Daily Notes and Reflections by Alokda

Atheism is a phase through which the soul must pass in its search towards the Reality that it seeks. Trapped by belief systems and crushed under the weight of dead rituals it breaks free so as to discover a greater and wider Truth. It is this faith inbuilt within the soul that compels it to thus advance.

When belief ends then faith begins, and when we have denied all possible conceptions of God then the ground is cleared for the living experience of That which cannot be captured by any formula or shut in a scripture.

Theist is often satisfied with the image and the shadow. The Atheist is satisfied with his negation of the image. Both miss the greater truth that images, ideas and conceptions are at best scaffoldings and half-way inns towards the soul’s ascension out of a state of Ignorance towards Light and Truth and Freedom and Immortality.

But the atheist is unable to comprehend or find a way to experience That which is beyond Form and yet uses all forms for His Self-expression. If the Theist limits himself to the form, the Atheist limits himself to his temporary incapacity to go beyond the form and come in contact with the Consciousness that inhabits it.

The fact is that the limit of our sight is not the limit of Light, and Truth is wider than all our conceptions and forms.

Emotions, like every other part of nature can be a help or a hindrance to the growth of consciousness.

If moved by the storms of lower passions and sullied by the poison of jealousy and hate, they sap away all our energies and keep us tied to the small and narrow fence of lower nature. The attendant result is suffering and pain or a momentary thrill, followed by exhaustion and indifference and a turning away from the object of love.

Nor does it help to suppress them by the mind since it maims rather than cures. Emotions are a tremendous source of energy, the powerful lever for human actions, often unrecognised but acting swiftly in our thoughts and actions.

What is therefore needed is their purification, and not suppression or a free indulgence. Only a greater and deeper feeling can release us from the lesser, which is a shadow and a limitation. Only Love can cure one of the lesser and distorted forms that love has taken in our human nature.

To try bringing out this deeper love from within, to love unselfishly, without expectation or preference and prejudice, to give oneself to the Divine and His creation in a sublime love that seeks nothing in return is the way to turn emotions into a powerful instrument for progress.

Thus purified, refined, uplifted, they not only become instruments for the growth of consciousness but also give us the key to the doors of delight that we knowingly or unknowingly seek.

It is often said that religion is the birthplace of fundamentalism.

This is true only if we limit our idea of religion to a set of fixed rituals and narrow dogmas, especially when we believe that our conception of God, our Scripture, our way of life is the only true way. It is this exclusivity that makes a fertile breeding ground for fundamentalism.

But this exclusivity is not the sole property of religions. A scientist vehemently denying God even without taking a serious quest, an ideologue believing his ideology to be the only one that can save mankind and the world, are equally prone to fundamentalism. It may not translate into violent actions that seek to eliminate the ‘non-believers’ but oppose them with loud voices trying to stifle what it does not believe in.

It is therefore not religion but narrowness and an intellectual shallowness, an inability to deeper into the very heart of things, an incapacity to search for higher and higher truths, an intolerance of all that has a different way of life and conception of Reality is the birthplace of fundamentalism.

But Religion, Science, Idealism all have a positive side in their search for a better state and condition of human living. If their different approaches can fuse in a common aspiration, then we may discover something of THAT Reality which exceeds both Science and Religion, is beyond ideas and idealism and yet is the secret Source of all.

The Mother reveals to us the truth that Sri Aurobindo’s symbol represents as follows:

“The descending triangle represents Sat-Chit-Ananda. The ascending triangle represents the aspiring answer from matter under the form of life, light and love. The junction of both—the central square—is the perfect manifestation having at its centre the Avatar of the Supreme— the lotus. The water—inside the square—represents the multiplicity, the creation.”

It is not enough to know the meaning of this symbol intellectually. Like a mantra, like the yantra of tantric worshippers we can meditate upon this symbol and on the Truth that it represents.

It means to know Sri Aurobindo not only as the Master of Integral Yoga but also and more importantly as the Avatar who has descended into creation in response to the human aspiration for Light and Love and Life Divine. He brings with Him as a gift to creation the perfect consciousness and the Supramental creation of the Future.

It is the meeting of the two, – of the human aspiration for terrestrial Perfection and the Divine answer that leads to the ascension of our soul out of the state of Ignorance and mortality into a state of Freedom and Truth and Immortality. It is by His advent that the earth and humanity become ready to manifest the Supramental Perfection.

The Mother reveals to us the truth that Her symbol represents as follows:

“The central circle represents the Divine Consciousness. The four petals represent the four powers of the Mother. The twelve petals represent the twelve powers of the Mother manifested for Her work. It is the symbolic design of the white Lotus of Supreme Consciousness, with the Mahashakti (the form of the Mother as universal creation) at the centre in her four aspects and twelve attributes.”

In other words, this is a dynamic symbol representing the Mother’s action starting with Her Presence in the center to a complete transformation of human nature spreading through the various parts of his being, – mind, heart, life and body, including our outer nature also in its scope so that our very thoughts and feelings and actions embody and express the twelve powers and attributes.

To make this symbol into a living inner Truth of our being we must cast out the ego-self from the centre of life and throne in its place the Divine Consciousness at the centre.

Instead of making life a field for the satisfaction of desires we must offer the powers of our mind and heart and life and body so that She can pour Her Powers into these earthly instruments and make them vessels and channels of Her Force.

Our outer nature too must open to Her and receive and express the Divine Qualities and attributes rather than our present animality and humanity which are but distortions and shadows of the Reality that stands behind these movements.

This is the worship of the Mother, so that becoming conscious of Her as a living Presence our entire life becomes a flawless and faithful, pure and perfect expression of Her Will.

The darkness is dense and clouds assail the sky, denying the sun an unhindered passage to the earth.

Yet the Light grows and the children of Sun throw themselves into the darkness until it cleaves and gives way. In the end it is the drop of Light that conquers.

This is the faith we must always keep alive and burning in our hearts and trust that after the storms and the nightmare there is the day break and the victory.

Look at a River. Watch it flow through varied landscapes, hills and valleys and plains and forests, through boulders and rocks and yet, it always finds its way.

Three things the river teaches us. First to remember the Origin, to stay connected with it. This is the secret of its force and strength. It is the power that impels it from its source filling it with fresh energy and the joy of constant progression.

Second, to remember the Goal. It must flow towards the ocean becoming a beautiful link between the silent snowy summits mating with the vast sky, and the deep blue sea, the vastness of earth upholding a million forms of life.

It knows where to go and the path opens up and forms of itself. It does not flow along a prefixed pre-determined path, but impelled by the power of the Origin and the knowledge of the Goal, it moves forward. As it thus moves, it turns everything into a path, now carrying them along, now skirting around them but always at the end finding its way to the goal, enriching itself, in the journey.
Everything becomes for it a stepping stone on the way, for it never forgets the Goal. Finally, it never dries up for it gives as it goes and always remains connected to the inexhaustible source from which it is born.

Not limited, self-centred and contained like the pond, it never dries up, nor does it become dirty or stale, since it has learnt the secret of constant progression and through it a constant renewal of forces and energies.

The first step is to recognize the mistake. Not to justify the anger even if there was a clear provocation. One must know it as a weakness that has to be conquered whatever be the challenge one meets on the way.

Do not try to change others. It is the most fruitless exercise. Learn to accept people as they are. Be generous knowing that none is perfect. This gives rise to love and compassion.

Do regular workouts and practice deep breathing and meditation to call in Peace and Equanimity.

Keep the will not to repeat it. This may or may not be possible to achieve in a single stroke. But the will must not give up and not accept the suggestion that we cannot do anything, are helpless etc.

Offer the anger to the Divine with a sincere will to get rid of it.

Read books that are inspiring and show the noble side of life, and avoid company of those who are full of anger, because whatever is cleansed by the Grace can return by contamination.

Defects of nature and insincerity are part and parcel of human nature. While it is good to recognise them and work upon them, they should not become our main focus.

The focus should be on beauty and light and love and peace to which we aspire and which is there embedded in every heart. Unfortunately, the crust of millenniums covers it.

But the Grace is there always ready to Help and its touch can and does remove them, bringing light and peace in each and every corner of our being.

The important thing is to keep moving deeper and deeper into our soul-space and to keep calling the Grace from Above through constant remembrance. All the rest will come in due course of time.