The Yoga of Sri Aurobindo - Part 8

Human Birth

Last week I spoke of birth and how a soul enters into a body. I told you that the body is formed in a very unsatisfactory manner almost in the case of every person, the exceptions are so rare that one need not mention them. I told you that because of this obscure birth man is made to carry with him quite a bundle of things which later on he has generally to get rid of, if he wishes to progress truly in life. I told you in effect that you are made to come by force, conditions are imposed upon you by force, and by force you obey the laws of heredity. Now, I am asked who or what is it that forces? I shall answer as clearly as possible.

The body is formed by a man and a woman who are the father and the mother; these when they form the body have no means to ask of the being whom they are bringing into the world whether he likes it or whether it is agreeable to his destiny. They impose upon the body, by the force of necessity, an atavism, an environment and subsequently an education which are almost always obstacles to future growth. A growing soul or a soul full-grown taking birth in a body has to fight against these circumstances that are forced upon him by the animal birth in order to find his true path and discover his own self in its fullness.

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It is possible, however, for the parents, instead of doing the thing in the animal way, driven by mere instinct and desire, most of the time even without wanting it, to do it with a conscious will, aspiring, praying almost that the body they are about to bring forth should be a form suitable to clothe a soul coming at their call. I have known people,—there are not many, of course, still there are some,—who chose especial circumstances, prepared themselves, holding an attitude of concentration, meditation and aspiration, invoking some exceptional being to come into the body they were to form. For that one must have also an occult knowledge which people generally do not possess.

In ancient times, in some civilisations and even now in some countries, the expectant woman is put specially in a surrounding of beauty and harmony and peace and ease and very normal physical conditions so that the coming child may be formed under the best circumstances. Evidently this is as it should be, for it is within human possibilities. Human beings have developed enough not to consider it as an exceptional thing. And yet in fact, it is an exceptional thing, for there are very few people who think of it, most are in the habit of producing children without giving a thought to it. But the least that is expected of man is that he should be somewhat conscious and do things he has to do in the best of conditions.

Now, a fully formed conscious soul wanting to take birth looks generally from its psychic domain for a

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corresponding psychic light upon some place on earth. In its previous birth, before leaving the earthly atmosphere, it chose, as the result of its total experience in that life, the conditions of its future life, not in details, but more or less in a general way. Such cases are very exceptional. We here perhaps can speak of it, but for the majority of the human population, even among the most educated, the question does not arise.

Normally we are dealing with a soul that is growing, which is in the process of its growth. Now, there are all the stages of growth, from the tiniest spark that is becoming a little light up to the fully conscious and fully formed being. This ascent of the soul in order to become a mature conscious being, having its own will and deciding its own destiny, takes thousands of years.

When, however, it is a free and conscious soul that seeks to take a body again upon earth, it begins to work upon the body even before the birth. Such being the case, it has no reason not to accept the inconveniences that result from the ignorance of the parents. It has chosen its place for a reason which is a reason not of ignorance: it saw a light—which may be simply a light of possibility; but there was a light and that is why it came there. And when from the domain of the psychic it looks upon the earth and has chosen its place of birth, the choice has sufficient discernment in it not to have made a gross mistake.

In any case, even in the very best of situations, when a soul comes down consciously and when it has consciously

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worked in the formation of the physical body, so long as the body is formed in the usual animal way, the soul will have to struggle and to correct all that comes from this human animality.

The parents have naturally a particular formation, they have a particular kind of good or bad health; at the very best, they have a lot of atavistic tendencies, habits, subconscious and even conscious complexes, deriving from their own birth, their environment and the life they led. And even if they are remarkable people, in their own way, usually they carry a quantity of things that are contrary to the true psychic life, I mean, even if they are the very best, the most conscious. And when the parents have done their utmost to give their children the best education, the children come in contact with all kinds of other people who have a great influence upon them especially when they are very young; these influences enter into the subconscious and they have to be fought against later on.

So I say, because of the way in which the body is brought into being at present, you have to face innumerable difficulties, corning more or less from the subconscient, that rise to the surface with which you have to fight if you want to be free entirely and develop normally.

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