Study Notes
He energised conscious-force (in the austerity of thought) and came to the knowledge that Matter is the Brahman. For from Matter all existences are born; born, by Matter they increase and enter into Matter in their passing hence. Then he went to Varuna his father, and said, “Lord, teach me of the Brahman.” But he said to him: “Energise (again) the conscious-energy in thee; for the Energy is Brahman.”
Taittiriya Upanishad
Explanation
Brigu son of Varuna in his tapas realised that Matter is Brahman, the Eternal. He perceived in the concentrated quest of his consciousness that all existences in this world have issued from Matter. Born of Matter, all draw their nourishment from material food. When they cease, they dissolve in the universal matter. Thus, he realised that Matter is Brahman, the Reality.
Matter cannot be destroyed; the forms may change. Because Matter is only a concealed form of Spirit which is eternal. Matter is Brahman, annam brahma. Materialist is wrong to say that only Matter is real and nothing else is real. There are other forms of the Spirit that are equally real.
It is to teach this to Bhrigu that his teacher and father, Varuna, calls upon him to concentrate further, to once again energise his conscious-force, to enter into tapas. For tapas, the conscious energy is Brahman, and also the Way to Brahman, the Goal.
(M.P.Pandit – Legends in the Life Divine, Dipti Publications – p.10)
PARAGRAPH 1
THE AFFIRMATION of a divine life upon earth and an immortal sense in mortal existence can have no base unless we recognise not only eternal Spirit as the inhabitant of this bodily mansion, the wearer of this mutable robe, but accept Matter of which it is made, as a fit and noble material out of which He weaves constantly His garbs, builds recurrently the unending series of His mansions.
EXPLANATION:
Our body is made up of Matter. Are we to treat this Matter which makes up the body as a mere inert material or something else? Sri Aurobindo says we should treat the Matter of which our body is made as a fit and noble material. Only out of this material the Divine constantly weaves His dresses. Our body is the mansion in which He lives. Only out of this Matter He builds his mansions again and again in an unending series.
It is the Divine, the eternal Spirit which lives in the body. He changes the body as one changes his dress. Understanding this truth gives us a sense of immortality in our death bound life. This is also the fundamental truth on which we affirm the Divine Life upon earth.
PARAGRAPH 2
Nor is this, even, enough to guard us against a recoil from life in the body unless, with the Upanishads, perceiving behind their appearances the identity in essence of these two extreme terms of existence, we are able to say in the very language of those ancient writings, “Matter also is Brahman”, and to give its full value to the vigorous figure by which the physical universe is described as the external body of the Divine Being.
EXPLANATION:
In the earlier paragraph we have seen that eternal Spirit lives in the body. But still we tend to disregard the body in favour of the Spirit. Once we accept the Upanishadic truth “Matter is also Brahman” then we begin to see the identity in essence of the body and the Spirit; we perceive physical universe as the external body of the Divine Being.
Nor, — so far divided apparently are these two extreme terms, —is that identification convincing to the rational intellect if we refuse to recognise a series of ascending terms (Life, Mind, Supermind and the grades that link Mind to Supermind) between Spirit and Matter. Otherwise the two must appear as irreconcilable opponents bound together in an unhappy wedlock and their divorce the one reasonable solution. To identify them, to represent each in the terms of the other, becomes an artificial creation of Thought opposed to the logic of facts and possible only by an irrational mysticism.
EXPLANATION
Yet, for the rational intellect the identification of matter with the Spirit is not convincing. Our mind simply does not accept if we say matter is Spirit.
How to satisfy the rational intellect while reconciling the divergent terms, Matter and Spirit? Sri Aurobindo says this can be done only if we recognise a series of ascending terms: Matter to Life; Life to Mind; Mind to Supermind. We should also take into account various grades that link the Mind to Supermind (Spirit). Here there is a gradual ascent from Matter to Spirit which is more appealing to logic.
The Matter and Spirit seem to be at opposite ends of the same pole. As an unhappy couple bound by marriage, they seem to be irreconcilable opponents and their divorce seems to be the only solution. How are we to reconcile both?
Merely expressing the one in the terms of the other abruptly i.e. Matter as Spirit, ignoring the intervening gradations will be an artificial creation of Thought. It may look like an irrational mysticism opposed to the logic of facts.
PARAGRAPH 3
If we assert only pure Spirit and a mechanical unintelligent substance or energy, calling one God or Soul and the other Nature, the inevitable end will be that we shall either deny God or else turn from Nature. For both Thought and Life, a choice then becomes imperative. Thought comes to deny the one as an illusion of the imagination or the other as an illusion of the senses; Life comes to fix on the immaterial and flee from itself in a disgust or a self-forgetting ecstasy, or else to deny its own immortality and take its orientation away from God and towards the animal.
EXPLANATION
Here Sri Aurobindo describes the nature of Thought and Life in their dealing with the terms, God and Nature. There is a tendency to discriminate between these two. We call the one as pure Spirit or God or Soul. We call the other as a mechanical unintelligent substance or energy or simply as Nature.
Now this distinction compels our Thought and Life to make a choice. Our Thought either denies the Spirit as an illusion caused by our imagination or it denies the Nature as an illusion of the senses. Here Sri Aurobindo means by the word Thought, pure reason which is not bound by the senses.
Similarly, Life in its pursuit of the Spirit, unsatisfied with the world turns away from the world itself. It escapes into a self-forgetting ecstasy. Or it turns away from Godly pursuits and goes back towards its animal nature. Life denies its own immortality & divinity.
This act of choosing the one while rejecting the other becomes inevitable for Thought & Life if we separate God and Nature.
Purusha and Prakriti, the passively luminous Soul of the Sankhyas and their mechanically active Energy, have nothing in common, not even their opposite modes of inertia; their antinomies can only be resolved by the cessation of the inertly driven Activity into the immutable Repose upon which it has been casting in vain the sterile procession of its images.
EXPLANATION
Similarly, Sankhya philosophy (one of the six schools of Hindu philosophy) regards the universe as consisting of two independent realities. Purusha and Prakriti. The Purusha is the silent witness consciousness which observes the action of Prakriti. Prakriti is the Force of Nature which one feels as doing all actions without the sense of ego as the doer.
Sri Aurobindo says, here also, the two seem to stand apart and distinct. They seem to have nothing in common. The inertia or passivity of the Soul (Purusha) seems to be different from the inertia of Nature (Prakriti).
Sri Aurobindo says there is mutual incompatibility between Purusha & Prakriti (he calls it antinomies – meaning, contradiction between two beliefs that are in themselves reasonable; a paradox). The only way it can be resolved, when Prakriti, the Nature, instead of being moved by mechanical forces of Nature, ceases its activities (these activities being mechanical, the Purusha remains unaffected by them; hence Sri Aurobindo describes the activities of Prakriti as sterile procession of images thrown upon the Purusha causing no effect on it ) and enters into a restful state of Purusha.
Shankara’s wordless, inactive Self and his Maya of many names and forms are equally disparate and irreconcilable entities; their rigid antagonism can terminate only by the dissolution of the multitudinous illusion into the sole Truth of an eternal Silence.
EXPLANATION
Shankara’s Adwaitic philosophy of non-dualism (Brahma Satyam Jagat Mithya – meaning Brahman alone is real; all else is Maya) categorises all names and forms as illusions. They are different in kind; irreconcilable among themselves. It states that Brahman alone is the sole Truth of eternal Silence. If we subscribe to this view, then, Sri Aurobindo says, the rigid opposition amongst the various illusionary entities can cease to exist only when they dissolve into the eternal Silence of Brahman. Surely that cannot be the solution to reconcile the dualities of the world.
We can see Sri Aurobindo driving home the fact that none of the distinctions, by various spiritual thoughts, be it Spirit and Nature or Purusha and Prakriti or Brahman and the illusory world could reconcile Matter and Spirit. They do not offer a realistic solution.
PARAGRAPH 4
The materialist has an easier field; it is possible for him by denying Spirit to arrive at a more readily convincing simplicity of statement, a real Monism, the Monism of Matter or else of Force. But in this rigidity of statement it is impossible for him to persist permanently. He too ends by positing an unknowable as inert, as remote from the known universe as the passive Purusha or the silent Atman. It serves no purpose but to put off by a vague concession the inexorable demands of Thought or to stand as an excuse for refusing to extend the limits of inquiry.
EXPLANATION
In the matter of reconciliation between Matter versus the Spirit, Sri Aurobindo says, the Materialist has an easier option. He can simply deny the Spirit and affirm that Matter or Nature alone is real. This Sri Aurobindo calls it Monism of Matter or Force (quite the opposite of Adwaitic Monism). But he cannot hold on to his stand rigidly for long. He also makes a distinction between the known universe and the remote unknowable.
An ascetic spiritualist distinguishes the passive Purusha or the silent Atman quite different from the universe. Likewise the materialist calls the unknowable as inert quite different from the known universe.
But it serves no purpose. The demands of Thought (passion to arrive at the Truth) are unstoppable. By taking this stand, the Materialist only puts off the demands of his inquiring mind by vague concession. Rather it is only an excuse for his refusal to go beyond the limits of inquiry.
PARAGRAPH 5
Therefore, in these barren contradictions the human mind cannot rest satisfied. It must seek always a complete affirmation; it can find it only by a luminous reconciliation. To reach that reconciliation it must traverse the degrees which our inner consciousness imposes on us and, whether by objective method of analysis applied to Life and Mind as to Matter or by subjective synthesis and illumination, arrive at the repose of the ultimate unity without denying the energy of the expressive multiplicity.
EXPLANATION:
The contradiction between the Matter and the Spirit continues to haunt the human mind. The human mind wants complete affirmation and not contradiction. Sri Aurobindo says only through reconciliation can the affirmation be found.
The human mind can bring about reconciliation only by travelling along the path guided by our inner consciousness (as different from our surface consciousness) to arrive at the ultimate unity. Behind all contradictory appearances there exists unity. Unity is the base on which everything else rests. Sri Aurobindo says this unity can be arrived in two ways:
1. By objective analysis (meaning – based on only factual evidence) of Life and Mind and their relationship concerning matter and by unifying the common elements (as done by the scientist Jagdish Chandra Bose who found that there is underlying commonality between the matter, life).
2. Or by subjective synthesis (meaning – combining various ideas based on one’s own personal judgement, illumination and intuition – facts not based on perception of the senses) of diverse factors (as done by Vedic Rishis).
There is One conscious energy present as Many. The Unity is a restful state. It is also expressed in terms of active energy of multiplicity. Sri Aurobindo says that while arriving at Unity we cannot deny this energy of multiplicity.
Only in such a complete and catholic affirmation can all the multiform and apparently contradictory data of existence be harmonised and the manifold conflicting forces which govern our thought and life discover the central Truth which they are here to symbolise and variously fulfil. Then only can our Thought, having attained a true centre, ceasing to wander in circles, work like the Brahman of the Upanishad, fixed and stable even in its play and its worldwide coursing, and our life, knowing its aim, serve it with a serene and settled joy and light as well as with a rhythmically discursive energy.
EXPLANATION:
The affirmation thus obtained by unity of Spirit and Matter must be complete. It should also be catholic, meaning embracing all beliefs. In such an affirmation all contradictory data of life with its many forms are harmonised.
Our life and thought are influenced by countless conflicting forces. However, there is a central Truth, a Divine Principle that lies at the core of our existence. In a state of harmony, the forces that are in conflict will discover the central Truth. Instead of acting in conflict, their actions will symbolise the central Truth and serve to fulfil Its purpose.
Our Thought instead of wandering in circles will be governed by the Divine Centre. Like Brahman described in the Upanishad our Thought will be fixed and stable, yet engaged in its play of worldwide movement. Our Life, having found its aim of uniting with the central Truth will work towards its aim with a serene (calm & peaceful) and settled joy & light; in this way Life will function with its energy rhythmically distributed to various activities.
PARAGRAPH 6
But when that rhythm has once been disturbed, it is necessary and helpful that man should test separately, in their extreme assertion, each of the two great opposites. It is the mind’s natural way of returning more perfectly to the affirmation it has lost. On the road it may attempt to rest in the intervening degrees, reducing all things into the terms of an original Life-Energy or of sensation or of Ideas; but these exclusive solutions have always an air of unreality. They may satisfy for a time the logical reason which deals only with pure ideas, but they cannot satisfy the mind’s sense of actuality.
EXPLANATION
When the contradiction persists the rhythm of life is lost. There is an extreme assertion of the two opposites; either Matter is real or Spirit is real. Sri Aurobindo says, in that case, man should test each of the opposite separately. This is the mind’s natural way of regaining the lost affirmation. Approaching the contradictions separately is the first step.
In this process the mind has to pass through intermediary stages. It may even arrive at conclusions like, there is nothing beyond life; or nothing beyond sensations; or nothing beyond mental Ideas. These solutions are exclusive and not comprehensive. There is an air of unreality about them. Dealing with pure ideas may appeal to logic but not to the mind’s sense of actuality.
For the mind knows that there is something behind itself which is not the Idea; it knows, on the other hand, that there is something within itself which is more than the vital Breath. Either Spirit or Matter can give it for a time some sense of ultimate reality; not so any of the principles that intervene. It must, therefore, go to the two extremes before it can return fruitfully upon the whole.
EXPLANATION:
Because the mind knows that it cannot stop with mere life force (Breath of life) or mere senses or mere Ideas. It knows that there is something behind it which is more than the Idea and something within it which is more than life-force.
Either the Spirit or the Matter gives a temporary sense of reality to mind, not the intervening principles. Hence the Mind has to take station at either of these extremes. Yet this status cannot be final. Going beyond the separate conclusions, mind must look at the two divisions as parts of a whole. Only then can mind arrive at the Truth.
The nature of the human mind is such that it always mistakes the part as a whole. Hence it becomes inevitable for the mind to take an extreme view of the opposites. This defect can be rectified only when the mind graduates to Supramental status. Supermind views in totality not in parts. As an example, we may recall the story of four blind men describing an elephant in parts without taking the whole view.
For by its very nature, served by a sense that can perceive with distinctness only the parts of existence and by a speech that, also, can achieve distinctness only when it carefully divides and limits, the intellect is driven, having before it this multiplicity of elemental principles, to seek unity by reducing all ruthlessly to the terms of one. It attempts practically, in order to assert this one, to get rid of the others. To perceive the real source of their identity without this exclusive process, it must either have overleaped itself or must have completed the circuit only to find that all equally reduce themselves to That which escapes definition or description and is yet not only real but attainable. By whatever road we may travel, That is always the end at which we arrive and we can only escape it by refusing to complete the journey.
EXPLANATION
What is the nature of human intellect? It depends on the senses for perception of knowledge. Our senses obtain clear knowledge of things only in parts. It depends on our speech for its expression. Again, our speech is also divided and limited by parts. When faced with multiplicity of elemental principles it is the natural tendency for the intellect to express everything in terms of one principle.
For example, while describing a person we define him by his single quality – an angry man or an intelligent man etc. But the truth is, man is made of innumerable qualities. We bring in artificial unity based on a single attribute i.e. labour class, poor class etc.
The human intellect, in order to prove one idea as Truth, rejects the other as false. How can the intellect rectify this defect? Either it should go beyond its narrow limits to get the holistic view of the truth. Or by a process of elimination it can come to the fundamental truth that all is Brahman; It is beyond all definition; Yet it is real and attainable.
Sri Aurobindo concludes this paragraph by saying that by whatever road we may travel, That (Brahman) is the final destination we will arrive at. We may escape from that realisation only by not completing the journey to the end.
PARAGRAPH 7
It is therefore of good augury that after many experiments and verbal solutions we should now find ourselves standing today in the presence of the two that have alone borne for long the most rigorous tests of experience, the two extremes, and that at the end of the experience both should have come to a result which the universal instinct in mankind, that veiled judge, sentinel and representative of the universal Spirit of Truth, refuses to accept as right or as satisfying.
EXPLANATION
Now, we have come to a stage where we are faced with two stark opposites: One is Matter; the other is the Spirit. These two have come to stay after subjecting themselves to the rigours of the tests of experience. These two alone have stood the test of time. Can we stop with that? Has the human mind reached the point of satisfaction?
Sri Aurobindo says as there is an individual instinct so is there the universal instinct in mankind. It functions behind the veil, keeps vigil and accords its approval or disapproval. It represents the universal spirit of Truth. It refuses to accept the extreme results arrived at by Matter and Spirit (the idea of Matter alone is real or the Spirit alone is real) as right or satisfying.
In Europe and in India, respectively, the negation of the materialist and the refusal of the ascetic have sought to assert themselves as the sole truth and to dominate the conception of Life. In India, if the result has been a great heaping up of the treasures of the Spirit,—or of some of them,—it has also been a great bankruptcy of Life; in Europe, the fullness of riches and the triumphant mastery of this world’s powers and possessions have progressed towards an equal bankruptcy in the things of the Spirit. Nor has the intellect, which sought the solution of all problems in the one term of Matter, found satisfaction in the answer that it has received.
EXPLANATION
In Europe materialism dominated. Materialists did not believe in the existence of the Spirit (the Divine). In India asceticism (meaning – leading a hermit life, a life of ascetic barrenness) dominated the scene. Both materialists and ascetics affirmed that theirs was the sole truth.
The intense spiritual pursuits brought forth profound spiritual treasures in India. But it led to the bankruptcy of Life. Life lost its vitality. In Europe on the other hand, Materialism brought forth material riches and harnessing of world power and possessions and conquest of Nature. On the flip side it led to bankruptcy of the Spirit.
What happened to the human intellect? It had assumed that it could find solutions to all the problems of life by its sole dependence on the material realm. It thought that the solutions lie in the physical domain of Matter. Yet the intellect could not satisfy itself in the ultimate answer it received.
PARAGRAPH 8
Therefore the time grows ripe and the tendency of the world moves towards a new and comprehensive affirmation in thought and in inner and outer experience and to its corollary, a new and rich self-fulfilment in an integral human existence for the individual and for the race.
EXPLANATION
Sri Aurobindo declares that now is the right time. In which direction does the tendency of the world go? It moves towards a new and comprehensive affirmation in thought and in inner and outer experience. It means all viewpoints are to be considered – without insisting on a single idea as a sole truth.
Sri Aurobindo foresees, as a corollary (supplementary) to the new world order, coming of an integral human existence – meaning the individual existence will be a part and parcel of collective existence. In such an existence there will be a new and rich self-fulfilment both for the individual and the race.
PARAGRAPH 9
From the difference in the relations of Spirit and Matter to the Unknowable which they both represent, there arises also a difference of effectiveness in the material and the spiritual negations. The denial of the materialist although more insistent and immediately successful, more facile in its appeal to the generality of mankind, is yet less enduring, less effective finally than the absorbing and perilous refusal of the ascetic. For it carries within itself its own cure. Its most powerful element is the Agnosticism which, admitting the Unknowable behind all manifestation, extends the limits of the unknowable until it comprehends all that is merely unknown.
EXPLANATION
The Materialist denies the existence of Spirit. The Ascetic refuses to acknowledge the reality of Matter. However, Sri Aurobindo says, both represent the Unknowable (meaning: Something to us Supreme, wonderful, cannot be described in words; Something which is not absolutely unknowable but that which is beyond our mental knowledge – the Divine).
Is the force or power of denial the same in both the cases? No, says Sri Aurobindo. The denial of the materialist serves the immediate purpose. It is more demanding and more appealing to the superficial mentality of mankind. Yet it cannot last long.
As compared to this, the refusal of the ascetic is more effective in catching the attention of the human mind. This refusal, in its result, causes more damage because it negates the very existence of the material world itself.
The denial of the materialist carries the solution to the problem in itself. It is based on the principle of Agnosticism, meaning – the existence of God is not known or cannot be known. (Please note: It differs from Atheism which denies the existence of God). It admits that there is something still unknowable beyond this known outward world. It maintains the status of unknowability till something is known. Rather it pushes the limits of its inquiry into the unknowable till it becomes known.
Its premiss is that the physical senses are our sole means of Knowledge and that Reason, therefore, even in its most extended and vigorous flights, cannot escape beyond their domain; it must deal always and solely with the facts which they provide or suggest; and the suggestions themselves must always be kept tied to their origins; we cannot go beyond, we cannot use them as a bridge leading us into a domain where more powerful and less limited faculties come into play and another kind of inquiry has to be instituted.
EXPLANATION
What are the key propositions (Sri Aurobindo uses the terminology ‘premiss’ meaning, a previous statement from which subsequent inference is drawn) from which the Materialist draws his conclusions?
– Our physical senses are our sole means of knowledge
– Whatever knowledge we obtain by our Reason even in its utmost limits, should be well within the boundaries of our five senses
– We must rely upon the facts provided by our senses only
– These facts may lead to some suggestions beyond the known and yet they cannot deviate from the originating senses
Take an example of a cow tied to a rope in a pole. While grazing it cannot go beyond the radius of the rope. In a similar way we cannot extend our knowledge beyond the boundaries of our senses.
There are domains (regions) beyond our senses. In these domains our Supra-sensory (meaning-beyond our five senses) faculties like intuition, premonition (fore-knowledge) etc., work in a powerful way. But here the scope of use of our existing sensory faculties is very much limited. The knowledge obtained through our reason cannot serve as a bridge to enter into this Supra-sensory domain. We have to use another means of inquiry to get knowledge of this domain.
PARAGRAPH 10
A premiss so arbitrary pronounces on itself its own sentence of insufficiency. It can only be maintained by ignoring or explaining away all that vast field of evidence and experience which contradicts it, denying or disparaging noble and useful faculties, active consciously or obscurely or at worst latent in all human beings, and refusing to investigate supraphysical phenomena except as manifested in relation to matter and its movements and conceived as a subordinate activity of material forces.
EXPLANATION
Sri Aurobindo says the premiss (the propositions) on which the Materialist builds up his theory shows its insufficiency. On the other hand, the vast field of evidence available and the experience on hand contradict the stand taken by the Materialist. The materialist can hold on to his facts only by ignoring these contradictory evidences. In this process he denies the due importance deserved to be given to other useful faculties.
These faculties act consciously in him or act with not much apparent clarity or lie hidden in him e.g. intuition, clairvoyance, telepathy, premonition etc. The Materialist refuses to investigate anything other than that relates to matter. He is concerned only with movements that are controlled by matter.
As soon as we begin to investigate the operations of mind and of supermind, in themselves and without the prejudgment that is determined from the beginning to see in them only a subordinate term of Matter, we come into contact with a mass of phenomena which escape entirely from the rigid hold, the limiting dogmatism of the materialist formula.
EXPLANATION
The materialist formula is rigid in its hold and dogmatic (meaning-laying down principles as undeniably true) in its approach. If we free ourselves from the clutch of its rigid formula and its limiting dogmas and investigate into the operations of mind and supermind we come into contact with a mass of phenomena. This mass of phenomena defies the very formula of the materialist. While doing so we must avoid the preconceived notion that the activities of mind and Supermind are subordinated to Matter. We must understand that mind and supermind can function independent of Matter.
And the moment we recognise, as our enlarging experience compels us to recognise, that there are in the universe knowable realities beyond the range of the senses and in man powers and faculties which determine rather than are determined by the material organs through which they hold themselves in touch with the world of the senses,—that outer shell of our true and complete existence,—the premiss of materialistic Agnosticism disappears. We are ready for a large statement and an ever-developing inquiry.
EXPLANATION
Sri Aurobindo says there are knowable realities in the Universe which are beyond the range of our five senses. There are powers and faculties in man which are not determined by the material organs through which they are in touch with the external world of senses. The world of senses constitutes our outer shell of our true and complete existence.
Rather the hidden powers and faculties govern the material organs. This fact, we are compelled to recognise when we enlarge our experience. Once we recognise this fact, the premiss of materialistic Agnosticism disappears. We begin to take a broader view of facts. The scope of our inquiry will be ever enlarging.
PARAGRAPH 11
But, first, it is well that we should recognise the enormous, the indispensable utility of the very brief period of rationalistic Materialism through which humanity has been passing. For that vast field of evidence and experience which now begins to reopen its gates to us, can only be safely entered when the intellect has been severely trained to a clear austerity; seized on by unripe minds, it lends itself to the most perilous distortions and misleading imaginations and actually in the past encrusted a real nucleus of truth with such an accretion of perverting superstitions and irrationalising dogmas that all advance in true knowledge was rendered impossible. It became necessary for a time to make a clean sweep at once of the truth and its disguise in order that the road might be clear for a new departure and a surer advance. The rationalistic tendency of Materialism has done mankind this great service.
EXPLANATION
In this paragraph Sri Aurobindo narrates how rationalism helped in sharpening the human intellect in its journey towards reaching the Truth.
In the previous paragraph we have seen that there is a vast field of evidence and experience made available to us which prove that there is a supra-physical domain beyond this world of matter. The knowledge of this domain is beyond the grasp of our five senses.
The world is passing through a very brief period of rationalistic materialism. It has its own indispensable utility, says Sri Aurobindo.
We can safely enter the gates of Supra-physical domain only when our intellect is trained to severe discipline. When unripe minds take hold of this domain it will lead to dangerous distortion of facts and misleading imaginations.
Sri Aurobindo says in the past, true progress in knowledge in this domain was not made possible. This was because the real nucleus of truth was covered with a hard surface layer of perverting superstitions and irrational dogmas.
It became very much necessary to remove all unwanted covering of the truth and its false appearance so that the road to new departure and progress became clear. Sri Aurobindo says rationalistic Materialism has done mankind this great service.
PARAGRAPH 12
For the faculties that transcend the senses, by the very fact of their being immeshed in Matter, missioned to work in a physical body, put in harness to draw one car along with the emotional desires and nervous impulses, are exposed to a mixed functioning in which they are in danger of illuminating confusion rather than clarifying truth. Especially is this mixed functioning dangerous when men with unchastened minds and unpurified sensibilities attempt to rise into the higher domains of spiritual experience.
EXPLANATION
What is the danger involved in our journey into the supra-physical domain? How reliable are our hidden faculties and powers in leading us through this domain?
Sri Aurobindo says these faculties transcend (meaning- not bound by) our five senses. Yet they have to function very much in the field of Matter. Again, they have to work in our physical body with all its limitations. They also have to bear the load of our emotional desires and nervous impulses. All these put together expose these faculties to a mixed functioning instead of pure functioning. With all these drawbacks, they are in danger of highlighting confusion rather than clarifying the truth.
Sri Aurobindo says their mixed functioning is more dangerous with men of impure minds and crude emotions. Such persons when they try to rise into the higher domains of spiritual experience will lose their balance and stray away from the path.
In what regions of unsubstantial cloud and semi brilliant fog or a murk visited by flashes which blind more than they enlighten, do they not lose themselves by that rash and premature adventure! An adventure necessary indeed in the way in which Nature chooses to effect her advance, —for she amuses herself as she works, —but still, for the Reason, rash and premature.
EXPLANATION
Here Sri Aurobindo terms the entry of persons with impure mind and emotions into the higher domains of spirituality as rash and premature. He likens (points out resemblance) these higher regions to places with a gloomy sky, enveloped by fog through which nothing can be seen and a darkness visited by occasional flashes of lights; such flashes are often blinding than illuminating. To venture into such places is a rash adventure for one and he would be lost.
Sri Aurobindo says adventure is necessary in a way Nature chooses to make her advance because Nature amuses herself in such efforts. But for the reason such an adventure would be rash and premature.
“Earth is His footing,” says the Upanishad whenever it images the Self that manifests in the universe. And it is certainly the fact that the wider we extend and the surer we make our knowledge of the physical world, the wider and surer becomes our foundation for the higher knowledge, even for the highest, even for the Brahmavidya.
EXPLANATION:
Here Sri Aurobindo quotes Mundaka Upanishad (padbhyam Prithvi – meaning: on His legs on earth). It talks about the Cosmic Being or Supreme Being (Virat Purusha) who manifests in the entire Universe. The whole Universe constitutes his body. Yet the Earth which represents the gross form of physical manifestation may be regarded as His footstool.
Again, he quotes Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (prithvi pajasyam – meaning, earth the footing), meaning earth is foundation of tier of worlds. Our creation consists of many planes of existence and each plane has its own system of worlds (worlds of Sachchidananda, mental world, vital world etc). While each world is organised around its own truth, yet all of them are involved in their principles in Earth.
The knowledge of the physical world is the basic foundation on which all other higher knowledge is built. Even for acquiring the highest spiritual knowledge of the Divine, the Brahmavidya the knowledge of this physical world becomes an indispensable foundation.
We may ask the question, why Sri Aurobindo stresses the fact that we cannot lose touch with our physical world when we rise to higher planes of consciousness. We have seen in the second paragraph of this chapter that there exists an ascending series of evolution from Matter to Supermind. There are links from Matter to the Spirit at various levels which makes the Divine Life possible on earth. Hence, we cannot ignore the crucial link with the physical world which represents Matter.
The following lines from Savitri capture the significance of earth:
Earth is the chosen place of mightiest souls (XI.1-686)
Earth is the heroic spirit’s battlefield (XI.1.686)
Earth must transform herself and equal Heaven (VII.2.486)
Earth’s deeds shall touch the superhuman’s height (III.4.344)
PARAGRAPH 14
In emerging, therefore, out of the materialistic period of human Knowledge we must be careful that we do not rashly condemn what we are leaving or throw away even one tittle of its gains, before we can summon perceptions and powers that are well grasped and secure, to occupy their place. Rather we shall observe with respect and wonder the work that Atheism has done for the Divine and admire the services that Agnosticism has rendered in preparing the illimitable increase of knowledge.
EXPLANATION:
Sri Aurobindo leaves a note of caution here. When we go past the materialistic period can we condemn this period as something useless?
No. Such an action on our part would be rash. We cannot afford to throw away even the tiniest of the gains we made through materialism.
We gain new knowledge when we go beyond our material domain. We also acquire power by the new knowledge. We should ensure that such knowledge and power are well received in our minds and are well secured in their place. They should not be misused in a frivolous manner.
Sri Aurobindo says we must note with respect and wonder the work Atheism has done for the Divine. Atheism had helped in removing unwanted superstitions from true spiritualty. We must also appreciate the admirable services done by the Agnosticism in increasing our knowledge beyond the limits.
In our world error is continually the handmaid and pathfinder of Truth; for error is really a half-truth that stumbles because of its limitations; often it is Truth that wears a disguise in order to arrive unobserved near to its goal. Well, if it could always be, as it has been in the great period we are leaving, the faithful handmaid, severe, conscientious, clean-handed, luminous within its limits, a half-truth and not a reckless and presumptuous aberration.
EXPLANATION:
What is that really, we call as error? Sri Aurobindo explains that error is something that serves the cause of Truth; through error we find our way to Truth. Error is half-truth curtailed by its limitations. Truth conceals its identity in error till it arrives at the goal. For example, all scientific truths are discovered after doing repeated experiments that might have ended in errors. Thomas Alva Edison’s invention of electric power generation came after repeated errors and failures.
The error has some utility in our new journey beyond materialism. As it was in the past, so will it be in the future as a faithful servant; uncompromising in its approach; true to its conscience; within its limits lit with knowledge; containing partial truth in itself. However, the error cannot be reckless and an aberration (deviation from normal) beyond its acceptable limits.
PARAGRAPH 15
A certain kind of Agnosticism is the final truth of all knowledge. For when we come to the end of whatever path, the universe appears as only a symbol or an appearance of an unknowable Reality which translates itself here into different systems of values, physical values, vital and sensational values, intellectual, ideal and spiritual values. The more That becomes real to us, the more it is seen to be always beyond defining thought and beyond formulating expression. “Mind attains not there, nor speech.”
EXPLANATION:
All knowledge comes to a stage at which something still remains unknown. For example, at the physical level, science has brought out the knowledge of various solar systems, planetary systems etc. Still the Universe remains a mystery to us. We are not sure of things other than what is already known. Hence, Sri Aurobindo says a certain kind of Agnosticism is the final truth all knowledge. This is the case with all fields of knowledge.
Now, how do we view the universe we live in? We define the universe in the physical values of planets, earthly-world, countries, geographical features etc. We also attach vital and sensational values: we are emotionally attached to our country (my country, my village etc); we admire the beauty of sky, space, stars and earth nature. Our intellect views the universe as field for intellectual progress. We gain knowledge of the universe though our intellect. Spiritualists view the universe as a field for spiritual progress. Some may call this universe as illusion and some may call it as manifestation of the Divine. Yet, behind all these different systems of values the Universe appears as a symbol representing an unknowable Reality.
The more That (unknowable Reality, the Divine) becomes real to us the more we realise that it is beyond all definition and expression. Sri Aurobindo referring to Kena Upanishad, states that neither mind nor our speech can define the unknowable Reality -meaning, mind and speech represent man’s finite nature; they cannot define the Infinite, the Divine.
And yet as it is possible to exaggerate, with the Illusionists, the unreality of the appearance, so it is possible to exaggerate the unknowableness of the Unknowable. When we speak of It as unknowable, we mean, really, that It escapes the grasp of our thought and speech, instruments which proceed always by the sense of difference and express by the way of definition; but if not knowable by thought, It is attainable by a supreme effort of consciousness.
EXPLANATION:
There is always an element of exaggeration when one comes across something Unknowable. We come to an extreme conclusion that it can never be known. This is similar to the view taken by Mayavadins. They say the world is an illusion. It is an exaggeration. The world may not look perfect. But it is wrong to say that it is Maya.
We say something is unknowable when we are unable to grasp it by our thought and speech. We identify an object by its nature of its differing from another object. We identify a pen different from a pencil. Our thought and speech are based on this sense of difference. We define the object by the same principle. This is the limitation of our thought process. But there is a superior mode of knowing the unknowable. At a higher level we move from this state of division to oneness. It is by identity by consciousness.
There is even a kind of Knowledge which is one with Identity and by which, in a sense, It can be known. Certainly, that Knowledge cannot be reproduced successfully in the terms of thought and speech, but when we have attained to it, the result is a revaluation of That in the symbols of our cosmic consciousness, not only in one but in all the ranges of symbols, which results in a revolution of our internal being and, through the internal, of our external life.
EXPLANATION:
Here, Sri Aurobindo speaks about the kind of knowledge that can revolutionise our internal being and through internal, our external life. It is Knowledge by Identity.
What is Knowledge by Identity? It is knowing an object by becoming one with the object itself (e.g. In Prayers and Meditations Dt. April 7, 1917 in Japan the Mother narrates: ‘I was identifying myself with a single-cherry tree…. I became suddenly the cherry-tree itself…. now the blood of the cherry-tree flows in my veins…)
Through Knowledge by Identity the Unknown can be known. But such knowledge cannot be translated into thought and speech.
In the Universe we come across objects both animate and inanimate. We see events happening around us. We assign values to them based on our perception: physical, emotional, intellectual etc. In fact, they are symbols representing some other Reality. The moment we attain knowledge by identity our perception of the world and the Universe undergoes complete change. We see all cosmic objects and events as symbols representing the unknowable Reality i.e. the Divine. Our perception of this world and the universe undergoes a complete change. We do not take things and events at their face value.
Moreover, there is also a kind of Knowledge through which That does reveal itself by all these names and forms of phenomenal existence which to the ordinary intelligence only conceal It. It is this higher but not highest process of Knowledge to which we can attain by passing the limits of the materialistic formula and scrutinising Life, Mind and Supermind in the phenomena that are characteristic of them and not merely in those subordinate movements by which they link themselves to Matter.
EXPLANATION:
The material world is a world of names and forms. To our normal intelligence they do not convey anything beyond their names and forms. But when we attain a higher knowledge beyond our mind all these names and forms convey the Divine Reality that is behind them. For example, whenever the Mother saw a person, she only saw his soul not his outward personality.
For this, one should see the true Reality represented by Life, Mind and Supermind. Their movements are not to be viewed as mere actions prompted by Matter. They represent a greater Reality behind them.
PARAGRAPH 16
The Unknown is not the Unknowable; it need not remain the unknown for us, unless we choose ignorance or persist in our first limitations. For to all things that are not unknowable, all things in the universe, there correspond in that universe faculties which can take cognisance of them, and in man, the microcosm, these faculties are always existent and at a certain stage capable of development. We may choose not to develop them; where they are partially developed, we may discourage and impose on them a kind of atrophy.
EXPLANATION:
When we are unable to know something or some phenomenon, we call it Unknown. It means our mind is incapable knowing it. It does not mean that it can never be known. We never knew anything beyond our earth a few hundred years ago. But now we know what is there in a planet millions of miles away from us. If we had not made the effort to know, the unknown can never be known.
Man, always invents a new device to study an unknown thing or a phenomenon. For example, the structure of viruses was not known till the invention of electron-microscope. Sri Aurobindo says for all things unknown in the universe there exists a corresponding faculty or capacity in man to know about them. Because, man is a microcosm- meaning, he is a miniature universe, containing all knowledge of the Universe. They may remain underdeveloped but at a stage he can develop them. Such faculties do not come to the forefront because man chooses not to develop them. Or because, he discourages the use of them, such faculties will waste away. For instance, one may get a valuable spiritual vision, but he may choose to ignore it.
But, fundamentally, all possible knowledge is knowledge within the power of humanity. And since in man there is the inalienable impulse of Nature towards self-realisation, no struggle of the intellect to limit the action of our capacities within a determined area can for ever prevail. When we have proved Matter and realised its secret capacities, the very knowledge which has found its convenience in that temporary limitation, must cry to us, like the Vedic Restrainers, “Forth now and push forward also in other fields.”
EXPLANATION:
Sri Aurobindo says a very positive statement that all possible knowledge is within the human power to acquire them. Man, always aspires to realise the true self within. This urge in him is inseparable. This urge always pushes the hidden capacities in him to get knowledge beyond the limits of his intellect. Yet the intellect always tries to limit such actions within its boundaries. But it cannot succeed because the urge in Man is stronger.
Mankind has mastered the material world. He has brought the forces & capacities of matter under his control. Though he has developed his knowledge in this field, it is still limited to the domain of matter only. Sri Aurobindo quoting Rig Veda says the very knowledge obtained in the field of matter will push the man to gain entry into domains beyond.
PARAGRAPH 17
If modern Materialism were simply an unintelligent acquiescence in the material life, the advance might be indefinitely delayed. But since its very soul is the search for Knowledge, it will be unable to cry a halt; as it reaches the barriers of sense knowledge and of the reasoning from sense-knowledge, its very rush will carry it beyond and the rapidity and sureness with which it has embraced the visible universe is only an earnest of the energy and success which we may hope to see repeated in the conquest of what lies beyond, once the stride is taken that crosses the barrier. We see already that advance in its obscure beginnings.
EXPLANATION:
How do we treat the modern materialism? Is it simply a helpless surrender to the material life?
Sri Aurobindo says, had it been so, the advance towards gaining knowledge in domains beyond matter would be indefinitely delayed. Rather, the very soul of Materialism is search for Knowledge.
The materialist has reached the ultimate limits of his sense knowledge. His reasoning, based on the sense knowledge also has reached its limits. Now this process cannot stop. The search after knowledge will carry it forward beyond the domain of the senses.
The materialistic knowledge has spread to the visible universe with speed and sureness. The earnestness and success it had achieved in the domain of matter will be repeated in the fields beyond matter if the journey is taken to cross the barrier of matter. Sri Aurobindo says already signs of progress appear in this direction, though not well known.
What Sri Aurobindo refers to, has come true in the later part of 20th century. A new field came into existence by name Transpersonal psychology. It is a school of psychology that integrates the spiritual and transcendent aspects of the human experience with the framework of modern psychology.
PARAGRAPH 18
Not only in the one final conception, but in the great line of its general results Knowledge, by whatever path it is followed, tends to become one. Nothing can be more remarkable and suggestive than the extent to which modern Science confirms in the domain of Matter the conceptions and even the very formulae of language which were arrived at, by a very different method, in the Vedanta,—the original Vedanta, not of the schools of metaphysical philosophy, but of the Upanishads.
EXPLANATION:
Sri Aurobindo says by whatever method we follow the final Knowledge becomes one. This fact is confirmed by the modern scientific findings. Modern science confirms some of the concepts of matter in the very same language of the original Vedanta – the Upanishads. The original Vedanta is 2500 years old comprising the Upanishads. Later Metaphysical schools starting from Shankara’s Adwaita came into existence in 8th century. One may go through spirituality or science. Either way one is bound to enter the consciousness of the One.
And these, on the other hand, often reveal their full significance, their richer contents only when they are viewed in the new light shed by the discoveries of modern Science,—for instance, that Vedantic expression which describes things in the Cosmos as one seed arranged by the universal Energy in multitudinous forms. Significant, especially, is the drive of Science towards a Monism which is consistent with multiplicity, towards the Vedic idea of the one essence with its many becomings.
EXPLANATION:
Science is doing the same thing what Vedanta did thousands of years ago. Vedantic truths are rediscovered and spoken in scientific language. Now they have greater acceptability.
Monism means one Supreme Reality (Brahman) becoming Many. This is Monism of Spirit. Vedantic knowledge says the entire Cosmos is one seed but appearing in many forms. These many forms are arranged by the Universal energy.
Here Sri Aurobindo speaks of monism of Matter as conveyed by modern Science. Matter appears in many forms in the Universe. Modern scientists are of the view that if we analyse Matter, it basically reduces itself to a single element known as energy. The famous formula of Einstein E=MC2 is based on this. Spiritualists reduce everything into One Consciousness -Force.
Even if the dualistic appearance of Matter and Force be insisted on, it does not really stand in the way of his Monism. For it will be evident that essential Matter is a thing non-existent to the senses and only, like the Pradhana of the Sankhyas, a conceptual form of substance; and in fact the point is increasingly reached where only an arbitrary distinction in thought divides form of substance from form of energy.
EXPLANATION:
Still one may argue that Matter and Force (Energy) are different. Yet in reality it does not affect their Oneness. What we ‘see’ as Matter is really non-existent. Sri Aurobindo explains why it is so. The essential matter is beyond the grasp of our senses. We take cognisance of only a conceptual form of substance. It is only in our thought that we make a distinction between the form of substance from form of energy.
One should note that Sri Aurobindo does not say Matter is non-existent or an illusion. He says ‘essential’ matter is non-existent to the senses. Science has discovered that matter is composed of atoms. If you take an atom only a small faction (0.00000001%) is occupied by protons, neutrons and electrons. That means 99.9999999% is occupied by empty space filled with energy. This energy is electro-magnetic wave produced by the movement of electrons.
When we touch an object, we feel the object. What really happens is only the contact between two electro-magnetic fields of energy. When we see an object, it is the energy created by the light waves makes an impression on our brain. (Courtesy Shri Sraddhaluji for the above clarification given over phone).
Hence Sri Aurobindo states that only our thought arbitrarily differentiates the substance from form of energy. The Sankhya School of philosophy asserts that all creation is a play of Purusha and Prakriti. Prakriti itself is matter but assumes consciousness when the Purusha fuses with it (and thereby becomes bound to it). As the name implies (Sankhya means numbers or counts), Sankhya philosophy elaborates the constituents of matter and creation in general. It touches the most fundamental principle of matter which is almost like energy crystallising as matter (much like the views of modern Science). This ultimate substance or rather the substance-energy which eventually goes into the building of all forms in the universe is called as Pradhana (principle or main substance). It is the principle of Matter so to say.
Even though a subtlest of distinctions still remains between Substance and Force, yet if we reach to the core of matter, we shall discover that the primal substance is only a form of energy. We can compare this with modern Science that sees solid matter as a condensation or crystallisation of energy particles, right from the basic constituents of atoms to the subatomic particles. Outwardly it may appear that there is Matter and there is Energy or Force but if we go deep enough into matter, we shall find that there is a point where the two tend to almost fuse.
Energy becomes the substrate of matter and matter can be resolved ultimately into energy. This is the kind of monism that modern Science has reached which Sri Aurobindo is revealing to us. The context is how when we probe anything deep enough, we shall discover that ONE Truth. Thus, he is bridging the divide that our mind creates between Science and Spirituality. (Courtesy: Dr Alok Pandey for clarification by email).
PARAGRAPH 19
Matter expresses itself eventually as a formulation of some unknown Force. Life, too, that yet unfathomed mystery, begins to reveal itself as an obscure energy of sensibility imprisoned in its material formulation; and when the dividing ignorance is cured which gives us the sense of a gulf between Life and Matter, it is difficult to suppose that Mind ,Life and Matter will be found to be anything else than one Energy triply formulated, the triple world of the Vedic seers. Nor will the conception then be able to endure of a brute material Force as the mother of Mind. The Energy that creates the world can be nothing else than a Will, and Will is only consciousness applying itself to a work and a result.
EXPLANATION:
For a normal mind Matter expresses itself as a formulation of unknown force. Life also appears as an obscure (meaning – not clear) energy responding to various emotional and sensational stimuli. Life which is still a mystery to us, again is shut up within this material formulation called body.
We find there is a sense of division between life and matter. This is caused by our ignorance. We say, when someone dies, he has left the body.
The ancient Vedic seers (Taittriya Upanishad) considered three worlds: Bhur – This world, plane of matter; Bhuvar – Sky – world of life plane; Suvar – Other world – world of mental plane – worlds of Matter, Life and Mind. Once we move from the status of ignorance to status of wisdom, we will know that Mind, Life and Matter are nothing but one Energy expressed in three formulas.
We think that our material world, what Sri Aurobindo calls it a ‘brute material Force’ constitutes our Mind. This is again a wrong conception based on our ignorance. Our Mind exists independent of our body, this material world.
It is the Energy that created the world. This energy is nothing else than a Will (Divine Will). Sri Aurobindo explains that the Will is nothing else than the applied Consciousness-Force (Chit-shakti) to a work and the result. We have earlier seen that the Universe is the manifestation of One Consciousness-Force into Many forms of energies.
For example, plants tend to grow in search of water and sunlight. This may seem to us an unconscious and a mechanical movement. But it there is a Supreme-Intelligence behind at work.
PARAGRAPH 20
What is that work and result, if not a self-involution of Consciousness in form and a self-evolution out of form so as to actualise some mighty possibility in the universe which it has created? And what is its will in Man if not a will to unending Life, to unbounded Knowledge, to unfettered Power?
EXPLANATION:
Sri Aurobindo concluded the previous paragraph with the statement that the Consciousness-Force which created this Universe is aiming towards a work and result. What are the work and the result? They are:
- The self-involution (meaning-being absorbed inside on its own) of consciousness in a form (here refers to matter).
- Self-evolution (emerging out) of consciousness out of a form.
Why this involution and evolution take place?
Sri Aurobindo says, it is to achieve a mighty possibility in the Universe i.e. to establish Divine Life upon earth.
What is the Consciousness trying to achieve through its will in Man? It is trying to bring Immortality, Knowledge without limits, unrestricted Power.
Science itself begins to dream of the physical conquest of death, expresses an insatiable thirst for knowledge, is working out something like a terrestrial omnipotence for humanity. Space and Time are contracting to the vanishing-point in its works, and it strives in a hundred ways to make man the master of circumstance and so lighten the fetters of causality. The idea of limit, of the impossible begins to grow a little shadowy and it appears instead that whatever man constantly wills, he must in the end be able to do; for the consciousness in the race eventually finds the means.
EXPLANATION:
Sri Aurobindo describes here how Science tries its means to fulfil the dreams of humanity as a whole. Medical Science has prolonged the human life. Research is underway to conquer death altogether. Science forever tries to expand the boundaries of knowledge. It invents ways to make Man all-powerful on earth.
Jet travel and modern communication has shrunk the Space and Time. Now Man is no more a slave of circumstances. Scientific advancement tries in numerous ways to make him the master of circumstances. It gradually tries to free him from the clutches of unknown forces that control his life.
Now, things are so promising that it appears that there is nothing that can limit the human potential. The idea of impossibility no more holds good. Whatever Man wills he seems to achieve ultimately. Sri Aurobindo brings out an important point here: the consciousness in the human race will eventually find ways to enable Man to achieve the impossible.
Flying in the air and travelling to other planets which was once thought impossible now made possible.
It is not in the individual that this omnipotence expresses itself, but the collective Will of mankind that works out with the individual as a means. And yet when we look more deeply, it is not any conscious Will of the collectivity, but a superconscious Might that uses the individual as a centre and means, the collectivity as a condition and field.
EXPLANATION:
Is it really the individual who expresses his mighty power? Sri Aurobindo says, in fact, it is the collective Will of mankind uses the individual as means. Again, when we look at more deeply, it is the superconscious Might (the Supreme, the Divine Will) that uses the individual as a centre and means and not the conscious Will of collectivity.
We must note from Sri Aurobindo’s statement that the Individual is the integral part of collectivity. Collectivity profits from the individual and vice-versa. Hence, he has mentioned the collectivity as a condition and field. It is the individual who makes a discovery, then it becomes collective.
What is this but the God in man, the infinite Identity, the multitudinous Unity, the Omniscient, the Omnipotent, who having made man in His own image, with the ego as a centre of working, with the race, the collective Narayana, the visvamanava as the mould and circumscription, seeks to express in them some image of the unity, omniscience, omnipotence which are the self-conception of the Divine?
EXPLANATION:
Sri Aurobindo says, That which uses the individual as means and collectivity as a condition is none else than the God in man. What are his attributes? He is identified with Infinity. He is One, yet present as Many. He is All-Knowing and All-Powerful. Man is nothing but His own image made out of Himself. Man’s ego serves as centre of His functioning. The human race represents the collective Narayana (represents the dual unity of God in Man) exemplifying the ideal of Visvamanava (the Universal Man). It is the Divine which seeks to express through the human race Its own qualities of unity, omnipotence (All-powerful) and omniscience (All-Knowing).
“That which is immortal in mortals is a God and established inwardly as an energy working out in our divine powers. “It is this vast cosmic impulse which the modern world, without quite knowing its own aim, yet serves in all its activities and labours subconsciously to fulfil.
EXPLANATION:
Quoting Rig Veda, Sri Aurobindo says That which is Immortal in man is God. It is present inwardly as an energy in manifesting our divine powers. He says the modern world unknowingly serves the aim of this vast cosmic impulse. All its activities and efforts subconsciously tend to fulfil the aim of the cosmic impulse. Even all scientific progress serves to fulfil this aim.
PARAGRAPH 21
But there is always a limit and an encumbrance, —the limit of the material field in the Knowledge, the encumbrance of the material machinery in the Power. But here also the latest trend is highly significant of a freer future. As the outposts of scientific Knowledge come more and more to be set on the borders that divide the material from the immaterial, so also the highest achievements of practical Science are those which tend to simplify and reduce to the vanishing-point the machinery by which the greatest effects are produced.
EXPLANATION:
Sri Aurobindo in the previous paragraph has stated that it is the cosmic impulse the world unknowingly tries to fulfil in all its activities. It is the God in Man present within him as energy, works out the divine powers in man.
Yet, is it so easy to achieve? Man is a part and parcel of this material world. This material world limits his knowledge. He cannot gain knowledge beyond the range of his physical senses which solely depend on this external world. Secondly man’s powers are always under the domain and control of matter’s laws. These two factors are what Sri Aurobindo calls it as ‘limit and encumbrance’.
Sri Aurobindo, even in the early part of 1900s acknowledged the fact that the scientific trend prevailing at that time attempted to free the man from the above limitations. Scientific progress has advanced to such an extent that it has reached the border line that divides this material world from the worlds beyond (immaterial).
Scientific effects are caused by machinery or instruments. For example, in the early times motion pictures were captured through a camera in a film roll. The film roll has to be physically moved from place to place to produce the effect on the screens in cinemas. Now with the advent of digital technology the pictures are transmitted digitally from the sender to receiver without any intermediary physical medium. Sri Aurobindo observed that the practical science had reduced to the vanishing point the machinery by which the greatest effects are produced. We experience the effects with the least presence of the machinery that cause them.
Wireless telegraphy is Nature’s exterior sign and pretext for a new orientation. The sensible physical means for the intermediate transmission of the physical force is removed; it is only preserved at the points of impulsion and reception. Eventually even these must disappear; for when the laws and forces of the supraphysical are studied with the right starting-point, the means will infallibly be found for Mind directly to seize on the physical energy and speed it accurately upon its errand. There, once we bring ourselves to recognise it, lie the gates that open upon the enormous vistas of the future.
EXPLANATION:
If we take the example of landline telephone versus the modern cell phone, cell phones completely removed the necessity of cables (physical means) between two contact points. Similarly, quoting the example of wireless telegraphy Sri Aurobindo states that the Nature is evolving itself to a new orientation of transmission of physical force without the help of intermediary physical medium. The above inventions of practical science are its signs and pretext.
Sri Aurobindo says in the field of communication, now only the barest instruments are required (one at the sender, the other at the receiver). He predicted that even these also will not be required in the future. As we have mastered the physical laws, so also, we will study and obtain the full knowledge of supra-physical laws. Then mind will be able to possess energy that exercise direct control on the material objects. Two minds can communicate without any intermediary devices.
PARAGRAPH 22
Yet even if we had full knowledge and control of the worlds immediately above Matter, there would still be a limitation and still a beyond. The last knot of our bondage is at that point where the external draws into oneness with the internal, the machinery of ego itself becomes subtilized to the vanishing-point and the law of our action is at last unity embracing and possessing multiplicity and no longer, as now, multiplicity struggling towards some figure of unity. There is the central throne of cosmic Knowledge looking out on her widest dominion; there the empire of oneself with the empire of one’s world; there the life in the eternally consummate Being and the realisation of His divine nature in our human existence.
EXPLANATION:
In the foregoing paragraphs Sri Aurobindo was bringing home the point that Man in his pursuit of knowledge is trying to enter the supraphysical domain. Yet he mentions here that the Supra-physical which is immediately above our physical world is not the last destination. There are worlds higher than this region he has to go.
We are bound by our ego to our little self. We must reach a stage where our individual consciousness becomes one with the cosmic consciousness. What will be the nature of cosmic consciousness? Sri Aurobindo gives the indication here:
There will be nothing that will be external to us. The ego which is a creation of Nature will not exist anymore. Presently we live in the consciousness of multiplicity. We live as separate beings. We find it difficult to have a sense of oneness with all because of our divided egos. When we reach a state of cosmic consciousness we will no longer live in a sense of multiplicity. We will feel we are Unity embracing and containing the multiplicity.
Presently our knowledge is individualistic & narrow. Our knowledge will attain cosmic proportion covering the widest territory. The Kingdom within oneself (Svarajya) will fuse with the empire of the cosmos (Samrajya).
Life will be a conscious existence in one world of being with the Divine (Salokya-mukti). It means living in the same world of the Divine. And man will assume the Divine nature (Sadharmya-mukti).