Sin,Virtue And Evil Part1

We may think that this is an altogether mystical vision of the universe, with very little in common with our daily reality; at every step we encounter ugliness and evil; this world is riddled with pain, saturated with strangled cries. Where is the Divine in all this? Is the Divine that barbarism ever ready to open its torture camps? Or that pervading egoism? Or that villainy, concealed or flaunted? God is innocent of all these crimes. He is perfect. He cannot be a party to this – neti neti – God is so pure that He is not of this world. There is simply no place for Him in all this suffocating squalor! We must look existence in the face if our aim is to arrive at a right solution whatever that solution may be. And to look existence in the face is to look God in the face; for the two cannot be separated.... This world of our battle and labor is a fierce dangerous destructive devouring world in which life exists precariously and the soul and body of man move among enormous perils, a world in which by every step forward, whether we will it or no, something is crushed and broken, in which every breath of life is a breath too of death. To put away the responsibility for all that seems to us evil or terrible on the shoulders of a semi-omnipotent Devil, or to put it aside as a part of Nature, making an unbridgeable opposition between world-nature and God-nature, as if Nature were independent of God, or to throw the responsibility on man and his sins, as if he had a preponderant voice in the making of this world or could create anything against the will of God, are clumsily comfortable devices.... We erect a God of Love and Mercy, a God of good, a God just, righteous and virtuous according to our own moral conceptions of justice, virtue and righteousness, and all the rest, we say, is not He or is not His, but was made by some diabolical Power which He suffered for some reason to work out its wicked will or by some dark Ahriman counterbalancing our gracious Ormuzd, or was even the fault of selfish and sinful man who has spoiled what was made originally perfect by God.... We have to look courageously in the face of the reality and see that it is God and none else who has made this world in His being and that so He has made it. We have to see that Nature devouring her children, Time eating up the lives of creatures, Death universal and ineluctable and the violence of the Rudra¹³⁵ forces in man and Nature are also the supreme Godhead in one of his cosmic figures. We have to see that God the bountiful and prodigal creator, God the helpful, strong and benignant preserver is also God the devourer and destroyer. The torment of the couch of pain and evil on which we are racked is his touch as much as happiness and sweetness and pleasure. It is only when we see with the eye of the complete union and feel this truth in the depths of our being that we can entirely discover behind that mask too the calm and beautiful face of the all-blissful Godhead and in this touch that tests our imperfection the touch of the friend and builder of the spirit in man. The discords of the world are God's discords and it is only by accepting and proceeding through them that we can arrive at the greater concords of his supreme harmony, the summits and thrilled vastness of his transcendent and his cosmic Ananda....¹³⁶ For truth is the foundation of real spirituality and courage is its soul.¹³⁷

Then the wound is healed that seemed forever to divide the world between Satan and Heaven, as if there were nothing else but Good and Evil, with us in between like an infant coddled and whipped into virtuous ways.¹³⁸ All duality is a vision based on Ignorance. There is nothing but the innumerable One¹³⁹ everywhere, and "God's discords" to help the Godhead grow within us. Even so, quite a gap remains between this perhaps divine imperfection and the ultimate Perfection. Is not this cosmic Divine a lesser Divine? Should we not try to find elsewhere an untarnished, transcendent, and perfect Divine? If there is an opposition between the spiritual life and that of the world, it is that gulf which he [the integral seeker] is here to bridge, that opposition which he is here to change into harmony. If the world is ruled by the flesh and the devil, all the more reason that the children of Immortality should be here to conquer it for God and the Spirit. If life is an insanity, then there are so many million souls to whom there must be brought the light of divine reason; if a dream, yet it is real within itself to so many dreamers who must be brought either to dream nobler dreams or to awaken; or if a lie, then the truth has to be given to the deluded.¹⁴⁰

http://www.aurobindo.ru/workings/satprem/adventure_of_consciousness_e.htm#036

Relationship With The Divine

Relationship with the Divine

All is relative except the Supreme. The Supreme alone is absolute; but as the Supreme is at the centre of each being, each being carries in himself his absolute.

After all, it is very simple, we have only to become what we are in the depths of our being.
18 May 1954
There is nothing more beautiful than to unite with the divine Consciousness.
One is sure to find what one seeks ― if one seeks it in all sincerity; for what one seeks is within oneself.

None can say to the Divine, “I have known Thee'', and yet all carry Him in themselves, and in the silence of their soul can hear the echo of the Divine's voice.
13 November 1954
One can live the Divine even though unable to express the Divine, one can realise and be the Divine's infinity though unable to define or explain the Divine.
15 December 1954
For him who is in union with the Divine, everywhere is the Divine's perfect felicity, in every place and in every circumstance it is with him.
17 December 1954
Page 19
Communion with the Divine: for him who has it, all circumstances can truly become an opportunity for it.

The joy of perfect union can come only when what has to be done is done.

“To conquer the Divine is a difficult task.'' I think I have not understood this sentence properly.

Take conquer in the sense of “acquisition'' or “possession''. You might say ― the conquest of the Divine's consciousness is a difficult task.
Commentary: For human beings to become conscious of the Divine and to possess His nature is difficult.

As we progress and purify ourselves of our egoism, our friendship with the Divine becomes more and more clear and conscious.

Friendship with the Divine: delicate, attentive and faithful, ever ready to respond to the smallest appeal.

Closeness to the Divine will always grow with the growth of consciousness, equanimity and love.
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God cannot be taken by violence. It is only through love and harmony that you can reach God.
Be in peace ― my blessings are with you.
13 July 1966
Attachment for the Divine wraps itself around the Divine and finds all its support in Him so as to be sure never to leave Him.

Affection for the Divine: a sweet and confident tenderness that gives itself unfailingly to the Divine.

Intimacy with the Divine: complete surrender to the Divine and total receptivity to His influence, without any conditions to this intimacy.

Intimacy with the Divine in the physical is possible only for the one who lives exclusively by the Divine and for the Divine.

Intimacy with the Divine in the vital: only a pure, calm and desireless vital can hope to have access to this marvellous state.

Intimacy with the Divine in the psychic: the natural state of the fully developed psychic.
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Integral intimacy with the Divine: the entire being no longer vibrates except with the Divine's touch.

It pleases Him to be like that. He is like that.
And simply, the secret is to be in the “it pleases Him''.
Not to be only what is objectified; to be also in That which objectifies. That is everything.

The Omnipresent, Eternal Spirit remains immutably One. The various ways of serving and understanding It make no difference to Its Reality.

(Types of relationships)

The Lord and his Shakti
God and his devotee
The father and his child
The master and his disciple
The Beloved and Lover
The Friend and co-worker
The child and his mother

To give oneself to the Divine, to receive and be the Divine, to transmit and spread forth the Divine: these are the three simultaneous movements which constitute our total relation with the Divine.

The Indo Pakistan War Part2

The Mother
Agenda
Volume 6
September 16, 1965
A member of UNESCO has asked a stupid question, something to this effect: "There was a time when India represented the spiritual consciousness" (or "taught the spiritual consciousness," I don't remember now), "but now that she is engaged in such a war, who will play this role?"...[[Here is the exact text of the question: "If India, who held (till recently) the hope for humanity in the light of her spiritual leaders, can get involved in such a war, who would lead the world?"]] So instead of replying to the question, because I might have told him a thing or two, I answered what you've just read.
Of course! All those Europeans ... for fifty years they have been told about Gandhi, so now they don't understand!
That's right. Let your throat be cut without saying a word.
And here is another text of mine that someone has brought back to life:
"The world situation is critical today. India's fate too is hanging in the balance. There was a time when India was absolutely secure, there was no danger whatever of her being a victim to Asuric aggression. But things have changed. People and forces in India have acted in such a way as to invite Asuric influences upon her; these have worked insidiously and undermined the security that was there...."
May 25, 1941
It dates back to long ago. I was here.
(Sujata:) Long ago, you said, "If there is another war, it will be over India."[[See Sri Aurobindo and Mother on India and Her Destiny, p. 13.]]
Yes, that was long ago.
But when the division between India and Pakistan took place, Sri Aurobindo wrote very strongly: this division MUST go somehow or other, "by whatever means," he said.[[In his message of August 15, 1947, on the occasion of India's independence, Sri Aurobindo wrote: "... The old communal division into Hindus and Muslims seems now to have hardened into a permanent political division of the country. It is to be hoped that this settled fact will not be accepted as settled for ever or as anything more than a temporary expedient. For if it lasts, India may be seriously weakened, even crippled: civil strife may remain always possible, possible even a new invasion and foreign conquest. India's internal development and prosperity may be impeded, her position among the nations weakened, her destiny impaired or even frustrated. This must not be; the partition must go. Let us hope that that may come about naturally, by an increasing recognition of the necessity not only of peace and concord but of common action, by the practice of common action and the creation of means for that purpose. In this way unity may finally come about under whatever form - the exact form may have a pragmatic but not a fundamental importance. But by whatever means, in whatever way, the division must go; unity must and will be achieved, for it is necessary for the greatness of India's future." (Cent. Ed., 26.404-405)]]

And to me he said, "If they can't agree on doing it, they will fight."
And yet, if we give credence to official declarations from Delhi, they don't at all intend to go right to the end. They only intend to "adjust" the border a little.
There was a letter from S.M. this morning, saying that the question would never be resolved unless they ... (gesture sweeping Pakistan away).
Yes, but that's not what the Prime Minister says.
The Prime Minister ... They are all afraid.[[Four days later, on the 22nd, Lal Bahadur Shastri will announce a cease-fire.]] Afraid of world opinion.
Yes, exactly.
At any rate, P. is leaving today for Delhi, and he is taking with him all my "literature" (they hayed asked, "What does Mother say?").
We still have a "Talk" to see for the next Bulletin, don't we? It would be better to finish it.
It will be better to finish preparing the issue early, because ... things may become more difficult.
Is it going to disorganize your work?
Possibly. I told you about the "hurricane" the other day. So China has sent her ultimatum.[[China has given India three days to dismantle its military posts at the borders of Sikkim.]]
I don't understand why they give advance warning by the way. If I were them, I wouldn't.
No, they don't intend to do anything.
They don't intend to do anything?
They want to intimidate without doing anything, and they want to know how the world will react. And America reacted immediately.[[The United States declared that if China attacked, it would come to India's help.]]
(silence)
In Pakistan, there was a firing system of the latest American model, in which they take aim with, I don't know, electrical systems, and they can fire several thousand shots in ... anyway, it's frightening; and shots that reach exactly where they want. It's quite an organization. They've become very efficient. It was given to Pakistan by the Americans. And it had to be destroyed. So one of the Indian pilots went and crashed his plane into it. Naturally, the plane crushed everything - he too was crushed. But the installation was demolished.... People here are capable of such things. If they feel what Sri Aurobindo says in this letter I have just given you, that the leader of our march is the Almighty, if they feel that way ... That's what made the strength of the Japanese in the past. That's what makes the strength of people here, once they are convinced. That's how the Japanese took Port Arthur; there was a sort of ditch around the fortress, as there are in fortified places, and because of that they couldn't get in; well, they let themselves be killed till they were able to walk across on the bodies: the bodies made a bridge by filling up the ditch, and then they walked across.
People who are conscious that death isn't the end, that death is the beginning of something else, it gives them a strength that these Europeans cannot have.
(just before Satprem leaves)
Clearly, circumstances are arranged to help us move on.

Service To The Divine

September 15, 1965

(Letter to Mother from Sujata)

September 15, 1965

Little Mother,

After what you said this morning, I am wondering if we, the young, do not as citizens of India have the duty of offering our service to the country. Or at least to prepare ourselves for this possibility?

Your child who loves you,

Signed: Sujata

(Mother's answer)

For those who are capable of it, the service to the divine Work is infinitely more important than the service to the country.

I do not think I have said anything this morning that could contradict this undeniable fact.

Signed: Mother

Aloneness

Feeling yourself alone in the midst of human beings is the sign that you have need now to find in your own being contact with the Divine Presence. You must then concentrate in silence and try to enter deep within so that you may discover the Divine Presence in the core of your consciousness, beyond all mental activity.
16 December 1971- The Mother

The Divine's Joy

"THE MOTHER'S wonderful,beautiful sketch about discovering the divine conciousness and the rising and manifestation of the divine consciousness in the heart and the mind of the body"

Divine Interventions

There has been approximately 124,000 prophets who have come into this world, 24 of these prophets are spoken about in the Holy Quran

i. Allah sent messengers to every nation to guide them to Path of Allah:

وَلَقَدْ بَعَثْنَا فِي كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ رَّسُولاً أَنِ اعْبُدُواْ اللّهَ وَاجْتَنِبُواْ الطَّاغُوتَ فَمِنْهُم مَّنْ هَدَى اللّهُ وَمِنْهُم مَّنْ حَقَّتْ عَلَيْهِ الضَّلالَةُ فَسِيرُواْ فِي الأَرْضِ فَانظُرُواْ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَاقِبَةُ الْمُكَذِّبِينَ

Transliteration: Walaqad baAAathna fee kulli ommatin rasoolan ani oAAbudoo Allaha waijtaniboo alttaghoota faminhum man hada Allahu waminhum man haqqat AAalayhi alddalalatu faseeroo fee al-ardi faonthuroo kayfa kana AAaqibatu almukaththibeena (Qur'an 16:36)

Pickthal Translation: And verily We have raised in every nation a messenger, (proclaiming): Serve Allah and shun false gods. Then some of them (there were) whom Allah guided, and some of them (there were) upon whom error had just hold. Do but travel in the land and see the nature of the consequence for the deniers! (Qur'an 16:36)

"evolution on divine mother earth has always been spiritual.. intervention from the divine comes at critical moments when life on earth is in serius danger...the divine appears as human rescues and accelerates man's life towards his truest state in stages.."

Life Divine-Spiritual Evolution

The Eternal Dawn

She follows to the goal of those that are passing on beyond, she is the first in the eternal succession of the dawns that are coming, - Usha widens bringing out that which lives, awakening someone who was dead.... What is her scope when she harmonises with the dawns that shone out before and those that now must shine? She desires the ancient mornings and fulfils their light; projecting forwards her illumination she enters into communion with the rest that are to come.
Kutsa Angirasa - Rig Veda, I. 113. 8, 10.

"there is a divine spark in us that keeps us alive..it's this divine entity that pushes us to seek the eternal dawn..it's the psyhcic being located in our hearts that guides us towards the supreme.."