Study Notes
PARAGRAPH 4
When we say that all is a divine manifestation, even that which we call undivine, we mean that in its essentiality all is divine even if the form baffles or repels us. Or, to put it in a formula to which it is easier for our psychological sense of things to give its assent, in all things there is a presence, a primal Reality,—the Self, the Divine, Brahman,—which is for ever pure, perfect, blissful, infinite: its infinity is not affected by the limitations of relative things; its purity is not stained by our sin and evil; its bliss is not touched by our pain and suffering; its perfection is not impaired by our defects of consciousness, knowledge, will, unity.
EXPLANATION
When we say all is a divine manifestation we mean that in its essentiality all is divine. Even that which we call undivine is also divine in its essentiality despite the fact that the outer form may look contrary.
In all things there is a presence. It is a primal Reality which we call the Self, the Divine, Brahman. It is forever pure, perfect, blissful, infinite. Its infinity is not affected by the limitations of relative things. Its purity is not stained by our sin and evil. Its bliss is not touched by our pain and suffering. Its perfection is not affected by our defects of consciousness, knowledge, will, unity.
In certain images of the Upanishads the divine Purusha is described as the one Fire which has entered into all forms and shapes itself according to the form, as the one Sun which illumines all impartially and is not affected by the faults of our seeing. But this affirmation is not enough; it leaves the problem unsolved, why that which is in itself ever pure, perfect, blissful, infinite, should not only tolerate but seem to maintain and encourage in its manifestation imperfection and limitation, impurity and suffering and falsehood and evil: it states the duality that constitutes the problem, but does not solve it.
EXPLANATION
The Upanishads describe the divine Purusha as the one Fire which has entered into all forms and shapes itself according to the form. It is like the one Sun which illumines all impartially without being affected by the faults of our seeing.
Sri Aurobindo says, this affirmation, there is divine presence in all things is not enough. It does not solve the problem. The question remains, why that which is forever pure, perfect, blissful, infinite in itself should tolerate, maintain and encourage in its manifestation imperfection and limitation, impurity and suffering and falsehood and evil. It states the duality that constitutes the problem but does not solve it.
PARAGRAPH 5
If we simply leave these two dissonant facts of existence standing in each other’s presence, we are driven to conclude that there is no reconciliation possible; all we can do is to cling as much as we can to a deepening sense of the joy of the pure and essential Presence and do the best we may with the discordant externality, until we can impose in its place the law of its divine contrary. Or else we have to seek for an escape rather than a solution.
EXPLANATION
If we see the dualities of our existence we may conclude that there is no reconciliation possible between the divine and undivine life. All that we can do is to cling as much to the deepening sense of joy of the pure and essential Presence. We can only do whatever best possible with our external nature (which is not in harmony with our inner being) till it is replaced by divine nature. Or else we should seek an escape rather than a solution.
For we can say that the inner Presence alone is a Truth and the discordant externality is a falsehood or illusion created by a mysterious principle of Ignorance; our problem is to find some way of escape out of the falsehood of the manifested world into the truth of the hidden Reality. Or we may hold with the Buddhist that there is no need of explanation, since there is this one practical fact of the imperfection and impermanence of things and no Self, Divine or Brahman, for that too is an illusion of our consciousness: the one thing that is necessary for liberation is to get rid of the persistent structure of ideas and persistent energy of action which maintain a continuity in the flux of the impermanence.
EXPLANATION
We can take a view that the inner Presence alone is a Truth. The discordant (not in harmony with the inner Presence) externality is a falsehood or illusion created by a mysterious principle of Ignorance. Therefore the only way is to escape out of the falsehood of the manifested world into the truth of hidden Reality (Mayavada).
Or we can take the Buddhist view that there is no need to explain or reconcile the contraries in this world; imperfection and impermanence is a practical fact of things. Only there is a persistent structure of ideas and persistent energy of action (Samskara)in this world. They maintain a continuity in the flux (continuous change) of the impermanence. Therefore, the one thing that is necessary for liberation is to get rid of this state.
On this road of escape we achieve self-extinction in Nirvana; the problem of things gets itself extinguished by our own self-extinction. This is a way out, but it does not look like the true and only way, nor are the other solutions altogether satisfactory. It is a fact that by excluding the discordant manifestation from our inner consciousness as a superficial externality, by insisting only on the pure and perfect Presence, we can achieve individually a deep and blissful sense of this silent Divinity, can enter into the sanctuary, can live in the light and the rapture. An exclusive inner concentration on the Real, the Eternal is possible, even a self-immersion by which we can lose or put away the dissonances of the universe.
EXPLANATION
What do we achieve on this road of escape? We disappear into a state of Nirvana. By our own self-extinction (disappearance) the problem of things also disappears. This seems to be the way out. But it does not look like the true and the only way. The other solutions are not altogether satisfactory either.
We exclude the discordant manifestation from our inner consciousness as a superficial externality. We insist only on the pure and perfect Presence. By doing so, we can achieve individually a deep and blissful sense of this silent Divinity. We can enter into our inner sanctuary. We can live in the light and the rapture.
An exclusive inner concentration on the Real, the Eternal is possible. We can put away the dissonances (disharmony) of the universe by a self-immersion (total withdrawal from our external self in a complete self-absorption).
But there is too somewhere deep down in us the need of a total consciousness, there is in Nature a secret universal seeking for the whole Divine, an impulsion towards some entire awareness and delight and power of existence; this need of a whole being, a total knowledge, this integral will in us is not fully satisfied by these solutions. So long as the world is not divinely explained to us, the Divine remains imperfectly known; for the world too is That and, so long as it is not present to our consciousness and possessed by our powers of consciousness in the sense of the divine being, we are not in possession of the whole Divinity.
EXPLANATION
But there is somewhere deep down in us the need of a total consciousness, not an exclusive inner absorption alone. There is in Nature a secret universal seeking for the whole Divine. There is an impulsion (strong urge from within) towards some entire awareness and delight and power of existence.
The escapist solutions do not fully satisfy this need of a whole being, a total knowledge, this integral will in us. So long as the world is not divinely explained to us, the Divine remains imperfectly known. Because the world too is the Divine.
The world should be present to our consciousness and possessed by our powers of consciousness in the sense of the divine being. Until this happens, we are not in possession of the whole Divinity.