What You want to do Upon Earth? (22-12-10) All things seem hard to man that are above his attained level, & they are hard to his unaided effort; but they become at once easy & simple when God in man takes up the contract. Sri Aurobindo (Thoughts and Aphorisms 109) What You want to do Upon Earth? Yes there are people who have a happy and comfortable life, and people who have a miserable one. That depends — how shall I put it? — upon individual destiny, that depends perhaps on what they have to do upon earth, on the stage they have reached, on many things. It’s quite obvious that it is not they who choose. For most people would always choose the same thing. If they were asked what they

The Message of the Gita (08-12-10) There is only one soul & one existence; therefore we all see one objectivity only; but there are many knots of mind & ego in the one soul-existence, therefore we all see the one Object in different lights & shadows. Sri Aurobindo (Thoughts and Aphorisms-155) The Message of the Gita ……. “This integral God-love demands too an integral work for the sake of the Divine in yourself and in all creatures. The ordinary man does works in obedience to some desire sinful or virtuous, some vital impulse low or high, some mental choice common or exalted or from some mixed mind and life motive. But the work done by you must be free and desireless; work done without d

Burst Out from One’s Prison (03-10-10) When I was mounting upon ever higher crests of His joy, I asked myself whether there was no limit to the increase of bliss and almost I grew afraid of God's embraces. Sri Aurobindo (Thoughts and Aphorisms 423) Burst Out from One’s Prison Judging people is one of the first things which must be totally swept away from the consciousness before you can take even a step on the supramental path, because that is not a material progress or a bodily progress, it is only a very little progress of thought, mental progress. And unless you have swept your mind clean of all its ignorance, you cannot hope to take a step on the supramental path. In fact, you h

The Stillness of the Mind (Na Kinchidapin Chintayet) (02-05-10) The Stillness of the Mind ( Na Kinchidapin Chintayet) …….. The stillness of the mind is prepared by the process of concentration. In the science of Rajayoga after the heart has been stilled and the mind prepared, the next step is to subjugate the body by means of asan or the fixed and motionless seat. The aim of this fixity is twofold, first the stillness of the body and secondly the forgetfulness of the body. When one can sit still and utterly forget the body for a long period of time, then the asan is said to have been mastered. In ordinary concentration when the body is only comparatively still it is not noticed, but there is

The Integral Yoga (21-04-10) Distrust the man who has never failed and suffered; follow not his fortunes, fight not under his banner. Sri Aurobindo ( Thoughts and Aphorisms308) The Integral Yoga In the integral Yoga, the integral life down even to the smallest detail has to be transformed, to be divinised. There is nothing here that is insignificant, nothing that is indifferent. You cannot say, “When I am meditating, reading philosophy or listening to these conversations I will be in this condition of an opening towards the Light and call for it, but when I go out to walk or see friends I can allow myself to forget all about it.” To persist in this attitude means that you will remain unt

Life Divine (21-11-10) Life Divine Our endeavour has been to discover what is the reality and significance of our existence as conscious beings in the material universe and in what direction and how far that significance once discovered leads us, to what human or divine future. Our existence here may indeed be an inconsequential freak of Matter itself or of some Energy building up Matter, or it may be an inexplicable freak of the Spirit. Or, again, our existence here may be an arbitrary fantasy of a supracosmic Creator. In that case it has no essential significance,—no significance at all if Matter or an inconscient Energy is the fantasy-builder, for then it is at best the stray descri

How to perceive the Divine Guidance? (31-10-10) How to perceive the Divine Guidance? “The difficulties and obstacles met on the path when one wants to attain a certain aim – are they sometimes a sign that this decision, this plan or project was faulty from the beginning and that hence one should not persist or, on the contrary, do these difficulties indicate a victory to be won, a transformation to be attained? Are they a sign that one must persevere and hold fast? I am not speaking here of the decision to follow the path of Yoga, but of the little things connected with work, sports or other activities. In other words, how to recognise and interpret the Guidance which comes through circumstance

Why are We Born, if it is Only to Die? (27-01-10) “Death is the question Nature puts continually to Life and her reminder to it that it has not yet found itself. If there were no siege of death, the creature would be bound forever in the form of an imperfect living. Pursued by death he awakes to the idea of perfect life and seeks out its means and its possibility.” Sri Aurobindo (Thoughts and Glimpses Vol.16,p386) Why are We Born, if it is Only to Die? There seems to be matter enough here for us not to need to go any further. This is a question which every person whose consciousness is awakened a little has asked himself at least once in his life. There is in the depths of the being such

The True Aim of Life (19-06-10) The True Aim of Life Why are we on earth? To find the Divine who is in each of us and in all things. Only one thing is important, it is to find the Divine. ….. The true purpose of life― To live for the Divine, or to live for the Truth, or at least to live for one’s soul. And the true sincerity― To live for the Divine without expecting any benefit from Him in return The Mother CWM Vol. 14, Page 3 – 4 What you must know is exactly the thing you want to do in life. The time needed to learn it does not matter at all. For those who wish to live according to Truth, there is always something to learn and some progress to make. The true aim o

The Reincarnating Soul (04-04-10) The Reincarnating Soul Human thought in the generality of men is no more than a rough and crude acceptance of unexamined ideas; it is sleepy sentry and allows anything to pass the gates which seems to it decently garbed or wears a plausible appearance or can mumble anything that resembles some familiar password. Especially is this so in subtle matters, those remote from the concrete facts of our physical life and environment. Even men who will reason carefully and acutely in ordinary matters and there consider vigilance against error an intellectual or a practical duty, are yet content with the most careless stumbling when they get upon higher and more diffi