CWTVKS Volume 2

5) Jivanmukta and the Superman

[Reply to a letter.]

It is necessary, at the outset, to state in precise terms what we mean by Jivanmukta or the supramental man. For when we grasp the fundamentals of the two ideals, the difference between them will not be difficult to see; also, there will be no room for underestimate of the one or overstatement of the other.

A statement is made in the letter that a being “akin to an animal can by dint of its own exertions obtain the mind of man and move about in the world like a human being. Similar is the case of a man becoming a Jivanmukta”. “In Superman the race is evolved into a higher species to receive the supramental light and lead a Divine life...By the descent of the Supermind an urge is created to form a higher species....”

The analogy in regard to Jivanmukta is not apt. Neither can an animal akin to man get endowed with a human mind, nor can a man akin to an animal by his personal effort become a Jivanmukta. Again, it is necessary to be cautious in using certain expressions of Sri Aurobindo in regard to the supramental man. When we speak of the supramental type, greater caution is necessary for a true grasp of the basic principles of the Yoga that Sri Aurobindo adopts for the realisation of the Truth of the Superman as envisaged by him. And it is absolutely essential to note that the terms he uses have special significances and their connotations could be easily missed by any one who is not familiar with the fundamentals of his teachings. Superman, Supermind, Descent, Divine life, Transformation, even the word Aspiration, each one of these—and many more are there—has a definite meaning and does not convey the same sense as is intended in common parlance or by others following a different teaching.

Let us first state how Jivanmukti is not a simple and easy matter or an attainment that can be won by personal exertion alone. Nor is it possible for any one who is not sufficiently developed to make his approach to this endeavour. We shall look at the question of Jivanmukti in its practical aspect, and leave aside the various points of view from which it is looked at by the dialectical Vedantin. For there are certain schools of Vedantic thought which do not admit of the fact that Mukti is possible at all for man while on earth, though Truth-consciousness of a sort, they admit, is possible for one to arrive at in the embodied existence on earth. We shall, therefore, avoid these and other controversial views and look at this state as described in the authentic utterances of saints and seers which are supported by the Scriptures such as the Upanishads or the Gita. We shall proceed on the basis that Jivanmukti is the state of one's liberation from the bonds of ignorance while breathing on earth. We recognise the fact that it is the supreme possible condition of the embodied soul in which wisdom reigns and dispels doubts, and action is no bondage. It is a state of consciousness liberated from Nature's control in which the soul sees all existence as the One in which it is centred and realises its own identity with it. The Gita's description of the state of Brahmic consciousness and of the life of one who has attained it, in the II chapter and elsewhere, notably in the V chapter, gives us a clear idea of what it means by liberation. When it uses the term Sada Mukta, always liberated, and couples it with its reference to Samadhi as an effortless normal state of consciousness of the true sage, the fact is affirmed beyond doubt that the Brahmic realisation and Jivanmukti are not two different things. We may add that ‘realisation’ refers to the spiritual and psychological being of man while ‘Jivanmukti’ points to the living embodiment of the same. Various descriptions of Mukti are given in the scriptures. Though they are apparently different, they will be found to be not contradictory at all, but are so mentioned viewing the state of a Jivanmukta in various aspects. In one of the earliest Upanishads we find it stated that one who has realised Brahman does not feel that he is in the body, much less look upon himself as the body, just as a serpent does not look upon its cast-off slough as itself. Bodiless, he is still the Spirit in the embodied life. Obviously, this is spoken of Jivanmukta in relation to the bodily existence. There are other statements made of one who has realised the Brahman, as related to his psycho-physical set-up in life. When they speak of the unfastening of the knots of ignorance in the deeper and radical parts of the being, especially the knot of the ego in the heart, hridaya granthi, the statement is made at once in terms of the psycho-physical and spiritual elements of the being. In the later Upanishads we find quite often a general description of the life of Jivanmukta in his relation to the world-environment. All these statements are true in their proper perspective. But what we are concerned with here is the central realisation of the liberated man, the Jivanmukta. All these true realisations of those who live liberated from the imprisoning round of ego-bound mental and vital activities are essentially one, because Brahman, the ultimate Reality, is one and the same everywhere. But the points of initial contact and the lines of approach differ widely with the temperament and competence of the individual. Consequently, their expressions and methods are variously formulated, so much so that we find them laying stress on one element to the exclusion of others. Thus we find diverse types of Jivanmuktas. If the type is of an excessively metaphysical bent or the intensity of the realisation has grown out of an abnormal disgust for the environment or if the type is chosen for stressing the static and immobile aspect of Brahman or if that is the mood and occasion, then we may very well expect to hear that all is the One Brahman, the Atman alone is real, eternally free; there is none really bound, therefore there is none to be really freed. There is, in fact, an oft-quoted verse which represents this view. “There is no bondage, no birth, none is bound, none freed, no sadhaka, there is none to desire liberation, none is liberated; this is the highest truth.” But there is elsewhere in some Vedantic treatises a fine description also of a Jivanmukta which agrees with that given in the Gita and the authentic utterances of other saints. But if he is of a different type, say devotional, he sees Brahman as the Divine Being in all and embraces Him in love and delight; if of a dynamic turn, he moves about yoked to the Divine in will and works. Or he can be a soul chosen for a special manifestation, in which case, he may not have a particular personal inclination to follow a path to reach the goal of Brahmic Realisation; but the revelation is thrust upon him, suddenly as it were, and thus freed alive from the bodily and mental bondage, he does not get entangled in the meshes of ignorance, nor yields to the lure of diversity. He is well aware of the divergent ways, divisions and separative movements to which others living in ignorance are subjected. His own life on earth is guided by the Supreme Lord of all, by the Supreme Self of all selves. He is one with the All-controlling, free, eternal Consciousness; he is an open secret, an effulgent centre for the manifestation of the Supreme Reality, God or the Self.

We have instanced these types to draw pointed attention to the fact that while the experience of unity and the realisation of Brahman or God, the Omnipresent One, may be common to all Jivanmuktas, their behaviour in life, their thoughts and language and the formulations of method, and if they happen to be thinkers, their constructions of philosophical systems, vary very largely and quite often. But whatever may be the presentation of their ideals, they are fundamentally based on realisations of no mean order, and at their best they are the highest possible for man while he still lives on earth. Is such an attainment possible for a man akin to an animal? The teachings of all great men give an emphatic reply in the negative. That it is possible only for a highly developed soul is affirmed in the Gita when it proclaims in its characteristic way that out of a thousand who make the attempt, hardly more than one succeeds. We may note also what Sri Krishna says: “At the close of a series of births, the man of knowledge takes refuge in me.” Nor is such an exalted state reached by any one through personal exertion alone. However straightforward, enlightened and one-pointed may be the efforts made by the seeker, the ultimate result is not worked out by the ego-bound mentality of the man—the fruit of all the human labours in the line comes from outside the personal range. It is always the Guru's guidance or God's grace that ensures success, the siddhi, the realisation of the ideal aimed at. The Grace, the guiding Light, may accompany the endeavours of the Sadhaka from the very beginning quite openly in some cases, but covertly in many instances until the hour of consummation arrives, when the Jivanmukta sees that it is the hand of the Guide, the Grace of God, that was all along preparing the soul for reaching the goal. All teachings, either of the ancient scriptures or of master mystics of later times, go to show that personal exertion, though usually a necessary condition for preparing the human being for spiritual realisation, cannot bear fruit without the finishing touch for consummation favoured by the Higher Power which may act through a human Guru or may be directly through the Divine Grace itself.

This much we have had to state by way of caution in order to avoid an understatement of the status of a Jivanmukta in spiritual life. Before we proceed to consider the question of the supramental man, we shall state this much: the attainment of Jivanmukti is not an easy matter. It is not possible through personal effort alone. It is the highest achievement so far made possible for man. There are many types of Jivanmukti, even as there are many types of men. They may be all centred in the basic unity of Pure Existence or Divine World-Existence, still the tendency and outlook often vary. One may took on the world with indifference and be inclined to a negative attitude; another may take a positive view with a sense and feeling of equality spread around in the environs, allowing the realisation of the Brahmic presence in the All to take an active turn. Similar variations in the expressions of the soul and nature of such realised beings can be gathered from authoritative utterances and lives of men in the past or present.

But when we turn from the ideal of Jivanmukti to the question of “Superman” as envisaged in this teaching, a new vista opens before us, the problem of personal liberation makes way for that of man's place and value in the Cosmic scheme, a world-outlook absorbs or takes the place of the ego-centric attitude to life. The main question is not how to get out of the cycle of birth and death, samsara, to get liberated from the bonds of ignorance and to realise the supreme Truth here in embodied life, though this too finds its place in the solution of the problem as we envisage it. The problem concerns the Earth-existence, the Earth-life, the Earth-spirit or the Earth-consciousness and therefore is related to man also inasmuch as he is a product, part and parcel of the Earth-consciousness, Earth-life, Earth-matter, in short, of all that the Earth-being is. We can present in a few lines, without entering into the metaphysical aspect of the whole question, the position of this creation of which the earth is indeed a part, but a part which is of immediate importance to us for the obvious reason that we come out of and are in it. We proceed on the Vedantic basis that All is Brahman, the One Eternal Sat-chit-ananda which is omnipresent. Whatever the process of creation be or the condition antecedent to it, we do not find anything here as ever-blissful, perfect, full of knowledge. But Brahman does not exclude this existence which is pierced through with darkness and ignorance and struggle and suffering. And this state of affairs in the Earth-life cannot be co-existent with Brahman, the All-existence, and for all time; for the latter is Sat-chit-ananda and Eternity. We take it then that this state of our existence is not what this creation is intended to become ultimately; it is still in the making, imperfect because the intended goal is not yet arrived at. The suffering and darkness on earth are temporary and local in the immensity of the oceanic existence which is the Divine. We look upon man as this Earth's product at its highest, and the Earth-Spirit itself is the Creative Spirit plunged into the creation with all its potentialities latent and locked in its womb for gradual release in time and in suitable forms under earth-conditions. This opening up of the imprisoned forces of life and light from the body of the Earth-enclosure, this outflowering of the organic elements that constitute the living and the thinking creature from the inorganic matter of the living Earth, is effected by an urge within the Earth-spirit itself on one side, and on the other by a pressure of the powers of light and life from the plenary home of the creative Godhead presiding over the creation. This gradual release is generally called evolution and that is effected by the double movement of a descent of Knowledge and Power from above and outside of the Earth and of what we call an ascent from within upwards of the Earth-consciousness. This ascent is an urge, or more correctly, a resultant movement of the urge.

What is the character of the urge? What also is the meaning of the Descent? In our view of the Earth-existence, it is the Godhead of the Cosmos, it must be noted, that sends down force-currents of strength and life and rays of light that are absorbed by the Earth-spirit in her inconscient body of matter, in the sub-conscient frame of her life, in the self-conscious soul of her Spirit. And because this Earth-spirit is something of the Divine that has entered into the Earth with all its potentials, there is an incessant urge within the Earth to bring out what are latent in it—to evolve the unearthy elements involved in it, retaining always the earth-base and earth-form with necessary changes in the formations of the evolutionary being out of herself. She has evolved life in the plant, and mind in man and has produced suitable physical forms for their sustenance. Mind is not the last term of her growth, hence the urge to evolve a still higher principle. She can succeed only when she receives greater and definite help from the Godhead, the Divine above, in the form of a substantial intervention, bringing pressure upon the Earth-consciousness to give way for the peace, power, light and the rest that are the characteristic accompaniments of the higher Divine principle that is to be organised in Earth-life. This higher principle is immediately and directly divine in its nature and functioning; it is spiritual, higher than the mind which is the highest principle that has been so far organised for functioning on earth. We may state, then, that all the evolutionary labour of the Earth-spirit is directed towards the manifestation of this Divine principle, called the Supermind, on earth. But the success of the effort, the consummation, is brought about by the helping hand of the Divine above, by what we call the descent of the delegated central light and strength of the Divine to answer to the Earth's call.

We can now see that the evolutionary urge and the ascending movement of the Earth-consciousness do not and cannot take place in the inert matter or subconscious life of the earth, but can only do so in her most highly evolved units of life and mind, centres of self-conscious existence, what we call the human being. In man therefore this urge and call for the Higher Light takes the form of aspiration—say a consuming passion—and the Divine above descends in response to the cry and call from below.

Now that we have briefly dealt with the meaning of “the Divine descent and the urge,” the implications will be clear especially with reference to the sadhana and the status of a Jivanmukta in this scheme. The sadhana proceeds on the basis that there is a Divine Being guiding from above and supporting from below the spiritual evolution on earth; it is in the nature of things that at this highly advanced stage of evolution of the human mind the superior Divine principle of supermind can be established. Man has to make way for its entry and sway so that the Divine can change and rearrange the parts of his being in such a way that he can be a centre of the higher consciousness and live the life of the Spirit. The double movement of the sadhana—referred to in the letter as ‘urge and descent’—is distinctive and special to this path which consists in the aspiration and call from the human being and response of the Divine Grace and the Divine descent. Every urge for God is not this aspiration and every gracious response from the Divine is not this descent. There is a parallel double movement of ascent and descent (arohana and avarohana) in the Tantric Yoga which should not be confounded with this one, for the simple reason that the aims and methods and the Truth envisaged are different. Here primarily the problem is related to the Earth-consciousness and not the ego-centric individual, though he has an important part to take in its evolution. The solution is in the hands of the Divine who has sanctioned the formation of this existence and, in a sense, created the problem thereof. Therefore in working out the solution which is the establishment of a supreme Divine principle of knowledge and strength and action on Earth, the choice naturally falls on man as he is at the crest of the Earth-consciousness in the evolutionary march. But the actual work of the sadhana is prompted and carried out by the Divine, by his Power, the Shakti, while the human being is the instrument chosen to receive, hold and transmit to those around this Divine gift.

From this it would be clear that this sadhana can be given only by the Supramental Divine in and through the special human vehicle moulded by himself for His manifestation on Earth, accepting at first the limitations and conditions of earth-life in order to change it ultimately. It cannot be taken and done by any one who is not open to or does not prepare himself to accept the Truth about the progressive self-unfoldment of the Divine in the human being. It is not necessary to speak of the result expected of the workings of the sadhana of this Yoga force, Transformation—this one word connotes all the changes and right orderings of the various elements that constitute our individual being. Here again this change must not be confounded with the change that takes place in some of the traditional Yoga-sadhanas that have been in vogue in our country for ages. For the aim here is not to achieve a certain spiritual fulfilment, or develop and acquire powers, siddhis, or to discipline the material body and keep it so much under control that it might become immune to disease and decay, though these also come of their own accord, find their true place as the sadhana progresses. As for Jivanmukti, the realisation is of course indispensable and must be there before the final transformation is possible at all. But transformation is a progressive process, and does not wait for the supreme realisation, whether it is a realisation of the deepest Self within us, or the Self beyond and above or the Self or Brahman everywhere. The realisation, let us call it mukti, release or liberation of consciousness from the bonds of ignorance can come earlier in some cases, but the work of transformation continues until the finished product of the supramental type by the direct descent of the Divine crowns the evolutionary labour with success.

This much for the present. What has been stated, necessarily in brief here, is sufficient to throw light on the significance of the terms employed in this teaching—especially Descent, Transformation, Aspiration—corresponding to the “urge” mentioned in the letter, the advent of a higher, the supramental type which is referred to as “evolving into a higher species.” Then, the question of contrast of Jivanmukti with the supramental siddhi does not arise. For the former has its place and value in this Yogic endeavour, and this has been already stated. Before closing, it is necessary to draw attention to one central fact. This sadhana aims at the heights, yet proceeds from the depths; there is a wide vision of men and things and the world-existence as the strides of the sadhana take the Sadhaka to larger and larger spheres; even before he has progressed far in the path, vaster vistas open before him; many elements of other Yogas enter into the framework of this Yogic construction. This sadhana proceeds by a comprehensive survey, takes into fuller account the value and place of the ego-freed soul, i.e., the soul of the embodied being in release, mukti, and effects the liberation of the consciousness from the control of the lower nature at some suitable step of the Yogic ladder according to the nature and needs and readiness of the disciple.