Sri Aurobindo's Life Divine

Lecture V

Chap. 9: Pure Existent

Let us leave man out of our view and look at the universe. What does one see ? He finds there a boundless energy in infinite space, infinite movement in eternal time : an infinite existence and an infinite movement of energy. This existence and this movement is far more than the human individual or human collectivity. Man begins with the ego as the centre of the universe and thinks that the aim of the universal existence and movement is related to him. This is not true. Existence is for itself and not particularly related to human aims and fulfilling human ideas. We do not know its aim but we can see that its aim is independent of man's ideas, hopes and wishes. This great infinite movement of existence does not seem to give greater importance to man than to the most insignificant thing, to the great energy man does not seem to be all-important. It bestows minute care in finishing the details of an ant-hill as in the working of the solar system. It is equally busy with the design of a flower, the working of a plant, the contour of a mountain. It does not seem to care either for quality or quantity. If one looked at quality of existence one would say that the ant is greater than the solar system. That would be an exaggeration. The pure existent is equally concerned with all that is. If one observes impersonally one would see that the care bestowed upon the ant is the same that is bestowed upon the sun. The Pure Existent equally pervades all.

But when one says it is present in everything does one mean that it is equally distributed? Sri Aurobindo says : "No, it is present as a whole in each thing". The Gita says about it: "it is something undivided in beings but appears as if divided" 'avibhaktam vibhakteṣu vibhaktam iva ca

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sthitam' Each object while belonging to a class is the front of the whole of the Brahman. In order to arrive at the true conception of man's destiny and fulfilment one has to grasp this great truth.

Existence is the same in all. To man's mind the quality and the quantity of existence seem to differ but the Self behind them is the same.

Then the question of relation between this great, infinite being and energy at work and man arises. To man he himself seems all important, he thinks and acts as if he were the centre of the universe. This establishes a kind of mental self-sufficiency and gives man a false understanding of the world. Instead of allowing his mind to set up a false value what man has to do is to find out the aim of That which is and is working,—the infinite existence and energy. Then he would notice that he is only a partial movement of an infinite movement. The ordinary view is : Man=All. Independent of this : All=Zero. It is then possible for him to identify himself with the All,—with the infinite existence and movement.

When one has found this great link of an infinite existence and movement, he would discover that it is not without a stable ground. This total infinite existence and movement is supported by the One, a constant, indivisible Being, a Self. This timeless, spaceless Pure Existence may not have play of energy within itself, no manifestation, no world. It is, in one view, all stability, which may be, and often is, a block of movement. When the wheel of a cycle is moving fast it appears to be stable. In the same way the stability and immutability of the Pure Existent is, perhaps, a block of mvement. One may say that the energy in the Pure Existent is at rest. Energy is not always bound to be active; a reservoir of water need not flow all the time, but it can flow. It is possible for energy to be either at rest or active. In the Pure Existent energy may be active or in repose.

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Is existence always a movement? One can answer : infinite existence is timeless and spaceless. When it puts forth energy then one feels infinite time and infinite space. When the Pure Existent is put forth into energy then time and space come into existence. By space we do not mean spatial exten-tion, wideness of direction. In the Pure Existent space is psychological self-expansion, it is 'Being' widening itself. When there is a movement in the Pure Existent it is felt as time; time is really a movement of consciousness in the Pure Existent. In fact, if one watches carefully one finds there is no objective time even in ordinary life. Time is not a fixed something. Time as perceived by man is only movement, action, process, growth, change. If no change takes place one hardly notices time. When a man is inspired by a high ideal, time and space have a different value for him. Even in science the time for a process is not always fixed. One cubic centimeter of water may normally take a certain time for boiling —in that sense 'time' may be said to be fixed. But if one can change the conditions—the temperature and pressure—the time for boiling would change. Time is elastic—it can be extended, it can be compressed. If all the conditions of the process were fulfilled the result would be instantaneous—one may call it an act of grace or work of Omnipotence. If consciousness did not change we would not be conscious of time.

If there is no space or time in Pure Existent, how can one explain action and movement? Is existence, then, a fiction ?

Sri Aurobindo says : one can say it is 'something'—instead of calling it Pure Existent. That something carries in it the probabilities of repose : Energy in action implies energy abstaining from action. "Absolute energy not in action is simply and purely absolute existence."

And what is the purpose of this movement of energy ? Is it merely movement for its own sake ? It would be like a staircase in the void of the air : there would be want of fulfilment

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at the end of the process of existence. Our mentally conceived Truth is not the same that our senses give.

What is, is the Eternal indivisible succession of Time carrying in it the progressive movement of indivisible consciousness. In that sense, Becoming is the only Being or rather Becoming is the mode of Being. We are like the river that constantly flows, like the flame that unceasingly burns. The Pure Existent is the fundamental fact: "World existence is the ecstatic dance of Shiva which multiplies the body of the God numberlessly to the view: it leaves the white existence precisely where and what it was, ever is and ever will be; its sole object is the joy of the dancing". A timeless, spaceless pure existence and a measureless movement in time : Shiva and Kali in one.

Questions and Answers

Q : Can one say : "Absolute existence is absolute nonexistence ?

A : To say "Absolute" non-existence is contradiction in terms. Non-existence is negative, one cannot put in a positive term like "absolute" with it. To negation of existence how can one add absoluteness ?

One can accept the Pure Existent as absolute—not in the sense that there are no qualities or forms in it; one can say it goes beyond them,—it exceeds all that is relative.

To argue that the Eternal alone exists, therefore whatever is is eternal and nothing has to be attained,—as one is attaining it even now,—would not be correct line of thinking. One has to know that the Eternal is not standing still, it is not something inert and unchanging. So far as the world is concerned the Eternal is a movement. And the individual has to determine the curve of the Eternal in himself by his own choice. Even the movement of the Eternal is predetermined, one can

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say. But then the determination is not known here in man's present state because man is not living in the Eternal. Man can know the predestination only if he can rise into the consciousness of eternity. The individual may find out the predetermination of the Eternal within his own self. To say that all is Eternal and therefore there is nothing to seek would not be the correct attitude. Man is not a simple being, he is complex—he is always dragged to the animal level, he has a mind that can believe and doubt. If one did not use the faculties of heart and intellect given to him there would be no point in giving them to him. The eternal is acting and has to act, through man's present nature. To say that 'to exist' is the most important thing is only partially true. One must know that there is a drive for value in existence, in the being. To exist is not the only drive in man. To the human being values are more important. Value is not a mental idea or an ideal. It compels obedience to itself in the individual. One is not subjected to existence mechanically, one can participate in the process of the Eternal at work. That is the utility of creating a conscious being. In a sense, what one calls Eternal is in time a progressive movement of consciousness. If one lives in that one can be fulfilled every moment. Until that is realised and man lives in an indivisible progressive movement of consciousness he cannot say that he is living in the Eternal which is present; What is Becoming ? A mode of Being. What is Being ? The basis of Becoming. The two are indivisible.

Q : Whether the pure Existent is conscious or inconscient?

A : All phenomenal existence that one perceives resolve themselves ultimately into force. A stone is atomic force, a tree is force of life, an animal is life-force at work. Force is movement of energy. All kinds of energies are at work-material, electrical, vital etc. We see this force as matter :

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it is all atoms and molecules reducible to electrons, which are further reducible to twenty six infinitesimal particles. We have photons, protons etc. Another way of seeing it would be to feel the force as vibration; force can be said to be vibration of energy : vibration that expands, vibration that contracts, giving rise to solidity. Our sensation is nothing else but the vibration of contact of the vibrating body. Thus are created touch, sight, taste, smell etc. When one sees a bird or a tree or a stone one perceives a vibration of energy.

Q : Is it an inconscient, mechanical vibration ?

A: That is the question: does an inconscient, mechanical energy go on producing inconscient, mechanical vibrations ? Man and an object: are these two different aspects of an inconscient energy ? And is their meeting or contact, the meeting of two inconscient energies ? The difficulty in accepting this view is that here at one point of reception there seems to be consciousness receiving the vibration of an inconscient object. Now can we say that the perception that results is the result of mere vibration ?

There is a difference in the vibration that takes place in a machine and one that takes place in man, in the magnet, the thermometer and the human being. The question is : what is consciousness ?

So far as sensation is concerned, there is first an awareness and then a judgement of the vibration that man perceives. The awareness and the judgement, "this is good", "this is pleasant" is not mechanically automatic.

About "consciousness" one can say that the force that is working in the Pure Existent must be conscious because it throws itself into rhythms of vibrations. The multiplicity of rhythms and their set formations give us the clue that it must be conscious.

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And if they are unconscious then there cannot be any "why" It just is,

Q : These attitudes have come and make man more and more irresponsible: there are no fixed values in life to-day.

A : The upsetting of values came in Europe and all over the world too, after the two world wars. Perhaps, it is the necessary condition through which man's consciousness had to pass.

Many new attitudes that have come in philosophy owe their origin to the great psychological disturbances that came after the two world wars. Old values are no more—in almost all departments of culture. The discovery that there was something fundamentally wrong in the values of life created by European culture has set many minds thinking. It is difficult for a new set of values to arise because the contact of the spiritual basis has been lost by the masses. The only thing they seem to rely upon is material progress and economic organisation and scientific advance. The war was not brought about by the people, but when it came it is the people that suffered the most. The idea that the individual is nonentity in such situation gained ground. But that is only partially true. The individual can resist, he can stand on his highest value and try to check the tide. It is not true that the majority of Germans were Nazis. They were hardly ten or fifteen per cent. But the rest of them should have acted according to their conscience and resisted.

Q: Can an organised effort help ?

A : More important than organised effort is the awakening of the individual. If there are individuals who stand up to their highest values then a collectivity can come into existence.

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Q: Could such disturbances be called the "churning of the ocean" by the Divine ?

A : There are apparent rational causes for such crises. But there are deeper ones that are more important. For instance to me, one of the deeper causes seems to be the pressure of the descent of the Supermind, the Truth-Consciousness above the mind. It is that pressure that has thrown all the forces that are against it in the struggle to maintain their hold on earth-nature. One could clearly see the anti-divine movement on an unprecedented scale during the last war. It is not European culture that is to blame, but the powers that took hold of the reign of life and tried to utilise it for possessing the world. These powers of the vital plane were defeated by the awakened conscience of mankind helped by the Divine.

Now the atmosphere is slowly settling down, though elements of another crisis are not lacking in the situation today. The U.N.O. has begun the new departure. In the settlement of national disputes it is not military force and economic power that alone count to-day, though they have not lost their importance. Ethical considerations, safety of mankind etc. have begun to play their part in international matters. Humanity is entering upon a new age; only, it is preparing for it very tardily and without proper understanding. The dawn has already come—people may not know about it. The problem is not outer, not of nations but of humanity. The problem is to bring into the earth consciousness a new element, a Higher Consciousness. The great obstacle that prevents the descent is the materialistic outlook and domination of economy in collective life. Economic organization and scientific advance are in themselves great helps in the task of bringing about the descent of the Supermind. But man's psychology dominated by desire and ambition is the great obstacle.

I know cases in which people who have spiritual aspiration and hunger are unable even to make an effort for it. The

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collective atmosphere is responsible for it. I put this problem to some intellectuals in England when I was there in 1955. What they felt was something like this : "We have created here a culture that is efficient, but in which man is not free. He labours from morning to night to earn his bread, to dress and to have a house. The life collective is like a machine that grinds the individual in order to maintain collective prosperity and political status. We are so careful about economic waste that we do not mind wasting the human material. We count in terms of production—which man produces. We are putting man under the machine—and we do not mind grinding him." Economic progress is not bad, science is not bad. Science and money by themselves are neither good nor bad. Economy has to be put in its proper place in the scale of values. Economic progress is man's own work, man should not submit himsef to what he has created; man should be free, free to devote himself to his fulfilment.

Q : We have to pay more taxes and we have to contribute money to the whole world. Is it not something that we must do ?

A : Does it really help ? is it the best way of helping ?

Q : We do not have any choice. We are made to do it.

A : One can give one's wealth to the world. I am glad that America helps other nations because it is the material proof of the sympathy which brings humanity together, brings unity of mankind nearer. It is a work whose basis is very sound.

What we are discussing is the orientation of collective life by money, raising money to the highest value in human culture. It has become a craze with all nations. The whole world seems to be coming under the domination of economy-centric outlook. It is like a steamroller. Human culture is in danger everywhere. The U.N.O. can be a great instrument in ushering in the New Age of Human Culture.

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