The Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo

CHAPTER XXVIII

THE INTEGRAL TRANSFORMATION

PART II

THE RATIONALE OF TRANSFORMATION

WE have already learnt that an integral and dynamic union with the Divine is the goal of the Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo. What does this integral union mean? It means that we have to be united with the Divine in all the states, poises and modes of His being and our being. The Divine is not only the Transcendent Absolute; He is not only the infinite, impassive Impersonal; He is all that exists, here as well as there above. He is both Spirit and Nature, Time and the Timeless, Space and the Spaceless, all these names and forms that we see and those that we do not see, as well as the eternal Formless and Nameless. To be united with Him in an undeviating intimacy and identity in all the aspects and attributes of His infinitely one and multiple being, is integral union. We have to be one with Him in His divine Self and also in His divine Nature, parāprkrti; in His omnipresent being and also in His universal becoming. How can this be done except by an integral transformation of our being? By the liberation of our soul we can unite with Him in His Self or

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Spirit; we can withdraw our consciousness from our nature and its working, and absorb it either in the silent Immutable, or the ecstatic Lover in the depth of our heart; but unless our nature is also liberated and transformed and universalised, we cannot unite with the Divine in His Supemature. We have either to slough off this nature altogether—and that is not possible before death, and problematical even after it—or consent to put up with its impurities and imperfections as an irremediable evil. It is this imperative necessity of an integral union with the Divine, of making Him the Master not only of our being, but also of our becoming, not only of our soul, but also of our nature, that imposes the long labour of transformation. Transformation will enable us to live in the Divine not only in the absorbed ecstasy of trance, but at all times, in all that we think and feel and do, and in all the parts and elements of our being. It will enable us to live the Life Divine on earth—physically, vitally, mentally and spiritually.

If the supramental transformation be not achieved, the goal of spiritual life would remain what it has always been—liberation of a few exceptional individuals into some land of transcendent peace or bliss; and the world would continue in its present darkness, ignorance and suffering. No ethical pottering or patch-work, no dim-eyed moral rearmament or any such superficial tinkering with the nature of man, can ever effect a radical transmutation of the entrenched, ancestral animality of human life. For, ethics does not reach the roots that thrive in the gloomy

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subsoil of our being; it chisels and polishes only the surface. But man being potentially divine, not only in his inmost self, but also in his nature—for his nature is derived from the Supernature—a complete transformation, that is to say, a complete divinisation, of his integral being is the ultimate destiny of his earthly existence. A perfect radiation of the supreme divine Light, rtamjyotih is the inalienable birth-right of his life.¹

If we study the course of evolution, we find that it has two striking features, invariably marking its progress from stage to stage—transcendence and metamorphosis. The consciousness of the being that is released more and more from the darkness of Matter goes on transcending itself, and its nature follows in the wake of its progressive transcendence. Transcendence seems, indeed, to be the cardinal principle of evolution,—transcendence not only in the consciousness of the being, but also in its nature. The difference between the consciousness of the worm— for, it, too, has a consciousness, though it is not mental— and that of the dog or the horse is an indisputable evidence of the law of transcendence, and we perceive an equal difference in their respective natures. The difference between the consciousness of man and that of the animal is a still more striking difference, and equally striking is the difference between their respective natures. This proves that evolution is nothing but a continuous series of

¹ "An integral transformation is the integral aim of the Being in Nature; this is the inherent sense of her universal urge of self-transcendence."—The Life Divine by Sri Aurobindo.

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self-transcendence of the being. We may, therefore, legitimately ask: "Will this self-transcendence stop at the mind of man and proceed no farther? Or will it henceforth be only a transcendence of consciousness and not of nature? Are the twilight of the human mind and its inherent weaknesses and incapacities the insuperable limit beyond which evolution cannot advance?"

Evolution presupposes involution. From this truth we can reasonably deduce that what is involved must fully evolve. What is it, then, that is involved here in Matter? According to ancient Indian philosophy, it is the Supreme Being, saccidānanda, that is involved in Matter, and evolution is nothing but a progressive emergence of the involved saccidānanda. The highest that has evolved up to now is the mind of man, a mind, be it noted, which is enfolded in ignorance, and struggles for, but is not in possession of, knowledge. Evidently, therefore, this cannot be the term of evolution. There is scope for a further series of transcendence, a further widening and heightening of the consciousness, till it reaches the infinite Supermind, the supreme Truth- Consciousness, the creative Consciousness of saccidānanda. This consummating transcendence will inevitably be followed by a corresponding supramental metamorphosis or transformation of nature. Even the most confirmed sceptic will admit that the present evolution of human nature does not exhaust all its possibilities—it has a divine Face to unveil, the shining contours of the Supernature.

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There is yet another point to consider in this connection. According to Sri Aurobindo—and it is the view implicit in the Vedas and the Upanishads—there are seven basic principles sustaining the seven principal worlds: bhuh, bhuvah, swah, mahas, janah, tapas and satya. In the material world, the sat of the satya world has become annam or Matter, cit of the world of tapas has become Life, and mahas has become Mind. Matter, which is derived from sat or the luminous substance of the transcendent existence, is not something intrinsically inert and obscure, but has become so on account of its phenomenal evolution from the utter darkness of the Inconscience. Similarly, Life is not something intrinsically turbid and impure, but has so become on account of the same phenomenal cause. Mind, too, whatever its present deficiencies, its ignorance and limitations, has derived from the mahas or the infinite Truth-Conscious Supermind. These instruments of the Spirit are not, therefore, condemned to function for ever on an irretrievable basis of division, darkness and discord, but are meant to recover their essential unity and identity with their divine counterparts and be converted into their substance, force and light. Matter or annam can be converted into the luminous, immortal substance of sat. Life or prāna into the effulgent force of cit-tapas, and Mind into the boundless glory of the Supermind or vijñāna. Their eventual transformation is foreshadowed in the very trend of their evolution, and seems to be the secret sense of their creation.

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THE CONDITIONS OF TRANSFORMATION

The first condition of transformation is an intense, constant and definite aspiration for it. Unless one has as strong, as intense an aspiration for it as one has for personal salvation or divine realisation, in the traditional yogas, it cannot be achieved. There must be a clear perception in the aspiration that transformation is an indispensable means of the integral divine union, and that without it the union can never be constant and integral. Those who long only for the peace and silence of the aksara (the Immutable), or self-extinction in the Ineffable, or the transporting raptures of the embrace of the eternal Lover in the adytum of their heart, do not need to transform their nature; they are content if their nature is purified and quieted enough to let them pass beyond itself in moments of absorbed concentration. It is only the seekers of the integral union, those who are resolved to turn their whole human consciousness into the divine consciousness, and their whole human life into the divine life, that aspire for transformation.

The second condition is an integral surrender to the Divine śakti, the Mother. I have dwelt at length on this subject in some of the previous chapters, particularly in chapter VII, and shall, therefore, pass it by here with just an emphatic assertion of its indispensability. It is sheer folly to think of effecting the supramental transformation of one's nature by one's own mental strength and power.

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The third condition is the descent of the supramental consciousness into the nature of the aspirant. "The ascent is the first step, but it is a means for the descent of the new consciousness attained by the ascent that is the stamp and seal of the sâdhanâ."¹ As I have already said, the work of transformation, which is a radical and integral operation, is beyond the capacity of any spiritual consciousness, short of the supramental. A mere ascent to the Supermind will not transform our nature, the all-powerful Light-Force of the Supermind must come down and penetrate as far down as the subconscient and inconscient ² levels of our manifold being, illumine their darkness, and make them plastic and responsive to its transmuting action. This descent of the supramental consciousness is the most distinctive feature of the Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo, and bears in itself all the incalculable possibilities of the Life Divine in humanity.

The fourth condition, which is also a characteristic feature of the Integral Yoga, is that it is essential for every part of our being to consent and offer itself with a good grace to the work of transformation. It is not enough that the heart or the most enlightened part of the mind aspires for the transformation, or that the

¹ On Yoga, Part II by Sri Aurobindo.

² "Even the inconscient and subconscient have to become conscient in us, susceptible to the higher light, no longer obstructive to the fulfilling action of the Conscious-Force, but more and more a mould and lower basis of the Spirit." —The Life Divine by Sri Aurobindo.

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awakened soul imposes its imperial will upon the other parts of the being and constrains them to accept the discipline. That can be done in the beginning of the sadhana, when the psychic pressure and influence is a decisive, purifying factor, and the toddling mental being has not learnt to walk erect and look up to the high heavens. A certain psychic push and pressure are indispensable at the earlier stages of the sâdhanâ in order to awaken the less evolved parts to their own potentiality and destiny. But for the descent of the supramental Truth-Light and the work of the integral transformation, the consent and cooperation of every part are absolutely necessary. Each part of the composite being must desire the Divine, and a constant union and communion with Him, each part must choose the supreme Light and give itself without reserve to its transforming Force. This necessity of consent and collaboration rests upon the profound truth that each part of our being is an autonomous whole, having a centralised consciousness in it, which is called in Indian philosophy the purusa, and that all parts together constitute the organic totality of our complex being. For example, we have the physical purusa, annamaya purusa, in our physical organism; the vital or prānamaya purusa; the mental or manomaya purusa, and the psychic or caitya purusa. All these Purushas, which are projections of the central purusa or jīvātman, are free to accept or reject transformation. If they all aspire for the Divine and surrender to His supramental śakti, then only will that śakti descend

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and act in the integral being. The supramental change is impossible of achievement with any part of our being remaining rebellious or unresponsive, or coerced into some kind of resigned or resentful submission. Even the body with its own consciousness must seek the Divine —His Light and Peace and Harmony and Bliss—in all its cells and nerves and currents of energy, and the Divine's effective, immortalising Presence in its trans- formed substance. A sincere call, ¹ a free choice, a joyous consent ², and an unstinted self-offering on the part of each member of our being are essential for the great change aimed at by the Integral Yoga. The world is built on the principle of freedom for each individual, each element, each atom; and if there is bondage and subjection, it is self-imposed, an inevitable consequence of a free choice. Liberation and transformation are also matters of free choice, and cannot be imposed upon unwilling members.

¹ The vital may understand, but that is not enough; it must whole- heartedly call for the peace and transformation."—On Yoga—II by Sri Aurobindo.

² "...The participation and consent of the Purusha to the transition is not sufficient, there must be also the consent and participation of the Prakriti. It is not only the central thought and will that have to acquiesce, but all the parts of our being must assent and surrender to the law of the spiritual Truth: all have to learn to obey the government of the conscious Divine Power in the members." —The Life Divine by Sri Aurobindo.

"...At each step of the transition the assent of the Purusha is needed and there must be too the consent of each part of the nature to the action of the higher power for its change." The Life Divine by Sri Aurobindo.

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