Lecture IV
Chap. 7. The Ego and the Dualities
Chap. 8. The Methods of Vedantic Knowledge
We have seen that the creation of the ego and dualities was a necessary step which has been symbolized in some schools of Religion and Philosophy as the fall of man. The fall of man is this separation from the original Divine Consciousness and assumption of limitations in which the separation becomes dynamic, and has consequences in what is called human life. When it is called a "fall" it only means it is a lure. Adam attracted by Eve is the Purusha—the subjective consciousness attracted by, or lured by, the potentialities of Nature which he feels within his own Self. Nature is felt within the Self of the Purusha and when the potentialities are seen in Nature, there is an attraction on the part of the subjective consciousness to accept the lure and the consequences that follow.
Redemption comes by the Self rejoining the Divine Consciousness and bringing it into life, into Nature. That is the real redemption. It is by a process of transformation of the being that accepted the limitation; the transformation consists in the widening of the same limitation into Universal and Transcendental consciousness, and embodying on earth and in Nature all the consequences of that transformation. It means embodying quite another Nature; a transformation not only of consciousness of Being but of Nature also. That is the solution of the problem.
Is it possible for the ego to widen out into universal consciousness ? Yes. Normally reason refuses to admit this potentiality and possibility. Perfectibility is not envisaged as a change of consciousness by reason, because reason is overcome by the actual, by fact, by what it has to face imme-
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diately. Reason asks : how can it be ? That is why I pleaded yesterday, in my talk on psychology, that those who have got the true vision of life see what "is", from what "can be" : "A world that 'is', from a world 'to be'". What is the world going to be ? From there, they get to what the world is. The limitations of reason come and say : what 'is', is final, almost, what is, is insurmountable. Well, that is how reason argues, and we argued yesterday also and accepted the position that so far as ignorance is concerned, the reading and feeling and knowledge of ego is valid for its own sake but it has no absolute validity in the sense that that is the only knowledge possible. It is possible to rise to another consciousness where all the values that reason admits as true, final and binding disappear completely and quite another revaluation can be valid. That is the position which we have taken last time. Reason even refuses to admit the possibility of any perfection.
Then the question is : is this universe working under a law of eternal imperfection ? Is imperfection the badge of this universe ? If we admit that the world is eternally imperfect, that will not be compatible with the Omniscience and Omnipotence of God. That is the stand of those who have despaired of any possibility of change of human consciousness. They have ignored those persons who have actually undergone a change of consciousness because they have always been overcome by quantity. Vast numbers of people are subject to ego, desire, dualities, suffering, pain, ignorance, selfishness, death, etc. but they forget that at least several hundred people have risen above this consciousness and declared that this is not the final experience possible to human beings; that there is another line of experience possible to man; that it is possible to rise to a universal consciousness, to a divine consciousness, and remain alive and bring something of that Light to life.
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This, reason naturally ignores and constantly argues against because it is overcome by the actual and the immediate.
How is it possible, reason says, to transcend the present limits of Nature ? On the same line, I told you yesterday, the ape would have also argued if it was faced with the possibility of conceiving a more perfect being than itself. If you tell the ape that not only is such a being possible, but that it itself would undergo such a transformation that from it an Einstein could evolve it would not believe it possible. That would be too much for it to believe. Just the same thing is happening to human reason, human mind, human outer senses and outer knowledge when it is faced with the possibility of Divine perfection. It always refuses, like the ape, the possibility and potentiality of self-evolution to a more perfect being. Yet, reason contradicts its own refusal, because reason does not limit itself to the sense data. We see that the sky and the earth meet at the horizon. That is the first sense-data. When I submit it to the reason, it says, "Well, let me see if it is quite true". It does not admit as final the first sense-data. So, reason in its own realm of limited knowledge admits the possibility of correcting the evidence that is given to it for arriving at higher and higher conclusions, or higher generalizations of knowledge.
You may say there is a double reason at work, one mixed and dependent, and the other pure and independent. When reason is mixed and dependent it accepts the sense-data but corrects the first evidence and goes beyond. So, when it pursues the truth reason itself overcomes the first sense-data, and corrects it in order to arrive at knowledge of the truth of the material world,—truth of the facts of life.
The argument which reason advances with regard to psychology of man, or development of consciousness is just the contrary of what it does in dealing with the evidence of the sense. It asks : how can one overcome pain and death
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which are natural? Sri Aurobindo says that those who admit the impossibility of change of consciousness, or of elimination of pain, ignore the fact that the sovereign impulse of life is to reject pain. The first reaction of the whole nervous system is to reject the sensation of pain, not to accept it as natural. The very nervous system, without the mind intervening, refuses it.
Reason does not take account of this great fact, that this rejection itself is not merely an instinct which is not bound to remain impotent, but is a line of potentiality, which, if - pursued, might lead to some practical results. That is what man has actually tried. He has tried to overcome pain by anesthesia, and by several mechanical methods. Is it not possible to do it by psychological processes ? The reaction of sensation and sense organism to reject pain shows that the insistence of life is on eternity or immortality and not on death. How does reason arrive at the mastery ? It tries to probe into phenomenon and to find out the cause. When it has known the cause it is able to master the result. It must find out the cause of pain, the cause of suffering and imperfection, then it can apply the knowledge of the cause to establish its mastery. But what reason actually does in its own field is that it occupies itself with secondary matters instead of with original root cause. She makes an effort to know how a thing happens, not why it happens. Entangled in these secondary causes, reason does not and cannot know the root cause of what happens; and the remedy for man lies in acquiring the knowledge of the root cause.
If reason could penetrate into the root cause of pain, suffering and duality, it would be able to set it right, because all knowledge, when it is real, is power. If man can know the cause he can set right the result.
The ultimate truth is an Omnipresent Reality, an infinite Being, an infinite Conscious-Power, an unlimited power
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of Delight, that is the basic truth, the material cause and the efficient cause of the world. Then, here in human experience is the ego, the fall into dualities. The knowledge of the Brahman, of the Infinite, the widening out of the ego into the cosmic and the infinite consciousness would eliminate the root cause, instead of the secondary causes. Reason allows itself to be overcome by images. If one can bring the infinite consciousness that would automatically eliminate the root-cause of these dualities, ego, and all the consequences of suffering, pain and ignorance. The remedy suggested here is the acceptance of the possibility of widening out of the consciousness into another plane, a plane of infinity, and when that is done the root cause of suffering and ignorance is removed. Many people know nothing about this but the beginning of all truth is like that. It begins with the minority of one to all and then it gradually spreads and ultimately it succeeds and the truth becomes part of life.
Spiritual experience of this widening out into infinity would bring about this result of elimination of the consequence of ego and the limitations of duality. Then one finds, says Sri Aurobindo, that not only oneself is That, but all is That. When one widens out into the Infinite it is not as if one comes into a special individual possession of a truth which belongs to no one else. In fact, it is the beginning of knowledge that all is the Infinite, all is the Satchidananda,all is That and That only exists. Still the multiplicity is there, forms are there, tendencies are there, individual egos are there. In the Satchidananda, as expressed in life, they are allowed to deform, to distort its original truth and even the ego reaction is allowed. One sees this truth when one widens out into the Infinite-Consciousness. It is not as if Satchidananda has been overcome, the Infinite faced by something opposite of itself, a not-self or an anti-divinity that came into play and overcame the omnipotence and omniscience
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of the Divine and made the Divine accept multiplicity and fall into ego and dualities. Rather, the deployment of the possibilities of the Infinite has made possible these creations and fall into the ego of its own Self, has allowed this division, this play of variations upon the basis of its own Unity, and has allowed the deformation and the distortion of its original truth. Even ego-reaction is allowed to create conflict in life. It is as if you take up a course which at first appears just the opposite of your original intent but you know that it is only by adopting this course that you arrive at the ultimate end. It is by adoption of this fall that the elimination is possible, for, the fall can be set right. Creation of ego, of duality is the essential condition of existence in the universe. To create a material universe with multidimensional consciousness it was necessary that the Satchitananda accept the fall and when in the reverse process of ascent to the Truth the ego and the dualities are eliminated then there would be a manifestation of the Supreme in the material universe.
Yet even when sense and mind are enlarged, reason argues that all this knowledge by identity, by widening of consciousness into Infinite or Cosmic Consciousness is moon-shine, and perfection is not possible. Man would acquire more and more knowledge of sense-data, develop the chemistry, astro-physics, mathematics and arrive at perfection one day. But that would be to go on enlarging the problem, and it is not possible to arrive at perfection though man may continue trying ad infinitum. It would be a movement on the same plane. The solution lies in rising to some other plane. However much men may go on enlarging the material and the outer, the fundamental, the root problem remains because it attacks only the secondary causes. The root solution lies in getting away from the plane of consciousness in which one lives. When one is on the plane of ego here,
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though it is widened even to infinity it will not make for the height of consciousness, for the ascent of consciousness. Until that is done, until a radical change in consciousness is brought about the solution cannot be found.
Sri Aurobindo says, that if you go on enlarging the field of sense-knowledge and mental knowledge however widely, it would only be increasing or enlarging the knowledge of phenomena, not of the Reality. Adding to phenomena, he says, is feeding yourself with more and more grass, not with any substantial food. It is knowledge in one sense, yes; every addition is something true but it is as it were, accumulating dry grass all the time. It is hay, it is not solid substantial food which can bring about a change in your system. To bring about a change in your spiritual system some other radical, more nourishing food is to be given, the spiritual food. That is Knowledge by identity,— Knowledge by oneness.
Knowledge by identity is the remedy, which means increase or expansion of self-awareness. When one says "man", or "I", or "I am the body", "I am desire", "I am impulses", "I am ideas", "I am thoughts", "I am feelings", "I am emotions", etc., that is the limitation of the present nature. When this self-awareness is widened, and when the "I" becomes the All,—the all are included in the "I", then the "I" becomes one with the Infinite. Therefore the knowledge of the content is contained in the knowledge of the container. If one can get the knowledge of the container then there is full knowledge of the content. The universe is the content of the Self, of the Infinite, of the Brahman, the Divine, the Satchidananda. If you are identified with it then the whole content of the universe is within that Infinite Consciousness. You know it by containing it.
The difficulty at present is that man wants to contain it by possessing. With the limited instrumentation given,
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with the little body, with the small nervous system, and with a mind that always requires data of the senses for its operation, how can one possess this All ? The All can be contained in consciousness; but the play of ignorance and the fall of ego and dualities compel this very impulse to possess the All by desires. Now, possession by external clutch or external hold is impossible and it is this running after the possession of the All by each and every individual ego that creates what people call conflict. It is nothing else but each one trying to possess the All at the same time. Conflict is nothing else but each one trying to eliminate all others. When one possesses the All in consciousness, one does not run after things. That is what the Isha Upanishad says: "Then all this becomes fit habitation for the Lord." When one realizes that whatever movement of the cosmic energy takes place is a movement of that supreme, all-governing, Infinite Power, one will not try to possess somebody else's wealth because it is one's own wealth really speaking. When he rises to that consciousness, the whole of it belongs to him. It is not necessary to possess or clutch externally; but the deformation of the Original impulse to possess the All takes many forms, and very disturbing forms in the vital are the impulses, passions, desires and ambition. These really are the problem of man.
The solution lies not in their suppression, nor rejection. One has to widen one's consciousness. Man can possess the All, even the delight of 'possessing the All'. It can be done only by widening the consciousness, not by dealing with the superficial consciousness which only takes the surface play as if it were the true movement in men. The Upanishad says in one place : if you want to know everything about the sound of the drum, you must take hold of the drummer. When you know and are identified with the drummer, you know all the play of the drum. The Universe, the World,
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is a self-manifestation of that Infinite Consciousness. When you want to know this All, go to the origin from which it has emanated and you know the root springs of what is happening in the world. That is what the Upanishad means when it says "True knowledge consists in knowing That by knowing which all is known."
True knowledge is not acquisition of farts. Reasoning upon sense evidence is a secondary process called Avidya. Avidya is not total ignorance, but secondary knowledge, knowledge of the superficial and secondary causes and not of the root-causes. The enlarging of consciousness into awareness of All, of the Infinite, that is knowledge by identity. Then you will see that life has to move from darkness to reason, from reason to a greater Light.
In the beginning was the inconscient All which was dark; in the middle is Reason which is a limited light; and the movement of life is toward a higher Light. Reason only prepares the being for this higher knowledge of the Super-conscient. In between the two universals, the realm of Reason and senses dominated by the ego is active in man. So, the movement is from darkness to Light and life passes from the darkness of the Inconscient All to the creation of partial light and play of mind and senses, ego-centric life subject to dualities on to the superconscient All which is the realm of Light. And this higher Light can penetrate and come down into mind—the mental being of man. When it comes to man's mind, it first takes the form of intuition. That is how the penetration of Light also takes you in the other direction partly. This is the intuition of Self which is Infinite, of the Purusha, a Being, a subjective Self or the whole cosmos. That is the first great intuition of all philosophies, all systems of yoga, and of all religions. There is a cognizing consciousness which is infinite, but which stands on the plane of indi-dividual consciousness as the Purusha. This consciousness
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of the Purusha is universal. This is infiltration from the superconscient Light.
"What is knowledge ?" This is an important question. In what does knowledge consist ? We have dealt with the knowledge by identity as a possible source of valid knowledge. And knowledge by identity is not mystic, superstitious or something abnormal, but normally known to almost the whole of humanity in the course of its cultural activity. There is no cultural activity in which something of the knowledge by identity has not worked. We have seen that knowledge by identity is something that actually concerns humanity. Humanity has been constantly taking advantage of this knowledge by identity, through the process of intuition. Knowledge by identity does not take place all at once. When identity begins it overpasses the realm of reason and brings the light of intuition, inspiration, revelation into human mentality and it is that which has moulded many of the forms of cultural expression of the human collectivity. The cultural activity of many races has originated from the great intuitions that came down from beyond reason, inspirations that came down and gave noble values to life. Study of literature—poetic and artistic,—reveals the contribution of the supraconscient realm of consciousness whose rays penetrated into the working of the human consciousness. The aesthetic sense or the sense of harmony, sense of beauty, or sense of perfection, owes its origin very often to the working of this greater influence.
Apart from this we have seen that the first instrument which man can and does use for increasing his knowledge is reason. This reasoning faculty has a double function : a mixed and dependent one, and a pure and free working. When reason confines itself to sense-data, to the appearance of things, then it knows even the Becoming superficially. When reason takes the sense-data as the starting-point but
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goes beyond it then it becomes pure in its action. From the knowledge of the facts it brings about an understanding of them, an interpretation and generalisation. It gives a view of the world and life. From physics it brings man to metaphysics.
But all the knowledge acquired by reason is the knowledge of the Becoming, of the "how" but not of the "what" and the "why". It studies processes and changes but does not know 'what' is and why.
Reason as an instrument of knowledge is very defective and therefore imperfect. It covers a very small part even of the material fact of the universe. The senses which furnish data to reason are limited and the evidence given by them requires constant correction. Reason studies facts and gives us ideas about facts. But these have to be constantly corrected and are therefore changing. The ideas that reason gives are not realities, they are representations of them.
Man's thirst for knowledge is not confined to the knowledge of the Becoming. He wants to know the Being. He wants to know 'what' is the world, what is matter, what is life, what is man. Ideas about these do not entirely satisfy him : conceptual knowledge is incomplete without experience : man wants what may be called "concrete" experience. An illustration may make the point clear. An essay on the taste of sugar may give man some conception of it, but the actual taste, which takes place on a different plane, gives him the concrete experience. Or, he may read an exposition on "anger" and form an idea of what anger is but one minute's experience of anger gives him the knowledge which is different from intellectual exposition.
In a certain sense it can be said that all experience is psychological. This is contrary to the general trend in psychology to-day because modern psychology is being reduced to physiology by tracing everything to the nervous reactions.
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Para-psychology is trying to establish the well-attested fact that suprasensual perception and knowledge are possible. Sri Aurobindo says that to try to reduce psychology to a physical science is to take hold of it by the wrong end. Reactions of nerves are not fixed. The whole organization of nature in man is only a working equation of so many forces—physical, nervous, vital, intellectual etc. Their functioning has become a constant habit and we promote it to the status of a law. Sri Aurobindo says that mind's dependence on the sense-data or evidence for its operation is a limitation imposed by its evolutionary condition. That dependence is "only a regularity of a dominant habit". It is not a law. This is proved by the mind directly knowing the object of knowledge. Exact descriptions of places by persons who have never been to them have been known. Under hypnosis knowledge of place, persons and events has been recorded and tested and found correct. It has helped medicine to perform operations without anesthetics and also helped the police in tracking criminals.
A.E.—George Russell,—in his book, The Candle of Vision, writes about his own suprasensual and mystic experiences.
Ordinary reactions of the nervous system are also normal operations of a "dominant habit"—they are not inevitable; for instance : operation and even amputation of limbs without anaesthesia, or walking two or three miles with one leg and arm blown off by a cannon-ball have been known to occur.
The present nature of man is governed mostly by his mental or vital being. But man can govern his nature by the spiritual entity, his psychic being that is in him. The being that ordinarily acts in man is some part of his nature, either his mental or his vital personality. It is really speaking awareness of becoming. One experiences something on the substratum of being. It is the "being" that undergoes the various states of transformation, it becomes "aware" of things.
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Why is this mind not able at present to act freely ? Because mind now depends upon matter. Mind is encased in matter, therefore its dependence upon matter has become now very great, almost an established habit. Mind is not operating in its freedom and purity. There is a barrier between mind and matter and the normal waking consciousness is so much habituated to depend upon the evidence of the sense data, so extroverted, that direct knowledge is not possible by the mind only. But the sense mind has a free' action if it is trained. For example, it is possible to know the weight of an object without weighing. Even direct knowledge of the object by the mind, or enlargement of the sense-mind and sensation, capacity to know directly without going through a material process, frees the mind but will not enlarge the consciousness into spirituality. It will merely enlarge the field of phenomena, the field of becoming. Sri Aurobindo explains that you must attack the field of being. You have to deal with what you are. To know that you are only a little body, a bundle of desires and motives, a bundle of ideas is not true knowledge of Self. One has to grow from mental awareness to Self-awareness, to Cosmic awareness and realize that the whole is One. Mental awareness must expand to Self-awareness, then the content of the Atman which is the universe will be known and that is the equation which we found out just now. This brings us to the intuition that is working behind mind. One is aware of the Self, feels "I am" by an act of identity. The first intuition which is at work is the intuition of the One, the Purusha.
The formula : "I am He"—So'ham is the first formula. I am He, the Urilimited, the Infinite, the Divine, the Supreme, the Lord, or the Cosmic Consciousness. "Then: Thou art That:" — Tattvamasi. So, not only, 'I am He', but that which I cognize outside myself as 'thou' is also That. And the third is, "All this that I see is, indeed, the
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In these three intuitions is contained the content of all knowledge by identity. If you want to have the knowledge by identity, all the three must be simultaneously satisfied, not just one. If you confine yourself to "I am He", then you will reduce all this universe to māyā. If you realize only "I am He", the mind may become enamoured of the experience and then the All would appear to it as non-entity. That would be only a partial realization. Idam Brahma — all this that is seen in front is, indeed, the Brahman, the infinite." Idam in Sanskrit means "that which I see in front of me". The three formulas in harmony give you the content of true knowledge, the knowledge of the "Being". Knowledge of the being is widening of the mental awareness to Self-awareness. The Self is He, the Infinite. I am He, the Infinite.
This intuition by the process of knowledge by identity has worked in humanity intermittently. It has worked brilli-andy now and then and brought some results, but it is not yet an established faculty. It is not yet organized into expression in life. The problem to-day which The Life Divine wants us to tackle is that this knowledge must now become ordered because otherwise it remains unused and very often lends itself to a misinterpretation or an exaggeration which does not allow the expression of perfection in life. To-day it is the reasoning power that leads and not the intuition. Today intellect is the leading power of man, it is the instrument of knowledge and pure reason has led to practical results in science. Reason proceeds by observation, by analysis, by experiment and arrives at a generalization by the application of scientific discoveries to life. Consciousness is the fundamental fact of the cosmos and the Sat Brahman is the true being that is Infinite. It is that which is the standing intuition on which this reason can base its operation. Then, perhaps, the reason can give us some clarification of this basis of knowledge.
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There are people who say that this knowledge by identity is good; but they question : is it practical ? Does it work ? Again and again the immediate and the present overpowers the reasoning faculty. Sri Aurobindo has answered this question in some of his writings and I think it is necessary for us to understand, side by side, that the attainment of this Higher Consciousness, this Infinite Consciousness, is not something abstract and without any dynamic consequence in life.
Sri Aurobindo was not a Guru in the traditional sense; so, he allowed his disciples great liberty. Being himself a product of this age he knew too well the intellectual doubts that beset the mind. His European training and mastery of the English language gave him the necessary background to deal with intellectual doubts. Another reason of his giving the latitude to the intellectual doubts was bis great compassion. He felt pity for man whose mind was beset by such petty doubts. So, a disciple could say "You do not know how the human mind is troubled by doubts". He would answer : "I must remind you that I am myself no stranger to doubt. Both Mother and myself have had one side of our mind as positive and insistent on practical results and more so than any Russell can be". Then he adds "I think I can say that I have been testing day and night for years upon years more scrupulously than any scientist his theory or his method on the physical plane. We could never have been content with shining ideas and phrases which a Rolland or another takes for gold coin of Truth. We know well what is the difference between a subjective experience and dynamic outward going and realising force. So although we have faith (and who ever did anything great in the world without having faith in his mission or the Truth at work behind him ?) We don't found ourselves on faith alone, but on a great ground of knowledge which have been developing and testing all our lives." (18-8-1932) A disciple asked him:
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"When you concentrate what do you do ?" He answered : "When I concentrate I work upon others, upon the world, upon the play of force." (19-12-1934) To a question whether an invisible force—like the force of a Higher Consciousness —can produce tangible results, he wrote : "The invisible Force producing tangible results both inward and outward is the whole meaning of the yogic consciousness.. .Who would be satisfied with such meaningless hallucination and call it power ? If we had not thousands of experiences showing that the power within could alter the mind, develop its powers, add new ones, bringing in new ranges of knowledge, master the vital movements,—control the conditions and functionings of the body, work as a concrete dynamic Force on other forces, modify events etc., etc., we would not speak of it as we do." (On Yoga, Tome I p. 237)
Another question was : "Is the spiritual Force you speak of concrete ?" He answered: "Concrete ? What do you mean by concrete ? Spiritual force has its own concreteness; it can take a form (like a stream, for instance) of which one is aware and send it quite concretely on whatever object one chooses." (ibid p. 239) "If a spiritual force is working then it must always succeed"—wrote a disciple. He replied : "As for the Force, I shall write to you some other time. I have told you that it is not always efficacious, but works under conditions like all forces; it is only the Supramental force that works absolutely, because it creates its own conditions. But the Force that I am using is a Force that has to work under the present conditions. It is not the less a Force for that..." (Letters Vol. II P. 408)
In another letter he explained why the spiritual force used in the second world-war could not bring about all the results he wanted to. He wrote : "I have always said that the spiritual force I have been putting on human affairs such as the war is not the Supramental but the overmind Force, and
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then when it acts in the material world is so inextricably mixed up in the tangle of the lower forces that its results, however strong or however adequate to the immediate object, must necessarily be partial." (Letters Vol. II p. 245). When people learn about a spiritual force acting they believe it must always succeed in the human sense and fulfil man's hopes and desires.
The impartiality of observation about anything, including the working of the Spiritual Power that he was using, is a quality which I have never seen in another spiritual person. To a question whether his spiritual force was used only in the Ashram, he replied "Certainly, my force is not confined to the Ashram and its conditions. As you know, it is largely being used for the help in the right development of the war and of change in the human world. It is also used for individual purposes outside the scope of the Ashram and the practice of yoga, but that is silently done and mainly by the spiritual action." (Letters Vol. II p. 296).
We have now some idea of how perception, knowledge and action can take place without resorting to the ordinary functions of nature. There is possible direct action of the sense, a suprasensual perception, and knowledge in which the physical senses do not participate. It is possible, also, for the mind to act directly and acquire knowledge without resorting to the help of the senses or any mental process. We have also seen that direct action of the spirit,—of a Spiritual Power beyond mind, is capable of producing tangible results.
Questions and Answers
Q: Does it mean that one should be in the world but not of it?
A : Not merely that. One has to accept the world as the
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world of the Divine; one has to try to bring into life the Light of the Divine.
Q: To be in the world but not of it would be quite difficult to pratice, is it not ?
A : Not difficult if one wants to do it. People always complain about circumstances and there is often some truth in the complaint. But most often, it is the lack of resolution and sincerity that is a greater obstacle than the circumstances. One has to give priority to the growth of inner life and arrange other objectives of life in their proper place. One should not yield to the pressure of society or other conventions when it concerns one's inner life.
Q : The spiritual undercurrent in India is with you, while in Europe it is against you.
A : Yes—all the more reason that one should be firm and sincere. Why is a current always against you ? Perhaps, it is to test your sincerity. One has to take the conditions as one finds them and bring the full force of spiritual concentration and sincerity to bear upon them.
I said something about this at Los Angeles. The subject was the need of establishing higher values in our collective life to-day. At present it is dominated by economy-centric outlook. I said : "Some one from you will have to take up the cause of higher values against money. Some one who does not surrender to the pressure of this environment will have to oppose it. If one wants society to progress, often one has to break conventional values".
One need not be harsh and insulting, one can be gentle and kind even to opponents. We are living in a democratic age where one has a right to believe what one likes. One can maintain the quiet and yet be firm so far as spiritual values are concerned. One has, at times, to stand alone in such
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work. If one is sincere and firm he succeeds, because even though numerically alone he is not without support,—the Divine support is always there.
Q : Such opposition may provide conditions for a quicker spiritual growth, don't you think ?
A : Yes, one must never compromise on fundamentals so far as the inner life is concerned. In mamiaining the inner growth if one receives a knock one should learn to bear it. Generally one should try to create as much goodwill as possible. One should guard against the tendency to feel superior to others because one is trying to practise yoga, and live a spiritual life.
Q : Our intellect and reason seem to conflict with the idea of surrender which Sri Aurobindo advocates.
A : That comes when you want to practise the yoga. We are now reading The Life Divine where the metaphysical basis is being given for a perfect life on earth,—say, for the true fulfilment of man. Here in our exposition we have seen that an Infinite Consciousness works in life and tries to manifest an Omnipresent Reality. The universe is the expression of an infinite Being, Consciousness, Delight, of Satchidananda. Man is only one term of it. The Supreme for man is to enlarge his consciousness into that infinite Consciousness.
In deciding about this, reason has its own limitations. Also reason is not capable of solving man's problems. But it can accept the intuition of the Self, the infinite Being, in the universe. It is an intuition that has been accepted by man from the beginning of history.
If reason accepts Something—an Infinite Being, or a Purusha, a Self—then you can think about the process of growth. It is easy to see that the human being should give
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himself up to the Infinite Being in order to allow the Infinite Being to work in him. Surrender is not anti-rational, nor irrational. It is rational. If you want a wider current to work in you, you have to open yourself to it—then only can it come into you. If one stands completely closed saying "I cannot give myself up," then nothing flows from the reservoir of the Infinite. The lesser must open to the greater and give itself up so that the greater can enter into it. When the sun has risen you have to open the doors and windows to allow the light to enter your room.
It is difficult for a man with strong personality to surrender himself. But even a great personality has not much precious stuff to give up. What man has to surrender is his petty human nature, his ego, his desires, ambitions etc. He may even feel, on a closer introspection, that what he is and what he has is not something wonderful—it is often the ordinary trash of human weakness.
Q : People have fears about giving up the ego....
A : Yes, they are afraid of losing their personality. In reality the ordinary personality is not a very precious thing. Besides, surrender to the Truth-Consciousness can fulfil the personality as the ego never can. Surrender is not losing of yourself, but gaining a higher self. When you surrender you gain.
A constant aspiration has to be maintained in order to make the surrender effective. Aspiration and surrender are the two processes of our nature, of the mental and the vital being. They are—even when they act powerfully in nature, from the true being, the true Self trying to express itself. The constantly awake ideal in the mind, a flame in the heart, a will in the vital repeating "I want to change," "I must widen into the Higher Consciousness", is the sign that the being is active.
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For the practice of yoga it is not necessary to give up life, to renounce things externally. Aspiration—a constant will is the first necessity. When this becomes dynamic then the yoga starts and is natural. The Higher Truth which one wants to attain is not absent, it is always present and can act if allowed. One is always surrounded by the Divine Presence.
Q : Can one say aspiration is like a seed yearning to fulfill itself.
A : Yes. One has to understand that "aspiration" and 'desire' are not the same. If a seed could speak it would say: I want to become flowers and fruits—"When it aspires it is not asking for something from outside, something that is not within itself. It is, in fact, its spiritual, i.e. inner potentialities trying to realise themselves."
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