Study Notes
PARAGRAPH 8
Now we may get rid of this differentiation by plunging into the absorption of an exclusive unity, but to what end? For perfect union? But we do not forfeit that by accepting the differentiation any more than the Divine forfeits His oneness by accepting it. We have the perfect union in His being and can absorb ourselves in it at any time, but we have also this other differentiated unity and can emerge into it and act freely in it at any time without losing oneness: for we have merged the ego and are absolved from the exclusive stresses of our mentality.
EXPLANATION
By getting absorbed into an exclusive unity we may get rid of differentiation. What do we achieve by that? We may achieve perfect union with the Divine. But we must know that the Divine permits differentiation and by doing so, He does not lose His oneness. If that is the case, we can also accept differentiation without losing unity.
We have perfect union in His being. Therefore we can absorb ourselves in it at any time. We also have this other differentiated unity. We can emerge into it and act freely in it at any time without losing oneness. This is because we have merged the ego and therefore we are freed from the exclusive stresses of our mentality.
Then for peace and rest? But we have the peace and rest by virtue of our unity with Him, even as the Divine possesses for ever His eternal calm in the midst of His eternal action. Then for the mere joy of getting rid of all differentiation? But that differentiation has its divine purpose: it is a means of greater unity, not as in the egoistic life a means of division; for we enjoy by it our unity with our other selves and with God in all, which we exclude by our rejection of His multiple being.
EXPLANATION
There is another reason why we may want an exclusive unity. We want it for getting peace and rest without getting involved in the hassles of worldly activities.
We must know that the Divine possesses for ever His eternal calm in the midst of His eternal action (manifestation). Then, it is quite possible for us to remain in peace and calm even when we are engaged in worldly actions.
We may want an exclusive unity for the mere joy of getting rid of all differentiation. But we must know that as unity is a Divine aspect, differentiation is also yet another Divine aspect. The differentiation has its divine purpose. It is a means of greater unity unlike in the egoistic life a means of division.
Rather, we enjoy differentiation by our unity with our other selves and with God in all. By rejection of the multiple being of the Divine we exclude such enjoyment.
(Why this differentiation, why is the Divine not satisfied with his oneness and unity? The answer is that it differentiates itself because differentiation is a means for a greater unity. To project itself in a thousand individual forms and for all those forms to develop and unite in a truth of oneness, makes for a richer unity. The transcendent Self which is beyond the universal, beyond the individual, is not only beyond but includes both, it is immanent here in creation, in the universal scheme as also in the individual scheme – Shri M.P.Pandit: Talks on the Life Divine, Vol II, p. 36, Dipti Publications)
In either experience it is the Divine in the individual possessing and enjoying in one case the Divine in His pure unity or in the other the Divine in that and in the unity of the cosmos; it is not the absolute Divine recovering after having lost His unity. Certainly, we may prefer the absorption in a pure exclusive unity or a departure into a supracosmic transcendence, but there is in the spiritual truth of the Divine Existence no compelling reason why we should not participate in this large possession and bliss of His universal being which is the fulfilment of our individuality.
EXPLANATION
We have seen that there is enjoyment both in unity and in differentiation. We may ask the question, who enjoys it? Because there is no individual ego that can experience the joy. In either experience it is the Divine in the individual possessing and enjoying. In one case He possesses and enjoys the Divine in His purity and in the other, the Divine in multiplicity and in the unity of cosmos.
Sri Aurobindo clarifies that it is the Divine in all that enjoys both in unity and in differentiation. It is not the absolute Divine that enjoys unity after having lost it in multiplicity and therefore recovered it. Because, the unity is not really lost in multiplicity and therefore there is no need for the Divine to recover it.
We may prefer the absorption in a pure exclusive unity. Or we may escape into a supracosmic transcendence. But in the spiritual truth of the Divine Existence there is no compelling reason for us in not participating in this large possession and bliss of His universal being. In fact that is the fulfilment of our individuality.