Daily Questions

Q: What is the process of consecration for sadhaks and how to do it daily?
Please let me know in detail.

ALOK DA:
The process of consecration can be practiced as follows:

1. To remember and offer the day and each action to the Mother in the beginning aspiring to bring in more Light and Beauty and harmony and Truth and to open oneself to Her light and Force and Peace.

2. Next to remember and offer after the action is over with gratitude.

3. To offer one’s sleep and even the most mechanical movements and routine activities such as sleep, eating, even washing and bathing.

4. Next to remember Her as often as one can during the activity.

5. Finally to cultivate in oneself a state of Remembrance in the background while the outer action is going on.

At the same time the action should be done as perfectly as one can but surrendering the results entirely in Her hands. The Remembrance itself can be aided with the help of Her Name or simply inwardly repeating Maa.

All this has to be done not as a mechanical act or drudgery or with an eye that is monitoring the results but as an act of joy just as one would remember someone one loves.

Q from a seeker:
I have many questions about the psychic being …
Does the psychic have a personalistic quality? From reading Aurobindo it seems that the true inner mental and inner vital are purified forms of the outer versions of these.
Does the psychic being influence our mind?
Does an aspect of mind continue into next birth with the psychic?
What propels what to undergo on the spiritual journey?

ALOK DA:
The psychic being is that part in us that is turned towards the Divine. Aware of its immortality, it knows itself as a portion of the Divine Consciousness and hence naturally turns towards the Divine Light, Truth, vastness, Peace, bliss, Love of the Divine. It is in a natural affinity with these higher states.

However, it has entered the earthly play of Time and space so as to lift nature out of the state of darkness and inconscience in which creation has plunged. To do this it identifies itself with the lower nature that operates in division, and takes upon itself all its shades and colourings. It forgets itself, so to say and becomes whatever nature wants it to be. It is dragged by the forces of nature in a hundred directions since thus alone can it eventually accomplish its task.

Then going through life and death and rebirth and countless experiences and situations offered to the psychic being in the course of its journey through many lives, it grows from a spark to a flame and a fire that starts feeling a pull towards the yet unseen Sun of Divine Existence. As it feels a pull upwards, our nature, too tied to it, feels this upsurge that manifests in various ways such as being drawn towards things that have a touch of divinity. Those parts in us that feel the pressure and influence of the psychic being, that have developed to an extent, start feeling attracted towards divine things. The mind, filled with information and satisfied with superficial knowings, begins to experience a Godward seeking, at first expressing indirectly in the form of being drawn towards ‘spiritual books and spiritual Masters’.

This changes into a conscious seeking, a conscious aspiration that may take various forms such as the urge to serve the Divine, to be one with HIM etc. Along with this a true faith (as distinct from belief into a religion of our birth), devotion or bhakti, the spirit of surrender and sacrifice to the Divine begins to grow and take hold of our consciousness more and more. Experiences of another dimension, be it the feeling of inner Peace or Light or the awakening of faculties of inspiration, intuition, revelation etc. begin to dawn upon us, thereby preparing our nature, operating still under division, to start operating on the basis of oneness. The grip of the ego loosens and we begin to feel a natural pull inwards towards the seat of the psychic being and the Divine Presence within. With this pull, meditation becomes more and more spontaneous. Guidance begins to come from within us, and peace and felicity become a daily visitant and then a permanent guest. Our nature begins to share the refinement of the psychic being, and the cruder elements of our nature start dropping off spontaneously. Sensitivity towards divine things grows within and along with the divine qualities such as compassion, sincerity, gratitude occupy our house of mud and clay.

Thus slowly a psychic personality is formed with the true mental, true vital and the true physical around it. The true mental etc. are those parts of nature that have been rescued from the law of ignorance and have become an instrument and channel for the soul forces to pour upon the world. When the psychic personality reaches its full development, then it is free while under the conditions of the ignorance. It can choose then to merge into the Infinite, or come back as a Jivanmukta to help others, or else and along with it to participate in a new possibility of growth towards the supramental being. It can also fuse with one of the beings of the higher worlds and thereby become a demi-god.

All this takes time, but an opening to the Grace, a loving surrender, an utter abandon and self-giving to the Grace greatly facilitates the journey and shortens the path. One can further hasten it by treating the recalcitrant elements of nature that refuse to change by convincing them by the higher mind, by putting the soul pressure from within, by stepping back and refusing to give consent to its old ways, by applying steadily the pressure of will. But whatever the effort we apply it is always best to rely upon the Divine Grace and keep offering our efforts to the Grace that is here with all to help our home-coming. The Grace is with all but its most natural door through which IT operates directly without any hindrance is the psychic. Without the psychic opening one can hardly recognise the Grace or turn towards the spiritual path in real earnest.

Hope this touches upon some of the issues in your letter.
Alok Pandey

One of the purposes of rebirth is to experience the infinite on a finite basis. This is generally done by changing the outer circumstances of life. It means being born in different climes and circumstances of life.

Whether the same people will be born together or not depends upon whether they have the same aspiration and the travelers on the same path to the same goal. This is not very common and hence it has been rightly said that ‘children of the same family are rarely born under the same roof.’ In other words we have a physical family which is the family of our birth and it ceases with death of the body. Then there is a family formed by common interests and common thoughts. These may extend beyond one life.

But there is a spiritual family where the bonding and togetherness is due to the common spiritual aspiration. This is the true family and those who come together in this common aspiration generally come or meet together again and again in different lives.

What the Mother describes in the Agenda is not psychic realisation, not even the spiritualisation or the Supramental realisation. All these came much earlier and can be found in the Prayers and Meditations as well as Conversations. What She is describing in the Agenda is the supramental transformation of the cells.
But how did you draw the conclusion that the disciples did not write about the psychic and spiritual realisation? Please read the memoirs of Amrita, Kapali Sastry, Amal Kiran and others.

Yes, there are people even now who have had both psychic as well as spiritual realisations and the cosmic consciousness. Why should they disclose it to you or just about to anybody randomly? If you are sincere seek them out with humility, meet them as a humble seeker and they may share some of the special gems including the psychic realisation if they wish. But you can’t shove a mike on their faces like an inquisitive reporter and force them to disclose their experiences to you simply to satisfy an idle curiosity. These things are not shared like that. The Mother too did not share it publicly. It is after decades that some of Her realisations are freely and publicly available.

By the way how does it matter whether anyone realised anything or not. It is enough that one has the aspiration and has faith in Sri Aurobindo’s words and is thereby willing to undertake the journey even if none before him believed or walked. After all the merit of a spiritual possibility is not decided by a vote as to how many or who all experienced it as if a headmaster is asking students to raise hands and confirm. Your questions shows an approach that will get you nowhere as it smacks of vanity and arrogance rather than humility and seeking.

Yes, faith is a universal truth, it applies to all paths.

There are paths that move along very different lines and mixing them can create confusion. At the same time, certain lines converge, for example Vaishnava bhakti converges in certain ways with Sri Krishna. In general, there are three kinds of paths, very broadly so to say. Those that take us away from the creation as for example the Buddhist approach, those that assure us a dwelling in the Beyond after death such as certain dualist schools, and those that strive to make earth better such as the idea of Rama Rajya, Sri Krishna of the Gita and Sri Aurobindo.

There are common elements in them, and a seeker who knows the goal can pick up helpful elements from different systems such as mind control from the Buddhist system and Raja Yoga. So, a very strict water tight compartment does not exist. Often it can colour bhakti with the ego by thinking my guru is best or the only one and thereby stop progressing. Because it is not so much the human form of the guru but the Divine Presence in him.

One’s seeking may take one beyond the ‘physical guru’ which is not a mixing of faith but a change of the path or a heightening and widening of faith. What is however true is that the surrender has to be to one Guru whom one trusts or has faith in that he will take you to the goal. Assuming of course that the goal is clear because one is conscious of the core aspiration for true spiritual journey begins with that.

Marriage is not necessarily anti-spiritual but generally absorbs a lot of time and energy leaving a little for higher pursuits especially if the two people are not in sync with each other’s aspiration. As to sex, it is a normal and natural instinct which is supposed to serve the purpose of propagation of the species. However, the mind adds to it much perversity to enhance pleasure. In itself it is not a problem if one is seeking pleasure but as far as the spiritual life is concerned it keeps us tied to the gross and crude animal instincts and the excitement and unconsciousness that follows often opens doors to many negative forces that are inimical to a higher life. It keeps the energy tied to lower levels leaving little that could be available for higher ascension.

A progressive shift from the gross and crude to the subtle and the refined ways of life can be done through marriage or without it if one has the sincerity of aspiration. If this critical sincerity and aspiration is missing, merely living single and alone is not enough.

For most people it is perhaps better to go through the experience of human love and togetherness as taken rightly this itself can be a preparation for the spiritual life than staying away out of taboo or fear and guilt and incomprehension. No general rule can be therefore made for these things and each one must feel for oneself.

In each case the circumstances are different, however in a general way we can say that the choices we ought to make should not so much be based on their repercussions on others, not even on ourselves but on what we believe at that point to be true and our highest.

Such is the teaching of the Gita as well where Arjuna is caught in a similar situation inwardly though the context is different. Sri Krishna, the Divine Master bids him to consider neither what the results of this war shall be upon him personally nor upon other but to act from the state of a higher poise, the dharma, the calling at that moment.

Besides it is one thing to have an impact upon our nervous emotional and sensational being and quite another to have an impact upon our soul or our higher self. There are things that seem to have apparently a negative impact upon someone outwardly and yet it may be eventually the best thing that happened to his soul and his growth.

The ideal therefore is to do what you feel and think to be the true thing to do, the right thing from your highest present perspective, the beautiful movement that springs from some deeper inner self. But whatever you decide do it as an offering to God to whom alone the results belong.

The will, like any other part, can be developed like any other part by exercising it. Several exercises can be undertaken for developing the will. For example, a very simple exercise is just being regular and punctual. This simple practice develops the will and trains our nature to act in an organized manner.

Such simple practice can be to take a decision to read a passage from Sri Aurobindo every day at a fixed time and then stick to the decision regardless of whatever difficulty one meets on the way. Or if one has to wait for food or water because it is not ready or available, then instead of getting impatient and angry one practices inner calm until one has freed oneself from the acute pang of hunger and thirst. Or if one has decided to do something but one is feeling lazy doing it, may be taking a walk or reading something or sitting for meditation, one refuses to listen to the laziness and instead goes ahead and does what one must despite the tiredness. Similarly, if one feels an impulse rising within oneself which one is not meant to express then one holds on and holds out rather than giving in to the impulse. Or if one meets with various challenges or difficulties then instead of giving up, one keeps persevering with patience never giving up until one achieves the intended goal. By doing all this one slowly develops one’s will.

Yet there are limits to which human will can strive and strain itself. Therefore, what is advised is to supplement one’s individual human will by offering it to Her Will. This way one goes beyond the limits of one’s own will by joining to the limitless. These are some of the ways that one can augment the will and with practice and Grace strengthen it beyond one could imagine.

Q: I believe that there is no one path for all and that all faiths lead to the same One (Goal), isn’t it true? Then we should expand to enjoy and accept the unity in diversity.

Alokda: There is no one path that is true but not all paths lead to the same goal. What the Sanatan Dharma does say is that the Reality is One, the wise call it by different names, ekam sat vipra bahudha vadanti and not, ekam lakshya nana pathanti.

The Sanatan Dharma does say that the Reality is one but it admits that in the unfolding Truth or Reality does appear differently. The admittance of this evolutionary principle, first of the immortal soul passing through death and rebirth and next, of the collective march of mankind, lokasangrahart, through the cycles and yugas and Avatars is the reason why the Sanatan Dharma has endured. That is how it allowed multiple approaches old and new or else it would have stopped with the Rishis of the Vedas.

Yes, one should not get stuck with mental gymnastics but equally one should not drop the mind. Else the entire beauty of the Gita revealing new truths through the questions of Arjuna would be an exercise in futility. In fact, to make general statements such as ‘all faiths lead to the One’, ‘law of Nature is all’, ‘expand the heart first’ is an example of dropping the mind rather than transcending it. The Sanatan Dharma bids us to ascend beyond the mind and then returning use the mind as an instrument of the Spirit. Sri Krishna even teaches the role of Buddhi, buddhi yoga, as the first step towards karma and bhakti.

Expanding the heart to include all is the straight road to self-destruction if one has not the wisdom or the vision of the One Divine in everything and knows His ways and different dealings with different people. It is in fact not heeding of this advice that has led to India’s fall. But people now-a-days seem to believe they are wiser than Sri Krishna and Sri Aurobindo, not to speak of the great teachings of the Vedas and Upanishads of which one has no idea because all is one and God is great and the hero defending the right and the cowardly robber and violent murderer are all same, law of nature, unity in diversity, call it whatever else.