The Destiny of the Body

Chapter VI

Supermind the Master-Key

The principle of the process of evolution is a foundation, from that foundation an ascent, in that ascent a reversal of consciousness and, from that greater height and wideness gained, an action of change and new integration of the whole Nature.

(Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine, p. 724)

Ascent is the first necessity, but an integration is an accompanying intention of the spirit in Nature.

(Ibid., p. 637)

We want an integral transformation, the transformation of the body and all its activities.

Formerly when one spoke of transformation, one meant solely the transformation of the inner consciousness. One endeavoured to discover in oneself the deeper consciousness and rejected the body and its activities as a burden and a useless thing, so that one might be engaged solely in the inner development. Sri Aurobindo declared that that is not sufficient; the Truth demanded that the material world too should take part in this transformation and become an expression of the deeper Truth. But when this was told to people, many thought that it was possible to transform the body and its activities without troubling oneself at all with what was happening within — which is of course not quite true. Before you take up the work of physical transformation, which is of all things the most difficult, you must have your inner consciousness firmly, solidly established in the Truth....

(The Mother, Bulletin, Vol. XV, No. 4, p. 51)

The goal of our Sadhana is not merely the liberation of some isolated individuals from the shackles of phenomenal Ignorance but the establishment of a divine life upon earth, ihaiva. But since Matter is the foundation of all evolutionary efflorescence of Life here on the terrestrial plane, our body assumes a supreme importance in the total scheme of our achievement. For "the

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body is not only the necessary outer instrument of the physical part of the action, but for the purposes of this life a base or pedestal also for all inner action."¹ So a full play of divine life demands as its essential prerequisite a fully transformed material body which as a supple and flawless and potent instrument will respond fully to every call of the self-manifesting Spirit. "At present the notation of the body and the physical consciousness has a very large determining power on the music made by this human harp of God; the notes we get from the spirit, from the psychic soul, from the greater life behind our physical life cannot come in freely, cannot develop their high powerful and proper strain. This condition must be reversed; the body and the physical consciousness must develop the habit of admitting and shaping themselves to these higher strains and not they, but the nobler parts of the nature must determine the music of our life and being."²

Thus a divine transformation of our physical sheath, annamaya koṣa, is an indispensable concomitant of a truly divine living in the world. But in the present status of consciousness of man the mental being, this transformation cannot be achieved or even initiated on the plane of the body. It will then be like putting the cart before the horse. For, where is the lever of transformation or the potent agent to effectuate the change ? In reality — whatever may be the appearances — it is consciousness that is always the prime determinant. So, before we can expect any transformation of our physical existence, we must first acquire a divine consciousness within and effectuate a total liberation of our Purusha part. Then and then alone the question of the liberation of our Prakriti part and of the divine transfiguration of our bodily instrument may acquire some practical importance, not before. In the forthright words of the Mother: "You must begin from within. I have said a hundred times, you must begin from above. You must purify the higher region and then purify the lower."³ Sri Aurobindo too has warned us: "The transformation to which we aspire is too vast and complex to come at one stroke; it must be allowed to come by stages. The physical change is the last of these stages and is itself a progressive process. The inner trans-

¹ The Synthesis of Yoga, p. 701.

² Ibid., p. 702.

³ See Nolini Kanta Gupta, The Yoga of Sri Aurobindo (Part Eight), p. 102.

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formation cannot be brought about by physical means either of a positive or a negative nature. On the contrary, the physical change itself can only be brought about by a descent of the greater supramental consciousness into the cells of the body."¹

Yes, it is the. 'supramental consciousness' alone — understood not in the sense of any and every spiritual consciousness above the plane of Mind but in the specific sense in which Sri Aurobindo uses it — that possesses the Knowledge and Power to effectuate the transformation of our physical being. It is the descent of Supermind from above and the emergence of involved Super-mind from behind the veil into the arena of our manifested becoming that can progressively divinise our inner existence and finally proceed to the divinisation of our body itself as a crowning achievement of the evolutionary elaboration of life. No other spiritual consciousness or power short of this Supermind, the divine Gnosis and the Truth-Consciousness (ṛta-cit) of Sachchidananda, possesses this power of integral transformation. And that is why a subjective spiritual liberation of our inner being and an inner change of consciousness alone, although the essential precondition for any attempt at physical transformation to be at all made feasible, is not as a general rule sufficient by itself.

But why is it so ? Why have the states of spiritual consciousness attained so far in different climes and times failed to mould the physical existence in the image of divinity ? What are the basic difficulties that render this task of physical transformation almost impossible of realisation?

To have a proper grasp of the problem we must first take note of a few cardinal points concerning the process of transformation in general:

(i)In order that a particular part of our total existence may be transformed, it is essential that the part itself seek for this desired transformation. It has to grow self-aware of the need for the change and acquire the necessary capacity to bear the transfiguration when it comes.

(ii)A higher consciousness acting from above or imposing its influence on the lower part of the being, without the latter's self-conscious and willing collaboration, may indeed modify to some extent the prevailing nature or working of this lower part but can

¹ Letters on Yoga, p. 1473. (Italics ours)

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never transform it altogether. "If the work were done from above, from some spiritual height, there might be a sublimation or uplifting or the creation of a new structure compelled by the sheer force of the influence from above: but this change might not be accepted as native to itself by the lower being; it would not be a total growth, an integral evolution, but a partial and imposed formation;... a creation from outside the normal nature, by imposing upon it, it could be durable in its entirety only as long as there was a maintenance of the creating influence."¹

(iii)The higher Power and Consciousness has thus to descend into the lower part and dynamically act therein, seeking to awaken in the process the consenting participation of the latter. But this confrontation of the higher and the lower has a reciprocal two-way consequence. While the higher seeks to transfigure the lower with its own power and its own law of nature, it is at the same time modified, its light obscured and its effectivity curtailed by the counteraction of the lower. To quote Sri Aurobindo again:

"A descent of consciousness into the lower levels is...necessary, but in this way also it is difficult to work out the full power of the higher principle; there is a modification, dilution, diminution which keeps up an imperfection and limitation in the results: the light of a greater knowledge comes down but gets blurred and modified, its significance misinterpreted or its truth mixed with... error, or the force, the power to fulfil itself is not commensurate with its light....A mutilated power, a partial effect or hampered movement is the consequence."²

(iv)Now the capacity of the higher principle to modify or change the lower without at the same time undergoing itself any dilution or mixture depends upon its own essential potency. "It is not likely that it will be able to bring about an entire transformation if it is not itself the original Principle of Existence, if it is only derivative, an instrumental power and not the first puissance."³

Now, when we view the problem of physical transformation in the light of the above points, we can very well understand why this problem has defied any solution so far. First of all, our body itself possesses a subconscient consciousness of its own which clings with

¹ The Life Divine, pp. 915-16.

² Ibid., p. 916.

³ Ibid., p. 704.

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an obstinate fidelity to its past habits and modes of functioning and automatically and invariably offers a dogged opposition to all that seeks to change its nature. And this is because the process of evolution here upon earth has started from an inconscient base and all that has emerged and developed afterwards had to appear as a superstructure upon the unchanged foundation of Inconscience.

Thus even in men, developed mental beings, "the substance of our normal being is moulded out of the Inconscience. Our ignorance is a growth of knowledge in a substance of being which is nescient; the consciousness it develops, the knowledge it establishes are always dogged, penetrated, enveloped by this nescience. ...The nescience invades or encompasses or even swallows up and absorbs into its oblivious darkness all that enters into it; it compels the descending light to compromise with the lesser light it enters: there is a mixture, a diminution and dilution of itself, a diminution, a modification, an incomplete authenticity of its truth and power."¹

Thus, unless this 'blind Ananke of the Inconscience' can somehow be illumined and transfigured, there can be no prospect for any physical transformation. For, this 'dragon base' remaining as it is, the dead weight of the inconscient substratum of our physical being, the inexorable downward pull towards the original Inertia and Nescience will infructify the action of any intervening Force that seeks to effectuate a radical transformation. Even when the higher spiritual-mental powers and their intensities enter into the substance of the inconscient foundation, they too undergo this inescapable disability and cannot annul the disparity between the consciousness that comes in and the force of dynamic effectuation. Thus whatever the degree or status of the subjective spiritual illumination of the Sadhaka, his body and physical nature continue to circumscribe and diminish "the sovereignty and freedom and dynamism of the spirit with [their] own force of adjustment by limitation, demarcation by incapacity, foundation of energy on the repose of an original Inertia",² and as a consequence remain subject to the established and inexorable Laws of Darkness and Incapacity and Death.

Faced with this almost insuperable difficulty of physical transformation,

¹The Life Divine, pp. 960-61.

²Ibid., p. 962.

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most spiritual seekers have tended to turn away from the physical being of man with aversion or even denial, and reconciled themselves to its unalterable fate of ever remaining unregenerate and untransformed. But, evidently, this cannot be the right attitude for the Sadhaka of the Integral Yoga. Since a divine transformation of all the parts of our existence including its most material foundation is the goal envisaged by the Yoga of Integral Transformation, we must seek for the clue that will resolve the age-old deadlock and open the portals to the transfiguration of our body.

Now, we have seen before that a 'static seizure' of the domains of the spirit in our inner consciousness is not sufficient for the physical transformation; for this to be possible there must occur a dynamic descent of the higher consciousness into our physical nature and a luminous awakening evoked therein in the very body-consciousness itself.

Now, it is only the supramental Force, the original and final self-determining Truth-Force of the self-existent Infinite' that has got the potency to overcome entirely the iron hold of the fundamental Nescience. For only the Supermind can descend into the subterranean reaches of our existence without losing in any way its full dynamic power of action; for "its action is always intrinsic and automatic, its will and knowledge identical and the result commensurate: its nature is a self-achieving Truth-consciousness."¹ To the dark negating Necessity of the Inconscience, Supermind opposes a supremely imperative luminous spiritual Necessity that is irresistible in its power of effectuation.

It is thus evident that if there is to be an entire transformation even of our material existence, Supermind or divine Gnosis must directly intervene in our earth-nature and overtly act therein. From the point of view of evolution, this supramental intervention will take the form of a twofold process. When the evolutionary Nature is found ready and receptive, there will be "a supramental inflow from above, the descent of a gnostic being into the nature, and an emergence of the concealed supramental force from below; the influx and the unveiling between them will remove ...the nature of the Ignorance. The rule of the Inconscient will disappear: for the Inconscience will be changed by the outburst of the greater secret consciousness within it, the hidden Light, into

¹ The Life Divine, p. 917. (Italics ours)

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what it always was in reality, a sea of secret Superconscience."¹

As a result of this transmutation of the inconscient foundation of our embodied existence, spirit will become the truly sovereign occupant of form, our bodily existence will transcend the present law of death, division and mutual devouring, the material substance will be transfigured and spiritualised and our body will become the body divine that will "reflect or reproduce here in divine life on the earth something of [the] highest greatness and glory of the self-manifesting spirit."²

We have been so far speaking in the future tense, but that should not carry the impression that the supramental manifestation is something that is still lying in the womb of the distant future and its possible glorious achievements that we have delineated above are but the golden ineffectual dreams of incorrigible optimists. No, the supramental manifestation upon earth is no longer just a speculative conjecture; it has already entered the phase of active realisation. For the divine Supermind entered into earth-nature almost three decades ago (in the year 1956, to be precise) and is now dynamically operative to liberate the supramental principle involved within it.

As a consequence of this supramental manifestation and its subsequent action, something of capital importance has happened in a particular individual body, that unmistakably heralds the emergence of a divinely transformed physical existence in the foreseeable future. On this point let us listen to the words of the Mother, for is it not She the Mother Divine about whom Sri Aurobindo declared a long time ago: "The Mother comes in order to bring down the Supramental and it is the descent which makes her full manifestation here possible."?³ Also, "Her embodiment is a chance for the earth-consciousness to receive the Supramental into it and undergo first the transformation necessary for that to be possible."⁴ She Herself announced to the world in the month of March, 1956 after the manifestation of the Supermind:

"Lord, Thou hast willed, and I execute: A new Light breaks upon the earth,

¹ The Life Divine, p. 968.

² The Supramental Manifestation upon Earth, p. 74.

³ Sri Aurobindo, The Mother, p. 48.

⁴ Ibid., p. 49.

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A new world is born.

The things that were promised are fulfilled."

Now, as regards some of the most significant results already attained of this manifestation, the Mother says:

"There are many kinds of freedom, mental freedom, vital freedom, spiritual freedom, which are the fruits of successive mastery. But there is quite a new freedom that has become possible with the supramental manifestation, the freedom of the body.

"One of the very first results of the supramental manifestation has been to give to the body a freedom and an autonomy which it had never known. And when I speak of freedom, it is not a matter of a psychological perception or a state of inner consciousness, it is another thing and it is much better — it is a new phenomenon in the body, in the cells of the body. The cells themselves have felt for the first time that they are free, that they have a power of decision....

"Normally as it is, the body lives always with the impression that it is not master in its house....Now, with the supramental manifestation, something new has happened in the body: it feels it is master of the house, autonomous, both the feet planted upon earth, if I may say so. The impression it gives physically is that the whole being is erect, it has lifted its head — one is master.... Yes, things have changed. It is the body that has a direct power without any external intervention. I consider this to be a very important result."¹ Then The Mother adds significantly: "This new vibration in the body has made me understand the mechanism of the transformation. It is not a thing that comes with a Higher Will, a Higher Consciousness imposed upon the body, it is the body itself that wakes up in the cells, it is a freedom of the cells themselves, altogether a new vibration, and the disorders are mended, disorders even antecedent to the supramental manifestation."²

Now, what will be the impact of this supramental manifestation upon the specific problem that constitutes the central theme of our present discussion? How is it going to liberate the body from its inexorable and absolute dependence upon material aliments gathered from outside for its sheer self-maintenance?

We have discussed in our previous chapters the problem of Hunger in its metaphysical aspect and suggested the conditions

^{1 2} Bulletin, Vol. X, No. 1, pp. 81-85. (Italics ours)

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that have to be met in order that the solution may be forthcoming in the subjective domains of the being. But, we stress again, this subjective liberation from the universal law of Hunger is but the necessary pre-requisite; but it does not automatically deliver our physical being from the iron grip of the same law. The problem has to be faced and tackled on the plane of the body itself: the lion has to be tamed in its own den.

Hence we proceed now to the consideration of the physical necessity for material aliments and try to see how this problem of bodily hunger may possibly be solved in the New Body that is going to appear in the course of supramental evolution.

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