How Sri Aurobindo and
Theosophy
See the Next Steps
in Human Evolution
Carlos Cardoso Aveline
Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950)
One of the great sages of modern
India, Sri Aurobindo saw and taught that
the higher purpose of human individual life is to awaken divinity in one’s own
consciousness, thus liberating oneself from ignorance and unnecessary suffering.
In order to attain that, one must learn to actively
cooperate with the universal Law through self-devised efforts. It is necessary
therefore to observe and improve our several layers of motives in life.
Aurobindo wrote:
“If you want to be a true doer of divine works, your
first aim must be to be totally free from all desire and self-regarding
ego. All your life must be an offering
and a sacrifice to the Supreme; your only object in action shall be to serve,
to receive, to fulfill, to become a manifesting instrument of the Divine Shakti
[Divine Energy] in her works.
You must grow in the divine consciousness till there is no difference between
your will and hers, no motive except her impulsion in you, no action that is
not her conscious action in you and through you.” [1]
This can be attained gradually and through a
probationary process. A Mahatma of the Himalayas wrote in the 19th century to a
lay disciple:
“You were told […..] that the path to Occult Sciences
has to be trodden laboriously and crossed at the danger of life; that every new
step in it leading to the final goal, is surrounded by pit-falls and cruel
thorns; that the pilgrim who ventures upon it is made first to confront and
conquer the thousand and one furies who keep watch over its adamantine gates
and entrance - furies called Doubt, Skepticism, Scorn, Ridicule, Envy and
finally Temptation - especially the latter; and that he, who would see beyond
had to first destroy this living wall; that he must be possessed of a heart and
soul clad in steel, and of an iron, never failing determination and yet be meek
and gentle, humble and have shut out from his heart every human passion, that
leads to evil. Are you all this?” [2]
While this is a good question to every student who
thinks too much of his own progress, it must also be known that the learning
takes a few lifetimes, and every little step ahead counts.
In a different letter, the Master said:
“Fasting, meditation, chastity of thought, word, and
deed; silence for certain periods of time to enable nature herself to speak to
him who comes to her for information; government of the animal passions and
impulses; utter unselfishness of intention, the use of certain incense and
fumigations for physiological purposes, have been published as the means since
the days of Plato and Iamblichus in the West, and since the far earlier times
of our Indian Rishis. How these must be complied with to suit each individual
temperament is of course a matter for his own experiment and the watchful care
of his tutor or Guru. Such is in fact part of his course of discipline, and his
Guru or initiator can but assist him with his experience and will power but can
do no more [….].”[3]
How does the probationary process work? It is not
difficult to understand. Once the iron decision to follow the path of altruism
is made in the central part of one’s soul, other sections of one’s individual
consciousness, centered around mental and emotional ignorance, will have no
choice but to ostensibly follow the same course of action. They will “adapt”, however, the noble
spiritual goal to their own ends and methods. They will astutely submit, in the
sublevels of consciousness where they dominate, the Supreme Ideal which they
seem to embrace to their own petty perspectives of separate well-being and individual
comfort.
Some of these sub-motives will be honest, transparent and
in part compatible with the higher ones.
It is a duty of the higher self to help the lower being fulfill its
mission within its limited capabilities, and to give it time to gradually
correct itself and evolve. The loyal
sections and impulses of the emotional self, though imperfect and wrong, will
not hide themselves from observation.
There are other elemental sub-intelligences and
impulses which are enemies in disguise.
These will boycott the noble effort in the subconscious layers of the
pilgrim’s soul, cleverly covering their actions under the mantle of noble and
spiritual motives. Due to the existence
of this occult struggle in the learner’s soul, self-observation and discernment
become decisive factors. The pilgrim cannot take even the first step before
thoroughly understanding that the path is probationary; that it is cyclic, not
linear; and that many a trap is waiting for his feet.
Illusion must be eliminated by successive layers. As
soon as an outer form of ignorance is eliminated, another form - sometimes
subtler at first, and only later showing itself in full - will readily appear
to replace it. The battle goes on until
the root-cause of ignorance dissolves itself due to a gradual, enduring
expansion of one’s consciousness towards the universal law. The process leading
to this must be lived under the fire of probation. One’s resolve is
strengthened little by little thanks to a great number of unexpected
tests.
Sections or associations of the theosophical movement which
pretend not to know of the painfully probationary character of universal
knowledge, or do not actively prepare their students to face and to promote the
uncomfortable uncovering of ignorance in themselves and in the world, are
untrue to themselves as associations, untrue to the Teaching, false to the
public, and are often accustomed to lie to their students “for the good of the
Cause”.
Leaders of such unfortunate associations may think
they will attract more followers by hiding the need to identify and fight
illusion. This they may do, at the price of renouncing wisdom entirely, while
attaching themselves to a sad sort of parody.
If the first step is false, falling is inevitable. If
the first word is a lie, there is no Path. The first noble truth is Dukkha:
life is not always comfortable. Letting people imagine that the path to wisdom
is easy, is tantamount to a direct lie, which disconnects the individuals who
do that from the search for truth.
In spite of any diversions, the fact still remains
that the probationary struggle must go on for more than one incarnation. Devotion
should be directed toward the One Life. Little by little the soul’s
consciousness will merge in a stable way into that which is infinite and cannot
be described, and before which every word, name, or feeling of self-perception,
pales and fades away.
Such a merging process inevitably takes time for our
humanity. The duty of the 1875 theosophical movement is to help accelerate it,
in a collective effort that must be done step by step, according to Karma Law
and following the law of cycles.
In the context of this long, slow dawning, the 210
year period between 1875 and 2085 is but an instant. [4] In spite of that, progress can be made and must be made
now. The goal is clear and it is up to
each one to act.
Writing about the man of the future, Sri Aurobindo
says:
“All his existence would be fused in oneness with the
transcendent and universal Self and Spirit; all his action would originate from
and obey to the supreme Self and Spirit’s divine governance of Nature. All life would have for him the sense of the
Conscious Being, the Purusha within, finding its self-expression in Nature; his
life and all his thoughts, feelings, acts would be filled for him with that
significance and built upon that foundation of its reality. He would feel the presence of the Divine in
every center of his consciousness, in every vibration of his life-force, in
every cell of his body.” [5]
Right Vision Leads to Right Action
The seeds of the future must awaken in the present. Yet
one can only act according to one’s own vision of the future. If our perception of the future is short,
fearful and narrow, our motives and actions will necessarily have a similar
substance.
An accurate view of the long periods of time to come
gives the pilgrim a correct sense of direction. Calm observation of human life
shows that selfish people are not essentially bad. They are myopes; they should
face their ophthalmological problem so that it can be cured and their suffering
reduced.
An understanding of eternal Duration, as taught in
“The Secret Doctrine”, constitutes a major source of peace, inner and outer. A
wide horizon, in time and space, is of the essence along the theosophical path.
Right vision leads to right action. Examining a certain moment in the future,
Sri Aurobindo wrote in his poem “Savitri”:
“ (…) Then shall be ended here the Law of Pain.
Earth shall be made a home of Heaven’s light …….
The superconscient beam shall touch men’s eyes
And the truth-conscious world come down to earth
Invading matter with the Spirit’s ray
Awakening its silence to immortal thoughts,
Awakening the dumb heart to the living Word.
This mortal life shall house Eternity’s bliss,
The body’s self taste immortality.
O mind, grow full of the eternal peace.
O work, cry out the immortal litany:
Built is the golden tower, the flame-child born.” [6]
Although students of esoteric philosophy are familiar
with these ideas, not many can live up to this teaching. Only the Few can, and
even them, in part. Yet there is no need
for these individuals to be many. Chapters 18 and 19 of the Jewish Genesis - a
text copied from the Torah and precariously adapted by Christian pundits
- make a clear reference to that. The scripture teaches an aspect of the
esoteric law.
Symbolically, a few dozens of just and wise men can
establish a living bridge or collective Antahkarana [7] between earthly awareness and divine levels of planetary
consciousness, thus dissolving karma
which otherwise would lead to
unspeakable disaster. There are levels of disaster from which the planet is
firmly protected by the Law.
Tests must be intense, of course, in order to transmit
lessons that are deep and lasting. Yet a bright future waits for us all, and
once humanity as a whole goes beyond a certain point in its probationary path,
it will attain to a degree of evolution which Sri Aurobindo describes in these
words:
“The Spirit’s tops and Nature’s base shall draw
Near to the secret of their separate truth
And know each other as one deity.
The Spirit shall look out through Matter’s gaze
And Matter shall reveal the Spirit’s face.
Then man and superman shall be at one
And all the earth will become a single life.” [8]
NOTES:
[1] “Teachings of the Hindu Mystics”, edited by Andrew
Harvey, Shambhala, 2001, 147 pp., see p.123.
[2] “The Mahatma Letters”, T.U.P.
edition, Pasadena, Letter LXII, pp. 351-352. In the TPH/India edition, it’s
letter 62. In the Chronological edition, TPH/Philippines, it’s Letter 126.
[3] “The Mahatma Letters”, T.U.P.
edition, Pasadena, Letter XLIX, p. 283. In the TPH/India edition, it’s letter
49. In the Chronological edition, TPH/Philippines, it’s Letter 20.
[4] “210 year period between 1875 and 2085”. This makes three complete cycles of 70 years
each. The first cycle of 70 years closed in 1945, when the victory of Democracy
against Nazism was sealed on the 8th of May, an important date for
theosophists. The year 2015 closes the second cycle of 70 years.
[5] “Teachings of the Hindu Mystics”, edited by Andrew
Harvey, Shambhala, pp. 132-133.
[6] “Teachings of the Hindu
Mystics”, p. 134.
[7] See the
article “The Guardian Wall That Protects Mankind”, by Carlos Cardoso Aveline,
which can be found at our associated websites.
[8] “Teachings of the Hindu Mystics”, pp. 134-135.
000
Date of publication: August 2012.
000
In September 2016, after a careful analysis of the state of the
esoteric movement worldwide, a group of students decided to form the Independent Lodge of Theosophists,
whose priorities include the building of a better future in the different
dimensions of life.
000
