The Ego is only an Instrument… (18-11-09) Dost thou hate the atheist because he does love not God? Then shouldst thou be disliked because thou dost not love God perfectly. Sri Aurobindo (Thoughts and Aphorism 455 ) The Ego is only an Instrument…   Always indeed it is the higher Power that acts. Our sense of personal effort and aspiration comes from the attempt of the egoistic mind to identify itself in a wrong and imperfect way with the workings of the divine Force. It persists in applying to experience on a supernormal plane the ordinary terms of mentality which it applies to its normal experiences in the world. In the world we act with the sense of egoism; we claim the universal forces

Duty towards the Divine and Others (13-05-09) What is this thing thou callest death? Can God die? O thou who fearest death, it is Life that has come to thee sporting with a death-head and wearing a mask of terror. Sri Aurobindo. (Thoughts and Aphorisms 374) Duty towards the Divine and Others Duty towards the Divine is far more sacred than any social or family duty; it is all the more sacred because within the human collectivity it is almost wholly ignored or misunderstood. One who has given himself to the Divine has no longer any other duty than to make that consecration more and more perfect. The world and those who live in it have always wanted to put human − social and family − du

Knock…Knock…!!! (21-01-09) Knock…Knock….!!!   It has been a while since I have knocked on your soul. At the start of a New Year, whilst remembering our theme of 'Transformation', it is appropriate that we think about where we are at present in our spiritual path and where we need to be by the end of the year. Even the New Year message that has come from the Ashram quotes The Mother as saying that this year should be a year of progress and transformation which is one more step leading to the Divine Realisation. It is down to each of us to be aware of this need to aspire for the transformation and whatever progress each one of us makes is sure to light a torch for the rest to progress si

The Psychic and the Truth (19-08-09) This I have seen that whatever God has withheld from me, He withheld in His love & wisdom. Had I grasped it then, I would have turned some great good into a great poison. Yet sometimes when we insist, He gives us poison to drink that we may learn to turn from it and taste with knowledge His ambrosia & His nectar. Sri Aurobindo (Thoughts and Aphorism 470) The Psychic and the Truth The psychic is moved by the Truth. The Truth is something eternally self-existent and dependent on nothing in time or space, whereas the psychic being is a being that grows, takes form, progresses, individ­ualises itself more and more. In this way it becomes more and more

Karma, the Soul and Immortality (06-09-09) Karma, the Soul and Immortality Our first conclusion on the subject of reincarnation has been that the rebirth of the soul in successive terrestrial bodies is an inevitable consequence of the original significance and process of the manifestation in earth-nature; but this conclusion leads to farther problems and farther results which it is necessary to elucidate. There arises first the question of the process of rebirth; if that process is not quickly successive, birth immediately following death of the body so as to maintain an uninterrupted series of lives of the same person, if there are intervals, that in its turn raises the question of the pr

The Secret Truth (06-12-09) The Secret Truth ALL begins from the Divine, from the Eternal, from the Infinite, all abides in it alone and by it alone, all ends or culminates in the divine Eternal and Infinite. This is the first postulate indispensable for our spiritual seeking - for on no other base can we found the highest knowledge and the highest life. …. All time moves in the Eternal; all space is spread in the Infinite; all creatures and creations live by that in them which is Divine. This is patently true of an inner spiritual but also proves in the end to be true of this outer space and time. It is known to our inmost being that it lives because it is part of the Divine, but

This is how one learns to look at oneself (14-10-09) There are three forms in which the command may come, the will and faith in thy nature, thy ideal on which heart and brain are agreed and the voice of Himself or His angels. Sri Aurobindo. (Thoughts and Aphorism 266) This is how one learns to look at oneself …..when one thinks of “myself” one thinks of the body. That is the usual thing. The personal reality is the body’s reality. It is only when one has made an effort for inner development and tried to find something that is a little more stable in one’s being, that one can begin to feel that this “something” which is permanently conscious throughout all ages and all change, this somethi

REVERSAL OF CONSCIOUSNESS (22-07-09) Self-pity is always born of self-love; but pity for others is not always born of love for its object. It is sometimes a self-regarding shrinking from the sight of pain; sometimes the rich man's contemptuous dole to the pauper. Develop rather God's divine compassion than human pity. Sri Aurobindo. (Thoughts and Aphorism 525) REVERSAL OF CONSCIOUSNESS ….To live the spiritual life, a reversal of consciousness is needed. This cannot be compared in any way with the different faculties or possibilities one has in the mental field. It may be said of someone that he hasn’t much mental, vital or physical capacity, that his possibilities are very limited; in tha

When you are in difficulty, widen yourself (26-08-09) Indiscriminate compassion is the noblest gift of temperament, not to do even the least hurt to one living thing is the highest of all human virtues; but God practises neither. Is man therefore nobler and better than the All-loving? Sri Aurobindo (Thoughts and Aphorism 529) When you are in difficulty, widen yourself “What do you mean by these words: `When you are in difficulty, widen yourself'?” I am speaking, of course, of difficulties on the path of yoga, incomprehension, limitations, things like obstacles, which prevent you from advancing. And when I say “widen yourself”, I mean widen your consciousness. Difficulties always aris

The Divine Superman (19-07-09)  The Divine Superman This is thy work and the aim of thy being and that for which thou art here, to become the divine superman and a perfect vessel of the Godhead. All else that thou hast to do, is only a making thyselfready or a joy by the way or a fall from the purpose. But the goal is this and the purpose is this and not in the power of the way or the joy by the way but in the joy of the goal is the greatness and the delight of thy being. The joy of the way is because that which is drawing thee is also with thee on thy path and the power to climb was given thee that thou mightest mount to thy own summits. If thou hast a duty, this is thy duty; if thou askest