Daily Questions

Q: I have done so many mistakes, will Maa forgive me? I have impure desires, may be I am not fit at all for yoga?

A: If the Divine were to judge then there would be no hope for anyone. Even the highest human goodness is almost always motivated by selfishness or for some personal gain, here or hereafter. Could there be any greater sin, if you want to use this word, than selfishness?

Besides all our deeds are done in ignorance of the Divine Will thereby causing much misery in the world. Can there be any greater error, if error we may call it, then doing things not aligned to the Divine Will? Besides whom will She judge? Is not the entire universe Herself moving towards the intended Divine Perfection?

So while it is good to note our insincerities and weaknesses and try to correct them by a steady application of our will, we must not mistake this need for developing sincerity into the sense of sin and forgiveness etc.

Here are a few words from the Mother Herself that give us hope as always:

“What value have our impulses and our desires, our anguish and our violence, our sufferings and our struggles, all these inner vicissitudes unduly dramatised by our unruly imagination—what value do they have before this great, this sublime and divine love bending over us from the innermost depths of our being, bearing with our weaknesses, rectifying our errors, healing our wounds, bathing our whole being with its regenerating streams?

For the inner Godhead never imposes herself, she neither demands nor threatens; she offers and gives herself, conceals and forgets herself in the heart of all beings and things; she never accuses, she neither judges nor curses nor condemns, but works unceasingly to perfect without constraint, to mend without reproach, to encourage without impatience, to enrich each one with all the wealth he can receive; she is the mother whose love bears fruit and nourishes, guards and protects, counsels and consoles; because she understands everything, she can endure everything, excuse and pardon everything, hope and prepare for everything; bearing everything within herself, she owns nothing that does not belong to all, and because she reigns over all, she is the servant of all; that is why all, great and small, who want to be kings with her and gods in her, become, like her, not despots but servitors among their brethren.” The Mother, CWM 2:42-43

Q: If material things are not the reason for happiness, and forcing a smile each day no matter what goes on in my life is not an answer, then how do I remain happy? How can one stay happy without practically doing something?

A: It is true that ordinarily we need either to do something or meet someone to feel happiness. In other words our happiness is most often object-dependent.

But if we look carefully these events or activities are actually triggers that opens some inner door to happiness within us. If it was the object itself then everyone would be happy with the same things and in the same way or through the same event. But that is not the case. The triggers often differ. Also much depends upon the value we give to the object. This value itself depends a lot upon the objective we have in life. Now if we take just one step further we shall see that this valuation and objectives are often merely a conditioning received from society and others. In other words a lot of happiness and its association with some outer activity or event is merely a habit or a conditioning. It is like some are happy reading a book, others doing exercises whereas still others eating food. There are again many variations in the type of book or food or exercises that will open the door to happiness. This is one type of happiness which though seems like object dependent yet has its real reasons within, in our unique conditioning and habit and values.

However we all experience another kind of happiness as well, though perhaps not too often (or more likely we just fail to notice it). These are simply moments when a breath of freshness passes over our life and we feel a peace and a joy for no apparent reason. Here we may say that the inner door to happiness opens spontaneously as an act of Grace and for no known reasons. Experience suggests that when this happens we can experience happiness even when the circumstances are most contrary to it.

Mystics have found the ways and means to open this inner door or even to keep it open all the time. If one can do it then one perfects the art of being happy all the time even if one is apparently doing nothing. However this doing nothing simply means doing nothing tangible and visible. Yet there is an inner action going on. It is in the shifting the needle of consciousness and applying the key to open this inner door. This too is an action. Later of course when the door is permanently open then the action may shift to other fields and one has to do nothing for feeling happy. This does not mean that one does not play or eat or do exercises or enjoys the food one takes. One does all this but no more to get happiness. They may be done to diversify or multiply the inner joy or for other reasons but not for finding joy. The possibility of opening this inner door is within everybody’s reach. The key is also given to all of us. we just have to learn to apply it and persist until the door opens. Then all depression is chased away and there is peace and joy evermore and many other things besides.

Affectionately, Alokda

Everything can be made use of for the spiritual life including ritualistic worship (पूजा पाठ). It all depends on the inner attitude with which we approach things. One may engage in the most ordinary seeming act and do it with love and care and devotion as a means of worship and service to the Lord. On the other hand, one may do pooja everyday, visit places of worship, even sit for meditation as a mechanical duty or else for some personal selfish gains. It is the spirit that is most important and not the act alone. Religious life stops with belief and action in tune with the belief. Spiritual life goes on to discover and become one with God through various means and processes that are generally termed as yoga.

It is true that certain actions make a person more easily connect with God. Worship of God in a concrete physical way can be a beautiful preparation of the heart for awakening devotion and faith. But for this to happen it should be felt as a spontaneous need within and the relation formed with the Deity we worship should be living and real. This cannot be if the pooja is enforced too much as a ritual for all to follow, especially when fear and desire is associated with it to a large extent. If done as part of conformity to a religious group to which one belongs by birth then it can often stifle the spiritual impulse by giving one the false satisfaction that one is doing what one is supposed to do as prescribed in the religious text and enforced through a narrow, rigid dogmatic belief system. True Spiritual growth, on the other hand, invariably requires a certain degree of freedom and plasticity to evolve towards a genuine change. After God is free and infinite. He is everywhere and in everything. One cannot limit His workings and intelligence to a simple set of dos and don’ts, however useful these things may be at a certain stage of our evolution.

The core of spirituality is not the act but the motive force and the idea behind it. True spiritual life begins with an aspiration, a seeking for the Divine, to discover and become one with Him. Whatever helps in process is good whether it be a ritualistic worship or doing one’s work with dedication to God for the joy of serving Him. Besides it will also depend upon the stage of evolution. Most need a tangible outer support such as idol worship and scriptural reading for their growth. Others prefer the way of inner meditation and prayer. What counts in the end is the inner sincerity, the will and faith behind that supports the outer movement rather than the outer action itself, be it pooja or something else.

Perhaps you are referring to Sri Aurobindo’s letter to his Barin in 1920 where he speaks of the importance of Sangha saying that what one can achieve collectively is much more than what one can achieve individually. Later he himself clarified that the Ashram is not a Sangha but a field of growth individually. It is only in 8 after the Supramental Manifestation that the Mother spoke of the Ashram having become a collectivity. She added that this collectivity was not limited to the Ashram but contained all who had turned towards the teachings of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo.

‘For a very long time the Ashram was only a gathering of individuals, each one representing something, but as an individual and without any collective organisation. They were like separate pawns on a chess-board—united only in appearance—or rather by the purely superficial fact of living together in the same place and having a few habits in common—not even very many, only a few. Each one progressed—or didn’t progress—according to his own capacity and with a minimum of relations with others. So, in accordance with the value of the individuals constituting this odd assemblage, one could say that there was a general value, but a very nebulous one, with no collective reality. This lasted a very long time—very long. And it is only quite recently that the need for a collective reality began to appear—which is not necessarily limited to the Ashram but embraces all who have declared themselves—I don’t mean materially but in their consciousness—to be disciples of Sri Aurobindo and have tried to live his teaching. Among all of them, and more strongly since the manifestation of the supramental Consciousness and Force, there has awakened the necessity for a true communal life, which would not be based only on purely material circumstances but would represent a deeper truth, and be the beginning of what Sri Aurobindo calls a supramental or gnostic community…. He has said, of course, that, for this, the individuals constituting this collectivity should themselves have this supramental consciousness; but even without attaining an individual perfection—even while very far from it—there was at the same time an inner effort to create this “collective individuality”, so to speak. The need for a real union, a deeper bond has been felt and the effort has been directed towards that realisation.’

In other words this collectivity is not limited to the physical Ashram which itself is a condensation of the subtle Ashram which is in the subtle Space that connects all who are turned towards and trying to live the truth of Sri Aurobindo’s teaching regardless of their physical location. In fact even before 1950, in fact right from the beginning there have been as many disciples of Sri Aurobindo living outside Pondicherry as in the Ashram.

What is true however is that it helps immensely to visit the Ashram and breath the atmosphere around the Samadhi, recharge oneself and then return back to the place where one is engaged in the sadhana of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother.

Anxiety is primarily due to the sense of uncertainty about the future.  The uncertainty may arise either because of the sense of inadequacy within or the enormity of the world around us. This is the root.

How are we to get rid of this? By constantly reminding ourselves that in our origin and essence we are not small, limited, helpless creatures but a portion of the Divine.  If that is difficult, then anything that can help us give the sense of the Divine Power is good, for example prayers.

You can also divert the mind from anxious foreboding through work and games. Games especially help build confidence by increasing the secretion of endorphins. Calming methods such as deep breathing, mantra, music, calling peace are all helpful in anxiety management.

A simple practice is to step back and see the relative importance of the events and circumstances that we anticipate and get worried about.

Regular practice of asanas and especially deep relaxation with or without imagery can be one of the most effective means of eventually saying goodbye to anxiety. 

The Divine Mother always exists in Her Universal and Transcendent, JagatJanani and ParaShakti aspects, but She incarnates in a human body with a specific purpose and for a special work when it could not be done otherwise. It is the same as with the Avatars of the Ishwara wherein each Avatar takes up a special and specific work for which he alone has the mandate.

The Yoga of transformation can only be undertaken and fulfilled by the Mother. In this way and for this reason the Avatar, even though an aspect of the Ishwara, is in certain ways greater in terms of the specific work that he comes to fulfil.

The Divine Mother is always available to help, to bless, to heal, to succour or to give freedom, peace, wisdom, love and bliss as well as countless other boons and gifts which equally can be granted by the incarnate Mother in human form.

The Superman is the intermediary between Man as he is now and the Supramental being. The Superman is someone who is born in the usual normal human animal way but his inner consciousness is transformed enough to belong to the higher kind. It is the Superman who will subsequently lead the way to the fully transformed (inner and outer, including physical transformation) Supramental being.

As with any mantra, the pronunciation and meaning are helpful for the fullness of the effect of Savitri. For that matter the rhythm is even more important and that depends more on the right pauses and intonation than pronunciation alone.

However if that were a precondition very few, including many English speaking readers, would qualify to read it. What is much more important is to read a little everyday, to read slowly and with sufficient quietude and then meditate upon the lines that have been read.

There is another way which can be combined with the former. It is to read with faith and aspiration in the heart knowing that it is the Word-body of Sri Aurobindo, a living reality draped in word and sound. If one does it with sufficient faith then the rhythm begins to emerge from within and the mantric power works bypassing all the rules and cannons of reading.

If one wants to know how to read it is best to hear the Mother’s readings of Savitri that are available on this website.

QUESTION:

How do you define feminine and masculine? If the Divine is genderless, does it affect rigidity of gender qualities of those on the path? You mentioned that Sri Aurobindo said that the psychic being is on the feminine side – how opening to it affects the aspirant?

ASNWER FROM ALOKDA:

Surely the Divine is beyond gender. He or She or That or It or the Self of self, Sacchidananda, cannot be defined or confined to the human mental categories. Yet this much we can say that there are two sides to the One Divine Reality, the passive Witness who watches over the Creation in a state of utter Transcendence. He is the Eternal and Infinite beyond Time and Space, the Knower who becomes the object of Knowledge. He is the Silence that is behind everything aa well as in everything. He is the Self of self, pure Existence, the One without a second. But there is another aspect of the One. It is the dynamic impulsion, knowledge and power that brings out and weaves creation in a stupendous dance. She conceives the One in innumerable ways giving form and name and qualities for the One to dwell in Space and Time. It is to these two aspects of the One that the terms masculine or Ishwara and feminine or Shakti is given.

In creation it takes the form of apparently static (in a relative sense) such as sky, mountains, stars, space that the masculine gender is used. It is associated with qualities and attributes of wideness, knowledge that holds the Idea within, strength that provides stable basis. Love that is wide and Impersonal, Perfection that is static and preserves the type, the Peace of the Immutable. The feminine is associated with creative conception that throws out a million idea-forces in the manifestation, the Wisdom that governs each element of creation, the Power that builds and destroys through a dynamic ecstatic dance, the Love that binds all things in a stupendous harmony and charm of beauty, the perfection that is ever evolving towards greater and higher possibilities, the bliss that runs as a sap in creation.

So as we see masculine and feminine are not two different set of qualities but two different modes of functioning of each quality. Wisdom watching from above and looking upon creation from the poise of Knowledge is masculine whereas the same Wisdom leaning upon earth in Compassion to heal and save is feminine. Strength self-contained, held back in a supreme quietude is masculine whereas Strength rushing to battle and protect and change the slow trudge of Time into a swift movement is feminine. Love that glows as an Impersonal beatitude is masculine whereas love that leans into the abyss to build the home of beauty in a house of stone is feminine.

However, in the course of evolution, Nature, for the sake of her inferior play builds some forms with a predominantly masculine and other with predominantly feminine tendencies. It creates a natural attraction between the passive and dynamic aspects that are in affinity with each other. In human beings it takes the form of idealised mentality in men and the idealised emotions in women thus completing and supporting and fulfilling each other.

As to the spiritual consciousness when contacted through the psychic door it brings in the feminine aspects of dynamic love and service to the Divine with an urge for progress and help in the Divine Work. When contacted through the idealised mentality it leads to the experience of the Self, the eternal Witness who watches through the luminous Silence of the Spirit.