Offspring of the Future
Inheritor of the toil of human time,
He shall take on him the burden of the gods;
All heavenly light shall visit the earth’s thoughts,
The might of heaven shall fortify earthly hearts;
Earth’s deeds shall touch the superhuman’s height,
Earth’s seeing widen into the infinite.
[Savitri: 344]
Of course one may say but where is the truth of what She prophesied. First and foremost one needs to have the vision of Truth to understand Its manifestation. Otherwise we shall not be able to see it even when it manifests before our eyes. Secondly one understands best when one consciously participates in the process. By conscious participation it is not meant just to join the Ashram or teach in the School. That is at best an opportunity given to each one to join hands in the building of the New Creation. But to consciously participate means to become the future, to engage within oneself in the process of transformation. The two are obviously not synonymous. As with the Ashram so too with the School, merely staying or studying is not enough. Though one must say without a doubt that something does take place, however imperceptibly and slowly within the consciousness of all who begin to live here, something that is new and not felt before in earth and humanity. It is intangibly tangible. Intangible if we look only at the surfaces, tangible and even concretely felt if we look carefully within and behind the phenomenal appearance. Nolini da beautifully called it the Golden chain that the Mother puts around all who study here and breathe and grow in this atmosphere. It is regardless of the incapacity of human beings and all the issues that the teachers and students may face. It is indeed like a gift of Grace that is given to all who have the rare privilege and fortune just to be here. What is most important however is to reflect upon the symbol the She gave for the SAICE. A symbol as we know is not just another way of depicting a Reality; it is also a power. The symbol of the SAICE is as below:
One is reminded of the story of Kartikeya. He is born out of the twin energy of Shiva and Parvati, his divine parents. He is born with the mission of slaying an Asura whom only the combined energies of the two can bring to dust. Though he is outwardly brought up by six mothers who shape his outer personality, his inner being is being secretly prepared by the Lord for the work he has to do. He is a born rebel but that is simply because he reacts strongly against injustice and unfair dealings. Rightly directed and brought under Wisdom’s calm control he is the prospective conqueror of the world. So too these children, rebel though some of them may seem when we try to look at them from the lens of our limited understanding and traditional beliefs, are the pall bearers of the future, offspring of the combined divine energy that sets them apart. Even when they do not know it just as Kartikeya’s life when it was spent in oblivion, yet are they marked out for a future scheme that will unfold itself in this life or another. No wonder their daily prayer may well go as the prayer of Kartikeya, the warrior god leading the army of Light:
Make of us the hero warriors we aspire to become. May we fight successfully the great battle of the future that is to be born, against the past that seeks to endure; so that the new things may manifest and we may be ready to receive them. [6 January 1952]
The field of battle had of course shifted. The war was not outside but within, not just in some inner subjective space but in the hard bedrock of matter. It was the last seat of resistance that had to be prepared and we see here too the Divine Mother pouring Her Energies of Love and the transforming Grace into this most obscure substance by engaging the children and disciples alike in a well-planned, meticulous physical education the kind of which one finds perhaps nowhere in the world. Its purpose is not to prepare some world-class athletes or Olympic level gymnasts but very modestly to prepare the body to grow conscious of the Divine within its very cells and to open it to the Divine Forces that are working for the intended transformation. The preparation of this base can be considered the penultimate part of the yogic preparation. Of course what each one does with this wonderful preparation is the unique choice and destiny of each soul. But the opportunity is given equally to all irrespective of all outer distinctions. This itself is a great achievement. Our worldly position and outer achievements do not count here; money is no more the lord. All that matters and counts is how much each one opens to Her in mind and body, how much one is able to direct the energies of life towards this divine consummation of humanity, how much one’s heart of love moves to Her divine rhythms and to the touch and tune of the New Creation, how much our soul has awakened to the divine possibilities of the future. Nothing else is worthy of Sri Aurobindo’s help, as She declared:
We are not here to do (only a little better) what the others do.
We are here to do what the others cannot do because they do not have the idea that it can be done.
We are here to open the way of the Future to children who belong to the Future.
Anything else is not worth the trouble and not worthy of Sri Aurobindo’s help.
[6 Sept 1961]
The 2nd December program, where the young and old, children and elders, students and inmates of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram and the SAICE participate together is to remind us of this tremendous work that we as children of earth in our bodies and children of Divine Mother in our souls have inherited. It is to bring these two poles together and fuse them in a mystic union that is enriching and beneficial to both. This is the last and final condition of a divine life upon earth. It is an awakening of the very cells of the body to the Divine Influx and the joy of victory beautifully captured in this prayer of the cells:
THE PRAYER OF THE CELLS IN THE BODY
Now that, by the effect of the Grace, we are slowly emerging out of inconscience and waking to a conscious life, an ardent prayer rises in us for more light, more consciousness,
“O Supreme Lord of the universe, we implore Thee, give us the strength and the beauty, the harmonious perfection needed to be Thy divine instruments upon earth.”
[2 December 1967]
