Detachment and The Integral Yoga
Swadharma may be thought of as a law of self-becoming. In the Gita, Krishna says to Arjuna that it is much better to follow one’s own swadharma, even badly, than to be good at another’s swadharma. This issue is of great importance in the Gita because Arjuna is being exhorted to arise out of his despondency and take part in battle as a kshatriya. But though Swadharma can be a convenient starting point in our yoga, it is not something to be made a fetish of. Here, whatever one’s swadharma may be, it needs to be surrendered to The Mother because the Mother is the integral power of Becoming. Your central and psychic beings may have been born out of Mahakali but Sri Aurobindo is not asking you to make your surrender to Mahakali or to istadevi. He is asking you to surrender to The Mother. The reason is that she is the integral power of Becoming. She not only integrates you and brings the other powers into action in your life, she is also integrating the entire universe, because she knows what to bring into your consciousness and when, in a harmonious fashion so as to create a coordinated universal growth towards the supramental manifestation.
The supramental life is one in which All is one and yet each is different - but it is governed by the Oneness. The power which controls the supramental consciousness is the integral power of The Mother – Aditi, the central circle in the Mother’s symbol. This is what we are called to make our surrender to.
The Action of the Four Powers of The Mother
The four Mahashaktis of The Mother are all supramental powers in their origin, so each is active on all the parts of the being, though it may have a more concentrated expression in one part. This is just as in the case of the modes of Prakriti, the gunas - sattwa, rajas and tamas. Tamas is more settled in the physical, rajas is more settled in the vital, satwa is more settled in the mind, but each is active in the entire nature. It is similar with the action of the four Mahashaktis – Maheshwari acts more characteristically through the mind, Mahakali more through the vital, the higher vital, the will part of the vital, Mahalakshami acts more through the emotional part of the vital and Mahasaraswati acts more predominantly though the physical being, developing and expressing its skills. But, at the same time, each is active on all four parts of the being. So it isn’t really possible to isolate their action in any one part of the being though there is a certain centrality of action. There is an action centered in one of these parts of the being depending on the swadharma. Children of Maheshwari are the Brahmins, Children of Mahakali are the Kshatriyas, Children of Mahalakshmi are the Vaishyas, Children of Mahasaraswati are the Sudras. So the central being will locate itself accordingly, and the psychic being will take on a specific quality accordingly.
The four Mahashaktis of The Mother are all supramental powers in their origin, so each is active on all the parts of the being, though it may have a more concentrated expression in one part. This is just as in the case of the modes of Prakriti, the gunas - sattwa, rajas and tamas. Tamas is more settled in the physical, rajas is more settled in the vital, satwa is more settled in the mind, but each is active in the entire nature. It is similar with the action of the four Mahashaktis – Maheshwari acts more characteristically through the mind, Mahakali more through the vital, the higher vital, the will part of the vital, Mahalakshami acts more through the emotional part of the vital and Mahasaraswati acts more predominantly though the physical being, developing and expressing its skills. But, at the same time, each is active on all four parts of the being. So it isn’t really possible to isolate their action in any one part of the being though there is a certain centrality of action. There is an action centered in one of these parts of the being depending on the swadharma. Children of Maheshwari are the Brahmins, Children of Mahakali are the Kshatriyas, Children of Mahalakshmi are the Vaishyas, Children of Mahasaraswati are the Sudras. So the central being will locate itself accordingly, and the psychic being will take on a specific quality accordingly.
Growth and Transformation of the Psychic Being
But whatever the quality expressed by the psychic being, it is also potentially of infinite quality. Behind the psychic being is the psychic entity and the psychic entity is a portion of the original integral Mother, Aditi, Para Prakriti, the central Supramental Shakti. Thus it is capable of brining forth from its own potential, powers of the Mother which are unexpressed in its present constitution. It can constantly transform itself under the guidance and action of the Supreme Mother. This transformation of the psychic being is at the center of the Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. Sri Aurobindo speaks of the Integral Yoga in terms of what he calls the Triple Transformation. Ultimately, this triple transformation is accomplished through the growth and transformation of the psychic being. The first transformation is the transformation of the inner and outer nature by the power of the psychic, the psychicisation – the coming to the front of the psychic being and its recasting of the mind, life and body into its own principle. The second transformation is the cosmic or spiritual transformation. Here it is the psychic being that must unite and identify itself with the Cosmic or Universal Being, with what Sri Aurobindo has called the Overmind. The psychic purusha must become one with the Overmental Purusha and transform the nature by the power of the Overmental Shakti. And finally, the third transformation is the supramental transformation. And here it is the psychic being that has to become supramentalized. The psychic purusha must unite and identify itself with the Supramental Purusha and transform the entire nature by the power of the Supramental Shakti. The Mother says that the psychic being holds the key to supramentalization. And it is a supramentalized psychic being that in its physical aspect can bring down the Supermind into the cells of the body.
But whatever the quality expressed by the psychic being, it is also potentially of infinite quality. Behind the psychic being is the psychic entity and the psychic entity is a portion of the original integral Mother, Aditi, Para Prakriti, the central Supramental Shakti. Thus it is capable of brining forth from its own potential, powers of the Mother which are unexpressed in its present constitution. It can constantly transform itself under the guidance and action of the Supreme Mother. This transformation of the psychic being is at the center of the Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. Sri Aurobindo speaks of the Integral Yoga in terms of what he calls the Triple Transformation. Ultimately, this triple transformation is accomplished through the growth and transformation of the psychic being. The first transformation is the transformation of the inner and outer nature by the power of the psychic, the psychicisation – the coming to the front of the psychic being and its recasting of the mind, life and body into its own principle. The second transformation is the cosmic or spiritual transformation. Here it is the psychic being that must unite and identify itself with the Cosmic or Universal Being, with what Sri Aurobindo has called the Overmind. The psychic purusha must become one with the Overmental Purusha and transform the nature by the power of the Overmental Shakti. And finally, the third transformation is the supramental transformation. And here it is the psychic being that has to become supramentalized. The psychic purusha must unite and identify itself with the Supramental Purusha and transform the entire nature by the power of the Supramental Shakti. The Mother says that the psychic being holds the key to supramentalization. And it is a supramentalized psychic being that in its physical aspect can bring down the Supermind into the cells of the body.
So the key to this very complex growth and transformation of the psychic being is in the hands of The Mother, the central or integral Supramental Shakti and nobody else. None of the emanated Powers of the Mother can do it. They can be deployed by her to do it. Into our lives she brings these powers. We are put through various experiences in which various powers of the Mother aid us, act on us, act through us in our journey. But the central granter, the giver of the yoga and its movements, its circumstances, its inner and outer growth is the Mother, the supreme Mother at the transcendent centre and origin of the manifestation.
Let us end with a meditation.
Debashish Banerji
Foundation Course for Facilitators (16.08.06 : At Van Nivas, Nainital)
Foundation Course for Facilitators (16.08.06 : At Van Nivas, Nainital)
Re: Sri Aurobindo’s Marriage—a discussion by Raman Reddy pertaining to a few aspects in context of the latest biography published by the Columbia University Press
by Raman Reddy, V. on Wed 10 Mar 2010 01:36 PM IST | Profile | Permanent Link Dear Auroman,
I was, of course, speaking in the context of this particular debate when I said that Indian disciples of Sri Aurobindo should awaken their intellects to take on the challenge that is coming from the West. The challenge is also how to integrate the best of Western culture with the best of the East, or rather spirituality with intellect and science. The problem comes up when there are acute differences on the nature of this integration. The question that comes up is whether the intellect should be subsumed to the higher power or whether spirituality should be merely considered for an interesting study (without really practising it), so that you start drawing all sorts of ignorant conclusions based on your surface understanding. I am not against intellectual study per se, because even as I make this comment, I am exercising my intellect. But there is an inherent limitation of the mind with regard to the deeper aspects of our being, which we should always keep at the back of our minds while using the mind.
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