The Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo

CHAPTER XI

The Purification of Nature

PURIFICATION has a special sense in the Integral Yoga. In the other Yoga's except the Tantra, it means the simplification or stilling of most of the functions of antaḥkaraṇa, which comprises citta or the basic consciousness, manas or the sense-mind, buddhi or the intelligence, and ahankāra or the ego. There are different processes in the different Yogas for the purpose of this stilling and simplification, but the common, ultimate objective is a release of the central being from the complex working of nature, and its union either with the immutable Brahman or with God or with its own unconditioned Self or Status, as the case may be. If the nature has been purified enough to let the central consciousness sink into its depths or soar above the body, the principal spiritual end of purification is taken to have been achieved, and the ethical being sees to it that the purity and peace experienced in the depths or on the heights are reflected to a certain extent in the character and conduct of life. That is about all one ordinarily understands by purification. But for the Integral Yoga it is utterly inadequate; for the aim we pursue is not only the liberation of the soul but also of nature, culminating in the supramental transformation as the sine qua non of divine manifestation. It is no

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simplification that is attempted, but an aggrandisement and enrichment of the whole nature by an awakening and quickening of all its faculties, including even those that are normally latent or only half active. Instead of stripping the soul bare and carrying it alone to the Infinite, as do the other Yogas, the Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo offers the soul and nature both into the bands of the Divine for their liberation and perfection, and their effective utilization for the fulfillment of His Will in the material world. Purification has, therefore, a much wider sweep and a deeper plunge in the Integral Yoga than elsewhere, and becomes almost a process of a rich and complex perfection. Each part of the being is taken up in itself, along with all its faculties and energies, and cleaned and developed; and its hidden potentialities are brought out and harnessed to the spiritual purpose of life. And it is taken up at the same time in all its relations with the other parts; its egoistic moulds are broken, its closed passages opened up, its functional defects remedied, and its basic characteristics quickened into a spontaneous concert with those of the other parts. In this way, a great organic harmony and homogeneity, and an unimpeded correlation and interaction are established in the whole nature, replacing the present discords and resistances. Besides, with the progress of the Yoga and an increasing action of the Mother's Force, there takes place a descent of the higher Light, and Power and Peace and Purity, which begin to effect a radical change in the parts of our nature and sublimate them into

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their spiritual equivalents. We shall have to consider some of the important details of this change in the subsequent chapters, when we follow the purification of the different parts of human nature.

THE INCANDESCENT BACKGROUND OF PURIFICATION

In the Integral Yoga, the urge to purification is not ethical or idealistic. It is not a practice of virtue that is sought in it, nor a remoulding of nature to a set mental pattern. The essential urge to purification comes from a perception, growing in clarity and intensity as the Yoga progresses, of the soul or the psychic being. In fact, a real, dynamic start in this Yoga is usually preceded by a perception, be it even in a flash, of the immaculate purity and imperturbable peace of the soul, its luminous whiteness and unclouded joy. The consciousness of the Yogi begins to feel an irresistible attraction towards the object of this perception, and a corresponding recoil from what is contrary to it in the nature. So long as purification proceeds by mental construction or social conventions, it is an arduous affair, and not unoften rather painful. The whole consciousness of the individual broods over the impurities, wrestles with them, strives to grub them up, only to find that they are much too subtle for it, and much too deep-rooted to be thus dislodged. A constant fight leaves a sense of bitterness and aridity in the nature, and the greatest achievement of this kind of mental purification is a certain lull or a subdued or

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subsoil working of the lower energies; hardly anything more. But if a perception of the soul precedes and initiates the movement of purification, the consciousness of the individual automatically feels a magnetic pull towards the object of that perception, and a centre of gravity is, as it were, created there to counteract the lower gravitation. One begins to see more and more clearly in the radiating light of the soul the intricate mechanism of one's nature, and receives a developing guidance from within in regard to its purification. This purification is an ungrudging rejection of all that seems to conflict with the peace and purity of the soul—a renunciation which is not at all painful, but rather joyous, spontaneous, enthusiastic. There may be, from time to time, a period when a pang or a twinge is felt in the process of renunciation, or some desire or attachment seems to cling on with the tenacity of a leech; but that is usually a passing phase, unless, of course, the inner or higher attraction, which is another name for aspiration, is clouded or obscured, and the consciousness of the sâdhaka falls spinning back into the beaten tracks of the old habitual energies.

What is of paramount importance in the process of purification as followed in the Integral Yoga is (1) a steadily growing vision of the psychic being or the soul and (2) an implicit faith and trust in the divine guidance. The more one looks within, the more one is enamoured of the soul and its tranquil glory. And to be enamoured of the soul is to tend towards it. When one fixes one's gaze on the immaculate psychic, and contemplates its

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serene, smiling radiance, its intense, flaming love for the -Divine, its infinite tenderness and sweetness, its bound- less patience and forbearance with the evils of earthly life, and its consciousness of unity with all beings and things, one finds, deep in oneself, an iron will to re- produce all that glory in the parts of one's nature. This will to the reproduction of the glory of the psychic in the instrumental nature characterizes the follower of the Integral Yoga. He cannot be content with a surface polish and refinement of his nature, nor even with an ethical or religious modification of it, which leaves its roots untouched. He wants nothing short of a rebirth of the psychic in his active nature, dwijatwa, and that too' only as a preliminary purification and transformation, leading eventually to the divine supramental perfection. In proportion as the psychic influence permeates the nature, and the consciousness of each part of the being is released from the toils of ignorance, a limitless love and devotion for the Divine grows in his being, and a corresponding insistence to purify the nature in all its elements. Identifying himself with the psychic being, as much as he can, he looks into his nature, as if he was looking into something outside himself, and is, therefore, much better able than the psychologist or the psycho-analyst to study it in all its protean moods and energies. It is in this identification with the psychic being that the Yogi scores over the psychologist, for it gives him a rare vantage ground, a secure poise, from where he can observe and deal with even the least movements of his nature. The

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psycho-analyst tries to study human nature from within it himself a part of it, and helplessly subject to its shifting modes. It is, as it were, a study of the sea by one who is himself buffeting with its waves,—a fruitless endeavour. But a Yogi is one who has taken his stand in consciousness upon the shore, and, away from the waves and whirlpools, can command a clear view of the sea in front. The psycho-analyst would do well to take a leaf out of the Yogi's book, if he means to get beyond his tentative, empirical methods and shaky hypotheses. He cannot know human nature, discover its secret motor forces, and study the subtle interrelations of its parts, until he has himself struggled out of it and taken his stand upon something which is independent of it and yet its master and guide. What is gleaned by his present empirical methods, based upon the quick-sand of sense- data and imaginative and conjectural deductions is, even at its best, a cumulative experience of some of the more or less gross movements of human nature—an experience which is unavoidably conditioned by the bias of his mind and his limited faculties of observation, reasoning and imagination. His individuality enters so largely into his experiments that it is no wonder that Freud and Adler and Jung and others vary so vitally in their basic concepts and final conclusions.

It may not be long before the earnest students of human psychology discover, as a few of them have already begun to perceive dimly, that there are two indispensable pre-requisites of a faultless study of nature:

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(l) transcendence and (2) identification. One who has not transcended one's own nature, which comes to the same thing as transcending human nature, cannot command a full and clear view of it; and it is not by the normal mental faculties, but by an inner identification that this study can be made to bear perfect fruit. The whole subtle machinery of human nature can best be studied by taking a stable poise beyond it, either behind or above, and projecting a part of one's consciousness into it which, by identification, can precisely and accurately register all its fine and gross vibrations. The knowledge of the self or soul must then precede any true knowledge of nature. It is only in the light and the context of the infinite that the truth of the finite can be properly read. It is the Eternal alone that can explain and justify the temporal. That is why we find such an astonishing unanimity in the essential experiences and discoveries of the yogis and mystics, whose psychological researches proceed upon the granite basis of self-knowledge. If there are differences among them, they are due to their pursuit of different lines of knowledge, or to the differing scope and range of their experiences, but not to the fundamental elements of the experiences themselves. Take, for instance, the common postulates of Indian philosophy: the five material elements, the five tanmātrās, the three guṇas of nature and their intricate interaction, the infinity and immortality of the self etc. There is no vital difference of opinion in regard to these basic truths and realities of existence, because they are truths of

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universal experience, and admit of no doubt and denial. Most of the differences in regard to them are but differences of formulation, of intellectual expression and exposition. When we realise the essential truths, we realise them in the same way, and it is the light of these. truths that irradiates and reveals the reality of all things in the world. But the quintessence of all truths is the Self or Spirit, the sole eternal Reality; and it is only by knowing it, by knowing the omnipresent ātman, that all can be known—tasmin vijñāte sarvamidam vijñātam bhavati. This is the declaration of ancient knowledge, which no science or philosophy can ever challenge.

When, therefore, we retire into the incandescent background, we find ourselves in a position to watch and study all the mechanism and functioning of our complex nature, and there is no possibility of anything escaping our vision. Not only the surface movements, but also those that are most secret and subtle and elusive, not only the actions and reactions of our nature, but also their remote and recondite causes, lie completely bared to our spiritual sight, and we feel that we have the power either to stop them altogether or considerably modify or even transform them. A constant consciousness of our soul or self is a constant guarantee against a blindness to or a false identification with the obscure movements of our lower nature. Poised in the psychic consciousness, or even basking in its light, we feel each impure or ignorant movement of our nature, not as the puritan feels it, as something sinful and execrable which has to be

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stifled or slashed, but rather as a wrong or perverted play of energy casting a sombre shadow upon the glory of the psychic. It is this contrast, this living, poignant contradiction between the freedom, purity, peace and bliss of the psychic being and the shackled littleness and turbidity of our normal nature that supplies the unfailing motive force to the work of yogic purification. For, the psychic being has a will in it, a will of fire to manifest the Divine in its nature, and it cannot rest till it has converted and transformed its ignorant earthly nature into the divine nature.

THE TWO CATEGORIES OF IMPURITY

When we study the nature of our impurities, we find that they can be divided into two categories, born of two different causes. The first category is derived from the separative ignorance which has been the nature of our past evolution. Every element and every energy of every part of our nature works on the basis of a separative egoism, combining and conflicting with others according as it suits its self-interest, conscious or sub conscious. This egoistic sportiveness generates wrong will and perverse movements, which we call evil, and entails recurrent suffering. Individual human nature, which should be one organic whole, moving and acting harmoniously among other individual wholes, is, under the separative influence of the ego, at war with itself and at war with others. This is a prolific source of

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impurity in the nature, and can be eliminated only by the recovery of a dynamic consciousness of the unity of all existence.

The second category of impurity derives from the successive process of evolution. Life emerges from Matter, and is limited and conditioned in its development by the inertia and obscurity of Matter—it cannot blossom in an unconditioned freedom. Its sparkling lean is clouded and curbed by the dark weight of Matter. Similarly Mind, evolving from Life, is infected with Life's desires and shaken with its passions. Its intelligence cannot calmly contemplate the truth of existence, its imagination cannot wing straight towards the Infinite, its reason cannot bold the balance even between two contending persons or objects, because of the transfusion of Life's emotional turbidities and Matter's inertia and obscurity into it, and the general sway Life and Matter exercise over it. Each part has, therefore, to be delivered from the cramping hold of the others, and given the utmost autonomy to develop in its own natural way, and at the same time in happy and harmonious relations with all. This can be perfectly done only when the Mother's Force begins to act directly and freely in the nature, bringing down more and more of its supramental omnipotence.

THE THREE STEPS OF PURIFICATION

The beginning of the movement of purification is generally marked by a defiant persistence of the principal impurities,

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as if they seemed to doubt the sincerity and stead- fastness of our will. They persist out of a dogged reluctance of the intransigent vital and a general inertia of the physical consciousness, and refuse to cease or change. In the parlance of Yoga, it is called the unwillingness of prakṛti to alter the nature of the play in which the being or puruṣa has so long been taking delight. She reckons upon a renewal of his past sanction. But if a steady will is bent upon the elimination of the impurities, and no indulgence or latitude is given them, they begin to take us seriously and prepare for a fight.

The second step is characterized by their resistance to our will. An unheeding persistence gives place to a determined resistance, sometimes aggressive and sometimes defensive. It implies an alertness and a resentful violence on the part of prakṛti, who begins to perceive that the puruṣa in us is irrevocably set upon a shifting of the play, and that he wants now a play of light instead of the play of darkness. Here, again, an intense and inflexible will and a total dependence on the Mother's Force are the best means of conquest: they wear down all resistance.

At the third step, the impurities, worn and overpowered, wobble out of the nature, but may still be seen on the prowl in the environing atmosphere. They bide their time, and, taking advantage of the least opening or any unguarded. moment on our part, rush again into our nature. This is called recurrence. It can be very tiresome, if we are not always vigilant and surrendered. A complete immunity from this recurrence can be assured only when the impurities

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have been flung far back into the universal nature from which they came, and nothing in our individual nature ever responds to them again in any way.

THE INITIAL BASIS OF PURIFICATION

The initial basis of purification is a poise of quiet detachment from the flux of nature. Identifying oneself with the soul, one must be able to say in regard to the forces of the lower nature: "They are not mine, I have nothing to do with them. They belong to the universal nature of ignorance." This detachment should be accompanied by a withdrawal of sanction from the obscure movements of nature, and an uncompromising rejection of them. One must accept only those movements that are conducive to spiritual progress, and quietly reject—not repress—the rest. This is the poise of the witness or sākṣī puruṣa who is also the approver and giver of the sanction, anumantā. The calm will of the central being, rejecting the ignorant working of the lower nature, is the most important factor in the process of purification as followed in the Integral Yoga. No wrestling with the impurities, no panicky obsession with them, no concession or quarter to them in any form, but a silent, unflagging will of rejection, mighty and masterful in its confident reliance on the Force of the Divine Mother, is the secret of purification. The more calm one is in one's rejection of impurities and withdrawal of sanction from them, the stronger one becomes. The Vaishnavic and Christian pre-occupation

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with sin and repentance and self-chastisement is a pietistic religious attitude which, though partly successful .in exceptional individuals, usually ends by weakening the .nature and engendering in it a sort of morbid timidity .and inferiority complex. It is far from being a Yogic attitude, which, according to Sri Aurobindo, is one of a firm poise in the inalienable purity and freedom of the puruṣa . Once this untrembling attitude of the detached puruṣa is resolutely taken and adhered to in the teeth of all persistence and recurrence of the natural impurities, purification will put on the appearance of an automatic catharsis, a spontaneous working out of the wrong movements and erring energies, and a gradual cleansing of nature. What is of capital importance at this stage is a sincere and sustained personal effort to surrender the whole nature to the Mother's Force, so that the Force can enter into the nature and effect the purification in its own infallible way. The sooner the lead in the work of purification is transferred from the sâdhaka's mind to the .Mother's Force, the better for the sâdhanâ. But the will of the sâdhaka, concentrated upon the purification, must seek a greater and greater attunement to the Will of the .Mother through aspiration, rejection of all desires, and total surrender. There must be an active participation of the sâdhaka's will in the Mother's work, for this participation is a very effective collaboration, and hastens all realisation. Detachment, willed co-operation, and surrender .are the three strands of the initial basis of purification in the Integral Yoga.

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THE FINAL BASIS OF PURIFICATION

As surrender progresses and tends to become integral, the personal effort of the sâdhaka gives place to a direct action of the Mother's higher Force. Undisturbed by the mental preferences and vital self-will of the sâdhaka, the Force deals freely with the impurities and follows its own inscrutable way of swift and radical purification, the sâdhaka's will in tune with the Mother's. The detached, witnessing poise of the purusa tends to merge into that of the bkoktā (enjoyer) and īśwara (Lord) of nature, as the union with the Mother progresses. A whirlwind process of purification follows the transfer of the charge of the Yoga into the hands of the Mother—a process which the human mind can never understand. It takes all the faith of one's being to lend oneself to this immense work of purification, which covers not only the waking and active parts of nature, but also those that are submerged and veiled. "The human mind shut in the prison of its half-lit obscurity cannot follow the many-sided freedom of the steps of the Divine śakti. The rapidity and complexity of her vision and action outrun its stumbling comprehension; the measures of her movement are not its measures. Bewildered by the swift alternation of her many different personalities, her making of rhythms and her breaking of rhythms, her accelerations of speed and her retardations, her varied ways of dealing with the problem of one and of another, her taking up and dropping now of this line and now of that one and her gathering of

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them together, it will not recognise the way of the Supreme Power when it is circling and sweeping upwards through the maze of the Ignorance to a supernal Light....The Mother is dealing with the Ignorance in the field of the Ignorance....Partly she veils and partly she unveils her knowledge and her power, often holds them back from her instruments and personalities and follows that she may transform them the way of the seeking mind, the way of .the aspiring psychic, the way of the battling vital, the way of the imprisoned and suffering physical nature....There are conditions that have been laid down by a Supreme Will, there are many tangled knots that have to be loosened and cannot be cut abruptly asunder.... The Divine Consciousness and Force are there and do at each moment the thing that is needed in the conditions of the .lab our, take always the step that is decreed and shape in .the midst of imperfection the perfection that is to come."¹

This is the sovereign movement of purification which goes hand in hand with the developing work of transformation, and imperceptibly shades off into it. It is a movement of unravelling the master knots of nature, of healing its basic divisions, of restoring its essential order and .harmony, and opening all its parts to the supramental afflatus. An exclusive reliance on the Mother's Force and its direct, unimpeded and pervasive action in the .nature constitutes the final basis of purification. If the .first basis prepares our liberation, the second consummates .

¹ The Mother by Sri Aurobindo.

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But liberation is only the initial decisive step in the Integral Yoga, not its culmination. When śuddhi or purification is complete, mukti or liberation follows naturally; and after liberation there is a divine possession and enjoyment of Nature and its eventual supramental perfection and utilisation as the final object of the soul's incarnation—bhukti and suddhi.

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