Divine Vision: The Supramental Standpoint (HH 168 )

The way we look at and understand people, events and circumstances is very different from the way the Divine views them. We look at things through the lens of our various individual and collective egos. We look at them through the small and narrow prism of time. We look at them from the limited mental perspective. But the Divine vision freed from these distortions looks deeper into the very heart of things and at the very truth the appearances hide. We too need to exchange our surface orientation with this deeper vision. To align our vision with the Divine vision, to align our will with the Divine Will is the aim of our yoga. It is with this background that we take a look at the Supramental Standpoint about some issues.

Words of Sri Aurobindo

Vice and virtue have nothing to do with darkness or light, truth and falsehood. The spiritual man rises above vice and virtue, he does not rise above truth and light, unless you mean by truth and light, human truth and mental light. They have to be transcended, just as virtue and vice have to be transcended.

* * *

Are you in a position to make a judgment as to what will or will not help God’s work? You seem to have very elementary ideas in these matters. What is your idea of divinisation,—to be a virtuous man, a good husband, son, father, a good citizen etc.? In that case I myself am most undivine,—for I have never been these things. Men like X or Y would then be the great Transformed Divine Men.

* * *

Many sinners are people who are preparing to turn to the Divine and many virtuous people have a long run of lives yet to go through before they will think of it.

* * *

Morality is a question of man’s mind and vital, it belongs to a lower plane of consciousness. A spiritual life therefore cannot be founded on a moral basis, it must be founded on a spiritual basis. This does not mean that the spiritual man must be immoral—as if there were no other law of conduct than the moral. The law of action of the spiritual consciousness is higher, not lower than the moral—it is founded on union with the Divine and living in the Divine Consciousness and its action is founded on obedience to the Divine Will.

Words of the Mother

(Concerning Satprem’s question on the experience of the “supramental ship”:)

Because I followed the thread, I put myself back in contact with the experience of the supramental ship, and I noticed that it had a DECISIVE effect on my position: the required conditions were established quite clearly, precisely, and definitively by that experience. In that respect, it was interesting.

Once and for all it has swept away all these notions – not merely ordinary moral notions, but everything people here in India consider necessary for the spiritual life. In that respect, it was very instructive. And first and foremost, this so-called ascetic purity…. Ascetic purity is merely the rejection of all vital movements. Instead of taking these movements and turning them towards the Divine, instead of seeing, that is, the supreme Presence in them (and so letting the Supreme deal with them freely), He is told (laughing): “No – it’s none of Your business! You have no say in it.”

As for the physical, it’s an old and well-known story – ascetics have always rejected it; but they also reject the vital. And they’re all like that here, even … X may have changed somewhat by now, but at the beginning he was no different either. Only things classically recognized as holy or admitted by religious tradition were accepted – the sanctity of marriage, for example, and things like that…. But a free life? Not a chance! It was wholly incompatible with religious life.

Well, all that has been completely swept away, once and for all.
This doesn’t mean that what’s being asked of us is easier! It’s probably far more difficult.

I mentioned the principal psychological requirement in my answer to that American: a state of perfect equality. This is an ABSOLUTE condition. Over the years since that experience I have observed that no supramental vibration whatsoever can be transmitted without this perfect equality. The slightest contradiction of that equality – in other words, the least movement of ego, of egoistic preference – and everything is blocked, transmission stops. This is already quite a large stumbling block.

And, over and above this, for the realization to be total, there are two other conditions, which aren’t easy either….These two conditions are first, the power to expand, to widen almost indefinitely, enabling you to widen to the dimensions of the supramental consciousness – which is total. The supramental consciousness is the consciousness of the Supreme in his totality. By “totality,” I mean the Supreme in his aspect of Manifestation. Naturally, from a higher point of view, from the viewpoint of the essence – the essence of that which in Manifestation becomes the Supermind – what’s necessary is a capacity for total identification with the Supreme, not only in his aspect of Manifestation, but in his static or nirvanic aspect, outside of the Manifestation: Nonbeing. But in addition, one must be capable of identifying with the Supreme in the Becoming. And that implies both these things: an expansion that is nothing less than indefinite, and that should simultaneously be a total plasticity enabling one to follow the Supreme in his Becoming. You don’t merely have to be as vast as the universe at one point in time, but indefinitely in the Becoming. These are the two conditions. They must be potentially present….

At any rate, this possibility is certainly not altogether unknown; for the first few months after I retired to my room, when I had cut all contact with the outside, it was working very well … even extraordinarily so! Lots of disorders in my body were surmounted, and I had many fairly precise indications that if I continued like that long enough I would regain everything that had been lost, and with an even better equilibrium. I mean that the functional equilibrium was far superior. Only when I came back into contact with the world did it all come to a halt and begin to deteriorate – all the more so as it was aggravated by this discipline of expansion making me constantly – CONSTANTLY – absorb mountains of difficulties to be resolved. And so….

Each vibration absorbed from the outside instantly creates a disorder, dislocates everything, creates wrong contacts and disrupts the organization; it sometimes takes HOURS to put it all back in order. Consequently, if I really want to make use of this body’s possibility without having to face the necessity of changing it because it can’t follow along, then, materially, I would really need, as much as possible, to stop having to gulp down all sorts of things that drag me years backwards.
It’s difficult … difficult.

So long as there’s no question of physical transformation, the psychological and in large part, the subjective point of view is sufficient – and that’s relatively easy. But when it comes to incorporating matter into the work, matter as it is in this world where the very starting point is false (we start off in unconsciousness and ignorance), well, it’s very difficult. Because, to recover the consciousness it has lost, Matter has had to individualize itself, and for that – for the form to last and retain this possibility of individuality – it has been created with a certain indispensable measure of rigidity. And that rigidity is the main obstacle to the expansion, to the plasticity and suppleness necessary for receiving the Supermind. I constantly find myself facing this problem, which is utterly concrete, absolutely material when you’re dealing with cells that have to remain cells and not vaporize into some nonphysical reality, and at the same time have to have a suppleness, a lack of rigidity, enabling them to widen indefinitely.

There have been times, while working in the most material mind (the mind ingrained in the material substance), when I felt my brain swelling and swelling and swelling, and my head becoming so large it seemed about to burst! On two occasions I was forced to stop, because it was … dangerous, as if the head would burst, because what was inside was becoming too tremendous (it was that power in Matter, that very powerful deep blue light which has such powerful vibrations; it is able to heal, for example, and change the functioning of the organs – really a very powerful thing materially). Well then, that’s what was filling my head, more and more, more and more, and I had the feeling that my skull was (it was painful, you know) … that there was a pressure inside my skull pushing out, pushing everything out…. I wondered what was going to happen. Then, instead of following the movement, helping it along and going with it, I became immobile, passive, to see what would happen. And both times it stopped. I was no longer helping the movement along, you see, I simply remained passive – and it came to a halt, there was a sort of stabilization.

January 12, 1962

* * *

It’s the BODY’S experience. Before, those who had inner experiences would say, “Yes, up above, that’s the way it is, but here …” Now the “but here” will soon cease to be. This tremendous change is what’s being conquered, so physical life may be ruled by the higher consciousness and not by the mental world. It’s the change of authority…. It’s difficult. It’s hard. It’s painful. There is some damage done, naturally, but… But truly, one can see – one can see. And that’s the REAL CHANGE, that’s what will enable the new Consciousness to express itself. And the body is learning, it’s learning its lesson – all bodies, all bodies.
(silence)

That was the old division made by the mind: “Above, things are very fine, you may have all experiences and everything is luminous and marvelous; here, nothing doing.” And the impression that when one is born, one is born again into the “hopeless world.” That explains, by the way, why all those who did not foresee the possibility of things being otherwise had said, “Better get out of here, and then …” All that has become so clear! But this change, the fact that it’s NO LONGER inescapable, that is the great Victory: it’s NO LONGER inescapable. You feel – feel and see, and the body itself has experienced – the possibility that soon, here too, things will be truer. … There is … there is really something changed in the world.
(silence)

Naturally, for things to be truly established, it’s going to take time. That’s the battle going on. From every side, on every plane, there’s an onslaught of things coming to say outwardly, “Nothing has changed” – but it’s not true. It’s not true, the body knows it’s not true. And now it knows, it knows in what sense….

All the experiences others had had of making contact with the higher worlds, used to leave the physical here as it is. (How should I put it?…) From the very beginning of existence up to Sri Aurobindo’s departure, I lived in the awareness that one may rise, one may know, one may have all experiences (and one did have them), but when one came back into this body … it was those for-mid-able old laws of the mind that ruled everything. So then, all these years have been years spent preparing and preparing – freeing oneself and preparing – and these last few days, it was … ah! the body PHYSICALLY noting that things had changed.

It has to be worked out, as they say, realized in every detail, but the change IS DONE – the change is done.

Which means that the material conditions, which were elaborated by the mind, FIXED by it (Mother clenches her fist tight), and which appeared so inescapable, to such a point that those who had a living experience of the higher worlds thought one had to flee this world, abandon this material world if one really wanted to live in the Truth (that’s the cause of all those theories and beliefs), now things are no longer like that. Now things are no longer like that. The physical is CAPABLE of receiving the higher Light, the Truth, the true Consciousness, and of man-i-fest-ing it.
It’s not easy, it calls for endurance and will, but a day will come when it will be quite natural. It’s only just the open door – that’s all, now we have to go on.
(silence)

Naturally, what was established hangs on tight and defends itself desperately. That’s the cause of this whole trouble (swarming gesture in the earth atmosphere) – but it has lost the battle. It’s over. It’s over.
(silence)

It has taken this Consciousness1 … a little more than a year to win this Victory. Naturally, as yet it’s visible only to those who have the inner vision, but … its done…..
(long silence)

* * *

But, Mother, I have the feeling India is the symbol of the world’s battle and the new Consciousness cannot be established in the world so long as India has not regained her unity.

Yes.
(silence)

It’s obvious that India is the symbol of the New World in formation, so India must be “one,” symbolically, in order for the New World to see the light of day….

Yes.

Consequently Pakistan has to disappear.

But of course!

There’s no doubt about that. So this must be the time.

But they’ve already missed one chance.

Yes, they’ve already missed one chance. But now … they shouldn’t miss this one.
(silence)
But India herself is divided.

Divided?

Yes, in Orissa, for example. A large part of Orissa is entirely under Sri Aurobindo’s influence, and another part is in revolt…. India herself is divided.
(silence)

It’s serious.
Such an ardent faith would be needed … but … (gesture of something crumbling into dust between her fingers).

You see, the Force is so active…. Lies that have gone on for years are becoming visible here too – the mixture is everywhere.

Such a … such a force of truth would be needed, you know, a force that would be great enough to overcome all that.
(silence)

For me, Victory is certain, but I don’t know if it’s tomorrow or … (gesture into the distance).

I don’t know what road we will take to get there.

Victory is certain, that’s obvious, but what road are we going to take to get there?

And it very much depends on our individual position; that’s what they don’t understand. We must cling, cling so tightly to the Truth that nothing can touch us.
(silence)

It always comes back to the same thing: “What You will, Lord, what You will.”

But that has become formidable.