Study Notes
PARAGRAPH 14
Our conception of the Infinite is formlessness, but everywhere we see form and forms surrounding us and it can be and is affirmed of the Divine Being that he is at once Form and the Formless. For here too the apparent contradiction does not correspond to a real opposition; the Formless is not a negation of the power of formation, but the condition for the Infinite’s free formation: for otherwise there would be a single Form or only a fixity or sum of possible forms in a finite universe.
EXPLANATION
Our conception of the Infinite is formlessness. But everywhere we see forms surrounding us. Therefore, it can be and is affirmed that the Divine Being is at once Form and the Formless. The apparent contradiction between the two aspects is not a real contradiction.
The Formless is not a negation of the power of formation. It is rather the condition for the Infinite’s free formation. Supposing the Formless is not there, there would be a single Form. Or only a fixity of form or sum of possible forms in a finite universe.
The formlessness is the character of the spiritual essence, the spirit-substance of the Reality; all finite realities are powers, forms, self-shapings of that substance: the Divine is formless and nameless, but by that very reason capable of manifesting all possible names and shapes of being.
EXPLANATION
The formlessness is the character of the spiritual essence. It is the spirit-substance of the Reality. All finite forms we see in this universe are powers, forms, self-shapings of that substance. The Divine is formless and nameless. By the very same reason It is capable of manifesting all possible names and shapes of being.
Forms are manifestations, not arbitrary inventions out of nothing; for line and colour, mass and design which are the essentials of form carry always in them a significance, are, it might be said, secret values and significances of an unseen reality made visible; it is for that reason that figure, line, hue, mass, composition can embody what would be otherwise unseen, can convey what would be otherwise occult to the sense.
EXPLANATION
The forms we see around us are manifestations of the Absolute, the Formless. They are not arbitrary inventions out of nothing. The essentials of form namely line and colour, mass and design carry always in them a significance. They are secret values and significances of an unseen reality made visible.
Therefore, the figure, line, hue, mass, composition can be an expression of what would be otherwise unseen. They can convey what would be otherwise occult to the sense.
Form may be said to be the innate body, the inevitable self-revelation of the formless, and this is true not only of external shapes, but of the unseen formations of mind and life which we seize only by our thought and those sensible forms of which only the subtle grasp of the inner consciousness can become aware.
EXPLANATION
Form is the innate body of the formless, its inevitable self-revelation. This is true not only of the external shapes but of the unseen formations of the mind and life. We seize these unseen formations only by our thought and those sensible forms which can be made aware of only by the subtle grasp of the inner consciousness.
Name in its deeper sense is not the word by which we describe the object, but the total of power, quality, character of the reality which a form of things embodies and which we try to sum up by a designating sound, a knowable name, Nomen.
EXPLANATION
Normally what we mean by name, is the word by which we describe the object. But in its deeper sense, name represents the total power, quality, character of reality which a form of things contains. We try to sum up these things by a designated sound, a knowable name, Nomen.
Nomen in this sense, we might say, is Numen; the secret Names of the Gods are their power, quality, character of being caught up by the consciousness and made conceivable. The Infinite is nameless, but in that namelessness all possible names,Numens of the gods, the names and forms of all realities, are already envisaged and prefigured, because they are there latent and inherent in the All-Existence.
EXPLANATION
Nomen (Latin word meaning name) in this sense is Numen (Latin word meaning consent; the will and power of the gods; divine power or majesty). The secret Names of the Gods are their power, quality, character of being caught up by the consciousness and made conceivable.
The Infinite is nameless. But in the namelessness all possible names, Numens of the gods, the names and forms of all realities are contained. They are already envisaged and prefigured because they are latent and inherent in the All-Existence.
( If form represents a secret value, name represents a total power. Name is Power. That is why when you repeat the name of a God or one who represents God to you, it is like pressing a button which releases the power that is held in the person, in the entity signified by that name. This is again at the root of the science of Japa. Repetition of a Name with knowledge of its significance has an inescapable power.
When you repeat such a Name, you summon, you evoke the Power that is designated by that sound. It is not patent in the beginning, but as you go on repeating that Name, slowly, when all other rhythms, vibrations die out and only the reverberating sound of the Name remains, you realise its potency.
When you practise this japa earnestly, after a time the lips stop moving and in that external silence the Name goes on repeating itself in the heart. It is then that you can say that the being has taken up the mantra. It continues to vibrate within whatever your outer occupation – Shri M.P.Pandit: Talks on the Life Divine, Vol II, p. 19, Dipti Publications)
PARAGRAPH 15
It becomes clear from these considerations that the coexistence of the Infinite and the finite, which is the very nature of universal being, is not a juxtaposition or mutual inclusion of two opposites, but as natural and inevitable as the relation of the principle of Light and Fire with the suns. The finite is a frontal aspect and a self-determination of the Infinite; no finite can exist in itself and by itself, it exists by the Infinite and because it is of one essence with the Infinite.
EXPLANATION
We have seen that the Infinite and the finite aspects of the Divine, One and the Many, the immobile, silent and the active,dynamic status, formless and the forms, nameless and the names are all coexisting realities. They are not two different things which are placed side by side. Nor are they two opposites which are mutually included. This coexistence is the very nature of universal being and it is as natural and inevitable as the relation of the principle of Light and Fire with the suns.
What we see as the finite is a frontal aspect and a self-determination of the Infinite (Indeterminable). Therefore, no finite can exist in itself and by itself. It exists by the Infinite because it is of one essence with the Infinite.
For by the Infinite we do not mean solely an illimitable self-extension in Space and Time, but something that is also spaceless and timeless, a self-existent Indefinable and Illimitable which can express itself in the infinitesimal as well as in the vast, in a second of time, in a point of space, in a passing circumstance. The finite is looked upon as a division of the Indivisible, but there is no such thing: for this division is only apparent; there is a demarcation, but no real separation is possible.
EXPLANATION
We mean by the term Infinite not an illimitable self-extension in Space and Time. We mean something that is also spaceless and timeless. It is a self-existent Indefinable and Illimitable which can express itself in the infinitesimal as well as in the vast. It can express itself in a second of time, in a point of space, in a passing circumstance.
The finite is looked upon as a division of the indivisible. This division is only apparent but not real. There is only a demarcation. No real separation is possible.