[6]   Part II   The Field and Instruments of Vedanta   Chapter I   Intellect and Revelation   If in the progression of the ages there are always golden periods in which man recovers self-knowledge and attunes the truth of himself to the truth of his surroundings—or may it not even be, may not this be the true secret of his evolution—attunes his surroundings to his fulfilled and triumphant self, not being merely determined by his environment, but using it freely for infinite purposes & determining it, and if the Veda keeps, even fragmentarily, the practical application and the Vedanta, the theoretical statement of that

'Isha Upanishads' by Sri Aurobindo - Page 1 of 50 The Ishavasyopanishad   with a commentary in English   1   With God all this must be invested, even all that is world in this moving universe; abandon therefore desire and enjoy and covet no man's possession   THE GURU The Upanishad sets forth by pronouncing as the indispensable basis of its revelations the universal nature of God This universal nature of Brahman the Eternal is the beginning and end of the Vedanta and if it is not accepted, nothing the Vedanta says can have any value, as all its propositions either proceed from it or at least presuppose it; deprived of this central and highest truth, th

'Isha Upanishads' by Sri Aurobindo - Page 1 of 50 The Life Divine   [Draft B]   Part II The First Movement   Chapter I God and Nature   I   The Isha Upanishad opens with a monumental phrase in which, by eight brief and sufficient words, two supreme terms of existence are confronted and set forth in their real and eternal relation Ish is wedded with Jagati, God with Nature, the Eternal seated sole in all His creations with the ever-shifting Universe and its innumerable whorls and knots of motion, each of them called by us an object, in all of which one Lord is multitudinously the Inhabitant From the brilliant suns t

The Life Divine   [Draft C]   Chapter II   The perfect truth of the Veda, where it is now hidden, can only be recovered by the same means by which it was originally possessed Revelation and experience are the doors of the Spirit It cannot be attained either by logical reasoning or by scholastic investigation,—na pravachanena, na bahuná srutena na  tarkenaishá matir apaneyá "Not by explanation of texts nor by much learning" "not by logic is this realisation attainable " Logical reasoning and scholastic research can only be aids useful for confirming to the intellect what has already been acquired by revelation and spiritual exper

  Section Three   The Mother and the Practice of the Integral Yoga   Aspiration and Surrender to the Mother   Yoga, Sadhana, Dhyana   Yoga is union with the Divine, sadhana is what you do in order to unite with the Divine. You have to get away from the ordinary human consciousness and get into touch with the divine Consciousness. For that call always on the Mother, open yourself to her, aspire and pray for her Force to work in you so as to make you fit  —reject desire, restlessness, disturbances of the mind and vital. Dhyana means to make the mind and vital quiet and concentrate in aspiration for the Mother's Peace, the Mother's Prese

Work for the Mother in the Ashram   All Ashram Work Is the Mother's Work   If anybody in the Asram tries to establish a supremacy or dominating influence over others, he is in the wrong. For it is bound to be a wrong vital influence and come in the way of the Mother's work. If you feel anything of the kind in anybody, you are quite right to resist it and throw off the influence; to accept it would be bad both for him and you. But there should be no quarrel or ill —feeling or keeping up of resentment or anger; for that too is not good for either. . . . You must remember that just as the Mother uses your capacities and gives them their field, she mu

On Entretiens avec la Mère   Comments on Specific Entretiens1   In Entretiens the Mother says: "Même ceux qui ont la volonté  te, de s'enfuir [du monde], quand ils arrivent de l'autre côté  peuvent trouver que la fuite ne sert pas à grand —chose après  ´ tout" [p. 28]. What does "arrivent de l'autre côté" mean? Does it mean "when they come into this world" or "when they go into the world of silence which they realised"?   No  —"arrivent de l'autre cote" simply means "when they die". What Mother intended was that when they actually arrive at their Nirvana they find it is not the ultimate solution or largest realisation of the Supreme and they must ev

 The Mother's Force   What Is the Mother's Force?   What is the Yoga shakti? What is Yogic mind —force, Yogic life —force and Yogic body —force? In the Yogic consciousness one is not only aware of things, but of forces, not only of forces, but of the conscious being behind the forces. One is aware of all this not only in oneself but in the universe. There is a force which accompanies the growth of this new consciousness and at once grows with it and helps it to come about and to perfect itself. This force is the Yoga shakti. It is here asleep and coiled up in all the centres of our inner being (chakras) and is at the base what is called in the Tantras the Kundalini Shakti.

Meeting the Mother   Right Attitude during Interviews with the Mother   The right attitude in approaching the Mother when she sees one, is to keep the being perfectly quiet and open to receive, without any activity of the mind or desire in the vital, with only the surrender and the psychic readiness to accept whatever is given. Tomorrow, 24th, the Mother sees you  —for meditation, so that she may see and do whatever is needed. 23 February 1932   *     It is a strange thing, but it seems to be absolutely clear that the Mother wants me to go to her. Everything in me says, "Yes, yes, it is true  —there is no doubt about it." A

Relation between the Mother and Her Children   True Relation with the Mother   What is our true relation with the Mother  —the relation of the Mother and her child? The relation of the child to the Mother is that of an entire, sincere and simple trust, love and dependence.   *     The relation of the disciple to the Guru in the Guruvada is supposed always to be that of worship, respect, complete happy confidence, unquestioning acceptance of the guidance. It is only in this Asram that another theory has sometimes been advanced and reached its height as a result of the misapplication or wrong extension of the relation with