Chapter III – The Refusal of the Ascetic – Synopsis

THE REFUSAL OF THE ASCETIC

SYNOPSIS

• There is a higher plane of consciousness both to the individual and cosmic consciousness. It is Transcendent consciousness. Against its infinite background the universe looks like a petty picture. From this highest state one can two views. This Consciousness supports the Universe. Or It rejects it. The rejection part forms the theme of this chapter.
• Both the Materialist and the Sannyasin are justified in their own stands. Materialist insists that the Matter is the sole reality. The Sannyasin is attracted by the pure Spirit. It is featureless, changeless and the domain of eternal Knowledge. He views the material world having no reality.
• Materialist conclusion is based on his sensory knowledge which is prone to errors. Anything which is not gross matter is termed as unreal as the senses cannot grasp it. Hence the materialist argument cannot be validated by an equal experience. Our experience contradicts it.
• In the physical world itself there are many things which are beyond the grasp of our senses. Hence the claim of the materialist has no basis.
• There are physical realities supra-sensible. There are also senses supra-physical – subtle organs (suksma indriyas). They bring us direct knowledge of both physical and supra-physical world (subtle worlds) without the aid of bodily organs.
• It is proven since ancient times that human beings do possess subtle organs. It is now justified by Scientific research. Only those minds imprisoned in past intellectual dogmas can ignore such phenomena.
• The methods of obtaining supra-physical knowledge are crude and defective. The results obtained through such phenomena must be subject to careful scrutiny. Yet there is no justification in terming them as false witnesses. The truths perceived through the subtle senses claim the same validity as obtained through physical senses.
• The subtle worlds beyond the physical do exist. They have their own laws. They exercise their influence on our existence and in our physical bodies.
• It is the consciousness that bears witness to the facts that the worlds and the objects exist. We have no other witness. The senses are only instruments of experience. Worlds are only frames of our experience.
• As an extension of the above statement one may argue that the Universe has no independent reality. Only Consciousness exists and observes. As a counter argument one may say the physical universe has independent reality. Life and Mind appear and disappear. This argument determines the man’s whole outlook upon life. It questions the reality of his cosmic existence.
• The above materialistic outlook makes one’s life purposeless. His focus will be turned on enjoyment of his brief life. His birth becomes a nervous spasm of matter. Individual as well as collective life will become objectless service.
• Materialism gives only a false sense of reality of life – only a sensory perception. Materialism also arrives at a Maya; Life is present; yet it is not, very transitory.
• Again, if we take the other extreme view regarding the unreality of the world we arrive at the same conclusion by another route. We will arrive at escape into a relationless Absolute is the sole means to get rid of life’s problems.
• Living in our objective physical consciousness we cannot decide on the reality or the unreality of the world. Our present instruments of knowledge are limited. Only by our subjective self which exist independent of our body, which can enlarge itself beyond our body can our consciousness be extended. Only by such an extension of consciousness can we arrive at the Truth.
• We can extend our consciousness by inner enlargement from individual to cosmic existence. We enter into Cosmic mind which is witness to all existences.
• The possibility of cosmic consciousness is admitted to modern psychology. It is still not considered as a normal psychological experience in the west. In the east cosmic consciousness is considered as an important step in one’s spiritual progress. Through which one identifies himself with the Self-Knowledge present in all things around us.
• Living in cosmic consciousness we feel like one existence in different bodies. We become one being linked by body, Life and Mind.
• We can attain the status of Supermind going beyond the cosmic consciousness. Living in cosmic consciousness we become part and parcel of it. We live in unified bodies as we lived in our individual ego. We can bring about changes in the subjective self of others; also, on the physical world and its events by ways nearer to the Divine.
• Consciousness and Being are one. All beings are Supreme consciousness. It is real. The world is real because it exists in consciousness. It is not true that the world exists on its own, independent of the energy (consciousness) that is supporting it. Such a view is an impossible falsehood.
• The Conscious Being is something which transcends the universe. World lives by That. At the same time, It lives in cosmic harmonies. As we enter the cosmic consciousness so we can enter the Transcendent consciousness which is superior to Cosmic consciousness.
• As one enters the gate of the Transcendent one experiences the pure Self of the Adwaitin – without scars of division, luminous, the inactive Brahman, the transcendent Silence.
• When a yogi suddenly transported to this state he is driven to the state of unreality of the world. He gets the most convincing experience of Silence as the sole reality of the world and the unreality anything other than that.
• In this perception of the pure Self begins the starting point of second negation – the refusal of the ascetic. It is more complete, more final and more perilous in its negative influence on the humanity and its collectivity.
• With the birth of Buddhism the balance between the spiritual life and the material life existed during the Vedic times was disturbed. Sannyasa was preached as ultimate goal of life. Cessation from birth was the aim of living. True liberation was supposed to exist elsewhere in Goloka or Brahmaloka or in a state of Nirvana and not on this earth.
• Renunciation was sole means of knowledge; only ignorant chose the physical life. Call of the spirit was withdrawal from matter.
• In a time when the asceticism was losing ground everywhere, this was considered as a failing of vital energy of a nation which was tired of its incessant contribution to the world in all spheres.
• But the fact is, it corresponds to the truth of the existence of someone who reached his summit of his possibility. The ascetic spirit is indispensable for human perfection. As long as man’s intellect and emotions are subject to his animality asceticism is justified.
• Finally, we need a larger affirmation. One without a second should be read with All is Brahman. The ascetic does not relate the ascending movement with the descending response by the Divine.
• Sri Aurobindo emphasises that the gains of materialism and asceticism should not be overlooked. We must retain the positive sides of both while rejecting the negative aspects.