Table of Contents
(1)
Ways to Become the Divine Instrument
Ashram: the Ideal-embodiment of the New Age Work-Pattern
Why it is Easy to Reach the goal through Action?
Method of Work
The Organization of the Association with Divine Love
The Supramental Yoga is different from the Old Yoga
The Method of Work
Ordinary Work with Desires or ‘Sakãma Karma’
Work Surrendered to the Divine-Niskãma Karma
Divine Mechanical Work (Niskãma Karma)
Pure Divine Work
Three Divisions of Work
The Aim
Different Sections for the dissemination of the Mother’s Teachings
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Ways to Become the Divine Instrument
The way to become the divine instrument is to do the work in accordance with the Divine Will; the World has been created by the Divine Will; it is being guided and evolved by His Will. The time has now come to establish the kingdom of heaven upon this evanescent earth and a blissful supramental race here, which will be guided by Vijnana or higher knowledge and will be freed from the ravages of death, disease and old age. The Mother and Sri Aurobindo have come upon the earth as incarnations to accomplish this task. We can become Their divine instruments, if, by abandoning our ego and egoism, we surrender ourselves at Their feet and participate in this work in a spirit of service to the Divine. We can attain easily the great and difficult aim of our life, - the realization of the Divine in our mind, the vital and the body, - which has not yet been accomplished here upon the earth. This work offers to us a splendid opportunity and good fortune.
Inspite of the presence of the ego and selfishness in us, we are being guided by the moral laws and discipline, framed by our mind. This is the “dharma” or the law of the present age. This age has reached now its point of culmination. For effecting the advent of the new age upon the earth, the Mother and Sri Aurobindo have materialized the descent of the supramental divine transmuting Power and established the same here. The Mother has been carrying out this work of transformation. The methods of this new age – which will be transformed by the supramental Power being guided by higher Knowledge – will be quite different from the methods adapted by the ancient age. Man will no longer be directed by the laws of morality framed by the mind, but will be guided by the inner Soul and the divine supramental Power. His ego and egoism will be transformed by equanimity, peace, harmony and the ‘dharma’ of the soul. The basic foundation of the polity of the world will be the spiritual supramental Truth and the earth will be transformed into heaven.
The present is the moment of transition between the fag-end of the old age and the advent of the new age. The morality of the old age is being destroyed; the supramental Truth of the new age is not in the offing. We are standing at the crossroads of the two ages. Even though we are aware that the dharma and method of action of the new supramental age is completely different from the dharma and method of action of the old age, we have not understood very well the above fact; hence we try to implement the new supramental divine work in accordance with the method and action of the old age. When we aspire to realize the truth of the new age, we have to shun completely the method and principle of work of the old age and accept the ideal of wok adapted in the Ashram under the guidance of the Mother as the basic foundation of the future course of action of the new age.
The action, we are going to perform following the ideal of work pursued in the Ashram, can be categorized into two parts. The first type of work is, which an individual undertakes for his own self, for his family and for the country in a spirit of service to the Divine and surrenders the same to God. In the other type of work the individual directly participates in the work undertaken by the Mother to establish the supramental Truth upon the earth. From these two types of work, the individual may opt for any one type of action according to his own nature or he may choose to do both the types of work.
At present a great opportunity has dawned upon us. After materializing the descent of the supramental Truth upon the earth, the Mother herself is doing the Sadhana for us to facilitate our realization of this goal. As a mother guides her little baby by holding his fingers in her hand, the Mother is helping us to surge ahead in the Sadhana and to reach our goal. Keeping trust in Her, if we do the work according to the ideal set by Her and surrender ourselves at Her feet, we can easily attain our goal.
Whenever the time is ripe to establish a new consciousness upon the earth, the Lord himself, incarnating in a human body, undertakes the above work. His human behaviour becomes the ideal for man. Those who follow His behaviour, become the divine instruments. They get illumined by the new consciousness and the Divine Will is implemented through their instrumentation. They become the forerunners of the new Truth.
To establish this Truth upon the earth, the Mother Herself, as the representative of the human race, is doing the Sadhana for us and after building up the Ashram, she has taken upon Herself the burden of all the Sadhakas. She has been also extending guidance to those Sadhakas, devotees and seekers of Her help who stay outside the Ashram. The mind, the vital being and the body of the seekers of this path will be transformed and divinized by the supramental Power. They will be completely freed from the clutches of the dark powers of death, disease, old age, suffering and ignorance. Their transmuted mental, vital and physical beings will be united with the Divine. They will be the instruments of the Divine Will. They will be directly guided by the Divine Power. Eventually the world will be liberated from agony, suffering, conflict, violence, untruth, injustice and falsehood and will be transformed into heaven
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Ashram: the Ideal-Embodiment of the New Age Work Pattern
The Mother has chosen the Ashram to be Her work-centre. If we understand Her work-pattern correctly with the help of the study of yoga and philosophy, it will be easier for us to follow this discipline.
The Ashram is an organization which is being managed by a Trust-Board. The Board consists of four members and the Mother Herself is its President. This is the picture of the official management just like the system prevalent in the World. But the Ashram is actually being managed smoothly by the impact of the spiritual supramental Power and the Power of the Mother. The spiritual organizations are always and everywhere different from the outer worldly organizations. Especially this Ashram is entirely of a new type. In the external world all organizations or activities are governed by outer laws and controlled from outside. Though there is the instinct of stealing within the self of man, because of the fear of punishment, he dons the garb of a saint in his external manners and on paper. But this kind of hypocrisy is not permissible before the Omniscient God. Therefore, in spiritual organizations all rules and discipline are followed sincerely and without any pretensions. That is to say, the external action is the only manifestation of the inner Truth.
“The Ashram or the Ashram-Trust is the centre of action in Sri Aurobindo’s Yoga. The many branches or different parts of the Ashram are the following: Sri Aurobindo’s International Centre of Education, the Workshop, agriculture, the literature section – English, French, Bengali, Hindi, Gujrati, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Navajyoti Karyalaya (Oriya Section) etc. Though there is the Managing Trust in the Ashram, yet the executives of all the sections work with full freedom and maintain a direct contact with the Mother. The method and attitude prevalent in these organizations are entirely different from the method and attitude to work found in other worldly organizations. The entire management of the Ashram is not vested in the hands of a Chief Secretary, as is done in the ordinary organizations. Nobody supervises the work here. But as the Sadhakas perform their work with an attitude to pursue their goals in the Sadhana, no indiscipline or mismanagement is detected anywhere even when they enjoy full freedom in action and management. The Ashram is managed more efficiently than all other ordinary worldly organizations.
The Book was written in 1968 when there were four trustees. Now the number is increased to five.
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Why is it Easy to Reach the Goal through Action?
The progress that has been achieved so far in nature beginning from the world of Matter is only through action. No clear progress in work is detected in the plants. The development of action is traceable in living beings, birds, animals and reptiles. But the true form of work has manifested itself in man. As the living creature has been engaged in work since the beginning of its evolutionary progress, the consciousness of the individual has centred in action. The work that has been accomplished for progress from Matter to Man and all the work that has been done in the human body, have been embedded in seed form within the subconscient of man. For this reason, when the Sadhaka, leaving behind work, tries to focus his consciousness only through meditation, all the thoughts of work from old associations (“karma samskara”) which are present in seed form in the subconscient crop up and overwhelm the consciousness of the individual. To overcome this difficulty, the yogis of yore, rejecting their relationship with the mental, the vital and the physical beings, liberated themselves from karma-sanskara and attained liberation, Nirvana and God-realization through meditation. In Sri Aurobindo’s Integral Yoga the mind, the vital being and the body are not to be rejected; they are to be transformed and the God-realization is to be attained there itself. For this reason, the work which is accomplished by the mind, the vital being and the body, cannot be rejected by any means. But, the movement of action which is done for the family and the country under the inspiration of the ego and selfishness, can be turned godward with very little effort. By this method, the form of action or its utility remains unaltered. Only, while discharging one’s duty, one should remain conscious, do the work as service to the Mother, and surrender the same to Her. This kind of will and remembrance in work brings concentration in its wake. What is needed in yoga is only concentration. With the help of concentration and surrender, the divine supramental Power can transform the mind, the vital being and the body of man and lead him towards his goal. In the ordinary life and in the very beginning of the Sadhana or spiritual practice, the work is done by the inspiration from the ego and egoism. When this work is consecrated to the Mother, the conflict with the ego and selfishness ensues. From this point, the work of transformation by the divine power gradually begins. In proportion, as the surrender increases, the divine power takes the possession of the Sadhaka’s adhara or his mental-vital-physical system, and by its work of transformation, the concentration or the equanimity is established in the adhara. The establishment and the test of equanimity is being conducted by action. The mind, the vital and the body act as the receptacle of action. Since the aim of Sri Aurodindo’s Yoga is the transformation of the above parts of the being, their surrender is inevitable. But the action without attachment which is propounded in the Gita is entirely different from this work-surrender. According to the Gita, one has to do the work without hankering for the fruit of the action. Here the mind, the vital and the body which perform the work are not to be surrendered, nor is there any idea of their transformation. The mind, the vital and the body are left out and liberation or Nirvana or God-realization is attained after death.
In Sri Aurobindo’s Yoga, the divine supramental Power carries out the work of the transformation in the mind, the vital being and the body of the individual through his surrender of the work. As a consequence, the consciousness of the body is awakened and without the help of the mind and the vital being, the body itself aspires for the transformation and gets transformed and divinized by the supramental divine Power. The transformation of the mind and the vital being would be achieved first, much before the transformation of the body is effected. The Lord Himself would manifest unveiled in the transformed mind, the vital being and the body. The individual will be totally free from the onslaught of death, disease and old age and his whole being is united with the Divine and is guided by the Divine Shakti.
The work which is being propounded in the Ashram, is not like the ordinary work of the world, but it is the Sadhana of the individual and of the world for the manifestation of the Divine. Though all the action of the Ashram resembles the action of the world, yet the method of action, the purpose and the attitude behind it, are entirely different. Without understanding properly the real meaning of this spiritual action, we try to implement the same as per the pattern of the worldly action to satisfy our ego and egoism. Consequently it results in conflict and dearth of peace. This is the only impediment in the way for the realization of our goal.
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Method of Work
The way to become the Divine instrument is not to work for the satisfaction of one’s ego and egoism, but to work with an attitude of surrender to the Divine and for effecting His manifestation in the mind, the vital being and the body, in the whole being. When this work is done without any external control and spontaneously with self-inspiration, and is surrendered to the Divine by the mind, the vital and the body with sincere enthusiasm, then the divine supramental Power transforms and divinizes the mind, the vital and the body; the Lord manifests Himself by this type of work; the individual lives in supreme bliss and perfect peace and is guided entirely by the Divine Power. The ideal of work is reflected in the Ashram. The work is the only efficacious and inevitable Sadhana for the transformation of the mind, the vital being and the body and for liberation from death, disease and old age. This subject has been discussed in the first part of this book.
If we do the work according to the ideal set by the Mother in the Ashram, we can reach our goal with the help of the Mother by working as the Divine instrument.
The main principle of this Yoga of transformation is not personal liberation, but the establishment of heaven upon this earth. For this reason, the Sadhana or the action of this Yoga is associated with the world. The Ashram is not restricted only to Pondicherry. Its branches are the “Study Circles”, the “Students’ Society” and the “Society for the Young”. The members of all these organizations and the Sadhakas and the Sadhikas of the Ashram who have set before themselves the goal of the transformation of the mind, the vital being and the body, are the Sadhakas of Sri Aurobindo’s Yoga, whether they reside in or outside the Ashram. The external action of some of these Sadhakas is not linked with the world; the external action of some others appears to be connected with the world; but these two types of work are not different from each other. As the main objective of this Yoga is to establish heaven upon the earth the action of these two above types of Sadhakas , as per the Divine Will, is connected with the world.
Question: In the Yogas of yore, the Sadhakas had attained personal siddhi or perfection, liberation, Nirvana or God-realization. By their spiritual practice or Sadhana, the pain, suffering, conflict, untruth, injustice, violence were not removed from the world or the kingdom of heaven was not established upon the earth. Is there any speciality in Sri Aurobindo’s Yoga, so that by the siddhi of individual transformation, the earth can be transformed to heaven?
Answer: The ancient Yogis, without finding any method to transform the terrestrial cosmic principle, separated the mind, the vital and the body connected with the above, from the soul. They made the soul attain liberation, Nirvana or God-realization and the world remained as it was, without getting transformed. As the aim of Sri Aurobindo’s Yoga is not to separate the mind, the vital and the body from the soul, but to transform these into the ‘dharma’ or the Law of the soul or the Divine by the supramental Power, the transformation of the terrestrial cosmic principle or tattva associated with the mind, the vital and the body becomes inevitable. For this reason, the possibility of the transformation of the earth into heaven becomes a certainty.
The supreme Lord was One. For the purpose of creation He, by his own Divine Will, manifested Himself in the terrestrial forms. All the visible forms of the world, such as, wood and stone, tree and grass, animals, birds and human beings, are the deformations of the Lord. Behind all this or inside this, the Divine influence or the Soul is present. The human body becomes alive and active when it is connected with the mind, the vital, the body and the soul. The soul is the part and surety of the Lord. He is divine and is not deformed. The mind, the vital and the body are the deformations of the divine-principle of the Lord, and are derived from the essential principle of being of the universe. They are one and are not different from the essential modes of being of the universe. Hence the transformation of the essential principle of being of the universe is necessary if we want to transform the mind, the vital and the body in their fundamental cosmic principle. These can be transformed by the supramental Power. As the development of the mind was not complete, the time for the manifestation of the supermind upon the earth had not arrived. For this above reason, the ancient yogis had attained liberation, Nirvana and God-realization, leaving behind the work of the transformation of the mind, the vital and the body. Now the progress of the mind has touched its point of culmination. That is the reason why the Mother and Sri Aurobindo have effected the descent of the supermind upon the earth and the Mother has undertaken the work of the transformation with the help of the supramental Power. The more the participation of the people in this work, the speedier will be the work of transformation and the ignorance, violence, falsehood and injustice will be removed proportionately from the world. The earth will be turned into heaven if the Mother along with a few others would achieve complete transformation. The meaning of participating in this work of transformation in to accept this aim and to do the Sadhana, and to spread this ideal by establishing Sri Aurobindo study circles, Mahila or women study circles, Sri Aurobindo Chhatra Samajas (or Students’ Societies and Sri Aurobindo Yuba Samajas (or Societies for the Young) etc.
Question: Wherein lies the necessity of all these above activities? According to your version, the essential principle of being of the Universe is one with the essential principle of being of the mind, the vital and the body. Hence if one individual is transformed, then all the persons of the creation will be transformed. Then what is the necessity for other persons to do the Sadhana?
Answer: If the material body of one person is transformed, then the material bodies of whole mankind in the universe will not be transformed. Because even though the mind, the vital and the body have been derived from the subtle, essential principles of being of the universe, yet according to the law of creation, this subtle, essential principle of being is converted to the corporal body in the form of flesh and blood, through the medium of the parents; the subtle essential principle of the body of both is one, but in gross reality, the body of one is different from the other. For this reason, as with the demise of one person, all the persons of the world do not die, similarly with the transformation of the body of one person, the material bodies of all the persons of the world will not be transformed. Every individual must do the Sadhana, if the transformation of the gross physical being has to take place.
Question: The Sadhana is essential for the transformation of the body, but why it is necessary to do the Sadhana and spread the teaching of Sri Aurobindo in order to remove injustice, falsehood from the human beings and to establish heaven upon the earth?
Answer: Even for the purpose of establishing heaven upon the earth, the Sadhana of others as well as the spread of the teaching of Sri Aurobindo is needed. Because, if the link is not maintained between the transformation of one person and that of the other, the heaven cannot be established upon this earth.
You make out the meaning of the words as follows:
“If the body of one person is transformed, injustice and falsehood would be removed from the world; it is not necessary for others to do the Sadhana”. But it is not so, others would be forced to do the Sadhana. The more the number of persons the Sadhana, the speedier will be the process for the establishment of heaven upon the earth.
Question: Why the other persons would be forced to do the Sadhana?
Answer: When the process of transformation of the mind, the vital and the body of the person begins, the transformation of the World Nature or of the essential principle of being of the universe would proportionately begin. The impact of this transformation will be felt all over the world. The persons whose souls are more awakened, will receive inspiration from the self, and will be spontaneously engaged in this Sadhana of transformation.
Question: Those persons whose souls are awakened, would accept this yoga spontaneously. In that case, wherein lies the necessity for the spreading of this teaching?
Answer: The more the number of persons accept this idea, the speedier will be the transformation of the nature of the Sadhakas and heaven would be established upon the earth. For this reason, the spread of the teaching of Sri Aurobindo is essential.
Because at present the world or the humanity is being managed or governed by the asuric forces of ignorance and darkness. For this reason, injustice and falsehood have permeated every field of the world. These forces do not intend to shun their supremacy and accept the rule of the divine supramental Power. That is why they are vehemently opposing the manifestation of the supramental Truth upon the earth. But man is the instrument of these hostile forces. When more persons would accept the supramental Force, these dark forces will be weakened and the realm of the supramental Force will be ushered in. For this reason, the need for the supramental Force has arisen. Because, in this world, the souls of very few persons are awakened; they are aware about the aim in life and accept the Truth. But the number of this category of people is very meagre. Leave alone the case of ordinary people, the great magnanimous persons of the world, whose intellect is very much developed, they are seldom conscious of the supreme Bliss which they cherish unconsciously.
Now as the Mother’s work of supramental transformation is being carried out all over the world, its influence is being felt everywhere. But as its impact is not being accepted by the inward soul of man, no body in this world is satisfied by his own work. The whole world is unknowingly aspiring for a new Truth. As the veil covering the soul of man is not removed, he cannot comprehend the reason for the restlessness of his heart, to be the advent of the new Truth. The supramental impact upon the heart will take a lot of time to express itself after piercing through the mind and the vital and the unbearable suffering, pain, untruth and injustice of the world will not be quickly obliterated. By the establishment of “Sri Aurobindo Study Circles”, “Sri Aurobindo Societies for the Young”, “Sri Aurobindo Women’ Study Circles”, “Sri Aurobindo Students’ Societies” etc and by the dissemination of Sri Aurobindo’s teaching of the supramental transformation, the veil of the individual will be rent and the help will be lent for the supramental Truth to manifest itself. For this reason the spread of this teaching is essential.
It is not easy for us to understand the real motive of a person from his outward activities. If we can see through the selfish motive of an individual, still then we should not oppose him. Because if he has taken shelter in, the Mother, somehow, Her Power will bring him back to the right path sooner or later. Disregarding completely the Mother’s Power, if he would want to fulfil his desires and wishes just like the C.I.D. under the garb of a saint, then he himself will face the bad consequences of the same. If we have no power to remove the fault of that person, we should not also hinder his work. Why should we pollute our consciousness by our opposition? If any sinful person seeks the shelter of the Mother, she outstretches her hands to give him refuge. After finding his fault, she does not abandon him. If he does not want at all to accept the Mother’s Power, then he himself will abandon the Mother. If it is clearly evident that the person, under the pretext of doing the Mother’s work, performs everything to fulfil completely his own selfish motives and if by our joining that work, the Mother’s work is hampered, then we will not cooperate with that work, but under no circumstances we should oppose him.
Question: One should not oppose this type of work. But out of those who are our companions and are engaged in doing the same Mother’s work in different fields, if any one consciously or unconsciously does something which obstructs the Mother’s work, we do not keep any personal grudge against that person for the same; we oppose only to protect the Mother’s work. Should we not make such opposition?
Answer: No, one should not at all act in opposition. Our own Sadhana and the Mother’s work get hampered more by this. If you oppose him, by way of reply or reaction, he will go against you. This hostility is the action of dark forces. From this is generated jealousy and violence. The knowledge of our conscience and the psychic being which are present within us, get veiled by this. The dark forces get the opportunity to act freely outside and inside our heart. It drags us away from the path of the Sadhana and also creates great hindrance for the Mother’s work. In the spiritual organizations, if there is any conflict between the Truth-seeking spiritual Sadhakas, that organization cannot make any progress; on the other hand, it gets completely destroyed. Or if there exists a great Truth behind that organization, the person who opposes has to accept that Truth and change himself, otherwise he himself has to quit that organization out of his own accord. In the spiritual organizations, disputes of any kind can seldom thrive under any circumstances; even in matters worldly, familial, business, politics etc, the concerned associations are demolished if there exists any internal conflict between one another. Whether in justness or in unjustness, if there is restlessness, disharmony, malice, jealousy etc. discerned in oneself, one should reject all these immediately, knowing that these are great enemies of the Sadhana or of the Mother’s work.
Question: This is correct that, under any circumstances a spiritual Sadhaka should not quarrel. But one of our friends has been committing a mistake; by that the Mother’s work is being hampered. In this situation, without doing anything should we be only a silent witness? Is this correct?
Answer: No, one need not watch only silently, one must explain the thing to him.
Before explaining the thing to him, you observe carefully your own heart. In your heart, if there is no anxiety or hostile attitude towards that person, then you explain to him the mistake he has committed with goodwill in your heart. But only once. If the person understanding his own mistake wants to rectify the same on your words, then you may advise him to correct himself. If the person protests against your words, then immediately you keep quiet. Do not allow yourself to be perturbed and do sincerely the Mother’s work. If you remain unfazed, then the Mother’s work will advance through you. If you have a greater equanimity within yourself, and give greatest importance to the Mother’s work in your life, then you pray sincerely for the preservation of the Mother’s work and for the correction of the fault of that person, or keep a good will towards him. If you can not do this, then without nourishing any revolting attitude within you, do your own work. Leave the work of that person to the decision of the Mother.
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The Organization of the Association with Divine Love
Question: Sri Aurobindo’s teaching is being disseminated spontaneously in Orissa due to the Divine Grace and the Mother’s blessing. Many study circles, Students’ Associations, Youth Societies, Women Study Circles have been established. It appears it would have been better if all these activities would have been organized according to the laws of the Association. Then why are these organizations not progressing?
Answer: Time is not yet ripe. As the study circles, Students’ Societies, Youth Societies, Women Study Circles have been spontaneously constituted, their organization would also spontaneously come up. All these activities have been performed by the inspiration of the spontaneous enthusiasm, love and faith of the devotees. The Mother’s supramental transforming Power is at work behind all this. Similarly when the divine supramental Power will work in the hearts of the organizers for these Associations, and love, faith and enthusiasm will be generated in them, at that time spontaneously this organizational work will be carried out by the divine Law. If the work of the organization is to be conducted before the individual is inspired spontaneously, then the method of the old administrative or social organization must be resorted to. But as in this spiritual organization, there will be no scope for promotion in one’s job, no provision for black marketing in business or no hope for gaining authority, no compulsion will work here. We have to wait till the blossoming of the divine Love takes place in the heart of the individual.
Question: The supramental spiritual organization would not be guided by the mechanical laws of the ignorant world, but by the divine Love. What is the method of the mechanical management of the worldly organizations?
Answer: At present the organizations of the ignorant world are being guided by the social laws framed by the mind and the intellect or by the administrative laws. The ego and egoism, the desires and wishes are present in the heart of the individual, he doesn’t want to reject all these and he is also not capable of rejecting them. He has accepted the mechanical laws only out of fear for the loss of his selfish gain. But he is always in search for opportunities for the fulfilment of the demands of the ego and egoism and the desires and wishes; when he gets a little respite after being freed from the pressure of the legal and social laws, he immediately tries to resort to all kinds of injustice and falsehood for gaining authority and his selfish ends and does not hesitate to indulge in horrendous and despicable deeds. He is working out the total destruction of others as well as his country. By this the injustice and falsehood are being spread out.
The Mother’s spiritual supramental organization is just the opposite of this. The member of this organization, keeping ego and selfishness in his heart and pretending to be a saint outside, can not afford to cheat people by his tall talks; he must reject the ego and egoism, pretensions and hypocrisy and must develop in his heart truth, justice, peace, contentment, bliss and knowledge. These can be attained if the whole being of the individual is transformed by the supramental Power. Then man will be converted to superman and the earth into heaven.
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The Supramental Yoga is different from the Old Yoga
Question: Why had all yogis of ancient times renounced action and what is the fixed notion formed by the past or “samskãra” of the renunciation of action? In order to reach the goal of Sri Aurobindo’s Yoga, in what attitude one should do the work so that it becomes the divine work?
Answer: All ancient yogis had renounced action, because they were aware that it is the cause of birth and death. This idea is samskãra or the fixed notion.
In the Yoga of Sri Aurobindo a person does not do action being inspired by the mind and the vital, the desires and wishes, but does so, being guided by the divine supramental Power. That is why that action becomes the divine work and the same divine work, instead of becoming the cause of birth and death, manifests the Divine in action. As the samskãra of the renunciation of work of the ancient yoga is blended with the blood of the person, the Sadhakas of the Sri Aurobindo’s Yoga can not understand correctly this divine work. The Sadhakas of the old yoga, considering the world and the body as false and illusory had cut off the soul’s relationship with them and the action was being done in the body. As the body was considered false and illusory, the action was considered as the cause of birth and death. That is why, renouncing the action, the body and the world and uniting their soul with the ultimate Being, they attained liberation or God-realization in ‘Saketa’, ‘Golaka’, ‘Baikuntha’ and ‘Kailash’ etc.
In the yoga of transformation of Sri Aurobindo the world is not considered false and illusory; separating the relationship of the soul from the body, after death liberation, Nirvana or God-realization is not attained in ‘Saketa’, ‘Golaka’ and ‘Baikuntha’. This body is to be transformed into its original divine ‘tattva’ or the fundamental cosmic principle by the supramental Power. As the desires and wishes are not present in the mind and the vital of the individual, the action does not turn out to be the cause of the birth and death. After transforming the mind and the vital, the divine supramental Power guides the person and provides inspiration for work. The action, which is being done, by the inspiration of the divine Power, instead of being carried out by the mind and the vital, turns out to be the divine work and the Divine gets manifested through action. By this divine work the individual is united in his whole being with the divine Sachhidananda Purushottama Tattva and is liberated from death, disease, old age, ignorance, suffering and pain etc.
Question: After being cognizant of which subject, can we be freed from the samskãra of the renunciation of action of the old yoga and do the divine work and constitute spontaneously the Mother’s organization?
Answer: Sri Aurobindo’s yoga as well as the aim of Sri Aurobindo’s yoga is entirely different from the old yoga as well as the aim of the old yoga – if we can understand this difference correctly, we can be freed from the samskãra of the renunciation of action of the old yoga and perform the divine work. By the performance of this divine action, the organizational work of the Mother’s spiritual Associations can be done spontaneously.
Question: What is the difference between Sri Aurobindo’s Yoga and the old yoga? Please explain clearly.
Answer: In the old yoga, personal liberation is attained, whereas in Sri Aurobindo’s yoga along with personal liberation, the transformation of the whole being, and God-realization and the conversion of the world into heaven are achieved. The ancient yogis after doing Sadhana at the personal level, had attained liberation, Nirvana, God-realization, but the world remained as it was before, steeped in the suffering and conflict, and the inhabitants of the world continued to remain in the same state of infernal agony as they were before.
In the Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo, the individual without renouncing the body and the world, is freed from the bondage of death, disease and old age and realizes the Divine in his whole being. As a result, suffering, pain, conflict, falsehood, injustice are wiped out from the world, and the kingdom of Heaven is established upon the earth. This is the difference between Sri Autobindo’s Yoga and the old yoga.
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The Method of Work
Question: We have understood that Sri Aurobindo’s yoga is entirely different from the old yoga and also about the samskãra of the renunciation of work of the old yoga. But you had said in the reply to our former question, “By the divine work we can get the opportunity to reach our goal easily; for this above reason, Sri Aurobindo Study Circles, Sri Aurobindo Women Study Circles, Sri Aurobindo Students’ Associations, Sri Aurobindo Youth Associations etc. are being organized. From this it has become clear that the study circles and conferences etc. – the work done for the sake of the Mother – offer an opportunity to us to reach our goal. Please explain clearly why all these activities would form an opportunity to reach our goal?
Answer: No work has ever been done for the manifestation of the Divine upon the earth, with the support of the Divine Will; this work is being done now by the Mother. This is the only great opportunity for the realization of the goal. When we do the work for the sake of the Mother, the Mother’s power descends upon our adhãra and provides inspiration to us. This is the only inevitable Sadhana to reach our goal.
The meaning of life and the world is nothing but work. The individual can not rest content without work till his death. The work is done in the body. Without finding any way to be liberated from work, the ancient yogis rejected the adhara of the work, the body. But as the aim in Sri Aurobindo’s yoga is to effect the transformation of the mind, the vital and the body into their divine tattva and the conversion of the earth into heaven, the action became inevitable here. But the result of the action differed according to the attitude in the performance of the action.
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Ordinary Work with Desires or ‘Sakãma Karma’
The work of the worldly person who has not kept God-realization as his goal, is called ordinary work or work with desires. He performs work for himself, for his family, for his country and the world, being guided by the needs of the desires and wishes of the mind, the vital and the body. From one type of action, many desires for action spring up as off-shoots; due to the effects of those desires and wishes, the person wanders about in the cycle of birth and death. But the action is done by the body under the inspiration of the mind and the vital. In order to be freed from the desires for action, all old yogis separated the soul from the mind, the vital and the body, which are the root cause of action. The mind, the vital and the body remained as they were before. Only the soul attained liberation, Nirvana or God-realization. Though the Vaishnavites and the Tantra Sadhakas were surrendering their action to their tutelary gods and goddesses, they had not cherished any aim to transform their mind, the vital and the body into their divine tattva.
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Work Surrendered to the Divine-Niskãma Karma
Sri Aurobindo’s Yoga is entirely different from the old yogas. In that it is not essential to reject the mind, the vital and the body; they are to be transformed into their original divine tattva. For this reason action becomes certainly inevitable.
The abolition of the desires and wishes in action, the transformation of the mind, the vital and the body are affected by the divine supramental Power. That Power descends into the adhãra and does the work of transformation through surrender, aspiration and rejection of adverse action and movements. All these things can be achieved in a state of concentration. There are two ways for concentration – one, through meditation and the other, through action. Meditation is not easy for everybody. As soon as one sits for meditation the person’s old habits, memory of the action of the past samskãra start to flow as thoughts like the current of a river; concentration seldom comes at all. If per chance a little concentration comes, drowsiness attacks us. For this reason the meditation is not easily obtainable for every person, but work is easily available. The person can focus his mind and the movements of consciousness through work. He can also do the chanting of the name of the Mother “Maa”.
Besides this, the aim of the Integral Yoga is the transformation of the body. If the body becomes plastic and worthy of acceptance, the dormant consciousness within him is awakened by the influence of the Divine Shakti and it aspires for the transformation. The body becomes flexible and fit to receive, by the action performed for the sake of the Divine and surrendered to Him. That is why work is inevitable in the yoga. But as we have not understood correctly this mystery of work, we can not accept work as the inevitable means for the realization of our goal.
When one does the work for the purpose of the realization of the Divine or for the sake of the Divine and surrenders the same to Him, the action becomes the means and the attainment of the Divine becomes the end or the realization of the goal. The aim of God-realization is only desire or craving. In the burning flame of that desire, all other desires and cravings are burnt to ashes; the only existing desire for God-realization ceases with the realization of the Divine. God is aptakãma, or one who is satisfied in his desire and is the embodiment of knowledge, Bliss and supreme peace. When man realizes the Divine, he has no other want. The cessation of want only is the state of consciousness which is free from desires and cravings. For this reason, in Sri Aurobindo’s Yoga, the action is to be performed for the Mother and is to be surrendered to Her. The Mother and the Divine are one and the same tattva. The Mother is doing the Sadhana to establish this principle of transformation upon the earth and is lending full support to the Sadhakas for the realization of their goal. For this reason in Sri Aurobindo’s Yoga, the action is being done as service to the Mother and is being surrendered to Her. In this work, the person retains fully the sense of the doership. The person who does the work is his own self. This feeling is the sense of the doership in action. By this type of work-surrender, the Divine Shakti descends upon the adhãra and carries out the work of transformation in the parts of the body which are surrendered to Her and also provides inspiration for action. The more is the work of the Divine Shakti upon the adhãra of the individual, the lesser is his feeling of the doership. When the person does all the actions under the inspiration of the Divine Shakti, at that time the work is converted to the divine work.
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Divine Mechanical Work (Niskãma Karma)
The individual does not work being guided by the mind, and the vital, but works under the inspiration of the Divine Shakti. The Divine Shakti supports the work, gives consent to it, his mind and the vital and the body become the instruments of the Divine Shakti, and the action is being performed by the body. In this state of consciousness the person is not united with the Divine in his whole being. In this state of separativity of consciousness, the work which is performed under the inspiration of the Divine Shakti is called the divine Mechanical work. By this type of work, the individual being is united with the Divine. After this state comes the pure divine work.
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Pure Divine Work
The person’s whole being is united with the Divine. The work is done in the adhãra of the individual by the Divine Shakti as per the Will of the Divine. The individual is not conscious of the fact that he is the instrument of the Divine Shakti. This idea persists in the person’s state of the separativity of consciousness from the Divine. But this idea is abolished when he is completely identified with the Divine. This work is called pure divine work. This union with the Divine is not an inactive state of consciousness when the person is united with the formless, indiscriminate Being, as is done in Advaita or monistic philosophy. He attains this union with the Sat-Chit-Anand Purushottama tattva who is present above and is “with form” and “formless”. In this state of union the person does the work as a separate entity and this sense of union and the sense of separativity are both present at the same time and in the same state of consciousness. This feeling comes when one is in the supramental – Vigyana – consciousness. The mind can not comprehend this state of consciousness at all.
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Three Divisions of Work
The work which was discussed here is divided into three parts: the forbidden work, the ordinary work and the divine work. In this work also there are several layers, viz, theft, murder, pain caused to others etc. are forbidden, contemptible work. The result of this type of work is sorrow, suffering and infernal pain. The ordinary work is the work done not for the sake of the Divine, but for the self, the family, for agriculture, business, job etc. which belongs to the lower level, and service to the country with sincerity, service to the others for their welfare are actions of a higher order. But in both these kinds of work, there exist desires and wishes. For this reason this kind of work becomes the cause of the bondage of birth and death. The work surrendered to the Divine and performed without any desires, is divided into three parts, viz, the divine work surrendered, the divine mechanical work and the pure divine work.
DIVINE WORK SURRENDERED: When the work is done for the sake of the Divine, as service to the Divine and is surrendered to the Divine, it becomes the divine work surrendered. The sense of the doership is present here. As the work is done only for the Divine, no other desire is present in it. After the God-realization, the desire for the realization of the Divine gets abolished and the person becomes entirely free from desires.
MECHANICAL DIVINE WORK: The work done not under the inspiration of the mind and the vital, but by the inspiration of the Divine Shakti, is called the mechanical divine work. In this kind of work, there exists the sense of separativity from the Divine and the feeling of separateness in being the instrument of the Divine.
PURE DIVINE WORK: Even though the whole being of the individual is united with the supreme Sachhidananda consciousness, he performs work as service to the Divine and both the feelings, that of the union and of the separativity, exist in the person side by side and at the same time. This happens when the whole being of the person is completely transformed by the supramental Power. These three types of work constitute different strata or different steps of the pure divine work.
Question: Wherein lies the speciality of the work done to spread the teaching of the Mother, like establishing the study circles, organizing study circle conferences, construction of the study circle buildings, establishing and managing schools in the line of Sri Autobindo’s International Centre of Education, the dissemination of Sri Aurobindo’s literature, Sri Aurobindo Students’ Society, Sri Aurobindo Youth Association, Sri Aurobindo Women Association etc, in comparison to the work done for the family as service to the Mother and surrendered to Her? In what way, these above activities serve as the easy way to reach the goal?
Answer: All these activities directly belong to the Mother, done for Her sake. It is easy to perform this work as service to the Mother and surrender the same to Her.
The work done for the family does not directly belong to the Mother; it is performed for the family or for one’s own self. It requires a lot of efforts to establish this feeling in the consciousness that this work is to be done for the Mother and is to be surrendered to Her.
The speciality of the Mother’s work is that in these organizations, there is the Mother’s presence and the Mother’s Shakti works there. With the spread of this kind of work, the spiritual atmosphere is created. This work is very helpful and is necessary for one’s Sadhana, for others’ welfare and for the “siddhi’ for the establishment of superman upon the earth. For this reason this work retains its speciality more than the domestic work.
The other reason of this speciality is this: the personality of the individual is constituted by the ego and egoism; for that reason, from the beginning of creation, the person’s considering the work as his own, is mixed with his blood and has been converted into Samskãra or a fixed notion. When one does the work directly for himself and his family, he has to put forth a lot of efforts to always become conscious that the work is done for the service of the Mother. But as the work of the dissemination of the Mother’s teachings is done directly for the Mother, in that work not much effort is needed to become conscious. On the other hand, in this work, by the touch of the Divine Shakti, the consciousness of the individual is transformed to some extent and the domestic work can be considered easily as the work done for the service of the Mother.
Question: From this discussion we could understand clearly that by doing the work surrendered to the Divine, the individual can easily reach his goal. The receiving of this work is our greatest opportunity.
This also we could clearly comprehend that it is not possible to organize this spiritual organization according to any worldly method; this can be done spontaneously by the divine love. Because, if we make this spiritual organization stern, tradition-prone, bound by external rules, the divine love can not make any entry there. The example of this type of spiritual organization is the work-organization of the Ashram. In order to constitute this organization in the pattern of divine love is there any need for personal effort or can it be spontaneously done?
Answer: The personal effort is necessary. As in Sri Aurobindo’s Integral Yoga, the Sadhana is done by the Divine Shakti, but to facilitate Her work the person has to prepare his adhara by aspiration and surrender, similarly the organizational work of this divine Association is done by the supramental Power; but in order to become his instrument, the person has to perform the divine work.
Question: How should one undertake this organizational work in its active form? Before this is done, first tell us, whether you praised this work so that the organizational work of the Mother’s Association will be done smoothly or is there any real truth in it?
Answer: This is not only praise, this is genuine, undubious,solid, experience-based and completely true. This divine work is so great, vast, influential and so full of riches that it can not be expressed in words; in whatever words we may applaud it, that will be meagre, just like comparing the sun with the lamp. By this divine work, the individual can become very close and intimate with the Divine and can be completely united with the Divine in his whole being.
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The Aim
If an individual wants to perform this work, then he should sincerely understand the goal, - which he would reach by this work, - with sincerity and accept the same.
The aim is: the individual will be completely identified with the Divine Sachhidananda in his mind, the vital and the body, and yet will remain separate from Him. The Supreme is an unfathomable, infinite ocean of all bliss, all peace and all riches. As a small drop of that ocean, this bliss, peace and riches have manifested themselves in their deformed states in this world. Our ego and selfishness stand as a great hindrance and big obstacle to receive this ocean of bliss. The reason for the existence of this ego and selfishness is our craving for the worldly, insignificant, transient name, fame, authority or worldly comforts. The result of the above is suffering, conflict, restlessness, violence and malice. When a wise person would understand the sublimity of this nectar-like aim, he would seldom apply this poisonous ego and selfishness in work. When compared to the realization of this aim, the riches of Indra, Chandra, Varuna, Kubera etc. would appear most insignificant.
Another reason is this: if we want to perform the divine work, we have to maintain a sweet relationship of divine love with others and behave with them in a like manner. The ego and egoism are direct opponents to the divine love. If one does not reject the ego and egoism, the divine love will not be established in one’s heart or the divine work or the organization of the divine Association can not be accomplished by that person. The organizational work is done in company with others. If the ego and egoism is active in oneself, the person can not reject the feeling that he himself is great or reject his craving for name, fame and selfish motives; unless he rejects all these, the others can not join wholeheartedly in the organizational work conducted by that person. That is the reason why that person can not become successful in conducting the organizational work related to the Divine. If the person wants to perform sincerely the divine work and the organizational work, his ego and egoism, until they are transformed, will not remain spontaneously active by the Grace of the Mother. The ego and egoism, which is not obliterated by the stern austerities of the old yoga, its method of self-control, observance of rules, reflection of conscience, or deep meditation, gets bloated, on the other hand, by the idea of being a great Sadhaka; the same ego and egoism is easily and gradually transformed by the supramental Power when the divine work is performed. Due to this reason, the divine work is the greatest and the best means for the realization of the goal.
There is another reason why this is easily obtainable – as everybody is habituated to do the work right from the birth, it is easy to convert it to the divine work.
The symptom of this divine work being great and powerful is this – in this yoga, the mind, the vital and the body of a person get transformed by the action of the divine supramental Power. Without this, the realization of the goal is absolutely impossible. When the dissipated consciousness gets focused by the divine work or by meditation, the divine Power descends into the adhara of the person. In the initial stage of the Sadhana, it is not easy for all to focus their distracted consciousness by meditation. But it is easy for all persons to develop concentration by engaging themselves in the divine work. Earlier it has been said that everyone is not habituated to train his consciousness to get focused. As everybody has the habit from the birth to do action, it becomes easy for them to convert it to the divine action. Hence through this divine work, the divine supramental transforming power descends easily into the adhara of the mind, the vital and the body and transforms it. After the descent of the Divine Shakti the process of transformation of this Yoga starts. The Divine Shakti is the noblest mystery or the key of the yoga-siddhi or the realization of the yogic perfection. As the descent of the Divine Shakti is easily affected by the divine work, the latter is extremely powerful.
Question: By what method the action is to be conducted so that the Association will be spontaneously organized in a divine way?
Answer: The action can be conducted by mutual help and hearty unpretentious love, devoid of ego and egoism. The persons who would understand the importance of the divine work, will, rejecting the ego and egoism, cherish sincerely the welfare of all organizations and help them, knowing fully well all of them to be the Mother’s. By the action of a few members of this calibre this, all these organizations will grow gradually as per the divine pattern.
We will discuss here the programmes of the various departments established in Orissa, conducting the work of the dissemination of the Mother’s teachings and of others which will be constituted in future, about whose establishment and organization, it has already been discussed in this book.
Different Sections for the dissemination of the Mother’s Teachings
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The work of translation of the original books of philosophy of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo into Oriya language and the publication of magazines on the above subject in simple language which will be understood by the unsophisticated common man, constitute is an essential part of the spread of the teachings of Sri Aurobindo.
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For the management and spread of Sri Aurobindo Study Circles, Sri Aurobindo Women Study Circles, Sri Aurobindo Students’ Societies, Sri Aurobindo Youth Associations, which have been established in different parts of Orissa, the conferences are to be organized and in some places sale centres should be arranged for the sale of books connected with Sri Aurobindo’s literature and photographs.
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The construction of special buildings, for the study circles, for the schools and colleges, which may be opened following the ideal of Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education and for the gymnasium, should be arranged.
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In some places according to convenience, home industries, business, agriculture etc can be arranged in near future, according to the method of divine work. Whatever work is essential for the maintenance of civic life, all that will be done according to the method of divine work, when the time comes. This is the Sadhana, necessary for the establishment of the future supramental world of Sri Aurobindo’s Yoga.
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Now the most important work is to make arrangements for the accommodation for the devotees who come from Orissa to the Ashram during the darshan days.
The aim of Sri Aurobindo’s Yoga is to arrange or organize all the work or institutions discussed above in the spiritual way. We have to keep always this in mind that although this organization functions like any other worldly organization, its aim or objective and the method of management is entirely different from the latter. This will be managed by sincere love, goodwill, mutual help and sympathy and will be organized when taken as an organ for the Mother’s work for the establishment of heaven upon the earth.
Wherever Study Circle conferences, construction of the buildings for study circles, establishment of schools, conferences of Students’ Associations etc. are being conducted, other study circles should come forward to help these for their all-round growth and development. By this kind of help, mutual goodwill and understanding will increase and the organizations will be spontaneously constituted.
If any study circle of a district lends more help to the activities of the other study circles of the same district, then the latter can accept the former spontaneously with their heart’s love as the Centre of the district study circle organizations. Then the organizations can spontaneously come up.
From the beginning of the creation, this type of opportunity was never made available to man. This is a matter of great fortune for all of us. We have received a most precious jewel from the “Parashamani” or (the philosopher’s stone) of this kind of service. As the hunter, without knowing the worth of the pearl of the elephant or “Gajamukta” had sold it for a kilo of pot-herb, similarly being subjugated by the ego and egoism, man commits the great mistake of remaining averse to this opportunity; in order to be free from this mistake, he should surrender himself at the feet of the Mother like a small baby and do always the chanting of the name ‘Maa’ – this is the only way to become the instrument of the divine work.
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