Study Notes
PARAGRAPH 7
Association with love as its secret principle and its emergent summit is the type, the power of this new relation and therefore the governing principle of the development into the third status of life. The conscious preservation of individuality along with the consciously accepted necessity and desire of interchange, self-giving and fusion with other individuals, is necessary for the working of the principle of love; for if either is abolished, the working of love ceases, whatever may take its place. Fulfilment of love by entire self-immolation, even with an illusion of self-annihilation, is indeed an idea and an impulse in the mental being, but it points to a development beyond this third status of Life. This third status is a condition in which we rise progressively beyond the struggle for life by mutual devouring and the survival of the fittest by that struggle; for there is more and more a survival by mutual help and a self-perfectioning by mutual adaptation, interchange and fusion.
EXPLANATION
In the third status of life there is a well-developed mental being. There comes the need for mutual association with other individuals. Love will be the dominant factor and its peak emergence is the governing principle of the development into the third status. The Darwin’s principle loses its validity here. Here the individuality needs to be consciously preserved. At the same time, there is conscious acceptance of the necessity and desire for interchange, fusion with other individuals. Both individuality and collectivity are necessary for working of love. There is an impulse to completely offer oneself as sacrifice for the sake of love. But it belongs to the stage beyond this third stage.
(The higher stage of this movement arrives when irrespective of the return or non-return from the other, the self-giving of oneself gathers forces and a complete self-annihilation, self-destruction for the other can take place in its real sense only next, the fourth stage where the individual merges at a certain level with other individuals or with the collectivity; and this tendency starts with the giving of oneself to others, of rejoicing in giving oneself to others – when the mind becomes conscious of the soul, when the psychic being influences the mind – Shri M.P.Pandit – Talks on The Life Divine, p. 135-136).
The third stage of life marks our progression beyond the struggle for survival by mutual destruction and the survival of the fittest by that struggle. Instead, there is more and more survival by mutual help. The individual perfects himself by mutual adaptation, interchange and fusion. He gains by collectivity.
Life is a self-affirmation of being, even a development and survival of ego, but of a being that has need of other beings, an ego that seeks to meet and include other egos and to be included in their life. The individuals and the aggregates who develop most the law of association and the law of love, of common help, kindliness, affection, comradeship, unity, who harmonise most successfully survival and mutual self-giving, the aggregate increasing the individual and the individual the aggregate, as well as individual increasing individual and aggregate aggregate by mutual interchange, will be the fittest for survival in this tertiary status of the evolution.
EXPLANATION
We have seen that fixity and rigidity of matter, division and mechanical operation of force as the first stage of life; struggle for survival and mutual devouring (eating) and at the end, the survival of the fittest as the second stage of life. What will be the characteristics of the third stage of life?
Sri Aurobindo says, in the third stage, the ‘fittest for survival’ will be those individuals and groups who develop most the law of association and the law of love. Common help, kindliness, affection, comradeship and unity will be the dominant characteristics. There will be harmony between the individual survival and mutual self-giving. The aggregate (collectivity) profits the individual and the individual profits the collectivity. By mutual interchange, the individual profits the other individual and one collectivity profits the other collectivity.
Sri Aurobindo says, though life is a self-affirmation of being and a development of ego, the being needs other beings and the ego seeks to meet and include other egos and to be included in their life.
PARAGRAPH 8
This development is significant of the increasing predominance of Mind *5 which progressively imposes its own law more and more upon the material existence. For Mind by its greater subtlety does not need to devour in order to assimilate, possess and grow; rather the more it gives, the more it receives and grows; and the more it fuses itself into others, the more it fuses others into itself and increases the scope of its being. Physical life exhausts itself by too much giving and ruins itself by too much devouring; but though Mind in proportion as it leans on the law of Matter suffers the same limitation, yet, on the other hand, in proportion as it grows into its own law it tends to overcome this limitation, and in proportion as it overcomes the material limitation giving and receiving become one. For in its upward ascent it grows towards the rule of conscious unity in differentiation which is the divine law of the manifest Sachchidananda.
Foot Note:
*5 What is spoken of here is mind as it acts directly in life, in the vital being, through the heart. Love—the relative principle, not its absolute—is a principle of life, not of mind, but it can possess itself and move towards permanence only when taken up by the mind into its own light. What is called love in the body and the vital parts is mostly a form of hunger without permanence.
EXPLANATION
This development in the third stage of Life marks the increasing predominance of Mind. Mind progressively imposes its own law more and more on the material existence. Mind is subtler than the gross body. Unlike the body it does not need to feed upon something to assimilate it and to possess and grow. Mind, the more it gives, the more it receives and grows. The more it fuses itself with others the more it fuses others into itself and increases the scope of its existence.
By too much giving physical life exhausts itself. By too much taking in (devouring) it ruins itself. In proportion as Mind depends on the law of Matter, Mind also suffers the same limitation. On the other hand, in proportion as it grows more and more into its own law, Mind tends to overcome this limitation. In proportion as it overcomes the limitation of Matter, giving and receiving become one.
The divine law of the manifest Sachchidananda is conscious unity in differentiation. Mind in its upward ascent grows towards this rule.
EXPLANATION ON FOOT NOTES
Here the role of the mind is mentioned as it acts directly in life, in the vital being. Love in its relative status is a principle of life and not of mind. Love can become a permanent feature only when it is taken up by mind into its own light. The love in the body and the vital parts is mostly a form of hunger without permanence.
PARAGRAPH 9
The second term of the original status of life is subconscious will which in the secondary status becomes hunger and conscious desire, —hunger and desire, the first seed of conscious mind. The growth into the third status of life by the principle of association, the growth of love, does not abolish the law of desire, but rather transforms and fulfils it. Love is in its nature the desire to give oneself to others and to receive others in exchange; it is a commerce between being and being. Physical life does not desire to give itself, it desires only to receive. It is true that it is compelled to give itself, for the life which only receives and does not give must become barren, wither and perish,—if indeed such life in its entirety is possible at all here or in any world; but it is compelled, not willing, it obeys the subconscious impulse of Nature rather than consciously shares in it. Even when love intervenes, the self-giving at first still preserves to a large extent the mechanical character of the subconscious will in the atom.
EXPLANATION
The subconscious will in the second term of life becomes hunger and conscious desire. They are the first seed of conscious mind. In the third status we find the principle of association and the growth of love. Here also the desire is not abolished but transformed and fulfilled.
Love is the desire to give oneself and receive others in exchange. It is commerce between being and being. Physical life desires only to receive and not to give itself. Life which only receives and does not give must be barren and would eventually perish. Possibility of such a life cannot be thought of. Therefore life is compelled to give itself. In this aspect life obeys the subconscious impulse of Nature rather than giving itself consciously.
When love comes to play its role, self-giving happens. Yet the self-giving retains to a large extent, its mechanical character of the subconscious will in the atom.
Love itself at first obeys the law of hunger and enjoys the receiving and the exacting from others rather than the giving and surrendering to others which it admits chiefly as a necessary price for the thing that it desires. But here it has not yet attained to its true nature; its true law is to establish an equal commerce in which the joy of giving is equal to the joy of receiving and tends in the end to become even greater; but that is when it is shooting beyond itself under the pressure of the psychic flame to attain to the fulfilment of utter unity and has therefore to realise that which seemed to it not-self as an even greater and dearer self than its own individuality. In its life-origin, the law of love is the impulse to realise and fulfil oneself in others and by others, to be enriched by enriching, to possess and be possessed because without being possessed one does not possess oneself utterly.
EXPLANATION
At first love obeys the impulse of hunger. It enjoys receiving and demanding from others as it is under the influence of physical and vital. As a price to pay for the thing it desires, it is willing to give and surrender itself to others. Here love has not yet attained its true nature. The true law of love is to establish an equal commerce where the joy of giving equals the joy of receiving.
In the end the joy of giving tends to become greater. This can happen when love exceeds itself under the pressure of the psychic flame to attain to the fulfilment of unity with others. In a state of unity there comes a realisation that what seems to be its not-self (other than itself) is greater and dearer than its own individuality. Here the unity is realised between the souls.
(The higher stage of this movement arrives when irrespective of the return or non-return from the other, the self-giving of oneself gathers forces and a complete self-annihilation, self-destruction for the other can take place in its real sense only next, the fourth stage where the individual merges at a certain level with other individuals or with the collectivity; and this tendency starts with the giving of oneself to others, of rejoicing in giving oneself to others – when the mind becomes conscious of the soul, when the psychic being influences the mind – Shri M.P.Pandit – Talks on The Life Divine, p. 135-136).
What is the law of love in its life-origin? It is the impulse to realise and fulfil oneself in others and by others; enriching someone, thereby enriching itself; being possessed by other, thereby possessing the other.
PARAGRAPH 10
The inert incapacity of atomic existence to possess itself, the subjection of the material individual to the not-self, belongs to the first status of life. The consciousness of limitation and the struggle to possess, to master both self and the not-self is the type of the secondary status. Here, too, the development to the third status brings a transformation of the original terms into a fulfilment and a harmony which repeat the terms while seeming to contradict them. There comes about through association and through love a recognition of the not-self as a greater self and therefore a consciously accepted submission to its law and need which fulfils the increasing impulse of aggregate life to absorb the individual; and there is a possession again by the individual of the life of others as his own and of all that it has to give him as his own which fulfils the opposite impulse of individual possession.
EXPLANATION
We have seen that in the first stage of life there is rigidity and division of matter. Matter is under subjection to mechanical force. Force dominates. Matter is subjected to something which is not-self. In the second stage there is consciousness of limitation and the struggle to possess. There is struggle to master both self and the not-self. In the course of development to the third status this struggle is transformed into fulfilment and harmony.
Here the principle of association and love comes in. There is recognition that the not-self (other than one’s self) is a greater self. There is a consciously accepted submission to its law and need. There is an increasing impulse of aggregate life to absorb the individual. The individual possesses the life of others as his own. He takes all that the life of others has to give him as his own. This fulfils the opposite impulse of individual possession.