In the Mother's Light

The Earth and Her Destiny

"The material world in its darkness and ignorance had forgotten the Divine. Love came into the darkness; it awakened all that lay there asleep; it whispered, opening the ears that were sealed, 'There is something that is worth waking to, worth living for, and it is love !' And with the awakening to love, there entered into the world the possibility of coming back to the Divine. The creation moves upward through love towards the Divine and in answer there leans downward to meet the creation the Divine Love and Grace. Love cannot exist in its pure beauty, love cannot put on its native power and intense joy of fullness until there is this interchange, this fusion between the earth and the Supreme, this movement of love from the Divine to the creation and from the creation to the Divine. This world was a world of dead matter till Divine Love descended into it and awakened it to life. Ever since it has gone in search of this divine source of life, but it has taken in its search every kind of wrong turn and mistaken way; it has wandered hither and thither in the dark. The mass of this creation has moved on its road like the blind seeking for the unknown, seeking but ignorant of what it sought. Once the creation is conscious, awakened, open to love for the Divine, the Divine Love pours itself without limit back into the creation. The circle of the movement turns back upon itself and the ends meet; there is the joining of the extremes, supreme Spirit and manifesting Matter, and their divine union becomes constant and complete.”¹

WITH the pregnant limpidity of these revelatory words, the Mother outlines the whole evolution of the Earth from her state of being "dead Matter" to her union with the supreme Spirit and transformation into its manifesting channel. The primary state is that of inconscience, inertia and the utter obscurity of absolute ignorance. It is a total involution of Sat, the infinite, eternal Existence, an apparent negation of the Light and Bliss of the supreme Reality. Out of this state of involution evolution

¹ words of the Mother, Revised edition, pp. 111-113

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starts. Love comes down from the Divine above,—love, the most victoriously powerful of all divine forces, and releases into self-expressive play, first. Life with its prolific energies, multiform desires and dim, dawning consciousness, and then Mind with its developing consciousness and variegated volitions. But the process of evolution does not—because it cannot—stop short at Mind : Love has to liberate the involved principle and power of the Supermind which is the infinite dynamic Consciousness-Force of the Divine Creator of the universe. The consummation of this evolutionary process is the uncurbed self-revelation of Sachchidananda on earth.

Ancient wisdom saw the potential greatness of the earth. In the Vedas the earth is called the foothold of God and the mother of all creatures whose father is Heaven. In the Atharva Veda we have : "I am a son of Earth, the soil is my mother...May she lavish on me her manifold treasure, her secret riches.... May we speak the beauty of thee, O Earth, that is in thy villages and forests and assemblies and wars and battles."

The secret riches prayed for are the infinite, involved riches of the Spirit which the Earth yields to the aspiring soul of man under the pressure of the descending Light from above. Again in the same Veda the Rishi prays, "May Earth, sovereign over the past and the future, make for us a wide world.. .Earth that was the water in the ocean and whose course the thinkers follow by the magic of their knowledge, she who has her heart of immortality covered up by the Truth in the supreme ether, may she establish for us light and power in that most high kingdom.

It is held by most of the religions in India that this Earth is the Karmabhumi,¹ the only place where man can change his consciousness, his nature and his whole life by his thought and action, and rise from the animal-human to the divine-human level of existence. The other worlds are the Bhogabhumi² where he can only enjoy the fruits, good and evil, of his actions. It is only here that the soul can liberate itself from the meshes of

¹ The world of creative action.

² The worlds of enjoyment.

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ignorance and recover its infinity and immortality. It is only here that the individual can regain his universality and transcendence and unite with the supreme Divine. It is only here, on this earth and nowhere else, that the highest Truth can be realised and expressed. It is said—and it is a fact—that even the gods, if they desire liberation and union with the Supreme, have to be born here, on this earth, and assume the human form. They may be in possession of high knowledge and power in their own realms, but the highest knowledge and the utmost perfection are possible only to man upon this earth. Chinese spiritual tradition regards Chien (Heaven) as the Father and Khun (Earth) as the Mother of all terrestrial existence. The union of Earth and Heaven has been the ideal not only of esoteric Christianity but also of many of the more ancient forms of spiritual mysticism.

Seen in this perspective, the Earth appears as the only field in the whole universe for the highest divine realisation and revelation. Human life here is a rare privilege and opportunity which, whatever the aim and objective—if it has any—of modem scientific culture, can bear resplendent fruits, only if it turns integrally to its supernal source—Light. Man ascending to the Divine and the Divine descending into man and revealing Himself in Matter : this is the whole play and purpose of earthly life, and, in spite of the lapses and relapses of our frail humanity, this purpose is being progressively but inevitably fulfilled.

This ancient view of the Earth and her destiny invests terrestrial existence with an abiding sacredness and significance and elevates human life from the drab and dusty inanity of material pursuits into the blissful freedom and perfection of the life divine.

Ascetic spirituality, which has been invariably characterised by a narrow and intolerant orthodoxy, both in India and elsewhere, has chosen to malign the mother Earth and look down upon her with an undisguised contempt. The bigotry of the exclusive spiritual aim blinds it to the secret and sublime end of human birth, and it mistakes the

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field of dynamic, integral perfection for a delusion and a snare. It glorifies a retreat into a high renunciation and is proud of its purblindness. Happily the spell of ascetic spirituality has almost faded away, and mankind is slowly but steadily reverting to the comprehensive aspiration for an integral perfection and harmonious fulfilment in life. Matter, the Annam Brahman of the Upanishads, is receiving again the respectful attention and devout consideration it deserves, not only of the doped worldings, but of the serious seekers of the Spirit. A glorious future looms before mankind, and the Earth has a most magnificent rôle to play in it. The prophecies of many seers and saints—Ramakrishna, Ramalingam, Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo, to name only a representative few—about the birth of powerful Yogins in India and a general spiritual renaissance in humanity only confirm and substantiate the persistent anticipations of an approaching millennium upon earth.

But what has been a cryptic or vague prognostic and a dubious expectation is fixed in its proper setting, given a coherent significance and revealed as the definite and inevitable destiny of the Earth by the Mother in her Prayers and Meditation. These Prayers are no glistening gossamer of imaginative idealism, nor an imposing fabric of theological speculation, but undeniable facts of spiritual realisation,—truths seen, words heard, forms touched, at least as concretely as the objects of the outer senses, but all in a world or worlds of light, sealed to the sense-bound consciousness of men. It is in these worlds, as in the green-room of the theatre, that the earth-scenes are determined, arranged, rehearsed and released into material expression. If human reason has the humility to listen to the words of wisdom, and human life the self-control and flexibility to alter and adapt itself to their dynamic demands, the truth of the Mother's experiences will not take very long to translate itself into a shining reality of our earthly existence.

But what is it that imparts a compelling force and the unmistakable ring of prophecy to the expressions of the Mother's experience ? What is it that makes her affirm in clear and definite terms the secret aim of the long, travailing evolution of

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the earth-consciousness and the glory of its final perfection ? It is, on the one hand, her identification with the Earth and her intimate knowledge of the aspiration of the Earth-soul and, on the other, the indications and injunctions received by her from the Divine regarding her own rôle on Earth.

Let us first have a glimpse of the identification—a full view is impossible on the mental plane of consciousness—and then we shall be all the better able to apprehend the dumb but unquenchable yearning of the Earth-soul, its sublime possibilities and their inevitable fruition :

"When the sun had set in the indrawn quietude of the calm twilight, all my being prostrated itself before Thee, O Lord, in a mute adoration and complete surrender. Then I was the whole Earth and the whole Earth prostrated herself before Thee, imploring the benediction of Thy illumination and the beatitude of Thy Love. O that kneeling of the Earth in supplication towards Thee, then collected in itself in the silence of the night, awaiting, at once with patience and anxiety, the so-longed-for illumination.”¹

"...And when I ask this of Thee, the "I” which speaks to Thee is the whole Earth, aspiring to be this pure diamond, perfect reflector of Thy supreme light. The hearts of all men beat in my heart, all their thoughts vibrate in my thoughts, the least aspiration of the docile animal or of the modest plant joins in my formidable aspiration, and all this lifts itself towards Thee, to the conquest of Thy love and light, scaling the peaks of the being to attain to Thee, to ravish Thee from Thy immobile beatitude and make Thee penetrate into the shadow of suffering so as to transform it into divine Joy, into sovereign Peace. And this violence is of an infinite love which gives itself and of a confident serenity which smiles in the certitude of Thy perfect Unity /"²

The above two passages bear eloquent testimony to the identification of the Mother's being with the Earth, but this identification by itself cannot deliver the Earth from darkness

¹ Prayers and Meditations Of the Mother, May 31,1914.

² ibid., May 25, 1914.

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and suffering and make her the field of divine revelation, unless there is an equally complete identification of the Mother's being with the being and consciousness of the Supreme and a sovereign working of His Will through the Mother upon the Earth. Of the latter there is no dearth of evidence in the Prayers and Meditations. We cite here only one or two of those that bear directly and definitely upon the Earth and her destiny:

" Mother Divine, Thou art with us, every day Thou givest me the assurance, and, closely united in an identity that grows more and more total, more and more constant, ' we'’ turn to the Lord of the universe and to That which is beyond in a great aspiration towards the new Light. All the Earth is in our arms like a sick child who must be cured and for whom one has a special affection because of its very weakness. Cradled on the immensity of the eternal becomings, ourselves those becomings, we contemplate, hushed and glad, the eternity of the immobile Silence where all is realised in the perfect Consciousness and immutable Existence, miraculous gate of all the unknown that is beyond.

"Then is the veil torn, the inexpressible Glory uncovered, and, suffused with the ineffable Splendour, 'we' turn back towards the world to bring it the glad tidings.”¹

"O Thou wonderful Unknown, Thou who hast not yet manifested Thyself, Thou who awaitest the auspicious hour and who hast sent us on earth to prepare Thy ways, all the elements of this being cry to Thee, 'May Thy Will be done', and give themselves to Thee in a supreme and unconquerable élan.

"Enfold this sorrowful Earth with Thy puissant arms of mercy, impregnate her with the beneficent outflowings of Thy infinite love.

"I am Thy puissant arms of mercy. I am the vast bosom of Thy limitless love....The arms have enfolded the sorrowful Earth and tenderly press it to the generous heart, and slowly a kiss of supreme benediction settles on this atom in conflict: the kiss of the Mother that consoles and heals.” ²

¹ Prayers and Meditations of the Mother, October 14, 1914.

² ibid., August 11, 1914.

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But even this double identification, which is the secret of the Mother's mission on earth and her supreme power to act as an intermediary between the Spirit and Matter, does not ensure an easy accomplishment of her work. The stark resistance of Matter, the stubborn refusal of darkness to admit Light, the inertia of the long-established habits of Nature oppose the double movement of liberation and transformation, and in spite of the divine pledge and the prophetic experiences of the Mother, the work seems well-nigh impossible.

"O my sweet Master, why hast Thou asked me to leave my blessed place in Thy heart and return to the earth to attempt a realisation which everything seems to prove impossible ?...What dost Thou expect from me that Thou hast torn me away from my divine and marvellous contemplation and plunged me again into this dark world in conflict?”¹

The anarchy and anguish of the present world find a, poignant. expression in the following words of the Mother :

"Darkness has descended upon Earth, dense, violent, victorious ...All is sorrow, panic and destruction in the physical world, and the splendour of the light of Thy Love seems darkened by a veil of mourning.” ²

"O Lord, Lord, the whole Earth is convulsed; she groans and suffers, she is in anguish.. It must not be that all this suffering has fallen upon her in vain, grant that all this blood which has been poured out may produce a more rapid germination of all the seeds of beauty, light and love which have to flower and cover the Earth with their rich harvest. From the depth of this abyss of darkness, the integral terrestrial being cries to Thee that Thou mayst give it air and light; it stifles, wilt Thou not come to its aid ?” ³

¹ Prayers and Meditations of the Mother, August l6,1914.

² ibid., September 4, 1914.

³ ibid., August 21, 1914.

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But the work, the tremendous, transfiguring work has to be accomplished : Matter has to be churned and delivered of the Spirit it holds imprisoned in itself, and darkness has to be lashed into Light, for, the aspiration of the Earth for the "benediction of Thy illumination and the beatitude of Thy Love" must be realised. And such, too, is the decree of the Divine: "Thou hast said that the Earth would die; and she will die to its old ignorance. Thou hast said that the Earth would live, and she will live in the renewal of Thy Power.” Such, too, again, are the signs betokening the longed-for Advent:

"This sorrowful world kneels before Thee, O Lord, in mute supplication; this tortured Matter nestles at Thy feet, its last, its sole refuge; and so imploring Thee, it adores Thee, Thee whom it neither knows nor understands. Its prayer rises like the cry of one in a last agony; that which is disappearing feels confusedly the possibility of living again in Thee; the Earth awaits Thy decree in a grandiose prostration. Listen, listen; its voice implores and supplicates Thee...What will be Thy decree, what is Thy sentence ?' O Lord of Truth, the individual world blesses Thy Truth which it knows not yet, but which it calls, and to which it adheres with all the joyful energy of its living forces.

"Death has passed, vast and solemn, and all fell into a religious silence during its passage. A superhuman beauty has appeared on the earth.

"Something more marvellous- than the most marvellous bliss has made felt the impress of its Presence.”¹

According to the Mother, the Earth is the epitome of the universe. All the cosmic principles, powers, and potentialities are concentrated here, those of light as well as those of darkness and evil, and a long-drawn, eventful battle has been raging between these contrary forces for the conquest and possession of this evolutionary planet, which is destined to be the scene of the most perfect manifestation of the Divine. It is, therefore, incumbent on us, as children of the mother Earth, to help her

¹ Prayers and Meditations of the Mother, November 7, 1915.

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realise her inmost truth and fulfil her destiny by a complete and definitive victory over the opposing forces. Stricken and sorrowful, enveloped in the darkness of inconscience, but fraught with glorious possibilities, the Earth waits in mute and patient aspiration for the birth of a new Force, "unknown to her till now," the Force that will unseal her heart and set flowing the streams of divine glories. The ageless sorrow of the Earth is not a curse, but a blessing in disguise—it is the greatest spur to evolution, to the transcendence of the inert and murky origin. It is, to quote Sri Aurobindo, "the red and bitter seed of the raptures seven."¹The obscure, dumb, anguished Earth is not a hopeless derelict doomed to perdition; she has a might and a light which, once enkindled, can overcome all obstacles and justify the poet's assertion :

I, Earth, have a deeper power than Heaven...

By me the last finite, yearning, strives

To reach the last infinity's unknown. ²

The self-manifestation of the Divine in transformed Matter, the outflowing of His splendours in terrestrial life, the unimpeded fulfilment of His Will and purpose in a New Creation, the evolution of the supramental race of men and the establishment of the Life Divine, the life of inalienable unity and harmony and dynamic peace—this, then, is the destiny of the mother Earth. Neither wars nor cataclysms can baulk her of it, neither disasters nor surging darkness. Whatever the chaos and catastrophic conflicts of the present, if one steps behind the heaving surface, one is sure to discover an urge for Unity, an urge for Peace, and an insistent urge for spiritual fulfilment. This triple urge is the fermenting seed of the future efflorescence. The hectic heat and heave will subside, the greed and hate and insatiable power-lust will be transformed into love and harmony, and mankind will live as a single family of the children of Light, doing God's work and serving God's ends on earth.

¹ Collected Poems and Plays, Vol. II.

² ibid.

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In many a Prayer the Divine asks the Mother to "turn towards the earth”, and warns her that "the time of a small, tranquil, uniform and peaceful life will be over. There will be effort, danger, the unforeseen, insecurity, but also intensity.” "Thou wert made for this role. After having agreed for long years to forget it completely, because the time had not come and also because thou wert not ready, awake now to the consciousness that it is very truly thy role and that it was for this that thou wert created.” In obedience to the divine Will and in order to accomplish her mission, the Mother had to descend into the very matrix of the Earth, the frozen core of tenebrous Matter, and invoke from there a descent of God's delivering Grace. Her Prayer rushed up towards the Divine and, as she describes it, "from the depths of the abyss I beheld Thee in Thy radiant splendour; Thou didst appear and Thou saidst to me ; 'Lose not courage, be firm, be confident,—1 COME’.”

Here is the pledge and prophecy of the divine fulfilment., of the destiny of the Earth who "seems to be passing through a decisive crisis."

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