PART THREE

SHAPING THE FUTURE IN THE PRESENT

SRI AUROBINDO ASHRAM is a marvel of the Mother's vision. It is a living commentary on Sri Aurobindo's work. The arduous labours of the Master and the Mother are not only for the benefit of the sadhaks as individuals but for the "outflowering of the Divine in the collectivity."

The Mother observes: 'The conditions under which men live upon earth are the result of their state of consciousness. To seek to change conditions without changing the consciousness is a vain chimera."¹

The Ashram constitutes a picture of evolving individuals in a developing society. "Every sadhak here represents a type and serves a Divine purpose." If the attempt of an individual scientist succeeds in changing a cup of sea-water into fresh water, his achievement will not be personal but will form part of general knowledge. Similarly, the spiritual success of an individual in the Ashram will mean a wider possibility and promise of a large-scale achievement. The kind of collective life now under formation here indicates that the power at work originates from a source beyond human reach. One can feel its influence in everything and in every event.

To carry 1500 souls of different temperaments along the road to the Light in times of turmoil bespeaks but one aspect of the Mother's personality. When an engineer goes on digging deeper and deeper, the layman cannot picture to himself what sort of structure will rise from the depths.

Whatever progress man has made till now has not gone in vain; it has been a preparation for that great end, the manifestation of God in him. The time is ripe at last to welcome the Divine

1. Bulletin, April 1952, p. 46.

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to possess man.

In his political days the Master had said if "India is destined to solve the political, social, economic and moral problems which Europe has failed to solve" she must do something that has not been done before.

If by mastering all the scientific knowledge of the West, India makes her material life opulent and powerful and by drawing down the splendours of the higher worlds can bring them to bear on such enriched life, one may imagine what she will be.

Until India can fully manifest the richness of the two worlds in her own life she cannot convince the modern mind. Man today would not care to hear about higher things like soul, immortality and so on by throwing to the dogs the prospects of life.

He wants both. But how to realise both ? One cannot minimise the great value of all that is being done, for the prosperity of the country. The question is : how along with material prosperity, to develop her soul the light of which will be the light of the world ? We can endow the country with a hundred aspects of outer greatness but how to achieve the inner greatness ? How to express the inner riches in outer life? Herein lies the magnitude of the Ashram's spiritual work.

What is spirituality ?

It is the power to live in God and do his Will. In other words, spirituality is an art of arts, of seeking and finding the Infinite in the finite, the Real in the unreal.

Morality and religion² for all their utility, are yet within the

2. "Morality is a part of the ordinary life; it is an attempt to govern the outward conduct by certain mental rules...

"The religious life may be the first approach to the spiritual, but very often it is only a turning about in a round of rites, ceremonies and practices or set ideas and forms without any issue. The spiritual life, on the contrary, proceeds directly by a change of consciousness, a change from the ordinary consciousness,.... to a greater consciousness in which one finds one's true being and comes first into direct and living contact and then into union with the Divine." — Letters of Sri Aurobindo, First Series.

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domain of the mind, and they have been tried out again and again, but with no radical result in the nature of man. Spirituality goes beyond mind. The time has come to transcend the mind. Nothing but the power of the Spirit—-the self-luminous supreme Truth— can build up lasting peace. All around us there is a seeking for a new philosophy, a new way of life, and for a true guide who can take man by the hand to a better world not merely beyond but also here and now.

When the eyes of the world were dazzled by the splendours of science and when science not only dominated everything but threatened even to dethrone the Divine, Sri Ramkrishna appeared like a blazing sun. He set an example before the world that God could be born in this life if one was ready to leave behind everything for His sake.

Sri Aurobindo came to make us realise that all can be a means of His manifestation, the very unregenerate ore of human life can be smelted into pure gold.

But the big question is : How ?

How is one to activise spirituality in the normal order of life, how to pass its currents through the nerve-centres of society and make it shine on the surface of the earth ?

The answer is in the life-work of the Mother.

The Mother's acceptance of life is not partial but integral. She sees life in a thousand and one ways and her aim seems to bring all its facets under the influence of the Divine.

The Divine Conquest of Money Power

The Mother's stand on money is a revolutionary pheno- menon in the history of India's traditional vairagya. Because men of spiritual powers have discarded money, it has gone into the sole possession of the Asuric forces. To wrest it from their iron hold and use it for higher purposes is a seemingly impossible task.

So far in the history of spiritual activities in the world, excepting

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in the great past of India, we see that finance and politics have had no place anywhere. But, for a radical change in the collectivity and the masses, these two great sides of life cannot be ignored.

Day by day the world is sinking so low politically that we do not know what would be our fate tomorrow. Here too there is the Mother's contribution and her reading of the situation is remarkable : "We have said that in principle we have nothing to do with politics and it is true that we have nothing to do with politics as it is practised now.

"But obviously if politics is taken in its true spirit, that is to say, as organisation of human masses and all details of government, regulation of the collective life and its relations with other collectivities, that is to say, other nations, other countries, then necessarily that also becomes part of the supramental transformation, because as long as the lives of nations and the relations between the nations are what they are, it will be absolutely impossible to live a supramental life on earth. So, that also must change and that also must be dealt with.

"As for the financial question,...it has become almost impossible to have the least relation with other countries, and the famous means of exchange which was meant for a simplification has become such a complication that soon it will end in an impossibility,—one has come very very near not being able to do anything, being bound for everything.

"If you want to have the least thing from another country you have to follow such a complicated and laborious procedure that in the end you will have to remain in your little corner and be satisfied with the potatoes you grow in your garden, without hoping to know anything of what happens or is produced elsewhere in the world.

"Well, these two points, political and financial, are the two points most resisting. In the human consciousness it is that which

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is most dominated by the forces of ignorance, of inconscience and very generally, I must say, of bad will. That is what most refuses to progress, to move forward to the truth...refusing to understand anything that is not in its habits. It is, therefore, truly a heroic action to wish to take up these things and transform them. That too is being tried, for unless this is done, it will be impossible to change the conditions on earth."³

And the Master: "...most spiritual disciplines insist on a complete self-control, detachment and renunciation of all bondage to wealth and of all personal and egoistic desire for its possession. Some even put a ban on money and riches and proclaim poverty and bareness of life as the only spiritual condition. But this is an error; it leaves the power in the hands of the hostile forces. To reconquer it for the Divine to whom it belongs and use it divinely for the divine life is the supramental way for the Sadhak."⁴

Because people use it for the gratification of their desires they expose themselves to their hell-fires. To quote the Mother again : "Money is a thing which one should not possess unless and until he is without desire, without attachment. When one has a consciousness as wide as the earth, then only one can have all the money there is upon earth and that would be good for everybody. But until then as much money you have, so much the curse there is upon you."⁵

But often it is seen that those who want to command money for noble causes find their path beset with an army of opposite forces. Man alone cannot stand against their tremendous powers. Hence he needs the timely help of one who can pour strength into him to face the challenge.

3.Bulletin, November 1957, pp. 119-121.

4.The Mother, (1946), pp. 21-22.

5.The Yoga of Sri Aurobindo, Part Eight, by Nolini Kanta Gupta, p. 151.

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Yoga is skill in works.

It does not mean mere play of skill in works but an opening to the higher force and letting it act instead of one's limited capacity. That is the secret of secrets in Yoga.

Trade, Industry and Spirituality

Now I come to a somewhat difficult part of our study : how the central aim is being worked out. A careful study will disclose that so many kinds of experiments are afoot here...We have said that wealth is a power. Restored to its rightful place in the divine ordering of things, it can make for a divine enrichment of life. Rightly used, industrial enterprises also can prove a source of inner development.

Almost everywhere and in all ages there has been a belief— nay, a conviction—that honesty and success, rectitude and prosperity, inner calmness and intense activity, hardly go together. The lives and teachings of saints and sages of all countries show that those who wanted to follow the path of God decided to cut off family ties, renounce life and all they had. Must then all benefits of trade, commerce, industry ever remain the monopoly of falsehood ? Must the serpent power reign supreme and unchallenged in its domain for eternity ?

Where there is no light, darkness cannot but prevail. Once a business man, who has since set up his business at Pondicherry, commented: "Business is an abode of ego, dishonesty, jealousy, deception and what not. It seems the Mother has descended into the very citadel of falsehood to conquer it in its own domain."

Spiritual lifeembracing even material things, leaving nothing in the possession of the undivine forces — is it not a new departure breaking new ground for people at large ? Without this venture, how can life be changed on earth ?

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Take only one example. In November 1960, owing to widespread and continuous heavy rains for about a month at a stretch, the town-market ran short of rice. The Government decided to sell rice to the public at a rate lower than the market price. Eight merchants were selected. The Honesty Society of the Ashram was one of them; and from the beginning to the end it stood out as the best of the lot, enjoying the confidence of both the Government and the public. Both had the faith that the Honesty Society would resort to no unfair means — to no exploiting of the situation or black-marketing.

It has since been growing in popularity and finding it easy to explore new avenues of expansion. Mill and factory owners, unasked, offer their agencies. In Madras also they have built a good credit. Once a sugar merchant left with it a large commodity worth a lakh of rupees to be paid at its convenience.

It is interesting to note how its start was made. The Mother wanted to give good rice and at a cheaper rate to the Ashram labour. Just at that time someone happened to wind up his business. The Mother had an idea of making an experiment in that line as we learn from her talk with the owner of the New Horizon Sugar Mills (P) Ltd.,.T want also to show Yoga in the material field'.⁶ Now the Mother sent X to settle terms with the person in question and buy up his concern.

That was in 1954. Since then the Honesty Society has been in existence. In its initial stages it was all very hard going against keen competition. It preferred to suffer loss from sudden fall in prices rather than make it up by squeezing the customers.

In fact, it has belied the general notion that no business can be done, far less thrive, except through unfair means. It reminds us of the Mother's message, given in her own handwriting when she laid the foundation stone of the above-mentioned Mills : "Faithfulness is the sure basis of success."

6. Nirodbaran, Mother India, April, 1960. p. 15.

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In this connection, one may note the way in which the New Horizon Sugar Mills (P) Ltd., the biggest industrial unit in Pondicherry with a crushing capacity of 1000 tons of cane per day, came into existance.

The entire process from the conception to its successful completion within the shortest possible time presents a living example of what human effort backed by yogic power can do in the material field.

We shall not tell in detail how a noted Indian industrialist of Africa and his whole family came in touch with the Mother though that may be a matter of absorbing interest.

During his interview with the Mother, when he expressed a desire to have some industries in India, the Mother suggested the setting up of a sugar mill. The huge project staggered him for he knew nothing about the Pondicherry State nor of its economic condition.

The Mother just smiled and said : "Go ahead, my child, everything will be all right." This infused into him and his Co-Directors and uncommon strength charged with the feeling that the Grace of the Mother was with them and that they should not hesitate.

All can be done if the God-touch is there.⁷

The truth of these words had proved itself at every step.

The grant to the Mills of the Establishing Licence by the Gov-ernmentof India happened to come on the 24th November 1956, which is the Day of Realisation, as if it carried the seal of the Divine sanction on the project.

The circumstances were found to be very favourable for growing sugarcane as the cane-growers gave a most encouraging, if not overwhelming, response; and in the record time of five months no less than 6,500 acres were planted.

7. Savitri, p. 5.

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The erection of the mill was started during the third week of November 1959 and in the record time of ten months, that is, by the end of August 1960, it was completed. On all accounts, it was one of the quickest concerns in India to go into production. To-day it is considered the best Sugar-Mill in Southern India. In the first year, 1,90,000 bags of sugar were produced. It was quite as it had been expected.

The benefit accruing to the people of Pondicherry by the establishment of this sugar factory is that Rs. 70/80 lakhs go to the growers.

Likewise the Government collect Rs. 40/50 lakhs a year as Excise and other taxes.

This gives an idea of the huge amount likely to enrich the State and the people and also of the Ashram's indirect contribution to the welfare of the State.

A beautifully designed Rest House, especially built for the Mother, amid beautiful surroundings, fills the atmosphere with the sweetness of her invisible Presence.

Speaking of himself and of his family, the resident Director said: "The way the mill has been erected without the least hitch has given rise to a feeling in the whole family that a hidden power has been at work from the beginning to the end. Now my whole family has turned to the Mother."

He added in moving terms : "If we remain busy gathering pebbles on the shore, how can we get any gems ? This industry is a veritable divine experiment. My feeling is that the Mother puts a force which does everything, breaking all obstacles. One must have Faith—Faith in the Divine's way of working, Faith which draws a spontaneous flow of Grace. One must not make a show of Faith for favours and personal ends. There must grow some sort of affinity with the Mother. Only so can one realise the miracle of the Divine Grace. I say, if you have no Faith, don't come to Pondicherry. The wide world is open to you. This is my Yoga. I

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do not know any other Yoga."

The following extract from the Mother's writing may give us some idea of the inner meaning of her working :

"First of all from the financial point of view, the principle on which our action is built is that money is not meant to bring more money—this idea of money-making is a falsehood and a perversion, money is meant to increase the wealth, the prosperity and the productiveness of a group, a country or, preferably, the whole earth. Money is a means, a force, a power, not an end in itself. As all forces and all powers, it is by activity and circulation that it grows and intensifies, not by accumulation and stagnation.

"What we are attempting here, is to prove to the world, through a concrete example, that by some inner psychological realisation and some outer organisation a world can be created where most of the causes of human misery will cease to exist."

To quote the observation of a casual visitor:

"Everywhere in the Ashram the visitor feels the atmosphere of an all-pervading executive genius. Everything is done in the most perfect way. The combination of economy, efficiency, pleasantness and cleanliness is captivating. Nowhere is there any waste of substance. The blend of nature with engineering and art is exquisite and there is scarcely a building without its little garden of green grass, plants, foliage and enchanting flowers. I was thinking all the while how much could be accomplished if the Ashram spirit' of turning inward in doing work without need of advertisement to impress it on others and sustain enthusiasm, could animate our Five Year Plans with all their thousands of crores of expenditure. I caught Mr. Eisenberg, the American expert on management, who was also at the Ashram, saying to himself, evidently lost in admiration, 'Amazing experiment most amazing experiment!'"

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