Man's Origins Part1

1323
NOTES ON IMAGES SEEN IN MARCH 1914

The Evolutionary Scale.

We shall see how the thought of God works itself out in Life. The material world is first formed with the Sun as centre, the Sun [ ]1 being itself only a subordinate star of the great Agni, Mahavishnu, in whom is centred the Bhu. Mahavishnu is the Virat Purusha who as Agni pours Himself out into the forms of sun and star. He is Agni Twasht´
a, Visvakarman, he is also Praj´

apati and Matariswan. These are the three primal Purushas of the earth life,Agni Twashta, Praj´

apati &Matariswan, all of them soul bodies of Mahavishnu. Agni Twashta having made the Sun out of the Apas or waters of being, Prajapati as Surya Savitri enters into the Sun and takes possession of it. He multiplies himself in the Suris or Solar Gods who are the souls of the flames of Surya, the Purushas of the female solar energies. Then he creates out of this solar body of Vishnu the planets each of which successively becomes the Bhumi or place of manifestation for Manu, the mental being, who is the nodus of manifest life-existence and the link between the life and the spirit. The present earth in its turn appears as the scene of life, Mars being its last theatre. In the Bhumi Agni Twashta is again the first principle, Matariswan the second, finally, Prajapati appears in the form of the four Manus, chatv´

aro manavah. Not in the physical world at first, but in the mental world which stands behind the earth-life; for earth has seven planes of being, the material of which the scenes and events are alone normally visible to the material senses, the vital of which man’s pranakosha is built and to which it is responsive, the mental to which his manahkosha is attached, the ideal governing his vijnanakosha, the beatific which supports his anandakosha, & the dynamic and essential to which he has not yet developed corresponding koshas, but only unformed nimbuses of concrete being. All the gods throw out their linga-rupas into these worlds of earth and through them carry on her affairs; for these lingas repeat there in the proper terms of life upon earth the conscious movements of the gods in their higher existences in the worlds above Bhu. The Manus manifested in the Manoloka of Bhu bring pressure to bear upon the earth for the manifestation of life and mind. Prajapati as Rudra then begins to form life upon earth, first in vegetable, then in animal forms. Man already exists but as a god or demigod in Bhuvarloka of Bhu, not as a man upon earth. There he is Deva, Asura, Rakshasa, Pramatha, Pisacha, Pashu or as Deva he is either Gandharva[,] Yaksha, Vidyadhara or any of the Karmadevas. For Man is a son of the Manu and is assigned his place in Div & Pradiv, in Heaven & in the Swargabhumis. Thence he descends to earth and thither from earth he returns. All that will be explained afterwards. When the human body is ready, then he descends upon earth and occupies it. He is not a native of earth, nor does he evolve out of the animal. His manifestation in animal form is always a partial incarnation, as will be seen hereafter...

Mahavishnu

n Hinduism, Mahavishnu (Devanāgarī: महाविष्णु) is an aspect of Vishnu, the Absolute which is beyond human comprehension and is beyond all attributes. In Vaishnavite theology, the term is similar to Brahman and Almighty Absolute Supreme Personality of Godhead. Precisely, this means that Absolute truth is realized as Brahman (first - impersonal) then as Paramatma and then as Bhagavan. Then goes bhakti to Bhagavan, Krishna (Vishnu, Narayana). So bhakti surpasses even yoga which is aimed on Supersoul, Paramatma. Mahavishnu is Supersoul of all living beings (jivaatmas) in all material universes. It is also often used interchangeably with Vishnu to indicate reverence, as the prefix "Mahā" exalts the noun to which it is attached.

Mahavishnu is said to lie in the causal ocean or the Karanodak. He puts the seed of this material universe in Mahāmāyā by glancing at her. Mahāmāyā remains the ever obedient material energy of the Supreme Lord. All the natural elements including sky, fire, water, air and ether are created along with mind, intelligence and false ego.

After this Mahavishnu enters each of the many universes so created (seeds emerging from the pores of His skin). Garbhodaksayi Vishnu lays down in each and every of these individual material universes (Brahmandas). It can be interpreted that Garbodakshayi Vishnu is the collective of all souls in a particular material universe and Mahavishnu is the collective of all souls in all of the material universes.

From the Garbodakshayi Vishnu, then emerges Brahmā who is the secondary creator (due to his need to meditate to create planets in the material universe) of the planetary systems within particularly this material universe (Brahmanda).

Maha-Vishnu is an expansion of Sankarshana.

source:wikipedia

Egoistic Faith

10 June – 29 September 1914
545


Script.

The Devatas are resisting once more the final elevation into the sunlight; but by this struggle they are confirming throughout the nature the ananda of battle and the right ananda of defeat as enjoyable in itself in the samata, but in the activity to be viewed & enjoyed in the light of a step towards victory. In reality the prakasha is there, but it is not yet evenly distributed & pervasive.

The equipment has begun; there will be enough for one year from this July onward for bare expenses. This step gained is only an initial step and the whole viewpoint will have to be changed before long. The means will be Brahminic, danagrahana, Vaisya, literary & commercial, & afterwards, Kshatriya. All these must be done on a large scale, but the Brahminic first. Of these things there is at present no apparent sign.

Samadhi

In swapnasamadhi clear but stationary rupas &scenes of great
stability.
Abdul Baha, stable, repeatedly, the face only. “The time is
coming” in Hindi.

In jagrat bahirdarshi the rupas are exceedingly vivid & have sometimes the first initial stability; only crude images have the longer stability. Reflected images are far more vivid & beautiful, whether of men or things, than their material counterparts.


546
Record of Yoga
The final double affirmation is visibly preparing behind the
obstinate denial opposed to it.

Lipi.

1.It is the egoistic faith that is to be dispelled.
2It is the perfect light that is to dispel the egoistic faith in the
gods in the intellectuality.
3It is the intellectuality that is to accept delight of the ideality.
Script

The egoistic faith now belongs to the devatas who oppose, not to the Jiva which accepts the entire mastery of Krishna. The shadow of their ego falls on the system, but even the system rejects it. That which was ego, is now only personality.
Lipi kaushalya continues to manifest. Spontaneous stability is
again difficult.
Script.

The progress in samadhi is gradual &stepby step, not because it is difficult, but because of the immense mass of resistance opposed to it.The attempts to prevent the triple affirmation are only tem-
porarily successful as the price of great effort; the siddhi always
reasserts itself

Source:SRI AUROBINDO'S RECORD OF YOGA,PG:545,546

Integral Yoga Vs Traditional Yoga

24. PURNA YOGA & THE TRADITIONAL YOGAS

The aim of any yoga is moksha, liberation of the soul from the cycle of births and deaths. In Purna Yoga the aim is not liberation of the soul but transformation of human life into Divine Life. To start this Yoga the soul is to be liberated, but not from the cycle of birth and death. The soul is to be liberated from ego and desire. The soul that seeks its own liberation while millions of other souls languish in darkness is expressing an egoistic desire. In Purna Yoga the human soul must renounce the desire for individual salvation and lend its liberated status as an instrument for the greater fulfilment of the original Divine Intention.

Hatha Yoga, Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Tantra, and Raja Yoga are the main lines of Indian Yoga. In all these yogas, the system chooses one part and purifies it through austerities. Purification leads to the liberation of that Purusha, the Purusha of that part. Through that initial liberation they attain Moksha, i.e. give liberation to the Jivatma. Hatha Yoga’s instrument is the body. It liberates the Annamaya Purusha and attains final liberation of Jivatma through that. Jnana Yoga uses thought in the mind as the instrument to work on and attains the desired result, initially releasing Manomaya Purusha. Raja Yoga uses the whole mind to achieve the same result. Bhakti Yoga and Karma Yoga use the vital and will respectively. All Indian Yogas use one part of the human being. Purna Yoga uses all the parts of the being—mind, vital and body—and seeks the release of Psychic being from the domination of nature, the Prakriti. It is called Purna Yoga because its instrument is the whole being.

In our tradition Kundalini awakens and rises through the chakras in the heart between the brows and the head and joins the thousand-petalled Lotus above the head yielding Moksha through Samadhi. In Purna Yoga the entire process is in the reverse. The Yogi releases the psychic being hidden behind the heart from the ego and desire. The Psychic comes out and hastens the purification of the entire instrument. This opens the thousand–petalled Lotus, first and lets the higher spiritual force descend through all the chakras down to the Kundalini, which is awakened at the end

In the tradition we use one part to liberate the whole. This being an arduous task, naturally serious austerities are called for. Asanas, Pranayama, Japa, Mantra, Tantra, etc. are resorted to. In Purna Yoga, as the whole being is the instrument and the sadhak is not the human being but the Divine Itself, the path is broad. Hence all narrow austerities are avoided. Methods needed here are sincerity and aspiration. Only, they must be total and intense.

Tradition employs physical methods. Purna Yoga eschews physical methods and resorts to only spiritual and psychological methods.

Tantra Yoga, which occupies a place of pride in Yogas, starts with the dictum that MAN is a soul in the body. Purna Yoga begins with the assumption that MAN is a soul in the mind.

It is customary for the Jnani to look down upon the ignorant Bhakta, and the Karma Yogi frowns on the Jnana as insubstantial, etc. Each yoga is inimical to the other. In Purna Yoga, not only are all these three systems included, but each leads to the other, to finally integrate the effort.

Indian Yoga is a life-shunning path. Purna Yoga declares that all life is Yoga and embraces life in its fold. Rishis, Munis, Yogis, when displeased, are known to spell out a curse. Purna Yoga has as its experiential base ‘all life is divine’. It does not lend itself to curse anyone. If in its path an obstacle is laid, it looks into itself to remove the deep-seated curse, the eternal falsehood.

Traditional Yogas purify one part of the being and the ego of that part is dissolved, while the egos of the other parts remain. In Purna Yoga the ego in every part must be wiped out to bring the psychic being forward, the very first requirement.

Traditional yoga is done in the hermitages in the forest, away from life. Purna Yoga accepts life, lives it as the Divine Wills it to be lived, so that Life is divinised.

Guru is all in our tradition and even replaces God as far as the Sishya is concerned. The guru is God. Purna Yoga does not seek or accept a human guru. The Jagat Guru, the world Teacher in the heart of the sadhaka, is the only Guru.

Yogis pray to the gods Shiva, Vishnu, Krishna to grant them boons in their Yoga. The gods assent and grant the prayers. The Gods help the Yogi in his Yogic realisation. Purna Yoga aims at bringing down the power of the Vignana Loka, the Supramental plane that is above the plane of the gods, the overmental plane. If gods are accepted by the sadhaka, his yogic achievement will be limited by the limitation of gods, unless the participating god himself seeks spiritual progress through Purna Yoga.

Practice of this Yoga is not governed by Asanas, Pranayama, dress regulation, diet restriction, auspicious hours or even Mantras. Even meditation occupies a place of less importance here, not the pride of place accorded usually.

Indian tradition does not encourage women to take to sannyasa, yoga or Tapas. In certain disciplines there is even a prohibition. Mother accepts women with the same eagerness as men into Her fold. The only criterion for Mother is the fitness for yoga.

Our tradition says—and Sri Aurobindo also has said the same thing—that in sleep every human being goes to Satchidananda to be spiritually energised. The stone stillness of sleep enables the soul to raise itself to that height. Purna Yoga demands the same type of inner stillness in activity for its accomplishment.

Gods

15. GODS

Mother always had several types of relationships with the Gods. She once saw a film on Anusuya, the wife of a rishi. Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva appeared before Anusuya and asked food to be served by her naked. Anusuya turned the Tirumurthis into babies by the power of her chastity and served them food. Mother commented that it was a lovely story. Mother explained that through her devotion Anusuya invoked the Supreme to come to the rescue of her husband against the erratic wishes of the Tirumurthis.

Mother used to conduct meditation in the hall and several gods, goddesses and rishis used to regularly participate in the meditation. She said they perched themselves on the cornices of the meditation hall pillars. Durga came every year a day or two before the puja for Durga. Mother spoke to Durga about surrender to the Supreme. This concept was new to Durga and she was intrigued. Later she understood. Durga explained that the gods never thought of surrender. It was not their way. When Durga understood and offered surrender to the Supreme, she enjoyed the new experience.

Once Mother spoke to the sea god and asked him not to disturb her work by encroaching into her building. Mother had heard a lot about Ganesh. One day she meditated to see him. She saw him approaching with his trunk and a smile. She was surprised that he did exist. He was happy to do anything for Mother. Mother expressed her need for money for the work. He agreed to do his part. Mother said that for ten years money flowed in constantly. Later she took up work in America. By that time money had dried up. She called Ganesh and asked him what happened to his promise. Ganesh expressed his inability, saying that Mother’s need was too big and his resources were limited. Mother explained that since people in America had no knowledge or faith in Ganesh, he could not give her money for work in America.

A Ganesh temple near the Ashram was being renovated and there was not enough space on one side. Ganesh came to Mother and asked her for space from one of her adjacent buildings. Mother called her people and arranged for it.

Mother returned to her room one day and found Shiva standing there. He was as tall as the room. His head reached the ceiling. She had a conversation with him and he said he was willing to help her. She wanted her physical ego to be eliminated. Shiva consented and the next moment the sensation in the cells showed that the dissolution of her physical ego had begun. She told Sri Aurobindo what had happened. He felt it was not necessary at that time. Immediately every movement in Mother’s cells stopped.

Mother had asked Shiva and Krishna to incarnate in the body of Sri Aurobindo to expedite his mission. Shiva was unwilling and said he would come after the advent of the Supermind. Krishna agreed and entered into Sri Aurobindo’s body. Mother says she saw with her own eyes Krishna incarnating in Sri Aurobindo’s body. She reported all that to Sri Aurobindo and found that he was not interested.

Sri Aurobindo used to say that he never wanted to be limited by the gods. The gods belong to the overmental plane. Their dimension, Mother says, belongs to the dimension of earth. Overmind is a plane where the full power of truth does not exist. It is a plane where truths can protect themselves and act, eliminating the destructive influence of ignorance. Overmind brings together several truths to act in unison. Krishnavatar came from this plane. The color of this plane is blue. Sri Aurobindo explained to Mother that the overmental truth had no power to transform ignorance into knowledge. It can function successfully protecting its truth and avoiding the warping influence of ignorance. Truth is self-existent in the next plane of Supermind. Here there is no ignorance. Power of Supermind can enter into ignorance, reach its foundation of truth, unite all of them and from there transform ignorance into knowledge. Without that seed of truth, however little, neither ignorance, nor evil, nor falsehood, nor even hostility can exist. Beings of the supramental plane are of the dimension of the universe. On February 29, 1956 when the Supermind descended, Mother found herself as big as the universe and in a golden form. The gods have a limitation when they come to function in the supramental plane. Sri Aurobindo had declared he never wanted to be limited by the gods in his work.

After 1950, Mother sometimes took to walking. She was walking daily on the verandah outside Sri Aurobindo’s room. After a few days, she found Krishna walking alongside her. Much later, she found Sri Aurobindo instead of Krishna walking with her. These were adorable moments in her life. She remarked to Sri Aurobindo how nice it was to walk with him. It was much better than the other work she was doing. From that day onwards, he stopped coming. After sometime Mother found that, when she walked on the verandah, She was followed by HERSELF.