ma mémoire et pour tout ce que j\'oublie, \ndans un grand recueillement et une muette adoration, j\'ai imploré Ta Paix.&quot; \n(10.3.1914) \n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Or again:\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> <sup>1</sup>&quot;Ce que j\'ai voulu \npour eux, avec Ta volonté, aux moments où j\'ai pu être en communion véritable \navec\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> <sup>1</sup> What i\nwilled for them, with Thy will, at the moments when\ni  could be in a true communion with Thee, grant that they may have received it on the day when, striving to forget external contingencies, they turned towards their noblest thought, towards their best feelings.</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> May the supreme serenity of Thy \nsublime Presence awake in them. \n</p>\n<p class=\"pararight\"> (22.3.1914)\n</p>\n<p class=\"pageno\">Page-85</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">Toi, permets qu\'ils l\'aient reÇu \nen ce jour où, tâchant d\'oublier les contingences extérieures, ils se sont \ntournés vers leur pensée la plus noble, vers leur sentiment le meil-leur. Que la \nsuprême sérénité de Ta sublime Présence s\'éveille en eux.&quot; (22.3.1914)\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> But the Mother is not merely a \nrepresentative, she has become all men, the entire humanity itself. She has \nidentified herself with each person in her being and consciousness, she is one \nwith all, all are merged in her. Her voice utters the cry of the human \ncollectivity. Mother\'s Prayers and Meditations are the prayers and meditations \nof man. Thus again:\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> <sup>1</sup>&quot;...il m\'a semblé que \nj\'adoptais tous les habitants de ce bateau, que je les enveloppais tous dans un \négal amour, et qu\'ainsi en chacun d\'eux quelque chose de Ta conscience \ns\'éveillerait.&quot; (8.3.1914)\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> She has so clearly and \nunequivocally expressed her oneness with all men. She mentions specially the \nmiserable, the poor and afflicted mankind:\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> <sup>2</sup>&quot;Lorsque j\'étais \nenfant — vers l\'âge de treize ans et pendant un an environ — tous les soirs dès \nque j\'étais\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> <sup>1</sup>...it seemed to me that </b>\ni \n adopted all the inhabitants of this ship, and enveloped them in an equal love, and that so in each one of them, something of Thy consciousness would  awake.\n(8.3.1914)<p class=\"para\">\n<sup>\n	2</sup>When \n	i  was a child--about the age of thirteen and for about a year—every night as soon as\ni \n	 was in bed, it seemed to me that\n	i  came out of my body and rose straight up above the house, then above the town, very high.\ni \n	 saw myself then, clad in a magnificent golden robe, longer than myself; and as\ni \n	 rose, that robe lengthened, spreading in a circle around me to form, as it were, an immense roof over the</div>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<br> \n</p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-86</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">couchée, il me semblait que je \nsortais de mon corps et que je m\'élevais tout droit au-dessus de la maison, puis \nde la ville, très haut. Je me voyais alors vêtue d\'une magnifique robe dorée, \nplus longue que moi; et à mesure que je mon-tais, cette robe s\'allongeait en \ns\'étendant circulairement autour de moi pour former comme un toit immense \nau-dessus de la ville. Alors je voyais de tous côtés sortir des hommes, des \nfemmes, des enfants, des vieillards, des malades, des malheureux; ils \ns\'assemblaient sous la robe étendue, implorant secours, racontant leurs misères, \nleurs souffrances, leurs peines. En réponse, la robe, souple et vivante, \ns\'allongeait vers eux individuellement, et dés qu\'ils l\'avaient touchée, ils \nétaient consolés ou guéris, et ren-traient dans leurs corps plus heureux et plus \nforts qu\'avant d\'en être sortis.&quot; (22.2.1914)\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> But her being and consciousness \nare not lmited to mankind alone. She has identified herself with even material \nobjects, with all the small insignificant physical things which our earthly \nexistence deals with. This is how she takes leave of the house where she had \nlived, and the things it had sheltered, on the eve of a long journey:\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> <sup>1</sup> &quot;Je les remercie \navec reconnaissance de tout le charme\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n town. Then I would see coming out \nfrom all sides, men, women, children, the old, the sick, the unhappy; they \ngathered under the outspread robe, imploring help, recounting their miseries, \ntheir sufferings, their pains. In reply, the robe, supple and living, stretched \nout to them individually, and as soon as they touched it, they were consoled or \nhealed, and entered back into their body happier and stronger than they had ever \nbeen before coming out of it. (22.2.1914)</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<sup>1</sup> I thank them with \ngratitude for all the charm they have been able\n</p>\n<p class=\"pageno\">Page-87</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">qu\'ils ont su dormer \nextérieurement à notre vie; je sou-haite que, s\'il est dans leur destinée de \npasser pour plus ou moms longtemps en d\'autres mains que les nôtres, ces mains \nleur soient douces et sachant tout le respect que l\'on doit à ce que Ton divin \nAmour, Seigneur, a fait surgir de l\'obscure inconscience du chaos.&quot; (3.3.1914)\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> It is to be noted how even a \nmaterial object is taken up, purified and transformed almost into a living being \nby the Mother\'s loving touch.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The same feeling of unity and \noneness extends to the dumb plant world also. It is a oneness not partial or \nvague but total and absolute:\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> <sup>1</sup>&quot;Une grande \nconcentration s\'est emparée de moi et\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> to impart from the outside to our \nlife; I wish, if they are destined to pass for a long or a brief period into \nother hands than ours, that these hands may be gentle to them and may feel all \nthe respect that is due to what Thy divine Love, O Lord, has made to emerge from \nthe dark inconscience of chaos. (3.3.1914)\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> <sup>1</sup> A deep concentration \nseized on me, and I perceived that I was identifying myself with a single \ncherry-blossom, then through it with all cherry-blossoms, and as I descended \ndeeper in the consciousness, following a stream of bluish force, I became \nsuddenly the cherry-tree itself, stretching towards the sky like so many arms \nits innumerable branches laden with their sacrifice of flowers. Then I heard \ndistinctly this sentence: \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> Thus hast thou made thyself one \nwith the soul of cherry-trees and so thou canst take note that it is the Divine \nwho makes the offering of this flower-prayer to heaven. \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> When I had written it, all was \neffaced; but now the blood of the cherry-tree flows in my veins and with it \nflows an incomparable peace and force. What difference is there between the \nhuman body and the body of a tree? In truth there is none, the consciousness \nwhich animates them is identically the same. (7.4.1917)\n<br> \n</p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-88</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">je me suis aperÇue que je \nm\'identifiais avec une fleur de cerisier; puis à travers cette fleur avec toutes \nles fleurs de cerisier; puis descendant plus profondément dans la conscience, en \nsuivant un courant de force bleutée, je devins tout à coup le cerisier lui-même, \ndressant vers le del, comme autant de bras, ses innombrables branches chargees \nde leur offrande fleurie. J\'entendis alors distinctement la phrase suivante:</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> &quot;Ainsi tu t\'es unie à l\'âme des \ncerisiers et tu as pu de la sorte constater que c\'est le Divin qui fait au ciel \nl\'of-frande de cette prière de fleurs.&quot; Lorsque je l\'eus écrit, tout s\'effaÇa; \nmais maintenant le sang du cerisier coule dans mes veines, et avec lui une paix \net une force incom-parables; quelle difference y a-t-il entre le corps humain et \nle corps d\'un arbre? Aucune vraiment, et la conscience qui les anime est bien \nidentiquement la même.&quot; (7.4.1917)\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Indeed the Mother\'s voice is the \nvoice of all men, all creatures, all beings, all things. She stands for the \nentire earth, not only so, she is the Earth itself; the total terrestrial being \nis embodied in her, earth\'s aspiration, and pain and yearning find utterance in \nher:\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> <sup>1</sup>&quot;Le monde douloureux \ns\'est agenouillé devant Toi, Seigneur, en muette supplication la matière \ntorturée se\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> <sup>1</sup> This sorrowful world \nkneels before Thee, O Lord, in mute supplication; this tortured Matter nestles \nat thy feet, its last, its sole refuge; and so imploring Thee, it adores Thee, \nThee whom it neither knows nor understands! Its prayer rises like the cry of one \nin a last agony; that which is disappearing feels confusedly the possibility of \nliving: again in Thee; the earth awaits Thy decree in a grandiose prostration.\n</p>\n<p class=\"pararight\"> (7.II.1915)\n</p>\n<p class=\"pageno\">Page-89</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">blottit à Tes pieds, son dernier, son unique refuge; et en T\'implorant ainsi, elle T\'adore, Toi qu\'elle ne connaît ni ne comprend ! Sa prière s\'élève comme le cri d\'un ago-jiisant; ce qui disparaît sent confusément la possibilité de revivre en Toi; la terre attend Ton arrêt dans une prosternation grandiose...&quot; \n(7-11-1915)</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThis is the second status of the Mother\'s being, the first is the personal and individual, the second is this collective and universal being. But she is not merely the universe, she is the Mother of the universe. Hers is not merely earth\'s prayer, but the prayer of the Mother of the earth. It is not merely the prayer of the universe but the prayer of the Universal Mother to the Supreme Lord for the deliverance of the universe, for the re-creation of the earth—indeed, for the deliverance of herself for the re--creation of herself out of the present ignorant manifestation:\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<sup>1&quot;</sup> O Mère, douce Mère que je suis, Tu es à la fois ce qui détruit et ce qui érige.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nL\'univers entier vit dans Ton sein de sa vie innombrable et Tu vis dans le moindre de ses atomes immensément.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nEt l\'aspiration de Ton infinitude se tourne vers Cela qui n\'est point manifesté, afin d\'implorer toujours une\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<sup>1</sup> Mother, sweet Mother, who I am, Thou art at once the destroyer and the builder.</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe whole universe lives in Thy breast with all its life innumerable and Thou livest in Thy immensity in the least of its atoms.\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nAnd the aspiration of Thy infinitude turns towards That which is <i>not </i>manifested to cry to it for a manifestation ever more complete and more perfect. (31.8.1914)\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-90</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">plus complète et plus parfaite manifestation.&quot; (31.8.1914) \n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<sup>1</sup>&quot;Je suis les bras puissants de Ta miséricorde. Je suis la vaste poitrine de Ton amour sans limites.... Les bras ont enveloppé la terre douloureuse et la pressent tendrement sur le cœur généreux; et lentement un baiser de suprême bénédiction est posé sur cet atome en conflit: le baiser de la Mère qui console et guérit...&quot; (11.8.1914) \n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<sup>2</sup>&quot;Toute la terre est dans nos bras comme un enfant malade qu\'il faut guérir et pour lequel on a, à cause même de sa faiblesse, une tendresse toute spéciale.&quot; (14.10.1914)\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe triple status of the Mother, the individual, the collective and the transcendental (or, in other words, the personal, the universal and the supra-personal) has been condensed and epitomised in the magical note describing 1er first meeting with the Lord:\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<sup>3</sup>&quot;Peu importe qu\'il y ait des milliers d\'êtres plongés dans\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<sup>1</sup>I am Thy puissant arms of mercy. I am the vast bosom of Thy limitless love.... The arms have enfolded the sorrowful earth and tenderly press it to the generous heart; slowly a kiss of supreme bene-diction settles on this atom in conflict: the kiss of the Mother that consoles and heals. (11.8.1914)\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<sup>2</sup>All the earth is in our arms like a sick child who must be cured and for whom one has a special affection because of his very weakness.\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\n(14.10.1914) \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<sup>3</sup>It matters not if there are hundreds of beings plunged in the densest ignorance. He whom we saw yesterday, is here on earth; His presence is enough to prove that a day shall come when darkness shall be transformed into light, when Thy reign shall be indeed established upon earth. (30.3.1914)\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-91</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">la plus épaisse ignorance, Celui que nous avons vu hier est sur terre; sa présence suffit à prouver qu\'un jour viendra où l\'ombre sera transformée en lumière, et où effectivement, Ton règne sera instauré sur la terre.&quot;\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"pararight\">\n(30.3.1914)\n</p>\n<p class=\"pararight\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nAnd the reality that Their manifestation upon earth has to establish, the supreme achievement of Their terrestrial existence is chanted, as it were, in these wonderfully mystic-Sibylline-lines:\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<sup>1</sup>&quot;La mort a passé vaste et solennelle et tout s\'est tu religieusement durant son passage. Une beauté surhumaine a paru sur la terre. Quelque chose de plus merveilleux que la plus merveilleuse félicité fait pressentir sa Présence.&quot; (7.11.1915)\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">(3)\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nI have spoken of the triple status, the three levels of her ascending reality, these are in view of her manifestation, of world-labour. There is however, yet another status beyond—beyond the beyond—it is the relation between the Supreme Lord and the Divine Mother in itself apart from their work, their purpose in manifestation, it is their own \'Lila\' between themselves, exclusively their own.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<sup>1</sup> Death has passed, vast and solemn, and all fell into a religious silence during its passage.\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nA superhuman beauty has appeared on the earth. \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nSomething more marvellous than the most marvellous bliss has made felt the impress of its Presence. (7.11.1915)\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-92</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">The delight of this exclusively personal play behind and beyond the creation sheds a secret aroma in and through all this existence here and it is also the source of the hidden magic that these utterances of the Prayers and Medita-tations contain, it is to this status surpassing all wonder that Sri Aurobindo refers so wistfully and so sweetly in those famous opening lines, in \'God\'s Labour\':\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nI have gathered my dreams in a silver air</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> Between the gold and the blue\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nAnd wrapped them softly and left them there\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> My jewelled dreams of you.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe delight of delights, the purest delight that exists up there in its self-sufficiency overflows, spills as it were, and a drop of that nectar of immortality is what constitutes these universes here below.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-93</p>\n</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-020_Prayers and Meditations of the Mother','','publish','closed','open','','020_prayers-and-meditations-of-the-mother','','','2021-11-23 17:21:10','2021-11-23 17:21:10','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/020_prayers-and-meditations-of-the-mother/',0,'post','',0),(1276,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:10','2021-11-23 17:21:10','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-027_India, the World and the Ashram.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"5\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>VI\n</b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>INDIA, THE WORLD AND THE ASHRAM\n</b>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">India has become the symbol representing all the difficulties of modern humanity. India will become the land of the world\'s resurrection—the resurrection of a higher and truer life.\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">1.2.1968\n</p>\n<p class=\"pararight\">The Mother</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"><i>A </i>great revelation of a great truth that concerns the whole &quot;world.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nWe know also that the earth is the symbol of the cosmic evolution. What creation means has been epitomised in earth\'s history: the earth has been chosen as the field and means of working out a cosmic plan. As the earth is the representative of the world, so India is the representative of the earth. For the evolution of the earth, India has &quot;been chosen as the channel and the laboratory; all problems confronting humanity are found as if gathered here. All that is solved here will be solved almost automatically in the world and the how of it will be shown. All difficulties are concentrated here because here there is a living consciousness which alone can solve them.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nIn the same way it may be said that our Ashram here is the symbol of all the difficulties that humanity faces, difficulties psychological and material, national and social.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-141</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">All varieties of contradictions and contraries, obstacles and impediments, ignorances and prejudices are here that confuse the issue and seek to delay the journey as much as possible, towards progress and new creation. This is because it is a place where there is behind the surface movements of negation, an aspiration and a supporting consciousness supreme in power and effectivity. The individuals here have to meet all kinds of difficulties so that a way out of them may be discovered both in the individual nature and in collective achievement.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nWe have here in the Ashram varieties of races and religions, all social types, samples of humanity as it were, each representing a particular facet of human nature, a particular possibility and its own field of work. Not only with regard to outward work or enterprise, each one carries his own inner nature different from everybody else\'s, each one has his own psychological assets and liabilities. In other words, each one undertakes the yoga of understanding and purifying himself and finding out his particular role. Apart from that, here each one is not exclusively for himself, in fact, he is not himself only but is part and parcel of a living unity, in a larger whole.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nMan carries the burden of his own sins, in a way; but in a truer sense he carries the burden of all. It is one single burden that lies equally upon everybody everywhere. Thus the burden of the universal movement is shared by all collectively in equal measure.<sup>1</sup> \nThis is true of mankind\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<sup>1</sup> Sri Aurobindo says, &quot;Even if our personal deliverance is complete, still there is the suffering of others, the world-travail, which the great of soul cannot regard with indifference. There is unity with all beings which something within us feels, and the deliverance of the others must be felt as intimate to its own deliverance.&quot;\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-142</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">in general; but it becomes dynamically true here among us where there is a conscious effort on the part of individuals to uplift and change the human consciousness. It is however the privilege of each individual to deal with one\'s share in the whole in one\'s own way, that is to say, the individual has been given the freedom and the capacity to make the burden light or let it remain or grow more heavy. It must be remembered that behind the individual a greater conscious personality has emerged and taken its place to help, to guide and fulfil the individual\'s divine destiny: even so, behind the universal effort there is a divine helping hand growing more and more powerful and effective in its manipulation of earthly forces and events. The solution of the difficulties will come from there and that can be the only solution.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nWe, who are here, living under the very eye of the supreme transfiguring force and consciousness that is working out inexorably the destinies of the individual being, the national being and the being of humanity to their divine fulfilment, we who have the privilege of not merely witnessing but collaborating in the mighty labour, however little it may be in our way, we can only bow down in thankfulness and gratefulness in the silence of our hearts.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-143</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-027_India, the World and the Ashram','','publish','closed','open','','027_india-the-world-and-the-ashram','','','2021-11-23 17:21:10','2021-11-23 17:21:10','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/027_india-the-world-and-the-ashram/',0,'post','',0),(1277,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:11','2021-11-23 17:21:11','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-017_The Relative Best.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"5\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">XVI\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>THE RELATIVE BEST </b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\"> Whatever happens is for the best—<i>under \nthe circumstances, </i>\nit must be added, for the best is the resultant of many forces pulling in all directions for and against and side­ways. The \n <i>best<b>\n </b> </i>means whatever leads to the goal, to the ultimate good, the final reality, the Supreme, the Divine. The universe is so arranged, the divine dispensation acts in such a way that every event, every circumstance, what­ever its appearance, always leads to the Supreme Goal. So it is said the way, whatever it is, straight or crooked, always guides you to your final realisation.</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Only, in the progressive march, \nthe best can always be bettered and must be bettered. In the earlier stages, \nwhen one is in ignorance and darkness lies about, the path is sure to be \ntortuous with ups and downs, aberrations and retrogressions, but as one advances \nand the consciousness grows the obscurity dissipates, gradually the path too \nstraightens itself, becomes smooth and kindly. That is how the best at one \nmoment, which may appear to the superficial consciousness, very bad or even the \nworst, is bettered —betterment means precisely this that one rises into a \nclearer consciousness, one moves along a straighter path, one takes a shorter \nand happier course to the Goal. This is true as much of the individual as of the \nworld as a whole, for the world too, like the individual, moves inevitably\n<br>\n</p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-62</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">towards its high \ndestiny—the same as or parallel to that of the individual.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> It is the best that happens \nalways for nothing else can happen but it is a relative best, relative to the \nsituation that the consciousness according to its status creates around. As the \nconsciousness advances the nature of the best is also transformed.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> There is an absolute best but \nthat can happen only when the consciousness has arrived at, attained union with \nthe Supreme Consciousness. In fact there is then no longer any path to traverse, \nthe path has lapsed or merged into the goal, the path and the goal have become \none. This does not mean that dangers and difficulties and pitfalls have to be \naccepted and welcomed but that they have to be faced in the right spirit as aids \nand helps necessary and inevitable at certain points of the journey. One must \ngrow into the consciousness that will be able to see them as such, find their \nuse and turn them into the good that lies behind or ahead.\n<br>\n</p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-63</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-017_The Relative Best','','publish','closed','open','','017_the-relative-best','','','2021-11-23 17:21:11','2021-11-23 17:21:11','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/017_the-relative-best/',0,'post','',0),(1278,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:11','2021-11-23 17:21:11','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-029_The Mystery of the five Elements.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"5\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>VIII\n</b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>THE MYSTERY OF THE FIVE ELEMENTS\n</b>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe material world, as the ancient sages viewed it, is composed of five elements. They are, as we know, (i) earth <i>(k</i>&#7779;<i>iti), </i>(2) water <i>(ap), </i>(3) fire <i>(tej), </i>(4) air <i>(maruf), </i>and (5) space or ether <i>(vyom), </i>mounting from the grossest to those that are more and more subtle. The subtlest, the topmost in the scale is space or ether. As we descend in the scale, each succeeding element becomes more and more concrete than the preceding one. Thus air is denser than space, fire is denser than air, water is denser than fire and earth is the densest of all—solidity belongs to earth alone. Water is liquid, fire gaseous, air is fluid, and ether is the most tenuous. Now this hierarchy can be considered also as a pyramid of qualities, qualities of matter and the material world tapering upward. The first one, the topmost, space, possesses the quality of sound or vibration; it is the field giving out waves that originate sound.<sup>1</sup></p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<sup>1</sup> Science, that is modern Science, will perhaps demur a little; for Science holds sound to be the exclusive property of air, it is the vibration of air that comes to the ear as sound. Where there, is no air, there is no sound. But Science itself admits now that-sound audible to the human ear is only a section of a whole gamut of vibrations of which the ear catches only a portion, vibrations of certain length and frequency. Those that are outside this limit, below or above, are not seized by the ear. So there is a sound that is unheard. The poets speak of unheard melodies.</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-151</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">&quot;The next element is air, its special quality as found in the ancient knowledge is the quality of touch: it gives the sensation of touch, you can touch it, it touches you and you recognise its existence in that way. Touch however is its own, its primary quality but it takes up also the quality of the previous, the subtler element, in order to become more and more evolved, more and more concrete, that is to say, in the material way. Air has thus a double quality, sound and touch—it is tactile, and it is sonorous. The third one, fire, has the quality of possessing a form; it has visibility in addition to the two qualities of the two previous elements, which it takes up: thus fire is visible, it can be touched—yes, it may burn also and it gives out sound. The fourth element, water, adds a fourth quality which is its own, namely, taste. Water has taste, very delightful taste to mortals. A Greek poet says water has the best taste, <i>hudor men ariston. </i>So you can taste water, you can see its form, you can touch it, you can hear it gurgle. Coming to the last, earth has all these qualities:\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe vibrations—the sound-vibrations—are in fact not merely in the air; but originally and fundamentally in a more subtle material medium, referred to by the ancients as <i>vyom. </i>The air-vibrations are derivations or translations, in a more concrete and gross medium, of these subtler vibrations. These too are heard as sound by a subtle hearing. The very original seed-sound is, of course, Om, <i>n</i>&#257;<i>da. </i>That, however, is another matter.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nLike inaudible sound, we know now, there is also invisible light. The visible light, as given in the spectrum, is only a section of the entire series of light-vibrations. There is a range above and one below—both are invisible to the normal physical eye.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-152</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">in addition, what it has is, curious to say, smell. So you can hear earth\'s vibrations, you can touch it, see it, taste it—for some earth has a very savoury taste—but its own special quality is smell: it is odorous, it is sweet-scented. Kalidasa speaks with ecstasy of the strange scent that the earth emits when the fresh rains fall upon it.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nSo, the five senses open out to the five elements, each sense linked to its own element, each sense presenting a particular aspect of the material universe. Thus ether, the subtlest element, is present to the ear, the organ of hearing, air to the skin <i>(twak) </i>the organ of touch, the fire-element (radiant energy) to the eye, the liquid to the organ of taste, and earth is given over to smell. Earth is linked with smell, perhaps because it is the perfume of creation, the dense aroma of God\'s material energy. Also earth is the summation of all the elements and all the qualities of matter. It is the epitome of the material creation. The physical beauty of earth is well-known, the landscape and seascape, its rich variegated coloration, we all admire standing upon its bosom, but up in the air, in the wide open spaces earth appears with even a more magical beauty to which cosmonauts have given glowing tribute. But even this visible beauty pales, I suppose, before the perfume it emits which is its celestial quality, that can only be described indeed as the sweet-scented body of the Divine Substance.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe five elements are thus the five orders of material existence viewed as correlates to the five senses of man. But they are also realities in their own right. They represent\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-153</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">the fundamental principles underlying or characterising the nature of matter. Science speaks of the three states of matter—solid, liquid and gaseous. The five elements enumerate five states instead. Thus earth=solid, water=liquid, fire=gaseous or radiant, air—fluid, ether or space=<i>etheric. </i>A distinction is made between gaseous and fluid, fluid being still more dispersive and tenuous. We might take air as representing the ether spoken of in science and what we have been equating with ether may be termed <i>the field</i>—the gravitational field, for example, of our days.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe last two may, however, be represented somewhat differently. The Maruts may symbolise the region of the subder or supra-electromagnetic forces—what are now called cosmic rays: they are waves or particles of such infinitesimal magnitude that some of them at least have only a mathematical substance or reality, a probability-point, although of calculable or incalculable energy! Vayu then would represent the fundamental field where these forces play—perhaps something like the Einsteinian field with its &quot;corrugated&quot; surface: or it is like the &quot;Pradhana&quot; of Sankhya, the original Prakriti or basic Nature before it burst out in its creative activity.\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\nAgain, the five elements are not merely substances or states and qualities of \nsubstance, but they are also forces and energies, material forces and \nenergies—since we have confined ourselves to matter and the material world. \nScience (we are always referring to Science, we have to do so since we are \ndealing with and speaking from the standpoint\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-154</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">of matter and material existence), Science has familiarised us with the various forms and types of forces and energies. They are, starting from the most patent and gross, going up to more and more subtle energies, first of all mechanical energy, then (2) chemical energy, (3) electrical energy, (4) gravitational energy, and finally (5) the field energy; the last two are perhaps not very clearly differentiated and distinguished, but still one may make the distinction. And this mounting ladder of energy with its various steps, with its five steps corresponds exactly to the old Indian quintet—earth, water, fire, air, space.</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThis is not to say that the ancients exactly knew the mysteries of modern scientific exploration. This only means that there is a parallelism between the ancient and the modern knowledge. The scale or hierarchy, from the most concrete substance through the subtler ones, to the subtlest, representing the constitution of the material world as conceived by the ancient seers finds a close and curious echo in the picture that modern science has drawn of material existence.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nIt must be noted, however, that parallelism means similarity but also difference. The manner of approach to the reality, the way of expressing it is different in the east and in the west. The ancients express a truth or a fact symbolically, the moderns express it in a straightforward matter-of-fact way. The ancients used symbols; for they wanted a multiple way of expression, that is to say, a symbol embodying a movement refers at the same time to many forms</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-155</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">of the same movement on different levels, along different lines, in diverse applications. It is like the multiple meanings of a verbal root in Sanskrit. The scientific terms, on the other hand, are very specific; they connote only one thing at a time. Each term with its specific sense is unilateral in its movement.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nNow furthermore, the Great Five need not be restricted to the domain of matter alone as being its divisions and levels and functions, but they may be extended to represent the whole existence, the cosmos as a whole. Indeed they are often taken to symbolise the stair of existence as a whole, the different levels of cosmic being and consciousness. Thus at the lowest rung of the ladder as always is the earth representing precisely matter and material existence; next, water represents life and the vital movement; then, fire represents the heart centre from where wells up all impulse and drive for progression. It holds the evolutionary urge: we call it the Divine Agni, the Flame of the Inner Heart, the radiant Energy of Aspiration. The fourth status or level of creation is mind or the mental world, represented by air, the Vedic Marut; finally, Vyom or space represents all that is beyond the mind, the Infinite Existeace and Consciousness. The five then give the chart, as it were, of nature\'s constitution, they mark also the steps of her evolutionary journey through unfolding time.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-156</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-029_The Mystery of the five Elements','','publish','closed','open','','029_the-mystery-of-the-five-elements','','','2021-11-23 17:21:11','2021-11-23 17:21:11','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/029_the-mystery-of-the-five-elements/',0,'post','',0),(1279,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:11','2021-11-23 17:21:11','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-004_Life in and through Death.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"5\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">III\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>LIFE IN AND THROUGH DEATH </b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\"> The soul carries the body even \nlike a corpse, says a scripture. It is a dead inert mass of inconscience \nweighing upon the conscious being that is behind. Such is the burden of life \nthat the soul bears through its earthly existence. The image is beautifully \ndelineated in the Indian legend of Shiva and Sati. Sati is dead, the bereaved \nShiva goes about in anguish with the dead body of Sati flung upon his shoulder. \nShiva is to be relieved of this burden, otherwise the creation will go to rack \nand ruin. The prayer went to Vishnu and Vishnu hurled his discus that cut to \npieces the corpse of Sati—the pieces were fifty-two in number and each spot \nwhere a piece, a limb of Sati, fell became a great place of pilgrimage. Even so, \nthe world in its inconscience lies heavy on the secret Consciousness that is \nbehind. It lies almost smothered under the dead weight of the inconscient and \nthe unconsciousness. But the Divine Grace has entered into the inertial mass and \nsplit it up, entered into each particle as a spark of consciousness to turn \ngradually the dead matter into a rising and evolving tier of consciousness.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Creation started originally with \nan absolutely inconscient existence. It is the pressure of an indwelling spirit— \nthe Grace descending into matter—that has forced matter to burst into, to flower \ninto forms of light and consciousness.</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-13</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">The pressure is ever-present and the flowering continues into \nhigher and higher modes of the Divine Consciousness. The figure \'52\' of the \nmythological legend denotes perhaps the integral multiplicity of the manifested \nuniverse. We may suggest an interpretation just to satisfy a mental curiosity: \n52=50+2; and 50 is 5x10. The number 5 is very well-known as representing the \nfive planes of consciousness, and as there is a descending and an ascend-ding \nmovement in each level—that gives the number 10. And 5 times 10 is 50. This \nmakes up the manifested creation. The remaining two are the Supreme Divine and \nhis Shakti, or two unities at each end—the one above, the one below. This \nhowever may be considered as a playful calculation meaning to represent, as I \nsaid, a multiple integrality of existence.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The injunction is: you must die \nto the world if you want the life Eternal. Even so you must die to yourself if \nyou want the Divine. The existing life which your ego has built up is a life of \nignorance, misery and decadence. Death is indeed the natural and inevitable \nconsequence; but this is a death in ignorance and bondage, it does not lead you \nto liberation and freedom. The dying that liberates is a conscious, deliberate \nmovement of intelligence and will; dying to the world means withdrawing yourself \nfrom the world and turning within. Dying to yourself means withdrawing from your \negohood and turning to the self, the being that is beyond. This withdrawal is to \nbe done constantly and consistently in all the parts of the being. The mind is \nto move away from its thoughts, the\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-14</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">vital from its desires and impulses and the body from its hunger \nand thirst. The first result of this withdrawal is a division of the being, an \ninner passive part and an outer active part. The inner part becomes gradually a \nmere witness and the outer part a mere mechanical functioning. When the \nwithdrawal is so complete that the outer being or the world has no effect upon \nthe inner, does not raise any ripple in it by its touch or contiguity then is \naccomplished the real death. Then it is said the outer existence, the material \nlife does not continue long, it comes sooner or later to a dead stop. Thus the \ninner being is liberated completely and is freed into the life beyond, the \nDivine Existence, the Brahman. It is said that when each and every seed of the \nvarious elements that compose the being, that sprouts into the luxuriant tree of \nmaterial life, when each and every seed is burnt up by the heat of mounting \'tapas\', \nthe force of aspiring consciousness, then there is no more chance or possibility \nof an ignorant earthly life, one is then naturally born into the Life of the \nEternal. That is the final, the supreme death which is <i>laya </i>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> To live away from life and \nconsequently away from death is one thing, comparatively easy; but to live in \nlife and consequently in death is another thing, somewhat more difficult. To \nwithdraw oneself from the field or death and retire in the immutability beyond \nor some form of it is what was attempted in the ancient days. But there has been \nside by side always a growing tendency in man to stay here in this vale of tears \nunder the shadow or pralaya.</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-15</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">of death, to live dangerously and face the Evil and conquer it \nhere itself; for death is not a mere negation ah annihilation of the reality, it \nis only a mask put over the reality or is its obverse. Tear off or remove the \ndisguise, you will see the smiling radiant Godhead behind.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The gold is there, the purest \ngold, but it is crusted over with dross. The dross is to be eliminated and the \nnoble metal freed. Indeed each element of the being wherever and whatever it is, \neach corpuscle, mental, vital or physical is ambivalent—it is a polarised entity \nconsisting of two parts or two ends, one pure, the other impure. The ancients \nthought that the whole creation is impure; the only pure substance is the \nDivine. The Sankhya posited clearly the demarcation between Purusha, the \nConscious Being secreted above and behind and the entire Prakriti which is \nabsolute unconsciousness. But as we have said, a new revelation has been slowly \ncoming up which speaks of a different conclusion and a different destiny for man \nand the universe. Each element of the created universe has a double nature, it \nis both conscious and unconscious, it is both immortal and mortal. And \nfurthermore, the two are not united or soldered together inextricably so that if \none is eliminated the other gets eliminated automatically. Life and death appear \nto be bound together absolutely and eternally; in fact, however, it is not so. \nEven in life, Life can be established in its single pure reality free from the \nnormal counter-point of Death. Purusha is not the only conscious element in or \nabove creation. Prakriti is not merely the unconscious being. The unconscious\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-16</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">Prakriti is only the apparent aspect of the Higher Prakriti, the \nPara Prakriti, which is supremely conscious, for it is one with the Supreme \nPurusha.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> This Higher Prakriti is the inner \nreality of each created cell of the universe. And it is always insisting and \nworking for the elimination of its counter-part, the inferior Prakriti; and \nevolution, human or cosmic is nothing but the gradual corroding of the inferior \nPrakriti by the pressure of the Light-Energy of the Higher Prakriti. One day \nwhen this lower Prakriti is dissolved in this way in each cell, the fullness of \nthe radiant manifestation, an embodiment of the Divine Reality will be realised \nupon this material earth made spiritual, in this human body made Divine.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-17</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-004_Life in and through Death','','publish','closed','open','','004_life-in-and-through-death','','','2021-11-23 17:21:11','2021-11-23 17:21:11','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/004_life-in-and-through-death/',0,'post','',0),(1280,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:11','2021-11-23 17:21:11','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-000_Pre_Content.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div class=paragraph style=\" padding:0.00pt 1.44pt 0.00pt 0.00pt; text-align:center;\">\n	<p class=\"para\"><b>\n	THE YOGA OF SRI AUROBINDO</b></p>\n	<br>\n	<br>\n	<p class=\"para\"></div>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">PART TEN</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">\n<img alt=\"yoga%20-11%20-%20full%20-%200002-1.png\" border=\"0\" src=\"/Nolini/The Yoga of Sri Aurobindo Part - 10/_images/yoga%20-11%20-%20full%20-%200002-1.png\" width=\"200\" height=\"40\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>\nSRI AUROBINDO ASHRAM </b></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>\nPONDICHERRY</b></p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">First Edition: 1969</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">January 13, 1969</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<div class=paragraph style=\" padding:0.00pt 42.96pt 0.00pt 41.04pt; text-align:center;\">\n	<p class=\"para\">&copy; Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust 1969 \n	</p>\n	<p class=\"para\">Published by Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry\n	</p>\n	<p class=\"para\">Printed at Sri Aurobindo Ashram Press, Pondicherry</div>\n<div class=paragraph style=\" padding:1.44pt 3.36pt 0.00pt 0.00pt; text-align:center;\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	PRINTED  IN  INDIA 1969</div>\n</html>\n','the-yoga-of-sri-aurobindo-part-10-000_Pre_Content','','publish','closed','open','','the-yoga-of-sri-aurobindo-part-10-000_pre_content','','','2021-11-23 17:21:11','2021-11-23 17:21:11','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/the-yoga-of-sri-aurobindo-part-10-000_pre_content/',0,'post','',0),(1281,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:11','2021-11-23 17:21:11','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-033_Cling to Truth.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"5\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>XII\n</b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>CLING TO TRUTH </b>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe Life Divine is the life of Truth. It is based on Truth, it is Truth, body and substance—Truth absolute, pure and simple. But it may be asked as we are actually in the ignorant and half-ignorant consciousness, in a world of almost total falsehood, is it not necessary, is it not inescapable for us to accept the falsehood for the moment, in order to be able to work in the world and succeed? We have to live in an environment and move in it; if we try to go against it openly, how can we do it practically? As individuals we are infinitesimal particles and the mass of the whole will bear us down each one of us and crush us out of existence. Truth is all right, but the approach to it needs to be cautious and careful. If falsehood is clever we too have to be clever. In a game where success is the aim, diplomacy and strategy are not outlawed. You have to accept certain terms of your enemy in order that certain terms of yours might be accepted. You can move to success in this mixed world only through a process of give and take. An absolute saintly attitude is not a thing of practical politics. That is why, to keep their truth unsullied, the ancients abandoned this field of practical politics, retired to the forest or into the cosy laps of the hills.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nBeware, this is the voice of the adversary trying to tempt you by confusing your mind. The path is straight and\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-172</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">narrow, it is not wide and comfortable and strewn with roses. To find the Truth, to live the Truth we must begin by finding it in its purity and living it. As is the start, so is the end. Our steadfastness, our faithfulness must be unalloyed, our sincerity of utmost purity. It is Truth alone that leads to Truth, a compromise or semblance leads only to the untruth. Your diplomacy or duplicity may bring you the coveted result or it may not; but surely it will put a layer of soot upon your soul, push you back one step more into your inconscience. And if you continue you may become the biggest success in the eyes of the world, but your soul will be nowhere, leaving behind perhaps only a hopeless sob in a wilderness. Has not the Mother said, &quot;Even if there is a particle of falsehood in your expression—in your word or in your act—how can you hope to express the Supreme Truth?&quot; Remember also the words of Sri Aurobindo: &quot;Do not imagine that truth and falsehood, light and darkness, surrender and selfishness can be allowed to dwell together in a house consecrated to the Divine. The transformation must be integral, and integral therefore the rejection of all that withstands it.&quot;<sup>1</sup>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nYou cannot elude falsehood or cajole or conjure it. You must stand face to face, gaze with unwinking eyes, the flame of Truth within you constantly ablaze.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nIf you say you are a small creature and yours a smaller light: your consciousness has not the dimensions of a heroic being, your light will be engulfied, swallowed up\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<i><sup>1</sup> The Mother.</i>\n<br>\n</p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-173</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">and lest in the vast and overwhelming gloom around. Yet small as you are, do what you can, the utmost possible for you; do not let your little flame be tarnished by any contrary or unworthy movement in you: be firm, keep it bright and trimmed. The surrounding darkness may engulf it but cannot smother it; for it is the everlasting, the Divine in you. The body, the flesh may not continue but the holy light remains. The outward frame may have to yield or dissolve in a material surrounding that was unready—not that the inner consciousness was unready. Indeed the passing body releases the light and it adds to the growing light in the earth\'s atmosphere. That is the central creed of the Christian martyr. The blood of the martyr is the cement of the Church. This truth of martyrdom, the sacrifice of the faithful was perhaps a necessity at a time when humanity had not risen high enough in consciousness and the earth\'s atmosphere was more opaque and dull than it is now. The one thing necessary at that stage was an uncompromising living faith, the pure light, the unvacillating flame, a spirit even though small standing against insurmountable odds—that was the way, the martyr\'s way to stand against the adversary. That is why in the process the God-Man sacrificed himself.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nWe are in a somewhat different age under different circumstances. At least our aim is different. We stand firm full square against all temptations, all leaning towards compromise, in the faith and certainty that we shall conquer, we shall not go down but the odds against us shall be pushed back and eliminated. This is the age of Victory.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-174</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">\nFor two things have happened—two mighty happenings in earth\'s history, in the course of nature\'s evolution here: two unseen events that have new-oriented the destiny of earth and mankind. First of all human consciousness in its essential achievement has risen to a new level of consciousness, although not in the mass, nor generally even in individuals, but there has come a common acquiescence in the being to a higher status of living—proletarianism at its best means nothing else. Human nature has shed something of its mediaeval crudeness and obscurantism, separatism and selfishness; human mind has been more sharpened and polished and widened so as to receive easily the message of the cosmic rays. There has dawned in the atmosphere the perception or sense, of a higher, purer, more luminous and enlightened status of existence. That is, one may say, Nature\'s gift, the outcome of the millennial, the aeonic working of an aspiration inherent in matter towards light and order. That is the first event. The second one is more occult but more mighty and even devastating. It is the descent, the manifestation, the intervention of a new force here below. They who have seen it know and there is no question. The Veda has declared long ago: The Unseeing have not the Knowledge, those who have eyes possess the Knowledge.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nToday, more than ever, only a little of this pure consciousness will bring you victory, not merely safety from a great perdition. Against the vast, what appears as the all-swallowing gloom of the external space, the inner space is now luminous, doubly luminous and powerful.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-175</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-033_Cling to Truth','','publish','closed','open','','033_cling-to-truth','','','2021-11-23 17:21:11','2021-11-23 17:21:11','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/033_cling-to-truth/',0,'post','',0),(1282,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:11','2021-11-23 17:21:11','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-001_Author Notes.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"5\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n	<p class=\"paracenter\">\n	THE AUTHOR</p>\n	<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<div class=paragraph style=\" padding:0.00pt 10.32pt 0.00pt 12.00pt; text-align:justify;\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	This Part of Nolini Kanta Gupta\'s\n	<i>The Yoga of Sri Aurobindo\n	 </i>series consisting of his most recent (1968) talks given to the members of the Ashram, is specially brought out to commemorate his eightieth birthday, 13 January \n	1969.</div>\n<div class=paragraph style=\" padding:12.48pt 10.80pt 0.00pt 11.76pt; text-align:justify; text-indent:10.56pt;\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	Dreamer and revolutionary, linguist, scholar, critic, poet, philosopher and man of deep spiritual realisation, Nolini Kanta Gupta stands foremost among the men of this century who are destined to leave their mark on generations to come. Born in 1889 of a cultured and well-to-do family in Bengal, he came early in his teens under the influence of Sri Aurobindo, the revolutionary par excellence, and \'a mighty prophet of Indian Nationalism\' of the age. Leaving a brilliant academic career only half-finished and spurning the lure of a lucrative position under Government, he joined a small group of brilliant young men who working under the inspiration and guidance of Sri Aurobindo in the early years of the century became a terror to the British rule and paved the way for succeeding generations to win the country\'s freedom. After having spent a year in jail as an under-trial prisoner in the historic Alipore Bomb case, he was taken in hand by Sri Aurobindo and with him he remained ever since. After the Master\'s passing he has been continuing as a trustee and the Secretary of Sri Aurobindo Ashram.</p>\n	<p class=\"para\"></div>\n	<hr>\n<div class=paragraph style=\" padding:0.00pt 11.28pt 0.00pt 11.52pt; text-align:justify; text-indent:10.32pt;\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	His apprenticeship in writing commenced as a sub­editor of the two journals conducted by Sri Aurobindo in 1909 and 1910. He was taught Greek, Latin, French and Italian by the Master himself; and the knowledge he acquired then has borne ample fruit during the past half a century of almost incessant writing on a variety of themes. He has about 60 books to his credit, of which about 16 are in English and 44 in Bengali, not to speak of innumerable articles and poems in English, Bengali and French, scattered in the periodicals of the time. As an exponent of the revelations of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, he stands supreme. And his interests are as varied as are remarkable the clarity, succinctness, elegance, and originality of his thought. His early training in Sanskrit enabling him to cover the wide range of Sanskrit literature up to the Vedic and Upanishadic lore and in the classical languages of the West has given him a literary acumen which he has brilliantly employed in some of his most outstanding studies in modern and early Bengali literature.</p>\n	<p class=\"para\"></div>\n<div class=paragraph style=\" padding:0.00pt 11.52pt 0.00pt 12.00pt; text-align:justify; text-indent:9.84pt;\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	As a critic of Tagore\'s works, he is recognised as an authority. His originality of thought and literary talents were recognised and commended by Rabindranath Tagore himself four decades ago. His monograph on the Poet was published on the occasion of his last centenary in\n	1961.</p>\n	<p class=\"para\"></div>\n<div class=paragraph style=\" padding:0.00pt 11.28pt 0.00pt 12.24pt; text-align:justify; text-indent:10.32pt;\">\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	He is no inconsiderable a poet in the French language and he has been rendering into English almost all the talks and writings of The Mother from the original French. He is equally at home in English and in his mother-tongue Bengali; the latter he has particularly enriched</div>\n	<hr>\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	by some of the most penetrating studies of the import of recent explorations of science. He has been editing two of the most important periodicals, in English and Bengali, published by the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry. He holds the position of Dean of the Faculty of Languages at the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education to which he is a constant inspiration.</p>\n	<br>\n	<p class=\"pararight\">\n	Sisirkumar Mitra</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-001_Author Notes','','publish','closed','open','','001_author-notes','','','2021-11-23 17:21:11','2021-11-23 17:21:11','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/001_author-notes/',0,'post','',0),(1283,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:11','2021-11-23 17:21:11','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-013_The Divine Grace and Love.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"5\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>XII\n</b>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>THE DIVINE GRACE AND LOVE </b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\"> The Mother says that there can be \nLove without Grace as there can also be Grace without Love, although the two are \nessentially one and the same.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Grace means gift, it is a gesture \nof the giving of boon from the Divine. The Divine gives out of His Plenitude \nwhat we want, what we need, what we should have, naturally as per His choice. \nThe most obvious, the most external, superficial and concrete form of gift is \nwhat meets our physical material need. And protection is the most appreciated \nand the most readily available treasure. Protection in its larger sense, \nincludes all kinds and modes of welfare from the most physical to the utmost \nspiritual. When the aspirant prays: \'Lead us not to temptations, give us purity \nand peace and truth,\' God\'s answer is His Grace.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> But instead of giving any boon, \nany treasure physical or material or even spiritual, however precious, instead \nof giving anything the Divine may give Himself to one who approaches Him; then \nit becomes something more than the Grace, it is Love, the Divine\'s Love—His own \nSelf. It is His own substance, His own delight of being that He gives, not \nanything external or extraneous. One remembers the story of Arjuna and \nDuryodhana. Duryodhana approached Krishna and thought the utmost, the best that \nhe could secure from Krishna was Krishna\'s battalions,<br>\n</p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-47</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">for that seemed to him the \nmost precious gift of all, for that is the thing he would need most in the \ncoming battle. Arjuna asked for nothing else but Krishna Himself.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Grace is of Maheshwari, that is \nto say, it is the special attribute, a particular emanation of her own self, it \nis a form of herself in an attitude that belongs particularly to her. Love is of \nMahalaxmi, it is her own special form and gesture. Or, varying the image we may \nsay Grace is Shiva, the benign white radiance on the supreme heights enveloping \nthe creation in its calm immutable compassion; while Krishna is Love, the \nimmortal delight dwelling in the heart of mortality.\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<br>\n</p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-48</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-013_The Divine Grace and Love','','publish','closed','open','','013_the-divine-grace-and-love','','','2021-11-23 17:21:11','2021-11-23 17:21:11','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/013_the-divine-grace-and-love/',0,'post','',0),(1284,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:11','2021-11-23 17:21:11','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-012_Beyond Love and Hate.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"5\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>Section Three </b>\n</p>\n<br>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>XI\n</b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>BEYOND LOVE AND HATE </b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\"> The Mother says Love and Hate are \nat bottom the same thing. At the centre there is the same substance in both, it \nis the obverse and reverse of the same stuff. It is a vibration, it is a unique \nvibration, a vibration of extreme intensity, of extreme intimacy. At the centre \nthere is this one single movement although at the periphery it becomes \ndifferent, even contradictory. As the movement starts from the centre, and \nproceeds outward it differentiates itself, becomes more and more different, \ncontrary, even contradictory to what it was at its origin. Hatred with all its \nmost ugly features appears in the place of what was once a smiling beauty. \nIndeed, Love itself as we know it, as it is at the outside on the periphery, is \nequally a deformation and aberration like Hatred. Hatred kills but Love devours, \nvitally in man, literally in some of the lower species of animals. Human love \nand human hatred are both perversions, falsified expressions of another truth \nbehind. It is human ignorance and prejudice that appreciates one and deprecates \nthe other. Yet both have the same root, the flowering of the same seed or it is \nsomewhat like the two opposite kinds of electricity—positive and negative. The \ntwo charges have opposite signs but they attract each other and although in the \nexpression and action they are contradictory, they are both charges of\n<br>\n</p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-45</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">electrical energy and therefore \nsubstantially they are one and the same.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> We may extend this viewpoint and \nfind the resolution of all contrariness and contradictoriness. Paradoxically one \nmay say then all contradictions are an apparent illusion, all contradictions \nnaturally and inevitably mean an inmost unity and identity. Even so the Brahman \nand the world or the Purusha and the Prakriti are apparent negations to each \nother, the duality is in the ordinary ignorant consciousness, but the two are \none in the supreme indivisible consciousness. \n<br>\n</p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-46</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-012_Beyond Love and Hate','','publish','closed','open','','012_beyond-love-and-hate','','','2021-11-23 17:21:11','2021-11-23 17:21:11','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/012_beyond-love-and-hate/',0,'post','',0),(1285,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:12','2021-11-23 17:21:12','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-023_A True Professor.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"5\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>II\n</b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>A TRUE PROFESSOR </b>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThe Mother says a professor, a true professor, must be truly a yogi. That is to say, a teacher, even a schoolteacher, one imparting what is called secular education, has to be nothing less than a yogi. The Indian term for teacher is \'guru\' and \'guru\' meant a teacher both spiritual and secular. This distinction of the two words is made by the modern spirit, it did not belong to the ancient culture. The secular knowledge was also considered a necessary part of the spiritual knowledge, that which prepared for it and led towards it. The \'apara vidaya\' or the \'vedangas\' were but limbs of the supreme knowledge \'para vidya\' and \'veda\'.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nA teacher has to be a yogi does not mean that he is <i>to be </i>a paragon of moral qualities, following, for example, the ten commandments scrupulously. Not to tell a lie, not to lose temper, to be patient, impartial, to be honest and unselfish, all these more or less social qualities have their values but something else is needed for the true teacher, something of another category and quality. I said social qualities, I might say also mental qualities. The consciousness of the teacher has to be other than mental, something deeper, more abiding, more constant, less relative, something absolute. Do we then prescribe the supreme Brahma-consciousness for the teacher? Not\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-124</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">quite. We mean the consciousness of a soul, the living light that is within every aspiring human being. It is a glad luminousness in the heart that can exist with or without the brilliant riches of a cultivated brain. And one need not go so far as the vedantic Sachchidananda consciousness.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nThat is the first and primary necessity. When the teacher approaches the pupil, he must know how to do it in and through that inner intimate consciousness. It means a fundamental attitude, a mode of being of the whole nature rather than a scientific procedure: all the manuals of education will not be able to procure you this treasure. It is an acquisition that develops or manifests spontaneously through an earnest desire, that is to say, aspiration for it. It is this that establishes a strange contact with the pupil, radiates or infuses the knowledge, even the learning that the teacher possesses, infallibly and naturally into the mind and brain of the pupil.</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nBooks and programmes are of secondary importance, they are only a scaffolding, the building within is made of a different kind of bricks. A happy luminous consciousness within is the teacher\'s asset, with that he achieves all without it he fails always.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nIf the teacher is to be a yogi, the pupil on his side must be at least an aspirant. But I suppose a pupil, so long as he is a child, is a born aspirant. For, as the Mother says, a child\'s consciousness retains generally something of the pure inner consciousness for sometime at least until it is overshadowed by the development of the body and\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-125</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">the mind in the ordinary normal way. Something of this, we know, has been expressed in the famous lines of the visionary English poet:\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nOur birth is but a sleep and a forgetting; \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> The Soul that rises with us, our life\'s Star, Hath had elsewhere its setting, And cometh from afar... \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> But trailing clouds of glory do we come From God, who is our home: \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> Heaven lies about us in our infancy! \n</p>\n<p class=\"para\"> Shades of the prison-house begin to close Upon the growing Boy...\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nBut if the right teacher is found, that pure flame in the child\'s consciousness can be kept burning, can even be made to burn brighter and higher. A teacher too on his side in the presence of a pure child-flame in his pupil may profit by its warm touch; for the two by their intimate interaction grow together towards a greater fulfilment in both.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">\nWhen we speak or think of education and consider the relation of the teacher and the pupil, we generally confine ourselves to the mental domain, that is to say, aim wholly or mainly at the intellectual acquisition and attainment, and only sometimes as per necessity as it were we turn at most to the moral domain, that is to say, we look for the growth of character, of good manners and behaviour— social values as we have said. Here we have tried to bring\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-126</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">into the educationist\'s view a more important, a much more important and interesting domain—a new dimension of consciousness.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-127</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-023_A True Professor','','publish','closed','open','','023_a-true-professor','','','2021-11-23 17:21:12','2021-11-23 17:21:12','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/023_a-true-professor/',0,'post','',0),(1286,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:12','2021-11-23 17:21:12','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-009_Consciousness as Freedom.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"5\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>Section Two </b>\n</p>\n<br>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>VIII\n</b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"><b>CONSCIOUSNESS AS FREEDOM </b>\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\"> Consciousness is liberty, \nunconsciousness is slavery. When you are unconscious you are a prey to all kinds \nof forces and beings outside yourself and over which you have no control. You \nare a plaything in the hands of any power or influence that seeks to possess you \nand when you are in such a state it is the undesirable powers that seek and \nsecure hospitality in you. It is only when you become conscious that you begin \nto react to the outside forces that try to control you or utilise you.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> In the lower creation it is \nalways a play of divergent forces and the individual being is only a field, a \npassive field for the play of cosmic or collective forces. It is in, man, with \nthe awakening of an individual consciousness in him, that a movement of \nself-assertion, of willed reaction has started in nature, that is to say, one is \nno more content with playing the role of a slave executing helplessly what is \ndemanded of him by an external agent but is now making his own terms and \npropositions. That is how man is man because he is creating his own self and his \nown environment.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Consciousness, however, is not \nmere consciousness, that is to say, awareness; it is also power, power for \norganisation and execution. It is unconsciousness that is or invariably leads to \ndisorderliness, disorganisation and. \n<br>\n</p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-35</p>\n<hr>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">confusion. It is the light of consciousness that brings order \nout of chaos, gives an organised direction to forces moving at random and with \nno purpose. Man has started organising his life since he acquired the light of \nconsciousness. He has been doing the yoga of the intelligent will (Gita\'s <i>\nbuddhi-yoga) </i>\nsince his \nadvent upon earth. But even in man this force of light, the energy of \nconscious­ness is not fully operative because man is not fully con­scious, he is \nonly partially so. His mind is conscious and has developed into intelligence (a \nlittle strayed into in-tellectuaUty); but there are large domains in him that \nare wholly unconscious, that is to say, move in mechanical rounds, a passive \nslave of external impacts. I am refer­ring to his vital being and his physical \nbeing. Even like the mind these too must admit into themselves the light of the \nconsciousness in order to free themselves from the influence of other external \nforces and attain the sense of their own truth and self-fulfilment.</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Indeed each part, even each \nconstituent element of our being has an individuality of its own, a personal \nbeing and consciousness. And it is because it is not aware of that inner \nreality, because it has fallen unconscious, therefore it has entered into this \nlife of bondage and slavery and mechanical existence. When life becomes \nconscious, the life-energy becomes luminous, the vital being gradually gains \nself-control and self-direction. Instead of being moved about by irresponsible \nand irrepressible desires and impulses it attains a clarity as to what it should \ndesire and what it should effectuate; and along with that light\n<br>\n</p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-36</p>\n<hr>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">secures the strength also to act up to the directions of that \nlight.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The body too similarly can be \nfilled with light and light-energy; instead of being wholly at the mercy of the \nphysical environment, the natural conditions around or even subject to its own \ninnate or atavistic suggestions, it can be aware of its true reality, its inner \nnature, its higher potentialities.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> I have spoken of the light in the \nmind, the consciousness that has awakened there and has organised its activities \nas an autonomous unit. But we must not forget that it is only partially so. The \nautonomy is very limited, for a good part of the human mind is far from being \nconscious, there is a part half-conscious and a part almost wholly unconscious. \nThis hemisphere so to say is under the influence of the vital and the physical \nbeing with their unconscious and ill-organised influence. The true light comes \nfrom elsewhere, the mind in so far as it receives the light becomes conscious \nand proportionately autonomous. The light is always the spiritual light, the \nconsciousness of the spirit which is above and beyond mind. Not only the mind \nbut the vital too, and the physical too in order to be consciously organised and \nfree and autonomous must know how to take in that light beyond the mind and \nbathe in its liberating influence.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> In fact, education means \nprecisely this instilling of the consciousness into the part that is sought to \nbe educated. Usually the thing is done in a different way which is wrong, at \nleast an inefficient way. By education we usually\n</p>\n<p class=\"pageno\">Page-37</p>\n<hr>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\">mean exercising, that is teaching some exercises mostly of \nmemory on some subject in which one seeks education. It is more or less an \nexercise of mechanical repetition. Whether it is of the mind or of the body the \nprocedure is the same. As the muscles of the body are sought to be strengthened \nand developed through repetitive exercises, the mental faculties too are put \nunder a training \nthat consists of similar repetitive exercises. To store the mind with as many kinds of information as possible, hammer all ingredients of knowledge into the brain cells—learning by rote as it is termed, this is what education normally means; but as I said, it is consciousness that is to be evoked in the mind and it is not done by mere mechanical exercises. Even the body does not reach its true perfection unless the exercises are attended with consciousness, awareness, a play of light into the movements of the body, into the limbs that participate in the play of the exercises. Naturally the vital does not need any exercise for its development, it is naturally \n <i>exercised,  </i>\nmuch exercised. It has to be not  <i>\nex­ercised  </i>\nbut  <i>\nexorcised,  </i>\nthat is to say, purified and controlled. And that means the introduction of the pure light of con­sciousness into it.</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> I have laid stress on <i>\nconsciousness, </i>\nbut consciousness has three facets or steps. The first is simple consciousness, the next is self-consciousness and the last supra-consciousness. First you become conscious of a thing, next you become conscious that you are conscious of the thing, last some­thing else is conscious in and through your consciousness.<br></p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-38</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-009_Consciousness as Freedom','','publish','closed','open','','009_consciousness-as-freedom','','','2021-11-23 17:21:12','2021-11-23 17:21:12','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/009_consciousness-as-freedom/',0,'post','',0),(1287,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:12','2021-11-23 17:21:12','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-014_THE EXPANDING BODY-CONSCIOUSNESS.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"6\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">THE EXPANDING BODY-CONSCIOUSNESS\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\"> The\nfield of our physical activity is very \nlimited. If you look at it closely you will find it indeed extremely narrow and \nour capacities confined within a small circle. We are bound by the outline of \nour material body. I cannot, for instance, be sitting in my room and at the same \ntime doing gymnastics in the playground. If you wish to do one thing you cannot \ndo another, if you are at one place you cannot be at another simul­taneously. \nHow convenient it would be if while I was writing at the table, I could get \nthere immediately a book from a far-off shelf for consultation without moving or \ntaking anybody\'s help! And yet is the thing so very impossible? We know, for \nexample, of extra­ordinary—at least, queer—things happening at what are called \n&quot;spirit <i>s</i>é<i>ances&quot;, </i>things that cannot be ex­plained by the normal \nfunctioning of the body senses; they are explained as interventions from the \nspirit world. In reality, however, spirits or ghosts have, in general, very \nlittle to do in this matter. It is action not of disembodied beings but of the \nnormal human ener­gies—especially the vital or life energy—freed from the body\'s \ncontrol and exerting itself independently. An</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-43</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">example, a true fact that happened, will best illustrate what I \nmean to say.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> A young man, in Paris, a clerk at \na railway station, used to receive there his <i>fianc</i>ée<i> </i>and her \nmother from time to time. One day he was expecting them and waiting for the \ntrain time; they had to come by train. As he was busy with his work at the \ntable, at about the appointed hour, people around saw him all on a sudden \nbending down his head with a loud shout and then resting it on the table; he lay \nunconscious. In the meantime, what happened on the other side was a terrible \nrailway disaster: the two women were involved in it. The trains were smashed and \nall passengers killed or mortally wounded. But, curious to say, the young woman, \nthe <i>fiancee, </i>was found, living and almost unscathed, in the midst of the \ndebris, within a sort of cover made by a fallen beam that lay across over her. \nShe was pulled out with only a few bruises upon her body. Here is, however, the \nyoung man\'s version of the story. He said that as he was working at the table, \nsuddenly he heard the voice of his <i>fiancee </i>calling loudly for help and he \nsaw in a flash, as it were, the situation she was in, he rushed out, not \nphysically indeed, and ran and threw himself over the body of his <i>fiancee </i>\nto protect her; that is the only thing he could do. As a result he did in fact \nprotect her. True, he did not rush out in his body, for that matter, if he had\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-44</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">done, it would have been of no use. What rushed out of him was \nhis vital body, a formation of that life energy which is most close to the body \nand almost as concrete as physical energy but much more powerful and effective. \nThis vital power concentrated and projected out of him acted as a veritable \nshield over the woman. The young man himself, curious to say, bore marks of \nbruises upon his head as if a huge load had fallen upon it. A strong impact upon \nthe vital can and does leave scars upon the material body: it is not an uncommon \nphenomenon. Many of the Christian saints (Saint Francis of Assisi, for example) \nare reported to have borne on their body the marks —the stigmata—of crucifixion \nof Christ\'s body; Rama-krishna too, it is said, once showed marks of scouring on \nhis back when a boy was whipped in his presence.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> All this means that the physical \nbody is not man\'s sole means of action in the physical world. The physical \nextends and expands into more and more subtle modes of activity and all the \nmore, not less, effective for that very reason. Behind the physical lies the \nsubtle physical, behind which again is the vital physical and then the various \ngrades of the vital. Indeed the vital or life energy as a whole is the real \ndynamism of all our physical activities and if it usually acts through its \nbodily instruments, it can act independently of them too; normally too it often \nacts in this way,\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-45</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">only we are not conscious or observant enough to notice. A \nconscious concentration of the vital energy directed upon a material object can \nhandle it with the effectivity of material energy. When it needs physical \nconditions it creates them, as the protective vital energy of the young man \ncreated the physical disposition of objects that formed a covert for the girl.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> In the present case, the \nphenomenon happened automatically, without any premeditation on the part of the \npersons concerned; because the sympathy between the two was so strong, other \nconsiderations did not weigh in the balance against it. Needless to say, if one \nwishes to obtain conscious mastery of this occult power, one will have to go \nthrough a long and arduous discipline. But, if difficult, the thing is not \nimpossible. In the matter of physical feats, for example, a particular \ndevelopment may seem for the moment beyond your reach; but with practice and \npersistence, stubborn will and wise guidance, you can not only arrive at your \nimmediate end but do much more. The story of many who have broken Olympic \nrecords is revealing in this respect. In the same way, one can master the subtle \nforces, if one goes about the thing earnestly and in the right way. It is more \ndifficult—much more perhaps—but the way is there provided the will is there.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-46</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-014_THE EXPANDING BODY-CONSCIOUSNESS','','publish','closed','open','','014_the-expanding-body-consciousness','','','2021-11-23 17:21:12','2021-11-23 17:21:12','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/014_the-expanding-body-consciousness/',0,'post','',0),(1288,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:12','2021-11-23 17:21:12','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-011_HOW TO WAIT.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"6\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">HOW TO WAIT\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\">&quot;If you know how to wait, you gain time&quot;. Usually, when you are \nabout to do a thing, the impulse is to rush towards it and rush it through; \nbetween the idea and the execution you do not want to leave any gap. You are in \na haste to see the thing done. You do not care to pause and look about you, view \nand weigh the conditions and circumstances, think out the best way of working \ntowards the goal. The result of the hustle is failure, very often dead failure. \nYou have to begin over again. You may even have to begin over and over again if \nyou do not learn the lesson given. Evidently, you lose time, lose energy and \nlose your success. On the contrary, what you have to do before you actually take \nup your work is not to jump at it, but understand what it means and involves, \nhave before your mind\'s eye a clear figure or pattern of the thing to be \nundertaken, not to go upon a vague and indefinite notion about it, something \nthat will take shape—that will take care of itself—as you proceed. You must have \na clear conception of your work and also you must find out the exact ways and \nmeans, have at your elbow the best possible implements.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-30</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">It is only when you are fully armed with the necessary equipment \nthat you can be sure of success without any waste of time or energy.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> And then there is a time, a \npropitious time for everything. A thing cannot be done at any time, it has its \nown appointed hour; you cannot succeed even if you attempt a hundred times \nbefore that hour strikes. But when the time is ripe, how easily a thing seems to \nget done! In what does this ripeness of time consist, what are the marks of the \npropitious hour? It is when you are in complete possession of the right \ninstruments and when the disposition of circumstances is such that they concur \nto help and execute and not mar and obstruct. But how to find out or recognise \nwhen such conditions are available? Not by your mind or external reasoning. You \nmust have the intuition, an instinctive perception of the situation. Always the \nindication is there in the very poise of your consciousness. That is to say, \nwhen it is filled with a great calm, trust and confidence, a luminous \nconcentration.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-31</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-011_HOW TO WAIT','','publish','closed','open','','011_how-to-wait','','','2021-11-23 17:21:12','2021-11-23 17:21:12','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/011_how-to-wait/',0,'post','',0),(1289,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:12','2021-11-23 17:21:12','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-001_Pre_Content.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"6\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n	<p class=\"paracenter\">\n	<img alt=\"129%20-%200001-1.jpg\" border=\"0\" src=\"/Nolini/The Yoga of Sri Aurobindo Part - 6/_images/129%20-%200001-1.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"478\"></p>\n	<hr>\n	<p class=\"paracenter\">\n	THE YOGA OF SRI AUROBINDO<br>\n	<br>\n	Part Six<br>\n	<p class=\"paracenter\">\n	<br>\n	NOLINI KANTA GUPTA<p class=\"paracenter\"><p class=\"paracenter\">\n	<br>\n	<br>\n	Sri aurobindo ashram \n	<p class=\"paracenter\">\n	pondicherry<hr>\n	<p class=\"paracenter\">\n	Publishers: </p>\n	<p class=\"paracenter\">\n	Sri Aurobindo Ashram </p>\n	<p class=\"paracenter\">\n	Pondicherry<br>\n	</p>\n	<p class=\"paracenter\">\n	<br>\n	All Rights Reserved<br>\n	</p>\n	<p class=\"paracenter\">\n	<br>\n	First Edition .. 1953</p>\n	<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n	<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n	<p class=\"paracenter\">\n	<br>\n	<br>\n	Sri Aurobindo Ashram Press </p>\n	<p class=\"paracenter\">\n	Pondicherry </p>\n	<p class=\"paracenter\">\n	Printed in India</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','the-yoga-of-sri-aurobindo-part-6-001_Pre_Content','','publish','closed','open','','the-yoga-of-sri-aurobindo-part-6-001_pre_content','','','2021-11-23 17:21:12','2021-11-23 17:21:12','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/the-yoga-of-sri-aurobindo-part-6-001_pre_content/',0,'post','',0),(1290,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:12','2021-11-23 17:21:12','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-009_TOTAL TRANSFORMATION DEMANDS TOTAL REJECTION.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"6\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">TOTAL TRANSFORMATION DEMANDS TOTAL \nREJECTION\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\"> To a positive side in the \nsadhana, there must also be a negative one. Realisation or experience, on one \nside, must be accompanied by rejection of things that oppose it, on the other. \nPeople wonder why a beautiful experience fades away too soon or does not repeat \neasily, why a happy condition does not continue long but is followed almost \ninevitably by a condition of despond.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The reason is very simple. The \nexperience or realisation is not a total one, that is to say, it belongs to a \npart only of the nature and is not shared by other parts. The sadhak is not of \none piece: the whole of his nature is not worked to the same pitch and \namplitude, it is not equally responsive everywhere. Thus, when the psychic \nbrings forward an experience and the inner consciousness is full of the light \nand energy and joy and faith, even then, in the background or by the side, if \nyou are vigilant and observe carefully, you will see that the mind, the external \nmind, has its reservations or continues to move in its accustomed way. It looks \naskance at the experience, criticises or doubts; or it tries to understand or \nexplain in its own\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-24</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">terms, seize it within its frame of comprehension. Or else, the \nvital rises up and tries to get hold of the experience and utilise it for its \nown purposes; it is enjoyed as a tasty food, made to serve the vital\'s ambition \nor vanity, some lower ignorant egoistic urge. Or again, the physical, the body \nconsciousness, may not at all participate in the experience; it may remain \nindifferent, listless, lethargic with no impulse or enthusiasm to carry out in \npractice the experience of the inner consciousness. Any of these drags or \ncross-currents is sufficient to maim and diminish and finally even wipe out the \nexperience: and usually all the three are there to combine and reinforce each \nother\'s efforts to do the mischief.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The remedy is to turn back and \nhold to the spot of light that is there in the consciousness, the clarity or the \naspiration that belongs to the inner and higher being. That has to be used as a \ntorch, as a staff to support and guide you in your periods of darkness and \nvacillation. That beam of burning light should be thrown, in turn, upon those \nparts in you that besiege with their obscurity and inconscience, doubt and \narrogance, the realisation that comes, the progress on the way. It must be done \nwith firmness, vigilance and perseverance. The mixture has to be sorted out, the \ndross separated, kept on one side and the pure element on the other: the \nimpurities have to be put\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-25</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">under the flame-light to melt, burn away and be eliminated. And \nthis means an ardent sincerity, for that is the tinder which keeps the fire \nalight.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> And sincerity demands often a \nsevere dealing with oneself; it involves accepting an inconvenience, inflicting \neven a painful pressure. One has to be prepared for such a turn, one has to \nwelcome it even at times. The part that is unwilling or refractory has to feel \nthe wrench, if it is to be cleansed and corrected.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Indeed, the experience of joy in \nthe very process of suffering is a common experience with the saint and the \nmartyr. We know of innumerable instances where the fierce torture of the flesh \nwas drowned, overwhelmed in the ecstasy of the inner aspiration; the vital \nenthusiasm drawn from the inner flame suffuses, courses through the nerves and \ntissues with such energy and impetus that it effectively blocks out the invading \nreaction of pain. It is a discipline that has its value even for a sadhak of the \nsunlit path.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-26</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-009_TOTAL TRANSFORMATION DEMANDS TOTAL REJECTION','','publish','closed','open','','009_total-transformation-demands-total-rejection','','','2021-11-23 17:21:12','2021-11-23 17:21:12','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/009_total-transformation-demands-total-rejection/',0,'post','',0),(1291,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:12','2021-11-23 17:21:12','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-028_THE WONDER OF IT ALL.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"6\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">THE WONDER OF IT ALL\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\"> The ordinary consciousness takes \nfor granted the things that exist as they are. It does not question; it finds \neverything very natural and as a matter of course. It sees and expects to see \nthe same old familiar things repeated and is not struck by any extraordinary \nnote in them. That is the unconsciousness of the ordinary consciousness. But \nwhen you begin to be conscious, when you look about and gaze at things, you \nawake, as it were, from sleep, and begin to question, to wonder: why it is like \nthis, how is it so, what is it, to what purpose etc. etc. Normally you see the \nsun rises, rain falls, earth rotates—but you do not spend a thought over any of \nthese objects or happenings, except so far as they are useful or simple \nnuisance. But when there is a light in you and you become conscious, conscious \nof yourself and of things around you, everything acquires an importance, a sense \nand you are full of wonder, wondering at a wonderful creation. The more you \nadvance, the more the light grows in you, all the more your wonder increases. As \nyour awareness increases, your interest too increases. A new beauty surrounds, \nflows out of every object and event.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-86</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">You do not take things for granted and let them pass \nmechanically, but meet every one of them as a guest, with whom you wish to make \nacquaintance and be familiar, each one having a message for you and yourself \nsomething to deliver. That is a source of inexhaustible delight and of ever \nincreasing knowledge.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-87</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-028_THE WONDER OF IT ALL','','publish','closed','open','','028_the-wonder-of-it-all','','','2021-11-23 17:21:12','2021-11-23 17:21:12','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/028_the-wonder-of-it-all/',0,'post','',0),(1292,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:12','2021-11-23 17:21:12','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-033_IDENTIFICATION OF CONSCIOUSNESS.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"6\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">IDENTIFICATION OF CONSCIOUSNESS\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The\n<i>Prayers<sup>1</sup> </i>speak always of the identification of consciousness with the Supreme. There is also the other identification of the consciousness, on the other side, namely, with things and beings, with the world outside: to that also the Prayers refer constantly. In reality, however, there is only one consciousness; it is everywhere, in all objects, in the universe and be­yond. When a limit is put around it somewhere, a frame is erected, then it becomes or appears to be­come an individual consciousness. It is man\'s ego, a spot or point cutting and shutting itself off from the global consciousness, that has thus separated from the Divine; it is that ego, that separative consciousness which is asked to break the limits and regain its na­tural unity with the one consciousness. And when it can do so it is said to have made the identification with the Supreme. Apart from this, however, when the consciousness has separated and individualised it­self in different centres, even then it exists and acts in hiding in all the multiple varieties of forms, from</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> <i><sup>1</sup> Prayers and \nMeditations of the Mother</i>\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-103</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">the tiniest to the biggest. The same consciousness is alive in \nthe atom, the stone, the plant, the animal, in the earth and the sun and the \nstars, in the universe as a whole. Each object big or small, living or \nnon-living, conscious or unconscious, contains that consciousness at its centre \nand embodies or expresses it in various ways.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Consider, for example, your \ncountry, India. When you say &quot;India&quot;, what do you mean to convey? Is it the \ngeographical boundary that goes by the name or the expanse of soil contained \nwithin that boundary or its hills and rivers, forests and fields or the beasts \nthat range in it or its human inhabitants or all of these together? No, it is \nsomething else; it is a centre of consciousness which has as its bodily frame \nthe particular geographical boundary: it is that which dwells in its mountains \nand meadows, vibrates in its vegetation, lives and moves in its animal kingdom; \nand it is that which is behind the mind and aspiration of its people, animating \nits culture and civilisation and moving it towards higher and higher \nilluminations and achievements. It is not India alone, but every country upon \nearth has its consciousness, which is the central core of its life and culture. \nNot only so, even the earth itself, the earth as a whole, has a consciousness at \nits centre and is the embodiment of that consciousness: and earth\'s evolution \nmeans the growth\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-104</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">and expression of that consciousness. Likewise the sun too has a \nsolar consciousness, a solar being presiding over its destiny. Further, the \nuniverse too has a cosmic consciousness, one and indivisible, moving and guiding \nit. And still beyond there lies the transcendental consciousness, outside \ncreation and manifestation.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Consciousness being one and the \nsame everywhere fundamentally, through your own consciousness you can identify \nwith the consciousness that inhabits any other particular formation, any object \nor being or world. You can, for example, identify your consciousness with that \nof a tree. Stroll out one evening, find a quiet place in the countryside; choose \na big tree—a mango tree, for instance—and go and take your seat at its root, \nwith your back resting or leaning against the trunk. Still youself, be quiet and \nwait, see or feel what happens in you. You will feel as if something is rising \nup within you, from below upward, coursing like a fluid, something that makes \nyou feel at once happy and contented and strong. It is the sap mounting in the \ntree with which you have come in contact, the vital force, the secret \nconsciousness in the tree that is comforting, restful and health-giving. Well, \ntired travellers sit under a banian tree, birds rest upon its spreading \nbranches, other animals—and even beings too (you must have heard of ghosts \nhaunting\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-105</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">a tree)—take shelter there. It is not merely for the cool or \ncosy shade, not merely for the physical convenience it gives, but the vital \nrefuge or protection that it extends. Trees are so living, so sentient that they \ncan be almost as friendly as an animal or even a human being. One feels at home, \nsoothed, protected, strengthened under their overspreading foliage.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> I will give you one instance. \nThere was an old mango tree in one of our gardens—very old, leafless and dried \nup, decrepit and apparently dying. Everybody was for cutting it down and making \nthe place clean and clear for flowers or vegetables. I looked at the tree. \nSuddenly I saw within the dry bark, at the core, a column of thin and dim light, \na light greenish in colour, mounting up, something very living. I was one with \nthe consciousness of the tree and it told me that I should not allow it to be \ncut down. The tree is still living and in a fairly good health. As a young girl \nbarely in my teens I used to go into the woods not far from Paris (Bois de \nFontainebleau): there were huge oak trees centuries old perhaps. And although I \nknew nothing of meditation then, I used to sit quietly by myself and feel the \nlife around, the living presence of something in each tree that brought to me \ninvariably the sense of health and happiness.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Another instance will show \nanother kind of identification. It is an experience to which I have often\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-106</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">referred. I was seated, drawn in and meditating. I felt that my \nphysical body was dissolving or changing: it was becoming wider and wider, \nlosing its human characters and taking gradually the shape of a globe. Arms, \nlegs, head were no longer there: it became spherical, having exactly the form of \nthe earth. I felt I had become the earth: I was the earth in form and substance \nand all terrestrial objects were in me, animals and people, living and moving in \nme, trees and plants and even inanimate objects as part of myself, limbs of my \nbody: I was the earth-consciousness incarnate.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> But the point is to be this \nindividual consciousness anywhere or everywhere and still to maintain the \nhigher, the universal and transcendent, the supreme consciousness, to be \nsimultaneously conscious in both the modes to the utmost degree.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-107</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-033_IDENTIFICATION OF CONSCIOUSNESS','','publish','closed','open','','033_identification-of-consciousness','','','2021-11-23 17:21:12','2021-11-23 17:21:12','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/033_identification-of-consciousness/',0,'post','',0),(1293,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:13','2021-11-23 17:21:13','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-012_FATIGUE AND WORK.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"6\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">FATIGUE AND WORK\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\"> Fatigue, it is said, comes from \noverwork. The cure for fatigue is therefore rest, that is, do-nothing. But the \ntruth of the matter is that most often fatigue is due not to too much work, but \nrather too little work, in other words, laziness or boredom. In fact, fatigue \nneed not come too soon or too easily, provided one knows how to go about his \nwork. If you are interested in your work, you can continue for a very long time \nwithout fatigue; and precisely one of the means of recovering from fatigue is \nnot to sit down and slip into lethargy and <i>tamas, </i>but to take up a work \nthat rouses your interest. Work done in joy and quiet enthusiasm is tonic: it is \ndynamic rest. A work done without interest, as a sort of duty or task, will \nnaturally tire you soon. The remedy therefore against fatigue is to keep the \ninterest awake. Now, there is a further mystery. Interest does not depend upon \nthe work: any work can be made interesting and interesting to a supreme degree. \nThere is no work which is by itself dull, insipid, uninteresting. All depends \nupon the value you yourself put upon it; you can choose to make it as attractive \nas a romance, as significant as a symbol.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-32</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\"> How to do it? How to find \ninterest in any thing or all things? Is there not a work that conforms to your \nnature, adapted to your character and capacity? And are there not works that are \nantagonistic to your grain, that lie outside your scope and province?\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The question is not about your \nscope and capacity. All depends upon your attitude, the consciousness with which \nyou approach a work, especially when you are a sadhak. When a work comes to you \nor when you have to do a work, you must take it up as a thing worth doing. \nWhatever the value given to it normally or you usually put upon it, you should \nnot neglect or merely tolerate it, but welcome it and set about it with the \nutmost conscientiousness possible. Even if it were a trifling insignificant \nthing, a menial affair, for example, do not consider it as mean or beneath your \ndignity. Directly you begin to do a thing in the right spirit, you will find it \nbecoming miraculously interesting. Try to bring perfection even in that bit of \ninsignificance. Do it with a good will, even if it is scrubbing the floor, \ntelling yourself: &quot;I must do it as best as I can, that is to say, this too I \nshall do even better than a servant, I shall make the floor look really neat and \nclean and beautiful.&quot; That is the crux of the matter. You should try to bring \nout the best in you and put it into your work. In other words, the\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-33</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">work becomes an instrument of progress. The goodwill, attention, \nconcentration, self-forgetfulness and the control over yourself, over your \norgans and nerves —the &quot;smaller&quot; the work the more detailed is the control \ngained—all that are involved in doing a work perfectly, with as much perfection \nas it is possible for you to command, are elements called forth in you and help \nyou to make a better man. Indeed a work for which you have no preferential bias, \nto which you are not emotionally attached, even indifferent normally, may be of \nespecial help, for you will be able to do it with less nervous disturbance, with \na large amount of detachment and disinterestedness.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Man usually chooses his work or \nis made to choose a work because of a vital preference, a prejudice or notion \nthat it is the kind in which he can shine or succeed. This egoistic vanity or \nopportunism may be necessary or unavoidable in ordinary life; but when one \nwishes to go beyond the ordinary life and aspires for the true life, this \nattachment or personal choice is more an impediment than a help to progress, \ntowards finding the way to the true life. The Yogic attitude to work therefore \nis that of absolute detachment, not to have any choice, but to accept and do \nwhatever is given to you, whatever comes to you in your normal course of life \nand do it with the utmost perfection possible. It is in that way and that way \nalone that all\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-34</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">work becomes supremely interesting, and all life a miracle of \ndelight.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> This does not mean, however, that \nthere is no work natural to you, for which you have a special aptitude in and \nthrough which your soul, the Divine, can express itself fully and wholly in a \nspecial manner. But what is that work? The <i>kartavyam karma</i>—the work that \ndemands to be done—deriving from your <i>swa-dharma</i>—your Self-nature? \nEvidently, it is not that of your superficial nature, which the mind chooses, \nthe vital prefers and the body finds convenient. To come by your true or soul \nwork, you have to pass through a considerable discipline, a rigorous training.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> You cannot throw off this work \nand that at random declaring they are not the work fit for you or jump at \nanything that your fancy favours. Indeed, you cannot give up anything, cast out \nanything, simply because it is unpleasant or not sufficiently pleasant. The more \nviolently you try to shake off a thing, the more it will try to stick to you. \nInstead of that, you must know how to let a thing drop of itself, quietly, \nautomatically and definitively. That is the only way of getting rid of an \nunwanted or an unnecessary thing. Before all, be sincere to yourself: that is to \nsay, try to follow the highest light and aspiration in you each moment, and be \nfaithful to that and that alone. Never allow yourself to be shaken or moved by \nthe likes and\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-35</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">dislikes of your mind or heart or body. Do even what goes \nagainst the grain of your body or heart or mind, if it is presented to you as \nthe thing to be done; do it as calmly, dispassionately and as perfectly as it is \npossible for you to do and leave the rest to your higher destiny. If you belong \nall to your soul, if you are obedient to the Divine alone, then as this \nconsciousness and poise grows clearer and steadier in you, you will find things \nthat are not consonant with it are dropping off from you quietly and without any \neffort or reaction from you, like autumn leaves from branches that supply the \nsap no more. Your work is changed, your circumstances are changed, your \nrelations with things and persons are changed automatically and inevitably in \naccordance with the need and demand of your soul-consciousness.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-36</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-012_FATIGUE AND WORK','','publish','closed','open','','012_fatigue-and-work','','','2021-11-23 17:21:13','2021-11-23 17:21:13','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/012_fatigue-and-work/',0,'post','',0),(1294,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:13','2021-11-23 17:21:13','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-037_SECOND SIGHT.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"6\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">SECOND SIGHT\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\">We know that animals generally possess sharp senses to an \nextraordinary degree. They can hear and smell at a distance far beyond what is \nnormal to the human sense. Give a kerchief used by a man to a dog, it will spot \nthe man among a thousand. An elephant will take you straight to a place miles \naway where there is water, if you happen to be stranded in waterless \nsurroundings. Where there is no question of sight or smell, even then the \nanimals perceive things in a queer way: an elephant, again, for example, \nrefusing to advance further upon road, because, as it was discovered later on, \nthe road was hollow inside and would have sunk down had the animal walked upon \nit. There are other countless phenomena to prove the keenness and subtlety of \nthe animal sense or <i>instinct, </i>as it is called.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Perception means contact with the \nobject. Now, what is it that contacts? In ordinary sense-perception, the normal \nhuman sense-perception, for example, it is the physical vibration emanating from \nthe object that contacts the physical organ: the distance at which the vibration \ncan be received depending on the\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-114</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">sensitivity of the recipient nerves. In man the sensitivity is \nlimited, in the animal it is highly intense. This is however, only one factor of \nthe phenomenon. We will explain.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> As it is well-known, there are \nthree levels of consciousness: the physical, the vital and the mental; for the \npresent we leave out of consideration the fourth or the spiritual (including the \npsychic). Not only so, in each level or plane all the others are also involved \ni.e. lie secreted. Thus, in the mind there is a vital mind and a physical mind, \nin the vital there is a mental vital and a physical vital. So, in the physical \ntoo there are these three grades: (1) physical physical, (2) vital physical and \n(3) mental physical.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> We will now better understand the \nprocess of contact in sense perception. The purely material contact, physical \nvibration touching the physical nerves of the particular organ is an instance of \nthe physical physical perception: the dog smelling or the elephant hearing at \nextraordinary distances. We have heard of men who, by putting their ear upon the \nground, are able to catch sounds coming from a great distance and practically \ninaudible to others standing by. But there is another class where the material \nvibration is not at issue, it is the vital vibration in the physical touching \nthe vital physical of the receiver. The elephant finding the water or sensing\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<br>\n</p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-115</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">the hollow road is an instance in point. The mental physical, \nthe last of the three is a kind of intuition in the physical, that is what is \nusually called \'instinct\'. A cat, for example, put in a sack and banished miles \naway from its home, will find its way back; a dog will go round the world almost \nand find and recognise its master even many years after (the first to recognise \nUlysses was his dog). In man too the vital physical, more especially the mental \nphysical not unoften finds room for play, although his physical physical i.e. \npurely material sensibility is extremely limited. This limitation of the \nphysical sensibility in general, to whatever sphere it may belong, is due to the \nintellectual or rational bias that has developed in him. In the more \nunsophisticated races or types the sensibility is still maintained. Man can, \nhowever, cultivate, consciously develop these faculties: it then becomes what is \ncalled a system of Yoga. A familiar example of the mental physical action as \ncultivated in man is offered by the water diviner or dowser, as he is called. \nBut, as I have said, the normal effect of human rationality is to inhibit the \nspontaneous action of the senses as it is natural with the animal.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> It is interesting to note that \nanimals in the wild state maintain intact their instinctive capacity, their \n&quot;second sight&quot;, but begin to lose it when they live with men, come under the \ninfluence of human mind\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-116</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">and reason, become &quot;domesticated&quot;. A cow habituated to free \ngrazing in the fields will never touch the poisonous grass, will always avoid it \nand take only the harmless and healthy variety; but kept within the stable, \naccustomed to a closed life, it loses its natural instinct, gets confused, does \nnot know how to distinguish the right from the wrong food, being always given \nready-made things by the master.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Human contact has thus a harmful \neffect upon the animal\'s instinctive life. But in another way it may have an \nuplifting influence too. Some of the refined human sentiments—sympathy, \ngratitude, faithfulness, self-sacrifice—in a pronounced human way find \nexpression in animals that are domesticated and live close to man and within the \nhuman atmosphere. It is true many of these feelings are not totally absent in \nthe animal kingdom (especially in the higher strata) in its natural or wild \nstate, but they belong to the level of pure feeling or impulse and have not \nrisen to the level of sentiments which have a mental element infused into their \nvital stuff. Indeed a strong mental element, a reasoning capacity sometimes very \nclearly develops in the domestic animal.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The animal acts by instinct, we \nsay; that is to say, it goes straight to the thing to be done: in order to do a \nthing it does not make a choice between possibilities, there is no selective \nprocess in its consciousness. It is\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-117</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">the human consciousness alone that says, &quot;this is not to be \ndone, but that to be done, not this but that&quot; or puts the question, &quot;which one, \nto be or not to be?&quot; This is what we mean by discrimination or deliberation. \nNormally, this faculty is absent in the animal. We have said of refined feelings \nin man; &quot;refined&quot; here need not mean always ennobled or morally elevated; it may \nmean also more subtle, more complicated and be applied to some baser—acute \nperverse—feelings which are perhaps peculiarly human. Domestic animals sometimes \ncontract them from men: jealousy, spitefulness, vengeance, vindictiveness of an \nextreme degree are likely to be found more among animals living with men than \nthose that are in the wild state. We have heard of elephants brooding over a \nhurt or even an insult for long months and taking revenge when occasion presents \nitself. And we have heard of a cat jumping out of a window into the street below \nand killing itself simply because it thought its mistress showed more love \ntowards another cat.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The humanising of animals living \nwith men, through its good and bad effects, has an evolutionary value: that is \nto say, some animals in that way attain almost to a human status in their soul. \nAnd occultists state that souls do pass in this manner from the animal to the \nhuman incarnation.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-118</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-037_SECOND SIGHT','','publish','closed','open','','037_second-sight','','','2021-11-23 17:21:13','2021-11-23 17:21:13','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/037_second-sight/',0,'post','',0),(1295,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:13','2021-11-23 17:21:13','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-022_MIND, ORGAN OF SEPARATIVE CONSCIOUSNESS.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"6\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">MIND, ORGAN OF SEPARATIVE \nCONSCIOUSNESS\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\"> The\nworld is one, indissolubly and solidly \none: no part can be separated from any other. Any action any­where affects the \nwhole and nothing can be moved even a hair\'s breadth without changing the entire \nbalance. Each element literally lives, moves and has its being in every other \nand the totality is a rigidly unified mass.</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> If it is so, then there arises a \ndifficulty, a dilemma. For the world to progress at all, under the \ncircumstances, it must progress as a whole, en masse; it cannot progress \npiecemeal. The totality must advance in order that each element may progress and \neach element must advance so that the totality may progress. Perhaps this is \nwhat is happening actually in the world : but the result, if nothing else, has \nbeen rather slow. It will take not only millenniums but aeons for humanity to \nmake any progress worth the name.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> It need not be so however. Man is \nsolidly one with the universe, true; but he has a faculty in him by which he can \nseparate, isolate himself from the rest of the world. It is the mind\'s power of \nself-division and dissociation. Through this faculty man can put the world\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-70</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">aside and outside himself (for a time, at least), cut away from \nit and concentrate upon his own being, his inner truth, in other words, make the \nprogress in himself, as quickly as possible, independently, without waiting for \nothers or the world to progress in any degree. And then when once he has made \nthe progress himself, achieved a new higher status, he can turn back upon the \nworld and bring to bear upon it the force of his progress and establish the \nprogress more generally.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> This power which in the inferior \nhuman consciousness appears as mind or mental discernment is the image or \ndelegate here below of that very force of consciousness that originally \nseparated the world from the Divine, created the ego and placed it as an \nobjective reality against itself. It was a force of dividing consciousness, of \nexclusive concentration, that created the fission in the original unitary status \nof the Divine: it was that that precipitated the world of negation, of ignorance \nand inconscience, out of the supreme Light and Reality.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> It was a power of denial that \nsevered the world from its pure source: the same power can now be utilised for \nthe return back for the reintegration. The power that separated from the Divine \nis capable of separating from the world; the consciousness that moved away from \nthe One Divine can move away also from the Multiple Ignorance. As the \nindividualised element isolated itself\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-71</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">from the unitary consciousness of the Divine, in the same way \nthe individualised element in man can stand aloof from the unitary being of the \nworld: as it came down the ladder of consciousness from the supreme light of the \nspirit into the lowest depth of unconscious dead matter, the same path it can \ntake in the opposite way and from the unconsciousness rise into the fullness of \nthe original light. The soul has freely chosen the bondage, he is free too to \nchoose his freedom again. That is what the Upanishad meant when it said: <i>\navidyay</i>&#257;<i> m</i>&#7771;<i>tyum t</i>î<i>rtw</i>&#257;<i>, </i>by the Ignorance he \nshall cross death.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-72</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-022_MIND, ORGAN OF SEPARATIVE CONSCIOUSNESS','','publish','closed','open','','022_mind-organ-of-separative-consciousness','','','2021-11-23 17:21:13','2021-11-23 17:21:13','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/022_mind-organ-of-separative-consciousness/',0,'post','',0),(1296,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:13','2021-11-23 17:21:13','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-010_THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE COLLECTIVE.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"6\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE COLLECTIVE\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\"> An integral sadhana cannot be \nconfined to the individual alone; an element of collectivity must enter into it. \nAn individual is not an isolated being in any way. There are, of course, schools \nof Yoga and philosophy that seek to isolate the individual, consider him as an \nentity hemmed in by his own consciousness; indeed they view the individuals as \nall distinct and separate, each a closed circle or sphere, they may barely touch \neac<i>h </i>other but never interpenetrate or intercommunicate. Each stands as a \nsolitary island, all together forming the vast archipelago of the universe. This \nis a position, no doubt, that can be acquired by a kind of discipline of the \nconsciousness, though not to a great perfection; but it is not a natural or \nnecessary poise. Normally, individuals do merge into each other and form one \nweft of give and take. A desire, an impulse, even a thought that rises in you, \ngoes out of you, overflows you and spreads around even to the extreme limit of \nthe earth, like a Hertzian wave. Again, any movement in any person anywhere in \nthe world would come to you, penetrate you, raise a similar vibration in you, \neven though you may not so recognise\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-27</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">it and consider it as something exclusively personal to you. You \nsend out vibrations into the world and the world sends out vibrations into you. \nIndividual life is the meeting-ground of these outgoing and incoming forces. It \nis precisely to avoid this circle or cycle of world-vibrations that the older \nYogis used to <i>leave the world, </i>away from society, retire to \nmountain-tops, into the virgin forest where they hoped to find themselves alone \nand aloof, to be single with the Single Self. This is a way out, but it is not \nthe only or the best solution. It is not the best solution, for although \napparently one is alone on the hill-top, in the desert crypt, or the forest \nwomb, one always carries with oneself a whole world within, the normal nature \nwith all its instincts and impulses, reactions, memories and hopes: you cut away \nthe outside, run away from it, but what about the outside that is within you? \nThe taste for a tasty thing does not drop with the removal of the object. \nSecondly, such an individual solution, even if it were possible, would still be \na purely personal matter and, in the ultimate analysis, egoistic. It is why the \nBuddha refused to enter definitely into Nirvana and withdrew from the brink to \nwork among men. Indeed, the real solution is elsewhere. It is not to withdraw or \ngo away but to find within the orbit here a centre, a focus of consciousness \nwhich is not controlled by the outside forces but can control them,\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-28</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">which is not coloured by them but can lend them its own \nluminosity. That is the soul or the psychic centre.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> And this centre is not an \nisolated entity in its nature: it is, as it were, a universal centre, that is to \nsay, it links itself indissolubly in a secret sense of identity with all other \ncentres. For this self is only one of the selves through which the One Self has \nmultiplied itself for a varied self-objectification. The light that shines here, \nthe fire that burns here and the delight that flows here illumine, purify and \nrevitalise not only the individual in which it dwells, but move abroad and \nextend into the other individuals with which it lives in spiritual identity.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-29</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-010_THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE COLLECTIVE','','publish','closed','open','','010_the-individual-and-the-collective','','','2021-11-23 17:21:13','2021-11-23 17:21:13','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/010_the-individual-and-the-collective/',0,'post','',0),(1297,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:13','2021-11-23 17:21:13','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-017_EVER GREEN.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"6\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">EVER GREEN!\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\">When<b> </b>you have an inner experience, there is a natural \ntendency in you to have it again, to repeat it, and to repeat it, you go by the \nsame way and in the same manner. When you sit in meditation, for example, you \nwithdraw yourself from outward contacts and enter into a condition with which \nyou have become familiar, which has pleased you and which you consider \nsufficiently high and a commendable poise of consciousness. Thus whenever you \nsit down to meditation, you forthwith get into your habitual condition \nautomatically, without any effort and you remain there as long as you like. \nEvidently, the experience has become a matter of habit i.e. mechanical and \nlifeless, but you do not perceive it, you have become so unconscious. That means \nyou do not progress any more, you have shut yourself, as it were, in a closed \nbox. If you continue, you may do so your whole life in that way, but you will \nnot have advanced a single step; on the contrary, you will have regressed a good \ndeal.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The great secret of progress—and \nalso of permanent youthfulness—is to feel at every moment that you are just \nbeginning your life and your life experience. Always\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-52</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">you start afresh; even if you are on the same path and seem to \nbe moving in the same direction for the hundredth time, you must feel as if it \nwas for the first time that you undertook the journey, it was your virgin \nattempt towards a new discovery. Forget all past ideas, notions, experiences \nthat crowd your mind; sweep away all the accumulated dust that has cumbered your \nbrain; make your consciousness as clean and clear as that of a newborn babe—all \nstraightened out, with none of the convolutions and wrinkles of an aged \ncerebrum. Always you will come into contact with the world and things in all the \nsimplicity and spontaneity of a pure consciousness and always the world and \nthings will bring to you their unending wonder and beauty and truth.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Whenever you go inside and seek \nyour poise, do not look for your old acquaintances, the familiar experiences, do \nnot carry upon your back the load of the past, but go ahead, as if through a \nvirgin tract, making quite new discoveries and opening unexpected vistas at each \nstep. You can make an experiment even on your physical body, i.e. take the \nphysical consciousness too to share in your adventure of ever new discovery. \nThus you may, for example, forget your habit of eating or even walking, truly \nforget and try to learn over again, even as you did for the first time as a \nchild. You have to acquire consciously a capacity of\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-53</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">the body that has become an almost unconscious reflex action. It \nis a wonderful and exhilarating experience. Naturally you cannot repeat too \noften or carry too far an experiment of this kind on the physical plane. But you \ncan freely deal with your inner life and consciousness. You can make your mind \nand your vital a clean slate, as much as you like; not once in your life, but \nevery moment of your life. And then see how the world impinges upon your \nconsciousness, what fresh discoveries and awakenings come to you endlessly! You \ncan always rid yourself of the accustomed vibrations on the normal levels of \nyour existence, the physical, vital and mental; and even you can go beyond your \npsychic formation and be the wide, the vast, the limitless, the Infinite itself, \nvoid of all name and form. And then with that virgin consciousness drop straight \ninto the world of material life and form, into your body and bodily reactions. \nThe world will give itself up to you in its pristine purity, its original beauty \nand truth, always luminous and glorious. This experience has to be the normal \nmode of your living, not simply the culmination or acme of your being, a fixed \nand stagnant status, even if considered the highest, the <i>summum bonum. </i>\nThat is how you can keep yourself and the world around you ever fresh and young \nand new.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The preacher who speaks of the \ntruth and delivers it to his hearers is usually effective for the first time or \nfor\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-54</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">a first few occasions only, when he feels the truth of his truth \nand is sincere while delivering. But as time wears on, his truth too wears out, \nfor it becomes stereotyped, a matter of mere habit. The experience is no longer \nlived, but mechanically doled out. You are sincere only when the experience is \nnew and fresh and living, it should be made so every moment, otherwise it is \ndead letter, letter that killeth.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> That is the secret of spiritual \nlife and even of normal life. To keep it ever green you must know how to pour \ninto it a continuous flow of new sap. Look upon yourself, look upon the world \nalways with fresh eyes— never burdened or obscured by the scales that past \nexperiences and acquisitions have collected. Unlearn the past, always begin from \nthe beginning as a beginner —every moment a fresh impact, a new revelation, an \nunexpected opening. That is how life remains ever young and ever progressive.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-55</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-017_EVER GREEN','','publish','closed','open','','017_ever-green','','','2021-11-23 17:21:13','2021-11-23 17:21:13','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/017_ever-green/',0,'post','',0),(1298,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:13','2021-11-23 17:21:13','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-021_MENTAL SILENCE.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"6\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">MENTAL SILENCE\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\">Normally<b> </b>the mind is in a turmoil; it is eagerly active. \nFirst of all it is preoccupied with its problems and wants their solution. It \nknows only to think, to see pros and cons, weigh, reason, deduce; it arrives at \nsome kind of conclusion which brings success or failure almost at random. Apart \nfrom this conscious or voluntary activity there is in the mind a whole region of \ninvoluntary activity; that is to say, it is assailed on all sides by a hundred \nthoughts, ideas and notions that come from outside and fill your brain cavity \nand over which you have no control. Each one tries to push forward, secure a \nplace for itself, claim satisfaction and fulfilment. They are all moving at \ncross purposes and the mind knows no peace or issue.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> It is possible to put a violent \npressure upon oneself and forcibly push out all this confused movement and make \nthe mind vacant. But the effect of mental will upon mind cannot be perfect or \nenduring. Besides it is not that, the absolute vacancy, that is our goal. Some \nother way and manner has to be found for stilling the mind\'s activities.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> It is to call in the peace that \nis beyond, that is\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-65</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">already there somewhere. It happens, with a sincere demand or \naspiration in the consciousness, a certain readiness in the being. When that \nhappens (something in the manner of the Upanishadic <i>viv</i>&#7771;<i>nute tanum \nsvam </i>—he unveils himself his own body), you feel as if a sheer blank, even a \nblack void has entered into you and captured you. In the very midst of whirlwind \nactivity comes a dead stop. Nothing is there now, no idea, no thought, no \nnotion, no motion even— an immense emptiness has eaten up, engulfed everything. \nKeep steady and await. In that stillness something rises up—up and up—and goes \nout beyond, a tranquil beam of consciousness. And then something descends, from \nafar—a peace, a luminousness, authentic and absolute in its reality. It comes \ndown, enters into you, possesses your brain and body. It has, you find, resolved \nall problems, harmonised all contraries and conflicts; for it comes from the \nhome of mother truth. Now you do not strive, but you know, you do not grope, for \nyou are led. You await and at each moment you receive the direction as to what \nis to be done; you have no thought or preoccupation, the inspired movement \nhappens automatically and infallibly.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Sometimes it happens too that the \nsudden silence or inner immobility causes a bewilderment and you are caught by a \nfear that you are losing all bearings, that\n</p>\n<p class=\"para\">\n<br>\n</p><p class=\"pageno\">Page-66</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">you are turning an absolute idiot or something worse. Some in a \npanic have let go the grace that came. In such a condition one has to be firm \nand steady and continue.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> I have said normally you are \nassailed by all kinds of thought. They come into your brain from all quarters \nand demand audience and satisfaction. Thoughts need come into the brain, because \nactions become possible through them, they give the form and frame to your \naction. But the difficulty is that the thoughts are not only various but almost \nalways contrary to each other; we see man so often moving in contrary directions \nand contradicting himself at each step. It is bound to be so if the doors of the \nmind are left wide open. Sometimes, however, or in some persons, one dominant \nthought takes possession of the mind and drives out all others. In such a case, \nwhen a single idea rules, one is likely to cut oneself down, narrow oneself and \nforce the being into a strait-jacket, to move in a closed groove. The being in \nits entirety does not find self-expression or self-fulfilment. Thus you may have \nthe idea, the fixed idea, that the world is irrevocably miserable and \nincorrigible and therefore you will naturally plan your whole life to that end, \nall your occupation and preoccupation will be how to get away from this world, \nyou will seek a far solitude, inner and outer, seek\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-67</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">release from existence and merge into the Transcendent or the \nVoid. On the other hand, if you have the idea that in spite of all appearances \nto the contrary the world is remediable and reclaimable, then your life takes on \na different pattern. It will seek to find out ways and means of the remedy and \nto what degree the possibility goes.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Now, the value of an idea cannot \nbe determined by the idea itself. Usually one chooses because of some external \nreason or other: one\'s education, environment, one\'s personal temperament, likes \nand dislikes go a long way in determining one\'s choice. So the first thing you \nhave to do is not to allow the thoughts to Come in pell-mell, as and when they \nlike. Thoughts must come only when you choose them and only those that you \nchoose. There must be a conscious selection. How to proceed in this work? As \nyour own thoughts cannot choose themselves, what you have to do at the outset is \nto call for a higher guidance and let yourself be absolutely impartial and \npassive in its hands.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> A blankness is needed, a white \nemptiness somewhere behind—even if it does not come and occupy the front too. \nGive up personal choosing and wait for the Higher Direction—the Divine—to do \nwith you whatever it wills. Given the requisite silence and reliance, the \ndecision comes inevitably and you are moved to\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-68</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">do automatically what is required to be done from moment to \nmoment. At first you may not get the knowledge of the why and the wherefore of \nyour action, you act merely as an automaton but with the luminous silence within \nand a tranquil aspiration attending. When once you have been trained in this \nunquestioning docility, then knowledge will be given to you gradually, at first \nonly of a few steps ahead, later on for a fuller and completer perspective.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-69</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-021_MENTAL SILENCE','','publish','closed','open','','021_mental-silence','','','2021-11-23 17:21:13','2021-11-23 17:21:13','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/021_mental-silence/',0,'post','',0),(1299,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:13','2021-11-23 17:21:13','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-032_SWEET HOLY TEARS.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"6\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">SWEET HOLY TEARS<sup>1</sup>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The\ntears that the soul sheds are holy, are sweet; they come bidden by the Divine and are blessed by His Presence. They are like the dew from heaven. For they are pure, they are spontaneous, welling out of a heart of innocent freedom. The feeling is infinitely impersonal, completely egoless: there is only an intense movement of self-giving, total simple self-giving. Tears are the natural expression in one who needs help, who has the complete surrender and simplicity of a child, the abdication of all vanity. Such tears are beautiful in their nature and beneficent in character. They are therefore like dewdrops that belong to heaven as it were and come from there with a sovereign healing virtue. Such tears are not &quot;idle tears&quot;, as the Eng­lish poet says in a vein of melancholy, they are instinct with a power, an effective energy which brings you relief, ease and peace. And it is not only pure but purifying, this feeling made of quiet intensity and aspiration and surrender: it is unmixed, free from any demand or need of reward or return; it is so impersonal\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> <i><sup>1</sup> \nPrayers and Meditations of the Mother, </i>July 12, 1918 \n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-99</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\"> that the aspiration is, so to \nsay, even independent of the object for which it exists.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> At a supreme crisis of the soul \nwhen there seems to be no issue before you, if you come, in the naked simplicity \nof your whole being, pour yourself out in a flood of self-giving, to one who can \nbe your refuge— in the end the Divine alone can be such a one—and who can \nrespond fully to the intensity and ardent sincerity of your approach, you come \nholding your tearful soul as a complete self-offering, you do not know what \ntremendous response you call forth, the blessing divine you bring down in and \naround you.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> &quot;I prepared the Feast&quot; <sup>1</sup>\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> It was a banquet I prepared for \nmen. Instead of a life of misery and suffering, of obscurity and ignorance I \nbrought to them a life of light and joy and freedom. I took all the pains the \ntask demanded and when it was ready I offered it to mankind to partake of it. \nBut man in his foolishness and pigheadedness refused it, did not want it. He \npreferred to remain in his dark miserable hole. Now, what am I to do with my \nFeast? I cannot let it go waste, throw it to the winds. So I offered it to my \nLord and laid it at his feet. He accepted it. He alone can enjoy it and honour \nit.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> <i><sup>1</sup> \nPrayers and Meditations of the Mother</i>—September 3, 1919 \n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-100</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\"> The Feast is that of \nTransformation, the Divine Life on earth. Man is not capable of it naturally, \ncannot attain it by his own effort or personal worth. It is the Divine who is to \nbring it down Himself. He is to manifest Himself and thus establish His own life \nhere below. Then only it will be possible for the human creature to open to the \nurgency of the new beauty and offer his surrender.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> It was not easy to prepare the \nFeast. I had to bear the full load of the cross and ascend the calvary. Jesus as \nhe mounted to his destiny with the Cross on his back stumbled often and fell and \nrose again with bruised limbs to begin again the arduous journey. Even so, this \nbeing too had to go through many disillusions and deceptions, many painful and \nbrutal experiences. It was not a smooth and straight going, but a tortuous and \ndangerous ascent. But at the end of the tunnel there is always the light. The \ncalvary and the crucifixion culminated in the Resurrection: the divine Passion \nof Christ flowered into this supreme Recompense. Here too after all the dark and \nadverse vicissitudes lies the fulfilment of transformation. One must pass \nthrough the entire valley of death and rise to the topmost summit to receive and \nachieve the fullness of the glory. One must leave behind all the lower ranges of \nignorance, the entire domain of human consciousness, come out of the \nimperfection\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-101</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">man is made of; then only will he put on the divine nature as \nhis own body and substance.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">\n&#8258;</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The Cross symbolises all the \nsuffering and difficulty, the renunciation and self-denudation that the ascent \nto the Goal involves. The Calvary of the Christian legend means Ascension and \nResurrection is Transformation in our sadhana. The Cross is also symbolic of the \nTransformed consciousness. It has three branches and represents the triple \nDivine, the Divine in his three modes of existence. The top branch, the vertical \nportion above the transverse line, stands for the supreme or transcendent \nDivine, one who is above manifestation; the middle—the transverse or horizontal \nbranch stands for the expanse of the universal consciousness, the Cosmic Divine; \nand the bottom portion, the vertical line below the transverse stands for the \nindividual Divine immanent or imbedded in the manifestation. You will note that \nthe flower we call transformation has a form analogous to the Cross.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-102</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-032_SWEET HOLY TEARS','','publish','closed','open','','032_sweet-holy-tears','','','2021-11-23 17:21:13','2021-11-23 17:21:13','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/032_sweet-holy-tears/',0,'post','',0),(1300,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:13','2021-11-23 17:21:13','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-013_THE STEPS OF THE SOUL.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"6\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">THE STEPS OF THE SOUL</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\">The human individual is a \nvery complex being: he is composed of innumerable elements, each one of which is \nan independent entity and has almost a personality. Not only so, the most \ncontradictory elements are hous­ed together. If there is a particular quality or \ncapacity present, the very opposite of it, annulling it, as it were, will be \nalso found along with it and embracing it. I have seen a man brave, courageous, \nheroic to the extreme, flinching from no danger, facing unperturbed the utmost \nperil, the bravest of the brave, truly; and yet I have seen the same man \ncowering in abject terror, like the last of poltroons, in the presence of \ncertain circumstances. I have seen a most generous man, giving away largely, \nfreely, not counting any expenditure or sacrifice, without the least care or \nreservation; the same person I have also found to be the vilest of misers in \nrespect of certain other considerations. I have seen again the most intelligent \nperson, with a clear mind, full of light and understanding, easily comprehending \nthe logic and implication of a topic and yet I have seen him betraying the \nutmost stupidity of which even an ordinary man without education or intelligence</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-37</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">would be incapable. These are not theoretical examples, but I \nhave come across such persons actually in life.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The complexity arises not only in \nextension, but also in depth. Man does not live on a single plane but on many \nplanes at the same time. There is a scale of gradation in human consciousness: \nthe higher one rises in the scale the greater the number of elements or \npersonalities that one possesses. Whether one lives mostly or mainly on the \nphysical or vital or mental plane or on any particular section of these planes \nor on planes above and beyond, there will be accordingly differences in the \nconstitution or psycho-physical make-up of the individual personality. The \nhigher one stands the richer the personality, because it lives not only on its \nown normal level, but also on all that are below and which it has transcended. \nThe complete or integral man, some occultists say, possesses 365 personalities; \nindeed it may be much more. (The Vedas speak of the three and thirty-three and \nthirty-three hundred and thirty-three thousand gods that may be housed in the \nhuman vehicle—the basic three being evidently the triple status or world of \nBody, Life and Mind.)\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> What is the meaning of this \nself-contradiction, this division in man? To understand that we must know and \nremember that each person represents a certain quality or capacity, a particular \nachievement to be\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-38</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">embodied. How best can it be done? What is the way by which one \ncan acquire a quality at its purest, and highest and most perfect? It is by \nsetting an opposition to it. That is how a power is increased and strengthened \n—by fighting against and overcoming all that weakens and contradicts it. The \ndeficiencies in respect of a particular quality show you where you are to mend \nand reinforce and in what way to improve in order to make it perfectly perfect. \nIt is the hammer that beats the weak and soft iron to transform it into hard \nsteel. The preliminary discord is useful and necessary to be utilised for a \nhigher harmony. This is the secret of self-conflict in man. You are weakest \nprecisely in that element which is destined to be your greatest asset.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Each man, has then a mission to \nfulfil, a role to play in the universe; a part he has been given to learn and \ntake up in the cosmic Purpose which he alone is capable of executing and none \nother. This he has to learn and acquire through life-experiences, that is to \nsay, not in one life, but in life after life. In fact, that is the meaning of \nthe chain of lives that the individual has to pass through, namely, to acquire \nexperiences and to gather out of them the thread—the skein of qualities and \nattributes, powers and capacities—for the pattern of life he has to weave. Now, \nthe inmost being, the true personality, the central consciousness of the \nevolving individual is his psychic being. It is,\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-39</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">as it were, a very tiny speck of light lying far behind the \nexperiences in normal people. In grown up souls this psychic consciousness has \nan increased light—increased in intensity, volume and richness. Thus there are \nsouls, old and new. Old and ancient are those that have reached or about to \nreach the fullness of perfection; they have passed through a long past of \ninnumerable lives and developed the most complex and yet the most integrated \npersonality. New souls are those that are just emerged or emerging out of the \nmere physico-vital existence; these are like simple organisms, made of fewer \nconstituents, referring mostly to the bodily life, with just a modicum of the \nmental. It is the soul, however, that grows with experiences and it is the soul \nthat builds and enriches the personality. Whatever portion of the outer life, \nwhatever element in the mind or vital or body succeeds in coming in contact with \nthe psychic consciousness, that is to say, is able to come under its influence, \nis taken up and lodged there: it remains in the psychic being as its living \nmemory and permanent possession. It is such elements that form the basis, the \nground-work upon which the structure of the integral and true personality is \nraised.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The first thing then to do is to \nfind out what it is that you are meant to realise, what is the role you have to \nplay, your particular mission and the capacity or quality you have to express. \nYou have to discover that\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-40</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">and also the thing or things that oppose and do not allow it to \nflower or come to full manifestation. In other words you have to know yourself, \nrecognize your soul or psychic being.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> For that you must be absolutely \nsincere and impartial. You must observe yourself as if you were observing and \ncriticising a third person. You must not start with an idea that this is your \nlife\'s mission, such is your particular capacity, you are to do this or you are \nto do that, in this lies your talent or genius etc. That will carry you away \nfrom the right track. It is not the liking or disliking of your external being, \nyour mental or vital or physical choice that determines the true line of your \ngrowth. Nor should you take up the opposite attitude and say, &quot;I am good for \nnothing in this matter, I am useless in that other, this is not for me.&quot; Neither \nvanity or arrogance nor self-depreciation or false modesty should move you. As I \nsaid, you must be absolutely impartial and unconcerned. You should be like a \nmirror that reflects the truth and does not judge.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> If you are able to keep such an \nattitude, if you have this repose and quiet trust in your being and wait for \nwhat may be revealed to you, then something like this happens: you are, as it \nwere, in the woods, dark and noiseless; you see in front of you just a sheet of \nwater dark and still, hardly visible—a bit of a pond imbedded in the obscurity, \nand slowly upon it a moonbeam is cast\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-41</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">and in the cool dim light emerges the calm liquid surface. That \nis how your secret truth of being will appear and present itself to you at your \nfirst contact with it: there you will see gradually reflected the true qualities \nof your being, the traits of your divine personality, what you really are and \nwhat you are meant to be.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> One who has thus known oneself \nand possessed oneself conquering all opposition within himself, has by that very \nfact extended himself and his conquest, making it easier for others to make the \nsame or similar conquest. These are the pioneers or the elite who by their \nvictorious campaign within themselves help others towards their victory.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-42</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-013_THE STEPS OF THE SOUL','','publish','closed','open','','013_the-steps-of-the-soul','','','2021-11-23 17:21:13','2021-11-23 17:21:13','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/013_the-steps-of-the-soul/',0,'post','',0),(1301,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:14','2021-11-23 17:21:14','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-025_HERE OR ELSEWHERE.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"6\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">HERE OR ELSEWHERE\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\"> It is easy and comfortable to go \nwithin and in an inner consciousness find and maintain a union, even a close \nunion with the Divine. It is because of such a state of peace and bliss that \nmany, nay, most who go there do not want to come back, to normal life upon this \nearth. And teachers, great or small, almost invariably, have taught that in the \nend it is best like that, and perhaps the only thing to do under the \ncircumstances. For this life and this earth mean the very opposite of that inner \nheaven and that highest good. But some are not given this comfortable solution \nof the difficulty. They are asked to turn back and live the life of the earth. \nThey are not allowed to remain cosy in a narrow room and be busy always with \nthemselves alone. Indeed, is it not narrow egoism to seek only one\'s own \nsalvation? When one has saved himself, is it not his duty—the logical outcome \nand implication of his personal freedom—that he should seek to help others in \ntheir salvation? Such was in fact the attitude of the Amitabha Buddha.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> A house is on fire. It has a \ntarred roof. One can easily understand the fury of the fire. Some inmates\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-78</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">who were trapped have managed to come out in time, although \nsomewhat bruised and scalded. But there were others, some children, left inside. \nOne of those who came out rushes back again through the flames and comes and \ngoes till all are saved. He is badly burnt, he has risked his life: he did not \nmind and could not remain at a safe distance. He could not be contented with \nsaving himself, which was to be sure a sufficient gain in one respect. This soul \nhad a consciousness of his wider self.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> In the same way, there are souls \nthat have emerged out of the fire of earthly life and are enjoying the safety \nand security of the heavens; but they have been called to come back into the \nworld, add to the experience of the tranquil above the experience of the trouble \nbelow. Surely it increases the scope of their consciousness. But to turn upon \nthe world means also to re-enter into ignorance, for this world means ignorance, \nas it is, it is nothing but ignorance. The role then of one who returns is once \nmore to embrace ignorance, but with a view to bringing into it the light and \nbliss that he gained from above, permeating the stuff of the present world with \nthe substance of the higher consciousness. It is a sacrifice demanded of him, \nthus to abandon the eternal felicity of the high heavens—the unbroken union with \nthe Divine above —and to enter into the depths of &quot;this great perilous\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-79</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">world&quot;: but this is a privilege too, to bring solace to the \nafflicted, the transforming light to obscure souls, the radiant energy to inert \nearth. It is a high privilege for which the luminous soul is thankful: he \nmodestly accepts a gift of grace from the Supreme. He accepts the Ignorance and \noffers it: he lays it at the feet of the Supreme so that it may be transmuted \ninto light—light here below. His own role is that of <b>a </b>modest \nintermediary.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-80</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-025_HERE OR ELSEWHERE','','publish','closed','open','','025_here-or-elsewhere','','','2021-11-23 17:21:14','2021-11-23 17:21:14','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/025_here-or-elsewhere/',0,'post','',0),(1302,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:14','2021-11-23 17:21:14','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-007_THE STORY OF CREATION.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"6\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">THE STORY OF CREATION\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\">Consciousness is the source and basis of creation. Even the most \nmaterial object, apparently unconscious, the stone, for example, has inherent in \nit a vibration of consciousness. Where there is absolutely no consciousness, it \nis the Inconscient. If you ever descend into the Inconscient, that is to say, \nfurther down the scale from the inanimate stone, you will know the difference. \nThe gulf between the stone and the Inconscient is very much, very much indeed, \ngreater than that between the stone and man. For it is a secret consciousness \nthat links man to the stone, but beyond there is a hiatus, something \nunbridgeable. The Inconscient is the Void, the absolute zero (&quot;Inane&quot;, Sri \nAurobindo names it in <i>Savitri)</i>: it is not substance, it is pure negation. \nConsciousness is at the back of the material universe: without that \nconsciousness there would not be the marvellous organisation that is found \nwithin the material particle of atom. The Inconscient is pre-existent to the \nmaterial creation.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The one indivisible Reality and \nits pure consciousness: that is the origin. This Supreme Consciousness chose to \nobjectify himself, bring himself out of himself,\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-19</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">witness himself in play—the Upanishad says, the One wished to \nhave a second, a companion to himself,<sub> </sub><i>sa dwitiyam aichhat. </i>\nThis power of self-objectification is a free-will given to the consciousness to \nmove out of its original unified status and move abroad and away, as it liked. \nThus the Supreme saw himself as his own power of self-manifestation, and that is \nthe Mother Consciousness, Adya Shakti, Aditi—consciousness-power, who again in \nher forward creative urge expressed herself in the first four major Emanations \n(Maheshwari, Mahakali, Mahalakshmi and Maha-saraswati). But this free urge, free \nto separate itself and proceed in an independent movement of self-expression and \nevolution precipitated itself immediately, almost as a logical consequence of \nits career of free choice, into the Denial, the Negation that is inconscience. \nSo, against the Supreme, the Divine Consciousness, there stood out the utter \nunconsciousness: the Light disappeared into absolute Darkness. It was the result \nof a self-choice in the consciousness: but the end was the very opposite of \nconsciousness.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> It was a dead silence, more \nsilent than Death and more dead than Silence itself. And it was utter \nhelplessness and hopelessness. . The Divine Consciousness —Aditi—saw the \nterrible line of destiny that freedom had taken and ended in: she could stand it \nno longer and a cry went out for succour, for help. And the\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-20</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">answer came immediate, a ray shot down from the one Supreme \nConsciousness and entered into the womb of Inconscience. Lo, the miracle, Matter \nwas born, the first creation, the first manifestation of the Supreme Grace. \nMatter holds in it the spark of consciousness that is to grow and unfold itself, \nshine more and more into the enveloping gloom of Inconscience, illumining it \nfarther and farther, pushing its frontiers ever backward and away.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The birth of Matter coincided \nwith another descent of the Supreme Consciousness; it is a descent in graded \nstages linking up the highest to the lowest through intermediate formations: \nthey are telescoped into Matter so that Matter might lodge and express them \ngradually through its inherent developing consciousness till the highest is \nrevealed and embodied here as it is always self-revealed at the highest.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> In the graded descent, in the \nhierarchy of planes and levels, there appeared forces and beings also proper to \neach domain. The earliest, the first among them are the Asuras, rather the \noriginal Asuras—the first quaternary (some memory of them seemed to linger in \nthe Greek legend of Chronos and his brood). For they embody the powers of \ndivision, of Inconscience: they are the Affirmations of the Negation. Against \nthe Asuras there came and ranged—at the first line of division, on the one side \nof the descent of the Light\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-21</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">—the first godheads, the major powers and personalities of the \nDivine Consciousness. The battle of the gods and Titans for the possession of \nthe earth has been going on ever since. The end will come one day: it will mean \nthe dissolution of the forces of Negation, at least within the earthly sphere, \nand the establishment there of the reign of Light.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-22</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-007_THE STORY OF CREATION','','publish','closed','open','','007_the-story-of-creation','','','2021-11-23 17:21:14','2021-11-23 17:21:14','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/007_the-story-of-creation/',0,'post','',0),(1303,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:14','2021-11-23 17:21:14','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-024_^^I HAVE NOTHING, I AM NOTHING^^.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"6\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">&quot;I HAVE NOTHING, I AM NOTHING&quot;</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\"> The state is that of utter \ncommonplaceness. The feeling that I am doing Yoga, that I am something and have \na special work to do, that something has to be achieved, that life has a purpose \netc. etc. all that has left and left a blank, a void inside and an absolutely \nmechanical automaton outside. I do the most ordinary things of life, as any \nother common man, like the routine work of a machine; I know nothing and have no \nimpulse to know or to plan as to what I should do, how I am to move or why is it \nall like this. A great tranquillity and silence possess the whole being. There \nis no &quot;I&quot;, no person to refer to in the consciousness: individuality has been \ntotally abolished, a sweep of universality passes through the consciousness and \nmakes it as it were a no-man\'s-land. The mind has laid down its burden and says \nit is free now and obedient to the call that may come to it. The vital too \nsubmits its adherence and awaits the order: it has no inclination or choice of \nits own. The physical is likewise wholly docile.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> This state of supreme blankness \nand passivity borders on the experience of illusion—the illusoriness\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-76</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">of the world and the vanity or hollowness of life. Creation does \nseem like an empty shell, with no meaning or purpose and no real truth of \nexistence even: it is a shadow play that rests on nothing and vanishes into \nnothing. The great exponents of Illusoriness must have had an experience of \nthis kind and considered therefore that—Nothingness—as the ultimate truth and \nmystery of existence.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Now when all sense of \npersonality—not only the sense but even the fact itself—had totally dissolved, \nthe voice of the Supreme Divine was heard and His impulsion recorded. The <i>\nPrayers and Meditations </i>hereafter were written through such an impulsion; it \nwas truly automatic writing—the instrument did not know what it was writing and \neven did not understand the meaning of the recorded words, it was merely a \ncopyist, it looked at the writing as a third person would.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The whole being in all its parts \nacted thus like a recording or transferring agency. It was under such \nconditions—at the zero point of human personality and consciousness—that the \ninstrument which so long lived apart and behind, concerned with itself more or \nless, was made to come forward and take up the work that the Divine demanded of \nit. The vessel that was completely empty, a universal and transcendental shape, \ncame gradually to be filled, with the Divine\'s own will and its own formations.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-77</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-024_^^I HAVE NOTHING, I AM NOTHING^^','','publish','closed','open','','024_i-have-nothing-i-am-nothing','','','2021-11-23 17:21:14','2021-11-23 17:21:14','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/024_i-have-nothing-i-am-nothing/',0,'post','',0),(1304,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:14','2021-11-23 17:21:14','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-034_THE CENTRAL CONSCIOUSNESS.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"6\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">THE CENTRAL CONSCIOUSNESS\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\"> Very often this was the \nexperience: union with the Supreme is established, but as soon as the \nconsciousness was about to settle and merge in the bliss of the union, it was \ncalled back and had to turn to the outside world to the ordinary affairs of \nordinary consciousness. As if I was given to understand that it was not for me \nto forget and reject the life of the physical world and pass into the Beyond, \nbut to maintain the contact, the closest contact, between this world and the \nBeyond and hold both together in one consciousness. The process is somewhat like \nthis: you withdraw the consciousness from the world outside and turn inward; you \nwithdraw even from your own physical activities and physical perceptions; you \nwithdraw further in this way step by step through all the grades of life \nmovements and mental movements, go deep inward and high upward till you reach \nthe highest summit: the absolute silence and indivisible unity with the \nimmutable single reality. This was the aim and, generally, the end of all the \ngreatest spiritual disciplines of the past. We too have to possess this \nrealisation; but for us, it is the basis, the indispensable basis,\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-108</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">no doubt, all the same it is the starting-point. Sri Aurobindo \nhas always said that our yoga begins where other yogas end. For what we aim at \nis not merely the attainment of the summit reality, the consciousness beyond, \nbut to bring it down, make it a living and actual reality in the physical world. \nThe older yogas intended to save the world, but accomplished only the salvation \nof the individual, one\'s own self, by passing beyond the world, realising the \nsupreme Spirit and Truth and never coming back. Thus the world remained what it \nhas ever been: only a few escaped out of it. Our yoga enters its crucial phase, \nits characteristic and its most difficult turn, when it seeks to bring down the \nhighest consciousness once realised on the heights and make it enter into the \nlife of the world and fix it there as the permanent possession of earthly life.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The key is to find the poise \nwhere both the extremes meet, the junction of the two levels of consciousness, \nthe transcendent and the manifested, where the two not only do not contradict or \noppose each other, but are aspects or modes of the same Truth, indissolubly \nunited and unified. It is just the border-line, the last point of the manifested \nworld and the first point of the Unmanifest (as one goes upward). If you are \nable to find the point you have not to make a choice between two \nirreconcilables, either the Brahman or\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-109</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">the world. It is only when you miss the point that you are \nforced to the choice: some choose the other side of the border, the static \nconsciousness, the eternal immutable pure being, self-absorbed and \nself-sufficient; others who dare not do that, turn to the world and remain \nentangled and drowned in its darkness, ignorance, travail, undelight, impotency \nand misery. But, as I have said, this is not the necessary or inevitable \nsolution—if solution it is at all—of the enigma.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The first condition, however, to \narrive at the crucial or synthetic state of consciousness (which is, in fact, \nthe basic supramental consciousness, as Sri Aurobindo calls it) is the \nrealisation that the world, that is to say, physical consciousness does not \nexist by itself. By itself, it is nothing. As the Prayer says, &quot;it knows \nnothing, it can do nothing, it is nothing.&quot; This realisation must not be merely \na mental perception, a perception in the inner consciousness alone; but the \nbody, the physical existence itself must be conscious and in that consciousness \nsee and experience the truth that by itself it is a void, non-existence: \nit becomes so however only to find that it is real, supremely real when it is \nsuffused with its true substance, when it is the embodiment or vehicle of the \nsupramental consciousness.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-110</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-034_THE CENTRAL CONSCIOUSNESS','','publish','closed','open','','034_the-central-consciousness','','','2021-11-23 17:21:14','2021-11-23 17:21:14','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/034_the-central-consciousness/',0,'post','',0),(1305,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:14','2021-11-23 17:21:14','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-016_THE INTEGRAL REALISATION.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"6\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">THE INTEGRAL REALISATION\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\">Endless are the ways to the Divine. Each one followed with \nsincerity and earnestness and persistence to the end leads to the same goal. \nNow, if the end were solely to reach the highest summit, the point beyond, the \ntranscendent God and settle there, any one line would be quite sufficient for \nthe purpose. And even if several or all were tried, as Ramakrishna did, that \nwould be only to prove the fact and to encourage each and everyone to pursue his \nown path and not get discouraged if others did not subscribe to it or even \ndenied it. At the most it would be a richer experience in the sense that the \nsame truth is tasted and enjoyed in various ways.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> But such is not the character of \nthe supramental or Integral Yoga. This Yoga does not aim at kicking the ladder \nof existence down once you are up beyond. It seeks to integrate the Beyond and \nthe Here-Below, make of the mundane an expression and embodiment of the Spirit. \nIn this view the approaches to the Divine are not mere interim truths but facets \nof one organic total reality incarnating the divine consciousness in a divine \nlife.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-50</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\"> In other ways that lead to an \nescape, you reach a state where you are happy and satisfied, you feel you have \nattained the highest, the utmost worth attaining and you need not move further \nor look for anything else. The integral yogi is not so bound by one experience. \nHe will find himself always getting away from the already attained status, \nhowever high it may be, and ranging beyond. Even if he tries to repeat an \nexperience which he cherishes and considers worth repeating and so goes through \nthe usual steps to recover it, he may find that instead of the experience wanted \nhe is given quite a new experience.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The problem for him is not to \nreject or minimise any experience or stick to some only as valuable but embrace \nall and to put them together, make a synthesis out of them. This synthesis is \nthe very character of the Integral Yoga. And it can be reached only by rising \nbeyond the experiences given for synthesis. A higher poise of consciousness only \ncan find the point of union among different elements and the function and role \nof each one in a composite harmony. The supramental status is the highest \nsynthetic centre; here all experiences and realisations rise into their original \nand true reality and find their perfect expression.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-51</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-016_THE INTEGRAL REALISATION','','publish','closed','open','','016_the-integral-realisation','','','2021-11-23 17:21:14','2021-11-23 17:21:14','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/016_the-integral-realisation/',0,'post','',0),(1306,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:14','2021-11-23 17:21:14','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-030_THE COMING OF SUPERMAN.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"6\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">THE COMING OF SUPERMAN\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Is it said that when the \nsupramental descends, it will come with such an overwhelming and irresistible \nforce that all humanity will be changed forthwith, that is to say, all men \nwhether they wanted it or not, sought for it or not, would be automatically \ntransformed? It cannot be so: it is a comfortable doctrine putting a premium on \nlaziness and inertia.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> There is no necessity of all men \nturning supermen, the normal human race disappearing altogether. Mankind need \nnot become extinct like the ancient Mammoth and Mastodon in order to give place \nto Superman. Both the races can dwell together; earth is wide enough. Man has \nappeared; for that reason the ape has not disappeared, although it is said man \ncame out of the ape genus. The superman will come and live with his new law of \nlife; man too will continue with his human dharma. Not only so, they need not be \nseparated into water-tight compartments, there may be interaction or interchange \nbetween the two. With the coming of Superman there will naturally be a descent \nof harmony and peace and happiness and good will into the earth\'s atmosphere and \nmankind is\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-92</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">likely to be benefited by it. The conditions of life will be \nchanged and will affect man\'s life too. An element of light and joy and \ntranquillity will enter into humanity\'s normal dealings. And man, on his side, \nmay offer his services as the recruiting ground of the super-race. Furthermore, \nthe whole of Nature being a unified movement, no level of creation being totally \nseparate from others, the change may very well touch the animal and even the \nvegetable kingdom. The plant may put on, for example, a luminous or greener tint \nand the animal may develop a happier and livelier spring. There may be less \nscarcity, dearth, aridity, less convulsions and catastrophes on earth.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Always, however, exceptions are \npossible. Even now, where conditions of life are happier and things are expected \nto be more smooth and harmonious, there exist people who are by nature so \nobscure, quarrelsome and turbulent that they are not touched at all and go on in \ntheir way finding always occasions to quarrel and fight and create trouble. They \nwill be in the midst of the new humanity as Hottentots or \nHead-hunters—aborigines and savages—are today in the eye of civilised humanity.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-93</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-030_THE COMING OF SUPERMAN','','publish','closed','open','','030_the-coming-of-superman','','','2021-11-23 17:21:14','2021-11-23 17:21:14','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/030_the-coming-of-superman/',0,'post','',0),(1307,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:14','2021-11-23 17:21:14','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-000_Contents.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n<p class=\"paracenter\">THE   YOGA OF SRI   AUROBINDO</p>\n	<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">Part VI</p>\n	<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n	<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">CONTENTS</p>\n	<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">\n<a href=\"the-yoga-of-sri-aurobindo-part-6-001_Pre_Content\">Pre-Content</a></p>\n	<p class=\"paracenter\">\n	</p>\n	<p class=\"paracenter\">\n	<a href=\"-002_PUBLISHERS-NOTE\">Publisher\'s Note</a></p>\n	<p class=\"paracenter\">\n	</p>\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"6\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td width=\"46%\"></td>\n	<td>\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-003_end_of_a_civilisation\">the end of a civilisation</a>\n	</p>\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-004_DARKNESS-TO-LIGHT\">darkness to light</a>\n	</p>\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-005_TYPES-OF-MEDITATION\">types of meditation</a>\n	</p>\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-006_THE-CONSCIOUS-BEING\">the conscious being </a>\n	</p>\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-007_THE-STORY-OF-CREATION\">the story of creation\n	</a></p>\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-008_EARTH-A-SYMBOL\">earth a symbol</a></p>\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-009_TOTAL-TRANSFORMATION-DEMANDS-TOTAL-REJECTION\">\n	total transformation demands total rejection</a></p>\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-010_THE-INDIVIDUAL-AND-THE-COLLECTIVE\">the \n	individual and the collective</a></p>\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-011_HOW-TO-WAIT\">how to Wait</a></p>\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-012_FATIGUE-AND-WORK\">fatigue and work</a></p>\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-013_THE-STEPS-OF-THE-SOUL\">the steps of the \n	soul</a></p>\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-014_THE-EXPANDING-BODY-CONSCIOUSNESS\">the \n	expanding body-consciousness</a></p>\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-015_BODY,THE-OCCULT-AGENT\">body the occult agent</a></p>\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-016_THE-INTEGRAL-REALISATION\">the integral \n	realisation</a></p>\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-017_EVER-GREEN\">ever green!</a></p>\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-018_A-PAGE-OF-OCCULT-HISTORY\">a page of occult \n	history </a></p>\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-019_DIRECTED-CHANGE\">directed change</a></p>\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-020_VALUE-OF-GYMNASTICS,-MENTAL-OR-OTHER-\">\n	value of gymnastics, mental or other</a></p>\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-021_MENTAL-SILENCE\">mental silence</a></p>\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-022_MIND,-ORGAN-OF-SEPARATIVE-CONSCIOUSNESS\">\n	mind, organ of separative consciousness </a></p>\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-023_THE-PERSONAL-AND-THE-IMPERSONAL\">the \n	personal and the impersonal </a></p>\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-024_I-HAVE-NOTHING,-I-AM-NOTHING\">\n	&quot;I \n	have nothing. I am nothing&quot;</a></p>\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-025_HERE-OR-ELSEWHERE\">Here or elsewhere</a></p>\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-026_WHEN-IMPERFECTION-IS-GREATER-THAN-PERFECTION\">\n	when imperfection is greater than perfection</a></p>\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-027_INDIVIDUAL-AND-COLLECTIVE-SOUL\">individual \n	and collective soul</a></p>\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-028_THE-WONDER-OF-IT-ALL\">the wonder of it all</a></p>\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-029_TO-LEARN-AND-TO-UNDERSTAND\">to learn and \n	to understand</a></p>\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-030_THE-COMING-OF-SUPERMAN\">the coming of \n	superman</a></p>\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-031_TOWARDS-REDEMPTION\">towards redemption</a></p>\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-032_SWEET-HOLY-TEARS\">sweet holy tears</a></p>\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-033_IDENTIFICATION-OF-CONSCIOUSNESS\">\n	identification of consciousness</a></p>\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-034_THE-CENTRAL-CONSCIOUSNESS\">the central \n	consciousness</a></p>\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-035_THE-CONSTANTS-OF-THE-SPIRIT\">the constants \n	of the spirit </a></p>\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-036_SELFLESS-WORKER\">selfless worker </a>\n	</p>\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-037_SECOND-SIGHT\">second sight</a></p>\n	<p class=\"para\">\n	<a href=\"-038_THE-MOTHER-ON-HERSELF\">the mother on herself</a></td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','the-yoga-of-sri-aurobindo-part-6-00_Contents','','publish','closed','open','','the-yoga-of-sri-aurobindo-part-6-00_contents','','','2021-11-23 17:21:14','2021-11-23 17:21:14','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/the-yoga-of-sri-aurobindo-part-6-00_contents/',0,'post','',0),(1308,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:14','2021-11-23 17:21:14','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-038_THE MOTHER ON HERSELF.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"6\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">THE MOTHER ON HERSELF\n</p>\n<p class=\"paracenter\"></p>\n<p class=\"para\"> There are two things that should \nnot be confused with each other, namely, what one is and what one does, what one \nis essentially and what one does in the outside world. They are very different. \nI know what I am. And what others think or say or whatever happens in the world, \nthat truth remains unaffected, unaltered, a fact. It is real to itself and the \nworld\'s denial or affirmation does not increase or diminish that reality. But \nbeing what I am, what I do actually is altogether a different question: that \nwill depend upon the conditions and circumstances in which things are and in and \nthrough which I am to work. I know the truth I bring, but how much of it finds \nexpression in the world depends upon the world itself. What I bring, the world \nmust have the capacity and the will to accept: otherwise even if I bring with me \nthe highest and the most imperative truth, it will be, absolutely as it were, \nnon-existent for a consciousness that does not recognise or receive it: the \nbeing with that consciousness will not profit a jot by it.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> You will say if the truth I bring \nis supreme and omnipotent, why does it not compel the world to\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-119</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">accept it, why can it not break the world\'s resistance, force \nman to accept the good it refuses? But that is not the way in which the world \nwas created nor the manner in which it moves and develops. The origin of \ncreation is freedom: it is a free choice in the consciousness that has projected \nitself as the objective world. This freedom is the very character of its \nfundamental nature. If the world denies its supreme truth, its highest good, it \ndoes so in the delight of its free choice; and if it is to turn back and \nrecognise that truth and that good, it must do so in the same delight of free \nchoice. If the erring world is ordered to turn right and immediately does so, if \nthings were done in a trice, through miracles, there will be then no point in \ncreating a world. Creation means a play of growth: it is a journey, a movement \nin time and space through graded steps and stages. It is a movement away—away \nfrom its source—and a movement towards: that is the principle or plan on which \nit stands. In this plan there is no compulsion on any of the elements composing \nthe world to forswear its natural movement, to obey to a dictate from outside: \nsuch compulsion would break the rhythm of creation.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> And yet there is a compulsion. It \nis the secret pressure of one\'s own nature that drives it forward through all \nvicissitudes back again to its original source. When it is said that the Divine \nGrace can\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-120</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">and should do all, it means nothing more and nothing less than \nthat: the Divine Grace only accelarates the process of return and recognition. \nBut on the side of the journeying element, the soul, there must be awakened a \nconscious collaboration, an initial consent and a constantly renewed adhesion. \nIt is this that brings out, at least helps to establish outside on the physical \nlevel, the force that is already and has always been at work within and on the \nsubtler and higher levels. That is the pattern of the play, the system of \nconditions under which the game is carried out. The Grace works and incarnates \nin and through a body of willing and conscious cooperators: these become \nthemselves part and parcel of the Force that works.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The truth I bring will manifest \nand will be embodied upon earth; for, it is the earth\'s and world\'s inevitable \ndestiny. The question of time is not relevant. In one respect the truth which I \nsay will be made manifest is already fully manifest, is already realised and \nestablished: there is no question of time there. It is in a consciousness \ntimeless or eternally present. There is a process, a play of translation between \nthat timeless poise and the poise in time that we know here below. The measure \nof that hiatus is very relative, relative to the consciousness that measures, \nlong or short according to the yardstick each one brings. But that is not the \nessence of the problem: the essence is that\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-121</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">the truth is there active, in the process of <i>materialisation, </i>\nonly one should have the eye to see it and the soul to greet it.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-122</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-038_THE MOTHER ON HERSELF','','publish','closed','open','','038_the-mother-on-herself','','','2021-11-23 17:21:14','2021-11-23 17:21:14','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/038_the-mother-on-herself/',0,'post','',0),(1309,1,'2021-11-23 17:21:14','2021-11-23 17:21:14','<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252\">\n<title>-026_WHEN IMPERFECTION IS GREATER THAN PERFECTION.htm</title>\n</head>\n<div align=\"center\">\n	<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"6\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n	<td>\n<p class=\"paracenter\">WHEN IMPERFECTION IS GREATER THAN \nPERFECTION\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> A perfected consciousness is \nattained in the highest status of being, when it is full of light and delight, \npeace and purity, one with the Divine Consciousness. Such a Consciousness, when \nit comes down upon earth in its original unmixed clarity, lives as a foreign \nelement and has no real contact with the world; it can have only a very indirect \ninfluence upon men and things. If the perfect, the Divine Consciousness has to \nbe truly effective, has to change human and world nature, it must put on \npartially at least that nature; it must share in the imperfection of ignorance \nso that it can show how that imperfection can be dealt with and transformed. The \nDivine has to become human, even the ordinary human, in a sense, in the outward \ninstrumental aspect, to a greater or lesser degree as needed, so that He may \ncome in living contact with the obscure lower consciousness and put His light \ninto it and gradually purify and illumine it. If, however, the consciousness \nretains its fullness of power and light and makes its appearance as such, it may \ndazzle and overwhelm, as a meteor miracle,\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-81</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">but leave nothing substantial behind. This is what has happened \nin the past of man\'s history. The saints and sages, the greatest and the most \ngenuine among them, mostly dwelt apart from humanity in consciousness and even \naway from human contact; the earth could not profit wholly by their example.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> Therefore the Mother says in her <i>\nPrayers and Meditations </i>that having gone beyond all desires still she had to \nlive in the midst of desires; she had no choice of her own, no preference, no \nattachment, no need of anything, yet she was put in the conditions of very \nordinary life, the normal human life; she had to deal with the common man, \nhandle the small insignificant objects of material existence. In one part of her \nbeing she had to identify herself with ignorance and obscurity, so much so that \neven the distinction between consciousness and unconsciousness—the conscient and \nthe inconscient—was for a time obliterated. Naturally, the inmost being in its \ninner self remained always calm, luminous, inviolable, but it put around itself \nthis body of ordinary nature to meet its ordinary reactions and through them \ngradually to uplift and train it to manifest and incarnate the inmost divine.\n</p>\n<br>\n<p class=\"para\"> The gods are perfect; but, it is \nsaid, they have to become men, come down upon earth and assume human \nproportions—that is, imperfections,—if they wish to progress further, attain \nstill higher levels\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-82</p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"para\">of consciousness. For, the gods are perfect each in his own \nlimited and well-defined and therefore unchangeable type; but man means an \naspiring soul, that is to say, infinity—his very imperfection is a sign and \nsymbol of ever greater possibility; the fluidity of his nature means an \nopportunity.\n</p>\n<br><p class=\"pageno\">Page-83</p>\n	</td>\n</tr>\n	</table>\n</div>\n</html>\n','-026_WHEN IMPERFECTION IS GREATER THAN PERFECTION','','publish','closed','open','','026_when-imperfection-is-greater-than-perfection','','','2021-11-23 17:21:14','2021-11-23 17:21:14','',0,'http://collectedworksofnolinikantagupta.com/index.php/2021/11/23/026_when-imperfection-is-greater-than-perfection/',0,'post','',0),