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At the Feet of The Mother

Daily Offerings from Alokda

How to know what is the Divine will?

By practicing inner quietude, by stepping back from the immediate impulse to act, by asking the ego and desires not to make too much noise, and then turning towards the Divine with a will to receive the right indication one begins to feel a sort of gentle indication in the heart about the thing to be done.

Since this takes time, one should meanwhile act according to the highest light one can summon, generally the buddhi, and offer the action to the Divine with a prayer that may the action and will be attuned to the Divine Will and the results be such as the Divine Wisdom may determine and decide rather than what our ignorant mind wants and likes.

On Magic and Miracles (9) Spiritual Forces

The third route is taken by higher spiritual forces. Although to the onlooker, a genuine spiritual intervention may be mimicked by vital and mental forces in its outer effects, there is a fundamental difference. Vital and mental forces, being those of Ignorance, work through division. They attack the illness as if it existed in isolation without heeding other issues involved in their formation. Spiritual forces work on the basis of oneness and therefore heal holistically. They take into consideration not only the present state of illness and patient’s constitution, but also the past formations, present necessity and future utility of these things, spontaneously, in the grand design of the universe. They may sometimes take time and the effects may be less instantaneous but the work done is more complete, the healing more thorough. They change the course of illness and convert it into something milder and less dangerous. The force of illness is exhausted or purged from the system in relatively innocuous ways — like catharsis through a safer route. It works upon our mind, life and body to help prepare better ground so that illnesses do not recur.

Finally, the very highest spiritual forces (for here too there is a gradation) may penetrate deeper into the subconscient layer and pluck the illness out from its very roots. When this happens, the illness may seem paradoxically aggravated for a while. The poison, held so far within the dark folds of the subconscient nature, is all at once exposed to the Light. The deeply hidden resistances of human nature that prevent our everyday life from becoming a miracle are brought to the forefront so that the highest Light may definitively work upon them once and for all. It is as if a master craftsman had taken upon himself to carve a god-image out of our mud and slowly but surely chips away at all that stands in the way. This takes considerable time and the process may extend beyond the single lifetime of an individual, yet when it is complete it is a masterpiece, a work of tremendous perfection. But hardly anyone calls this a miracle since we are so cabined in our small and egocentric view, our vision imprisoned in a narrow arc that is unable to appreciate the greatest of miracles since they are too vast to behold. If anything, we resist or lose faith and so instead of assisting the highest alchemy of Grace, we only shut the doors to it and thereby complicate and prolong our own misery.

Songs of the Soul: November 4, 2024

Mother Divine,
Looking at how much of needless complexity we have introduced in life, I wonder how far the human experiment will stretch before it bursts into the fully conscious divinity held within its human seed. It was needed as a passage in our journey out of the unconscious animal simplicity into a fully conscious divine simplicity. But now it has prolonged over a million years or more. It is time now to ascend beyond the mental curve into a new kind, a new species. Short of that there is little hope of a collective emancipation.

Maa, give us the will of a conqueror for whom it is now or never, the energy of an indefatigable swimmer willing to cross the Atlantic, the strength and perseverance of a climber who would scale the highest summits, the faith of a man who refuses to give up in the face of a blinding storm threatening his little boat that has ventured far into the sea.

With an unwavering faith and surrender we give ourselves to Thee and Thy Work, O our supreme Hero and Queen in the great battle of the future. May we always fight under Thy banner, whether as a sword in Thy hands or steel and wood in Thy chariot.

Maa Maa Maa Maa Maa Maa Maa Maa

What should be the attitude when facing life problems I cannot resolve?

The presence of transience and change are the very law of life in its long and winding evolutionary journey. This perpetual wheel of destiny that carries our lives in a cosmic pool of chance and uncertainty can be very frightening. This is especially so for man who believes that he can control and micro manage all the events and circumstances of his life. There is of course a truth behind this since some events we do seem to control at least apparently which only perpetuates the illusion of control. Or perhaps we can change destiny but for that we need a power far greater than reason. Reason hardly even knows the real causes of whatever happens. It knows some intermediate processes and mastering them believes that it has the key to the ultimate cause. But can we truly change anything except in a limited way until we know the ultimate cause and the secret truth of everything? It is this question that confronts us during our moments of helplessness and stares at us as if seeking an answer. However, this inability to control events does frighten many people who feel helpless before the decree of fate. Still others declare the imperfect nature of earthly life and either pactise with the ways of fate accepting whatever happens with dignity and calm submission to the ways of life or destiny. Some try to find an exit route out of the whole imbroglio. Others simply spend a lifetime fretting and fuming and complaining and grumbling against God and His Will believing that they may be able to do better if they had the power.

But the Divine Will working in the cosmos acts on the basis of a Wisdom that we do not have at present. It is this we must acquire for our hearts to have peace. This Wisdom comes as we learn to become quitter and go deeper within ourselves. It comes also as we learn to surrender before the Divine Will knowing or having faith that the Divine knows better than we do. After it is He and not us who are the original cause and hence it is He whom we must find and become one with to be even able to understand the way creation operates. Who can be better than the Creator Himself to reveal the truth behind things? And if He so wills and finds us ready, He can also impart us the power over circumstances which are a clumsy way of expressing the inner states. If we can shift the inner state then very often the outer circumstances also begin to change and shift.

In other words what we need to learn is the state or inner condition that we must inculcate in the face of difficult and adverse circumstances. These conditions are a set of attitudes that have always been known and emphasized in all spiritual practices with some variations. It is a state of trust in the Divine, a state of spontaneous surrender to His Will, a state of aspiration and prayer, of utter abandon and submission to Him. If we can do this with sincerity then slowly a calm begins to descend upon us and the interventions become more and more frequent in our life. However, it must be noted that these divine interventions are not meant to satisfy our desires and longings but to modify the passage sufficiently so that without changing the ultimate result that is decreed it may take us through a safer and smoother passage towards then eventual fulfillment of our destiny and of others. It tweaks the evolutionary Law so to say. But if we have the rarest of rare privilege to trust and open to Her Grace and Love then not only can the Law be tweaked but completely changed. The inexorable wheel of karma can take a completely different turn taking us through a different door, through a sunlit path towards the Goal.

Here are few lines from Savitri that remind us of these truths. Indeed, one of the best things when one is passing through these moments is to simply open any page of Savitri randomly and read it. The Mother recommended it not only by way of receiving the needed hint and guidance but also the strength to go through what we must and the eventual power to change destiny. But of course, it helps if we have formed a rapport with the book which is much more than a book. It is a living representation, the word-body, of the twin consciousness of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother and there is absolutely nothing in the world comparable to Savitri. So here are a few lines to remind us of the ever-present Help that is always accessible to us under all conditions and circumstances.

Affectionately
Alok da

A magic leverage suddenly is caught
That moves the veiled Ineffable’s timeless will:
A prayer, a master act, a king idea
Can link man’s strength to a transcendent Force.
Then miracle is made the common rule,
One mighty deed can change the course of things;
A lonely thought becomes omnipotent.
All now seems Nature’s massed machinery;
An endless servitude to material rule
And long determination’s rigid chain,
Her firm and changeless habits aping Law,
Her empire of unconscious deft device
Annul the claim of man’s free human will.
He too is a machine amid machines;
A piston brain pumps out the shapes of thought,
A beating heart cuts out emotion’s modes;
An insentient energy fabricates a soul.
Or the figure of the world reveals the signs
Of a tied Chance repeating her old steps
In circles around Matter’s binding-posts.
A random series of inept events
To which reason lends illusive sense, is here,
Or the empiric Life’s instinctive search,
Or a vast ignorant mind’s colossal work.
But wisdom comes, and vision grows within:
Then Nature’s instrument crowns himself her king;
He feels his witnessing self and conscious power;
His soul steps back and sees the Light supreme…..
But many-visaged is the cosmic Soul;
A touch can alter the fixed front of Fate.
A sudden turn can come, a road appear.
A greater Mind may see a greater Truth,
Or we may find when all the rest has failed
Hid in ourselves the key of perfect change.
Ascending from the soil where creep our days,
Earth’s consciousness may marry with the Sun,
Our mortal life ride on the spirit’s wings,
Our finite thoughts commune with the Infinite.

On Magic and Miracles (8) Miracle Cures

Much group healing is like this. Such sessions are generally full of vital forces thrown out by the group members themselves and the healer or medium, often a strongly vital person, generating a strong field of vital forces that are supported by a collective hope. Functional illnesses, that is to say, not so much physical as psychological, like for example hysterical paralysis or blindness or epilepsy which is more a dissociative reaction, may seem to magically disappear but only to return in a new dramatic form or remain as an undercurrent in the hysterical personality. Many so-called miracle men thrive on this sort of mixed stuff and some make it really big because of the high drama generated by their extremely vital personality that magnetically attracts such a following. These things often rise on the crest of a popular boom and later crash as suddenly as they had appeared. Of course, people may continue to throng around such individuals because that is the usual psychology of the sufferer. They do not mind trying it out even if it does not work for the moment. In any case, the intensely vital atmosphere, combined with heightened expectation, facilitates an emotional catharsis and so attracts people. Most men relish emotions on display and to that extent this catharsis itself partially helps. It is as if by sharing this group enthusiasm, we forget for a while our personal grief and pain. This is not so much caused by any great or astounding power on the part of the medium, but rather due to the very nature of group psychology!

Songs of the Soul: November 03, 2024

Mother Divine, Maa,
how beautiful is life in its simplicity, pure as Truth itself, untouched by wants, unadulterated by desires, straight and simple and frank and spontaneous in its expression, direct and clear in expression. How beautiful is to witness the rising sun and as it goes down to illumine the heart of the night and to other fields. How beautiful to see the bursting of red and pink and green with a fragrance that reminds us of the first virgin moment of love. How beautiful to see the tree spread out its branches reaching out to the Light in so many ways. How beautiful to see a river flow, a cuckoo sing, a lion leap, the moon glide through the sky spontaneously as if it could not be otherwise. Yet the intervention of the mind has spoilt it all introducing mazes of complexity in everything. In trying to know the world we have forgotten to know first and foremost who we are. In trying to fix a date for everything we have forgotten eternity. In trying to fix the outer details and define precisely we have forgotten the infinity that holds each finite.

Yet was this a needed passage so that we can climb from the unconscious animal simplicity to the fully conscious divine simplicity. How beautiful, calm and effortless everything becomes when we get hold of this divine simplicity.

Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity, how beautiful is your Presence in our lives, the sign of Divine Presence in the heart of all things determining their emergence by the fiat of Her all-knowing Will.

Maa Maa Maa Maa Maa Maa Maa Maa

How can we open a door to the true inner happiness?

Q: Most people around me find happiness in mechanical repetition of a routine, which appears to me very dull. What are the ways to open an inner door to the joyful, true happiness?

ALOKDA: To start with there are several types of happiness depending upon the level at which we stand in our evolution. There is a kind of happiness that people find in status quo. This is the minimum on the scale and it is akin to staying in our comfort zones. To upgrade their happiness they need to take the challenge of life which means effort. Most human beings prefer to remain fixed in whatever situation life places them in using terms like contentment, duty etc. But behind all this is an inertia to change and find better and more meaningful things. This kind of humanity does not like to think much as thinking will make them uncomfortable and unhappy by challenging their fixed premises which they have inherited rather than thought out for themselves. A lot of people of the previous generations in India were like this, refusing to think and continue doing mechanically whatever little circle of activity that life provides for them.

Then there is another of happiness that is more like an offshoot of this state of tamas and inertia of thought that shuns the real challenges of life. It is found in violent actions upon oneself or others to shake themselves up. Thrill and intense pleasure, however brief is sought after and it ranges from a variety of actions such as fashion, food, sex, drugs, violence, horror etc. The man caught in the lower vital ranges of life has this for his share of ephemeral pleasure which he mistakes for happiness until life one day closes his small, insignificant chapter of life.

But when through evolution taking place across lives the vital force in man expands, he begins to seek happiness in ambitious expansion of his personal empire starting from seeking after name and fame in his small or big circle to conquering and ruling an empire. Here one begins to take challenges and gets a joy in facing and conquering them. Its soberer form is the mountaineer who tries to climb a difficult peak, the sportsman who wants to excel, the business magnet who wants to earn more and more, the explorer and the adventurer.
Then there is also a happiness that comes through emotional satisfaction, through mutual care and affection, through what we call as love, being loved and loving someone.

Beyond this is a happiness to which still a few are privy to. It is the happiness that comes through thought. Here the domain of the thinker begins, people who find a joy in thinking, reflecting, reading, writing, expressing themselves through various forms of art, music, poetry, sciences and crafts. They enjoy reading a good book that provides them a deeper or subtler understanding of life or opens the doors to knowledge and wisdom.

It is only when man has gone through these limited forms of ‘happinesses’, known their relative place and limited utility and yet knows its insufficiency and inability to give us the joy that endures that he turns towards the happiness that is unfading and causeless and independent of all outer circumstances or activity. It is a process of evolution that takes place through quite a few lives. Its penultimate is when we begin to seek within what we were trying to find outside and through outer things but now know for sure that it cannot be found and secured. It is then that we are truly ready for opening the inner door. A mere mechanical process hardly works if it is not supported by a feeling or a conviction or an aspiration and a faith in deeper and higher things that one cannot find within the limited range of experiences offered to us by the bodily life, the restless outgoing vital energy and even the thinking mind. What can we do to hasten this moment? Well go through life consciously. See things and this world with open eyes, the true worth of it all and not what we are conditioned to believe.

Most of us still laboring under this misconception that happiness comes by a good job, money and a partner can do little better than advise us the same. It is not their fault since they hardly know anything else or more. It is we who have to decide whether we believe in these explanations just because the majority believes in them or want to reflect and search the real cause and source of joy in life. Therefore, it is very helpful to snatch some quiet moments daily and reflect upon the questions of life such as why and wherefore of death, on the aim of life, on truth and love and the ways to lead a beautiful and happy life. In addition, one should spend time in the company of books and people who uplift our thoughts and inspire us to go beyond, who awaken us to the need of a greater life, who instill faith and hope in higher things.

Then one day we are ready to take the plunge and the inner door will open without much effort and we discover that unconditional peace and joy that truly surpasses all understanding. Then life truly begins, a new life before which the old one seems as if we were living as half dead people without knowing it. Once the need for this greater life awakens then the means and everything else is given to us. We find the right books, we meet the right people, we start entering a world of experiences before which all the joys of life seem too trifle, artificial and temporary.

It is then that one discovers the God who is beyond religion and thought, the all-pervading Reality, the all-Compassionate Being who is yet all beings, the very Soul of this world and ours, the summit of Perfection to which we secretly aspire, the Love that binds and moves the stars. Religion binds us to one form of thought of God, or at most to one kind of experience of divinity. Spirituality liberates us even from all conceptions of God. It is like understanding mount Everest by watching a film or reading a book and having the actual feel and taste of it by striving to climb it. Religion is a preparation at best and a prison at worst. Spirituality is freedom, eternity, infinity, Love.

Affectionately,
AP

On Magic and Miracles (7) Higher Determinism

The other form of a miracle is through the intervention of a higher determinism, or bringing into play higher forces than the physical, say vital (pranic) and mental energies for example. These forces may intervene, changing the course of illness or may simply superimpose themselves on the physical manifestations of illness leading to temporary reprieve. The illness may then remain dormant for years but may never leave completely. It can also erupt again after a certain period. Or else a new malady may appear in place of the old one. Otherwise it might stay as an undercurrent of life, maiming us from within, even though we may seem to be free of the illness from outside.

These interventions sometimes appear miraculous since they relieve and heal without the aid of physical methods. We are so used to thinking and believing that material forces are the only effective means that we feel any other intervention without material support is truly miraculous. But if we look behind the magic and try to understand the play of forces, then we discover that even this is effective only to the extent that the body consciousness secretly supports the will to cure and the mind gives assent through its faith in the process. In reality, the body is cured only when it has decided to be cured and the means it uses is the one in which it has faith.

Songs of the Soul: November 02, 2024

Mother Divine,

may all the gates open for the ascension of the human soul towards the higher states decreed since the earth began. May nothing stop or obstruct our forward march and climb towards greater and greater heights.

Higher, ever higher, may we not stop half way through the climb.

Vaster, ever vaster, may we ascend towards larger and larger vistas of Light.

O Divine Victor, may all be released from the chains and bonds of ignorance. May all taste the freedom of Thy infinity.

Maa Maa Maa Maa Maa Maa Maa