The Yoga of Sri Aurobindo - Part 9

Meditation

Collective meditation, of which the most external form is collective prayer, has been practised from ancient times for different reasons, in different ways, and with different purposes. Groups of persons, whether belonging to the same Church or not, come together to express a common feeling; in certain cases, it is to sing together in praise of God, to chant a hymn of gratitude, expressing love, adoration, thankfulness. In other cases,—there are many historical examples of this—people gather together for a common invocation, to ask something from the Divine in the hope that a prayer done collectively will have more effect than an individual prayer. Thus, in Europe prophets announced that in the year one thousand of grace there would be the end of the world; everywhere crowds assembled to implore the divine protection and to pray that the catastrophe might be averted. More recently in modern times, when the king of England, George VI, had an attack of pneumonia and was almost on the point of death,

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the British people gathered not only in churches but even in the streets in front of the royal palace, to pray in common and to ask God to save their king. This is of course a most external form, I could say, a most worldly meditation in community. Besides, in all groups of Initiation, in all spiritual schools of ancient times and naturally in modern times also, meditation in community has always been practised; here the purpose is evidently very different. People gather together to make a collective progress, to open themselves to a force, a light and an influence; it is somewhat like that which we all try to do here. There are two ways to proceed, and both are excellent. For individual meditation, first of all, one must prepare to meditate, that is to say, after sitting down in a position, at the same time comfortable enough not to be too cramped,—and not too comfortable either lest you should fall asleep, one establishes the calm and the silence, not only externally but internally and then one gathers as far as possible one's consciousness which is generally dispersed in all kinds of thoughts and preoccupations. One brings back the consciousness as completely as one can, and concentrates it in the region of the heart, towards the solar-plexus, so that all the active energies which are

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in the head, all that make the brain active are turned and concentrated on this point. This may be done in a few seconds, or in a few minutes. It depends upon each one; when you have prepared yourself in this way, you have the choice between two attitudes : active and passive.

What I call an active attitude is to concentrate on the person who guides the meditation with the will to open yourself to receive what is being given to you or to the force with which you are put in contact. It is active, because here there is a will which acts and an active concentration to open yourself to someone or something.

The passive attitude is simply this : after having concentrated in the way I told you, to open yourself as one opens the door : imagine that in the centre of the heart there is a door, then you open the door and remain still and silent in expectation. Naturally, you may use any other similar image; for example, the image of a book that you open completely, a book with all the pages white, that is to say, very peaceful and then wait for what happens.

These two attitudes are equally effective; you may adopt one or the other, according to the day, according to the occasion, according to the mood you feel disposed to. Or you may

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adopt one and hold to it if it is easier for you and if it is more advantageous.

Now, in our special case, I will tell you what I am trying to do.

It is now nearly one year that we had one Wednesday the Manifestation of the Supramental Force. Since that moment the Power is working very actively, even if very few people are able to perceive it; and I think that the time has come now to help it as much as we can by making an effort towards collective receptivity. Of course, the Force is not only acting in the Ashram, it acts in the whole world and everywhere; wherever there is receptivity it is working; the Ashram has not the exclusive monopoly or receptivity in the world. But as we are all here, knowing more or less what has happened, we can collectively, —individually I hope everyone is doing his best to profit by the circumstances—facilitate its action by trying to unify the ground, produce a particularly fertile soil, so that the maximum of collective receptivity may be obtained and that there be the least possible wastage of time and energy.

Now that you are warned, it is for you to make an effort in this direction.

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