Daily Questions

Q: I was upset about the Ashrams decision to stop the messages. For all of us who haven’t been around before 1973, there is no reason to be deprived of this instrument for staying connected to The Mother. As we evolve each word of theirs exudes different meaning to all of us, and these Darshan Messages are our lifeline – what is the benefit of stopping them?

ALOKDA: Dear G., there are many devotees around the globe who feel the same way. These darshan messages were like the subtle binding cord that linked the inner core of the Ashram with the world that has grown around Sri Aurobindo and the Mother as the centre. They were like rays of the central sun reaching out far and wide to the larger Ashram linking it together in links of golden thread.

However just as the tree turns inwards during Autumn and the sun seems to be distant so too institutions go through phases of expansion and contraction. Right now, from the year 2019 the earth and humanity and nations and many of its institutions are going through this phase of contraction. It gives an opportunity to turn within and reinvent itself to adapt to the changing world. At the same time many groups are actually reinventing themselves and coming up with fresh possibilities through a creative surge within.

I suppose it is one such phase of contraction that the Ashram is going through. It will however make humanity across the world less dependent upon the Ashram administration and authorities and more in direct contact with the Mother and Sri Aurobindo whose Presence vibrates at the Samadhi releasing forces of transformation. That is the great lesson we are here to learn that She is in us and in all creatures and our task is to become more and more conscious of Her living Presence.

Dear A., there are two main types of experiences that a sadhak has in the course of his spiritual journey.

The first and more common are subjective in nature and include states of consciousness such as feeling peace, wideness, joy, growth of aspiration, surge of devotion and faith, urge for progress, to surrender oneself to the Divine. Further along this line one can have flashes of intuition, inspiration, revelatory insight, feeling of oneness, bliss, infinity, cosmic consciousness leading to an enlargement of our being into others and taking of others into oneself, the sense of the Divine Presence within and in all. These eventually lead us to a growing identification with the Divine, knowing oneself as the psychic being, a change of consciousness leading to the growth of divine qualities and divine nature. As you can see this is what spiritual life is largely about with the change and reversal of consciousness being the main thing since it leads to the progressive transmutation of the human nature into the Divine. As a result of this one can develop certain powers spontaneously such as of intuitive knowledge, power of expression of higher truths, healing powers, and various other such possibilities depending upon our constitution and spiritual destiny.

There are other experiences that can be considered as objective since they are as if projected outside the limits of our being. They include visions and voices, subtle taste, touches, subtle hearing, subtle smells, conscious entry into other planes, seeing of lights and colours, going out of the body consciously, seeing the Divine everywhere, knowing the thoughts of others etc. There are a number of occult powers that one can encounter here too.

What is important is to understand that having visions, hearing voices, development of occult powers are not necessarily the sign of spiritual progress and they can often mislead the sadhak. The true signs of spiritual progress are threefold:

Psychic experiences leading to a growth of bhakti, love, faith, the urge to serve the Divine, to give oneself to the Divine, feeling oneself as the child of the Divine Mother or a portion, a part and parcel of the Divine, an inner certitude of immortality.

Spiritual experiences such a feeling of wideness and oneness, experience of the Divine Presence within, of oneness with all beings, knowing the One Self, the descent of Peace, Joy, Knowledge, opening to inspiration and intuition, feeling the Divine Presence in all and all in the Divine, all as the Divine.
Supramental experiences leading to a complete shift and transformation of nature within and without, becoming conscious of infinity and eternity, absolute certitude of a total all-comprehensive knowledge free from any possibilities of error, a Love that is all-powerful and all-inclusive in itself, a bliss and peace that are unvarying and undiminished, a state of continuous identification with the Divine in oneself and in all. Eventually a radical transformation of our mind, heart, life and body itself in its entire functioning.

The coming and going of experiences does not indicate that we are doing good or bad things. These are human notions. They depend upon a certain opening and receptivity of the consciousness to the Divine. This receptivity and opening are prepared through aspiration, sincerity, concentration, faith, surrender. These things take time to develop. One has to walk with a lot of patience and perseverance. However, yoga is not done for having experiences but for a change of consciousness from the human to the Divine. The change comes readily as the ego-centricity is diminished, the restless cry and clamour of desires stilled, and the consciousness is turned towards the Mother in a state of bhakti and surrender, concentrated more and more upon Her than upon oneself.

Affectionately,
Alok da

Q: Is it true that humans have not evolved physically since the missing link period which is two hundred thousand years ago?

ALOKDA: Our present human species has taken nearly nine sub-steps to emerge out of the first humanoid spanning over 2 million years. It looks long by our measure of time span especially when compared with one human life time. But when we see that it took nearly 6 million years to emerge for man to emerge from the Ape, a hundred million years for the reptiles to emerge from the amphibians, another nearly 60 million years for the dinosaur to shrink into a bird then we shall see the grand time scale through which Nature works. We are not even going into the time when Earth cooled enough for solid material forms to emerge and then the first life forms nearly 5 billion years back. So 2 hundred thousand years count for little when we look at the magnitude of Nature’s movements.

Now coming closer, humans have in fact never stopped evolving. It is through these micro-evolutions that the first African ancestor evolved into different varieties of humanity. We have grown taller and the brain has shrunk but it’s neuronal complexity has increased. The jaws receded and there are reports to suggest that the brain especially is continuing to evolve. At the chromosomal level, last hundred years has seen a shrinking of the Y chromosome and possibly a new sex-determinant gene in the offing. We have to also take into account the fact that human evolution brings new dimensions into play, unlike the animals. Psychologically and socially human evolution is uncontested. At present we also see the first signs of an imminent spiritual evolution. Most importantly human beings are the only species capable of conscious self-evolution at different levels.

What does all this indicate? That we have stopped evolving or we are preparing for a new leap? It is anybody’s guess. But leaving aside all this it is illogical to assume that the evolutionary process in Nature that has been working over billions of years will suddenly come to an abrupt halt, especially with such a half-finished creature called man! Any which way we look at it, evolution beyond human seems the most natural inevitable thing to happen. We may debate about the time, the process and the intent of Nature and God behind it but this much is obvious that we are destined to go further, – whether to a blank port in the Unknown or to acquire a new mind and body in the city of God is something that time will tell.

Q: Nowadays most farmers are cultivating rice, wheat and vegetables which are bioengineered. Is it bad for our health or not?

ALOKDA: Everything is corrupted and polluted today from the air we breathe to the food we eat and the people we meet. The mind in trying to correct one thing ends up disturbing another.

We can say therefore that all mental solutions are inadequate. Instead of worrying about the possible effects of different types of food we should focus on the discovery of the Divine within us and leave our health and life and destiny entirely in Her hands.

Q: Can I help a friend who has no spiritual turn?

ALOKDA:

Dear S., it is difficult to help anyone unless the person is ready and himself wanting to come out of his condition. In fact, trying to help without the person’s active collaboration can sometimes give rise to resistances that delay future openings.

Still if you want to help your friend you can quietly pray for him goodwill in your heart. As a practical measure you can advise him to do physical exercises and play some soothing uplifting music in the background. It is also helpful to keep oneself busy.

Beyond it one cannot do much except trust the Divine and His ways and leave the rest to the unfolding of destiny.

Q: What is the meaning of the word Mahaprayana? And can we use this word for the Mother?

ALOKDA: Actually all these words Mahaprayana, Mahasamadhi, withdrawl are so inadequate. They have a certain meaning that does not apply to the event. Besides it reinforces in the mind two wrong ideas. First that She is no more here. Second that what the senses report and the mind suggests is true. Words always fall short.

Yet if we must use, I personally prefer a word that came to me quite intuitively while reflecting on the mystery of the event, The Great Leap.

Actually the Mother took a great leap from the old body to the New Body that She had prepared and which She describes in 1972:

‘March 24, 1972

For the first time, early this morning, I saw myself: my body. I don’t know whether it’s the supramental body or… (what shall I say?) a transitional body, but I had a completely new body, in the sense that it was sexless: it was neither woman nor man.

It was very white. But that could be because I have white skin, I don’t know.

It was very slender (gesture). Really lovely, a truly harmonious form.

That’s the first time.

I hadn’t the least idea, the faintest notion what it would look like, nothing, and I saw—I WAS like that, I had become like that.’

Yet She continued for sometime switching between the old and the new body out of love for Her children. She describes that the only link with the old body was of pain. Its purpose was to carry as many elements of creation as possible into the New Creation.

This assured, She stepped into the New Body that quite a few experience. But it is not yet visible to our mortal eyes because of their limitation. It will take humanity a little time to tune our eyes and body to this New Body that acts in very different ways than our own. That of course is a different subject.

She took the leap. We are now slowly crossing over holding or rather held by Her.

I may add that all these outer ignorant accounts of what happened on that day or photographs of Her ‘last darshan’ is not a very pleasant thing to do and I am certain this is not what She would want of us with regard to observing this day.

She said so many times after the experience of 13th April 1962 that ‘I am no more in this body’, ‘I have crossed over to the other side’, that ‘it (referring to the Work) is done’, ‘the body is outside me’. She describes in great detail the process and stages of the transformation. That should be our main focus.

All Her Help, Her Love, Her Grace, Her Presence is there for all who aspire for the New Creation. All the rest is incidental.

Q: How can we truly love the Mother with this limited heart and mind? I feel as if her love surrounds me at every moment, but how to thank Her for each breath which confirms that we are alive? I dream of following the path of bhakti, where by getting the nectar of Mother’s love soul get immersed into eternal Vrindavan, forgetting itself. Writing this brings tears in eyes, but there is a natural joy asking you about how to love the source of our existence.

ALOKDA: Dear A., love for the Mother begins when She choses and picks up the soul to enter into the Path of Integral Yoga. However in the beginning, the human being does not feel it as love. More often than not he is attracted or drawn towards Her for some outer or inner reason or the other.

Its first expression is the awakening of some kind of interest in the teachings of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, some kind of inner or outer contact with Them such as meeting a devotee, visiting a centre or the Ashram, reading a book by or about Them. Then this contact begins to grow. One wants to read more, visit the Ashram more and more, meet devotees and disciples.

The next phase comes when one wants to serve Her and wants to find Her Presence within. One wants to know more and more so that one can serve Her better and live life surrendered to Her Will. The final culmination is the urge to give oneself completely to Her.

Through this process the one method that helps at every step is to call Her Name, Maa Maa Maa Maa Maa Maa Maa Maa.

Q: If someone pursues this path will he have to take birth again? Will this be his last lifetime? What is his path after death? Does he attain the spiritual abodes like Vaikuntha / Goloka which is the destination for Vaishnavas or does he merge into Brahman or does he attain these realms and continue the work from there?

ALOKDA: In the traditional conception life is seen as an illusion, Maya, a field of suffering or more correctly pleasure and pain in which the soul is caught due to Ignorance. Therefore to escape from life into Moksha by various forms of Yoga is seen as the highest goal. One cuts the web of karma and the individual soul dissolves in the Supreme Reality.

In the Vaishnava and other bhakti traditions, life is a Lila of the Cosmic Creator. The soul or the jiva though his portion is tied to Ignorance due to Maya and hence to pleasure and pain. The Maya is not a creator of illusion but a cause of bondage. By praying, worship and bhakti one draws the Grace of the Divine Being through whatever aspect one seeks, Vishnu, Shiva, Krishna, Devi etc. The Divine Being or the Godhead once pleased with the bhakta makes the devotee ascend to his divine abode and stay near the Godhead in an ethereal body, chinmaya deha. At the end of kalpa, his soul withdraws into the Supreme Transcendent Source, Parabrahma along with the Godhead.

In Sri Aurobindo’s Yoga the world is seen as a half finished progressive manifestation of the Divine. Here the meaning of mukti is to discover the Divine Presence within and live and act in the world in tune with the Divine Will. Since this means a cessation of the egoism of the doer, the Jiva lives and acts in the world as a free soul, jivanmukta. He is neither willing for dissolution of his individual soul nor afraid of returning to the world through Rebirth. He comes back to do God’s work in the world, in humanity, lokasangrahartha, to help mankind evolve further.

This is the ideal of the Gita. Now Sri Aurobindo reveals what that further is. He says that man is a transitional being and is destined to evolve into a fully conscious divine superhumanity by embodying higher and higher levels of consciousness than the present human mind. The disciples of Sri Aurobindo are freed through this Yoga, at first into the jivanmukta state. Then they consciously become parts of the original Divine Plan and collaborate in the creation of the future superhumanity. For this they are free to come back into a human body and participate more directly in this new Divine Project, creation of the supramental being. Or else after withdrawing from the physical body, dwell in Sri Aurobindo’s abode in the subtle physical world waiting for the New Creation to crystallise and then take up a new supramental divine body for the earthly life.

Q: In “Thoughts and Aphorisms” Sri Aurobindo said that machinery is an incurable barbarism. Nowadays we can see all kind of machinery. When divine order establishes on earth, what will be the role of this machinery?

ALOKDA: Machinery was meant to facilitate certain aspects of human life where man is relatively incapacitated. But instead of facilitating it has begun to replace man.

There is indeed a real danger that an excessive use of machinery may not only mechanise human life but machinise the human being, that is to say turn human beings themselves into heartless, soulless and even thoughtless machines.

Man’s efficiency is being measured more and more not by compassion, wisdom, love but by his capacity to handle machines and his ability to think and feel in terms of probabilities and algorithms. All this does not augur well.

The Divine world order will be more intuitive and less centred around machinery. The difference is between Machine as an instrument of man or man becoming helplessly dependent upon machinery.