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PEACE
PEACE is the basis and pedestal
of the cosmic movement. If the immutable peace of the Spirit were not there as
the Infinite and eternal support, the whole universe would fly to atoms. In
spite of the discords and disorders, clashes and collisions, the world holds
together with its multitudinous elements and progresses forward through whatever
zigzags and detours, because an unshakable peace upholds it from below. This
truth was sought to be conveyed by the symbolic image of Shiva supporting upon his
prostrate, moveless body the unceasing dance of Kali, the supreme creative
Force. Peace is the last of he three principles of jyoti, Tejas and Shama or
Shanti, which .are
Resource name: /E-Library/Disciples/Rishabhchand/English/In the Mother^s Light/The Service of the Divine.htm
THE SERVICE OF THE DIVINE
A SPECIAL sense attaches to the word "service" in the
Mother's philosophy of Yogic action. She has given the
word such a heightened connotation that it has become the key-
word of human evolution and spiritual fulfilment. According
to her, human birth has only one objective : the service of the
Divine; and all human activities and endeavours, pursued from
birth to birth, are but a long preparation for it. This view gives
a definite teleological significance to the otherwise unaccountable phenomena of life and death and the continued participation even of many liberated souls in the travail of the world.
The soul comes down into th
DREAMS
DREAMS are an index to the mystery of life.
"Movies" from the unknown caves and hinterlands of our being, they flit past us
in our sleep, announcing, if we have ears to hear, that there are more things in
life than meet the human eye, and realms and realities that elude the grasp of
the rational mind. Though many of their patterns appear to us rather chaotic or
fantastic, there are some which are manifest marvels of symmetry and beauty. They have inspired many an exquisite
artistic creation and exercised the thought and speculation of
many a poet and philosopher and psychologist. There are again
some dreams which, whether simple or symbolical, possess a
prophetic character
Resource name: /E-Library/Disciples/Rishabhchand/English/In the Mother^s Light/The Soul or the Psychic-1.htm
THE SOUL OR THE PSYCHIC (I)
IF we probe deep into our nature, we cannot fail to discover
that behind the unceasing flux of its constituent elements
there is a constant thirst for infinity and eternity. This
thirst can be detected even in the very grain of the elements
themselves. It is this secret thirst or yearning that is the
source of hope which sustains us even in the midst of our
worst trials. Our instinctive fear of death is an inverted hope
of immortality. Our desires strain after an infinity of satisfaction. We covet a particular thing or a particular enjoyment,
and when that is obtained, our desires, instead of ceasing,
fully satisfied, increase in int
MANIFESTATION
Contemplation and Action
THE combination of Mary and Martha, of
contemplation and devoted action, has been held to be the most progressive and
catholic ideal of spiritual life. Contemplation by the exclusion of action is a
creed narrow in its outlook, and, more often than not, results in a disastrous
neglect of the very basis and meaning of life, because it generally leads to an
illusionist interpretation of existence. On the other hand, action to the
exclusion of contemplation is a senseless splashing and paddling in the shallows
of life, such as modern humanity displays. It is a race without
a goal, a frantic scramble for power or fame or position or th
YOGIC
ACTION*
THERE are four attitudes possible towards action in
spiritual life, and all of them have important bearings on life. The first is an
attitude of rejection; the second, of qualified rejection; the third of ethical
acceptance, and the fourth, of divine utilization. These are the fundamental
attitudes, which not only colour spiritual life in their distinctive ways, but
also condition its course and consummation.
The first attitude is of sheer rejection of all
action, so far as that is practicable in life. It pertains to the exclusive way
of abstractive knowledge or love, which proceeds by a categoric renunciation of
all secular relations, obligations an
SINCERITY
WE have seen what the Mother means by aspiration.
Another basic element of the spiritual way taught by her is sincerity, which she
regards not only as a basic element, but as the leaven of all basic and
essential elements of spiritual life. If there is one thing that can open all
closed doors and lead straight to the highest spiritual achievements, it is
sincerity and if there is one thing without which no substantial progress
can ever be made and nothing abiding achieved, it is sincerity.
A sincere aspiration, a sincere faith, a sincere prayer, a sincere
endeavour, can never go in vain. Whatever the difficulties of
the path, however long and arduous the journey,
Resource name: /E-Library/Disciples/Rishabhchand/English/In the Mother^s Light/The Divune Manifestation and the Divine Life.htm
THE DIVINE MANIFESTATION
AND THE DIVINE LIFE
BEFORE we proceed to note the identity existing between Sri
Aurobindo's views on the Divine Manifestation and the Divine
Life and those of the Mother before her meeting with Sri
Aurobindo, we had better be clear about what Sri Aurobindo
understands by Manifestation and the Divine Life.
There are two important elements which give a distinctive
character to the above terms and mark them out as the most
creative concepts in spiritual philosophy. The first is the evolutionary and the
second the collective element. Manifestation is, according to Sri Aurobindo, the
very purpose and goal of evolu
ASCETICISM
IN its simple and moderate form, asceticism is a self-
imposed mortification or privation for the discipline and
control of the lower nature. When the animal in man
refuses to be tamed or quieted, but opposes his inner quest
and living by an obstinate insistence on the satisfaction of its
base appetites, a curb or brake is put upon it by his will. The
objects of desire are renounced, so that the outer obsession
may cease and the being may be free to discover its inmost
truth and live in it. Asceticism in this sober form can be, in
many individual cases, an unimpeachable, perhaps indispensable, preliminary to
spiritual discipline, and those who decry or deride it are ei
SELF-SURRENDER
THE Upanishadic dictum of enjoyment by renunciation--
tyaktena bhuñjīthā—is the basic motor principle of all
evolutionary existence. Every step forward in evolution, from
the primal outburst of life from the blind darkness of Matter to
the luminous infinity and immortality of the superconscient
Spirit, is taken, consciously or unconsciously, by renunciation or
surrender. Take, for instance, the first emergence of life. How
does it happen ? Something in the dumb bosom of Matter
wearies of the unrelieved inertia and obscurity in which it lies
buried, and pants for light and a free flow of life. The dull sleep
in darkness is renounced, so that there may be a l