Friday, October 31, 2008
Remembering Satprem
However, for Mira Alfassa, The Mother, one of the most important aspect of the Work to be done was the conquest of death.
She said :
"Death is the problem given me to resolve."
"I am on my way to discovering the illusion that must be destroyed so that physical life can be uninterrupted.... Death is the result of a distortion of consciousness."
To the unseeing humanity The Mother has passed away, though a few have known Her in a New Body. And one of those bright few is Satprem.
He, too, believed in the Task of fighting away death. And that was his Work. He has fought with death till the last of his physical body. Before his departure, he told that the Work is done.
OOOOO
TODAY, the 30th day of 2008, is the birthday anniversary of Satprem. He dedicated his life and existence for the Future of the mankind, for the mankind of the Future, having followed the steps of The Mother and Sri Aurobindo, on the Way towards Supermanhood from the present state of the mankind, on the Way for transforming the mankind into the New Race, the race of the Supermen, the race of the Supramental Beings. After the passing away of The Mother, he left Sri Aurobindo Ashram and published the thirteen volumes of Mother’s Agenda. Further, he also wrote a number of books of everlasting value, that give us Light and directions on the New Way, which he received from The Mother during his conversation with Her.
He was born in Paris in 1923. When he was twenty years old, he was arrested by Gestapo (of Germany during Hitler’s regime) and spent about a year and a half in some concentration camps. When he came out, he was a sad, shocked and disturbed person. However, a higher spiritual destiny led him to Egypt and from there to Pondicherry in India. In Pondichery, he knew Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. Soon, he left for Guiana, Brazil, Africa etc. But again, he finally returned to India in 1953.
On 3rd March 1957, The Mother named him Satprem. His original name was Bernard. Satprem became a close disciple and a confidante of The Mother. He stayed in Sri Aurobindo Ashram. Soon after the Mother’s Departure on 17th November 1973, Satprem left the Ashram.
In 1982, having followed The Mother’s footsteps, Satprem withdrew completely to set out on a new venture, on a new adventure, uncertain and dangerous, of finding out the great passage into the next evolution beyond Man, which also means a conquest of death. And he undertook the work of exploring the cause of death and the ways and means of conquering death — Life has evolved since billions of years, but it has been conquered by death — and it still has continued to be an enigma for Mind also. Evolution beyond Mind has to be an Evolution beyond death also.
Sri Aurobindo made a prophecy in Savitri:
Even there shall come as a high crown of all
The end of Death, the death of Ignorance.In order to find out the secret of going beyond mankind, beyond death and ignorance, The Mother says, one has to plunge into the cells of the Body. The cells are the roots. The secret of the Transformation lies there.
During the 1960s and 1970s, The Mother stated that the cells of Her body were becoming more and more conscious. She said that the transformation of the cells, of the "mind of the cells", is the secret means for the physical transformation, which is of crucial importance and significance. She also said that the cells of Her body were progressively organizing themselves to a have a kind of mind of their own.
She regarded death as a state of mind of the cells which the cells accepted. If they could change their perspective, if they did not accept death as something inevitable, this would help the cells maintain themselves without any deterioration and linger their longevity.
She said that one of the secrets for physical transformation was/is to overcome the effect of the "physical mind" and the subconscient. This part of the nature is filled with inertia and has the habit of being resigned to defeat, of being negative and pessimistic in attitude and tendencies, and of grumbling. As a result, it reinforces illnesses and is a great obstruction to the physical transformation. According to Her, this was a great obstacle to the emergence of the new species. The Mother strived hard to bring in the higher consciousness into the physical and sub-conscient aspect of Her being.
The Mother said :
There is a consciousness in the cells: it is what we call the ‘body consciousness’ and it is wholly bound up with the body. This consciousness has much difficulty in changing, because it is under the influence of the collective suggestion which absolutely opposed to the transformation. So one has to struggle with this collective suggestion, not only with the collective suggestion of the present, but with the collective suggestion of the earth consciousness as a whole, the terrestrial human consciousness which goes back to the earliest formation of man. That has to be overcome before the cells can be spontaneously aware of the Truth, of Eternity of matter.
What is more essential in an Integral Transformation is to transform the consciousness of the cells. Transformation of the mind and the vital being has been achieved through yogic discipline — there has been transformation of consciousness. As The Mother has said, at least quite a few persons have been aware of the Divine Presence or the Truth of their being. But they have not attained the Total Transformation, the Integral Transformation. Even the global consciousness of the physical has been transformed — but that is not enough for going beyond human state of darkness and disease and death. There has to be a transformation of the consciousness of the cells.
The Mother has said:
Finally, there is the physical consciousness itself, the material consciousness, the body consciousness, and that is the one which has so far never been entirely transformed. The global, overall consciousness of the body has been transformed, that is, one can throw off the bondage of thoughts, of habits that one no longer considers inevitable. That can change, it has been changed. But what remains to be changed is the consciousness of the cells.
OOOOO
Satprem concentrated and worked on bringing this change in the consciousness of the cells in the physical body.
That is the Way for integrally transforming the human being towards Supermanhood. That work is Satprem’s contribution to the mankind, in which he is indeed unique and it is not yet known if any one else has walked on this Way.
Satprem says:
And then you begin to wonder if it is not the body that holds the true secret — if it is not these first cells or that microorganism from a few billion years ago that hold what we have been seeking in vain with all our scientific or intellectual artifices, if it is not this first spasm of “life” enclosed in a bubble that knows or recognizes its Nectar, its air from beyond the graves, its life denser than all our lives, its breathing more powerful than all our oxygens — and that, finally, not only the way out of this grave, but the way to let another air in here which will bring our walls down.
A new Life.
A new Earth.
A new Evolution — Evolution II.
[Satprem : Evolution II]
Satprem lived and worked for this progressive journey beyond death and beyond Ignorance. He has definitely made a great deal of progressive exploration and advancement on the Way.
And the Work must go on till the goal is achieved. That is the greatest and the most important for the mankind — to go beyond mankind. The Work has to continue and will definitely continue, as that is the Will of Divine in Evolution.
OOOOO
Some persons have recently equated Satprem and Peter Heeh. This is sheer ignorance and ingratitude. Heeh cannot simply be compared to, or raised to the height of, Satprem. Satprem has NEVER done or written anything to belittle or understate Sri Aurobindo and The Mother. He was one of the closest disciples of The Mother. And his book Sri Aurobindo or The Adventure of Consciousness is definitely one of the books on Sri Aurobindo. He is definitely a source of inspiration for the followers of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother.
That is why Satprem, the brilliant pioneer, is remembered.
Barindranath Chaki
Written on 30-10-2008,
Published on 31-10-2008
Posted simultaneously also in ASPIRATION and Sulekha.
Tags : Sri Aurobindo Mira Alfassa The Mother Satprem A new Evolution Evolution II Integral Transformation Consciousness of the Cells
Thursday, March 20, 2008
The New Way 2
Thursday, February 21, 2008
February

Indeed, the 21st, 28th and 29th days of February bring along with them the Force and Light and Joy of a New Consciousness that vibrates in the air — one may feel it also, if one tries to remain quiet and receptive and open.
That is the Force that is there on earth, in order to bring a Big Change here, from the mental and vital world to the Supramental Manifestation.
To try to commune with The Mother, with the Divine — that will be and is the best way of celebration of these days.
Let us sincerely try to have a constant communion with Her.
Barin
21-02-2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Remember Her Always

Today is The Mother’s Birthday.
The Mother has told : "Keep yourself always open towards me". And that is the Way. In fact, that is the Sadhana, the highest range of human sadhana, that is the Way towards the New World, towards the Integral Transformation, towards supermanhood. When we keep ourselves open to Her, the Supramental Light tries to touch us. If we are conscious enough to receive It, we are truly successful.
Let us remember The Mother as much as possible. Let us try to have a contact and communion with Her, as much possible and as sincerely and perfectly as possible. Let us renew our surrender to Her, to Her Work, to Her Cause, the Manifestation of the Supramental Consciousness, as much as possible.
The Question that has been asked [in ‘In Search of The Mother’ in Orkut] is about Meditation. In meditation, one may sit quietly at a place, but that is not sufficient. One has to bring in quietude in the Mind, trying to stop the ever-busy movements of the mental ideas, opinions, habits and constructions, and also the recurrence of the impressions of vital activities, desires, cravings, sensations, lust, greed, jealousy, pride, envy, hostility, selfishness and egoistic tendencies. Also one has to try to conquer the darkness of the physical nature, the stupidity, doubt, disbelief and obscurity of the physical nature.
But how? By aspiring for the Light, for the Truth, for the Higher Consciousness, by trying to replace the lower nature by the Higher Nature. Again the question comes: how? By remembering The Mother.
When one meditates for some time everyday and calls The Mother, calls the Higher Consciousness for some days, Peace descends, Bliss descends, Light descends, and one feels elevated in Consciousness. The Consciousness widens and widens and all barriers and limitations seem to break down and collapse.
M P Pandit says: “…it is not enough that one sits with closed eyes once the higher and deeper Consciousness. It is necessary to be vigilant and keep oneself in the current of the Force, without MEANDERING of the MIND.” [The emphasis is given by me.]
To sit for a while in a silent and quiet way and then to get up and forget it and mix up oneself in the half-blind whirlpools of life — that is not meditation. That brings failure to the sitting in quietude for a while.
Meditation can be done and has always to be done, as far as possible, during the Works also.
Remember The Mother, concentrate on Her, commune with Her, refer everything to Her, surrender everything to Her.
That is the best expression of our Love for Her.
On Her Birthday, let us take one step further towards The New World, The New Horizon.
Barin
21-02-2008
Saturday, November 24, 2007
The Transition
Thirty-three years back, on the Seventeenth Day of November, 1973, Mira Alfassa, The Mother in Sri Aurobindo’s Yoga, left Her physical body and walked and entered into the then newly formed Supramental Body. The World knew and told that She has passed away.
She wanted to walk into Her new supramental body along with Her old body. But that did not and could not happen. The cooperation that She deserved from the fellow human beings was not received. Someone who was close to Her on that day, did not render the needed assistance and She had to lie on Her bed, as She was medically ill. Her instructions were ignored and unheard. Her entreaties were not listened to or cared for. Someone failed to become a true representative of the aspiring mankind.
OOOOO
Medically, The Mother was ill. It was told that She was sick. Though, according to The Mother and Her followers Satprem and Sujata, She was really at the concluding stage of preparing and entering into a New Body, the Supramental Body. Many others heard of it — some believed it. Some could not believe it — some did not believe it.
The Mother had told Sujata of the New Body on 24-03-1972 :
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. I thought Satprem should know, so he can note it down.
I don't know if I'll remember, that's why I am telling you. Because today is Friday and I won't see him till tomorrow. This way, I am sure I won't forget. You'll tell him, won't you?
Sujata: Yes, Mother.
The next day, the 25th March 1972, Satprem had asked The Mother about the New Body:
Sujata told me about the experience you had the other day, that vision you had of your body, the transitional body.
The Mother replied:
Yes, I WAS like that. It was me; I didn't look at myself in a mirror, I saw myself like this (Mother bends her head to look at her body), I was ... I just was like that.
That's the first time. It was around four in the morning, I think. And perfectly natural - I mean, I didn't look in a mirror, it felt perfectly natural……
The Mother revealed Her Agenda and Her Work before Satprem and Sujata, and they were told by Her of Her programme of creation and preparation of the New Body as a very important step in the Supramental Manifestation.
OOOOO
K D Sethna has said:
We are aware that the Supramental Body was already with Her, waiting to fuse with the human form She had worn for our sake. We are aware also that the lengthy struggle she recently went through was only the Yogic endeavour of the human form to open completely to the Supramental Body. Perhaps this form did enough and its exalted agony was needed no more to enable the Supramental Body to manifest. Perhaps that Body having assimilated the achievement of the other and thereby gained sufficient density for its subtle-physical substance, can now materialize itself on its own in a not too distant future.
OOOOO
What M P Pandit said is highly relevant :
A new body was under formation, the supramental body, in which She was to take Her embodiment as the end-result of the transformation of this body. The body was being prepared. She gave in “Notes on the Way” descriptions of this body, described how it looked. And about a year ago, She told someone, “I am trying to fuse this material body into that body but I have not been able to get the clue.” She said, “Nobody on earth has tried this, the secret is not given to me. On that point, She said, there was no help from above. She was searching.
Thereafter ……… one day it flashed to me that as soon as that luminous body was ready, the Mother would just walk into it without dying, “without dying” means not necessarily keeping the body, but without the gap in consciousness; keeping up the continuity of the personality, She would just cross in to that luminous body. It just flashed, and the way it came I thought it was more than just an idea: I noted it down in my diary. I looked up it the other day, it was dated the 24th of July 1973. I did not think it wise to speak of it to people except in my closest circle, which I did… …
Then on the morning of 17th November at about nine o’clock, a particular friend of mine — he has a certain grounding in occult experience, occult knowledge, and normally when we meet we exchange notes — told me, “I have seen the Mother’s body of light.” I got interested. “The new body is full of light but it is not dense enough to function is earth conditions. It is there, and as I was looking at it I got the feeling that the Mother would enter this body the moment it became dense enough to stand and function in the earth atmosphere, seen or unseen. But there is no question of revival of the material body.” And he added, “Those who are capable of seeing the Mother’s halo, aura, they will be able to see that luminous body.” It confirmed what I had perceived some four month’s earlier; I told him as much.
That evening at 7-25 p.m., as you all know, the Mother withdrew from her body. They say the cause was heart failure, but let me tell you the heart failure was not the cause, the heart failure was the result of her withdrawal. She had decided, the moment things were ready she walked into that body.
She has not passed away, She has just changed her body. Not changed in the manner of the Gita — soul changing bodies — consciously ; keeping the full personality she has gone into that body. And, as it was revealed to me.…, she will function in that body, work through those instruments who are open to her, expedite the remaining work — the working out of the consequences — but her activity will not be confined to the Ashram or to Auroville; for her the whole world is her Ashram….
OOOOO
A divine possibility failed due to the non-co-operation and disobedience of Man. The negative force and will prevailed for the time being and the Destiny of Mankind and the Evolution had to have a different Course. When the Old Form could not walk into the Supramental Body, a New Course was taken by divine possibility — the New Body must not have failed and must have assimilated the essence of the Old Form.
The Mother, in Her subtle body, walked into the New Body. That was the triumph of which the mankind did not know. She is continuing Her work of the Supramental Manifestation and Transformation through those instruments who are open to Her and to Her Action or Her Will, throughout the world, and it is not limited to the Ashram or to Auroville. Her work is now for the entire world and for the entire humanity
Barin Chaki
25-11-2007
Written on 17-11-2007,
Revised from 18-11-2007
To 20-11-2007
Pubished on 25-11-2007
Saturday, August 11, 2007
The New Way
A new Light shall break upon the earth.
A new world shall be born.
And the things that were promised shall be fulfilled.
Lord, Thou hast willed, and I execute:
A new light breaks upon the earth,
A new world is born.
The things that were promised are fulfilled.
Blessings.
That it may grow in all hearts.
Blessings.
OOOO
Let us see the following messages from The Mother, issued thereafter :
Open yourself to the New Force. Let it do in you its work of Transformation.
April 1956
♣
Open yourself to the New Light that has dawned upon earth and a luminous path will spread in front of you.
28 May 1956
♣
Let the New Light be spread upon earth and spread the conditions of human life.
6 January 1957
♣
A new world is born — all those who want to have a place in it must sincerely prepare themselves for it.
15 August 1957
♣
Heralding the birth of a new world, we invite all those who want to have a place in it to prepare themselves sincerely for it.
15 August 1957
♣
To celebrate the birth of a transitory body can satisfy some faithful feelings.
To celebrate the manifestation of the eternal Consciousness can be done at every moment of the universal history.
But to celebrate the birth of a new world, the supramental world, is a marvelous and exceptional privilege.
OOOO
But stupidity and ignorance are very obstinate.
3 March 1970
♣
Matter prepares itself to receive the supramental: matter tries to liberate itself from old habits to prepare for the new creation.
♣
Ideal of the new creation: the ideal must be progressive in order to realize itself in the future.
♣
Usefulness of the new creation: a creation which aims at teaching men to surpass themselves.
♣
Charm of the new creation: the new creation is attractive for all those who want to progress.
♣
Beauty of the new creation: the new creation better to manifest the Divine.
♣
Terrible. A strange difficulty.
Thus, we find that the phrase the new way has been used to express what is stated by The Mother. Satprem and his translators, while rendering into English what The Mother stated, have used the words. I have not been influenced by any other writer in this regard.
Monday, July 30, 2007
The New Way
Barindranath Chaki
21st July 2007
The Beginning
To eternal light and knowledge meant to rise,
Up from man's bare beginning is our climb;
Out of earth's heavy smallness we must break,
We must search our nature with spiritual fire:
An insect crawl precludes our glorious flight;
Our human state cradles the future god,
Our mortal frailty an immortal force.
OOO
A mightier race shall inhabit the mortal man's world.
On Nature's luminous tops, on the Spirit's ground,
The superman shall reign king of life,
Make earth almost the mate and peer of heaven
And lead toward God and truth man's ignorant earth
And lift towards godhead his mortality.
[Sri Aurobindo: Savitri]
The Earth is a field of Evolution. The Earth has seen an Evolution from the cell, that was the first manifestation of life, to the human beings, the Homo Sapiens; and it is now becoming the field of an Evolution from the human beings to the supramental beings. About this, however, the human beings in general may not be as yet aware or conscious. Evolution, at first, was the manifestation of Life in Matter, and then it manifested Homo Neanderthals and the Homo Sapiens — the human beings, as Mind descended into Life and Matter, into the earth-atmosphere. Time has come now for going beyond Mind.
Man is conscious, but to a very small extent. Of course, in Man, the dreamer and the seeker is there; the further possibility is there in him. There have been a few Leaders among us and they are regarded as the Manifestations of the Divine among us: They have spoken of Nirvana, Moksha, Liberation and the Kingdom of God. They have also accepted death and decay and sufferings like all of us, out of Their Love for us. The Way They found for us was the way of escape from this worldly manifestation. A few individual’s nirvana or moksha or journey to the Kingdom of God could not solve the problems of the remaining billions of human beings that remained on earth. As a whole, the humanity has remained far away from Light and Joy and Peace and deathlessness, from Perfection and Consciousness that can give Victory and Conquest.
Man is not the last thing in Evolution on earth. He has to surpass himself and grow and become a higher being. This is the message of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother.
Sri Aurobindo has said:
Man is a transitional being; he is not final….The Step from man to superman is the next approaching achievement in earth’s evolution. It is inevitable because it is at once the intention of the inner Spirit and the logic of Nature’s process. [The Hour of God, page 7]
So far, the earth has been a vale of tears, a vale of owes and sorrows and sufferings, and also a vale of bloodshed and cruelty, of destructions and devastations and Death, of falls and failures and frustrations, of fights and feuds, of fears and foes. We are all sitting upon a heap of bombs — atomic or non-atomic, real or virtual. Human beings have become absolutely selfish and egoistic. Religions have turned into the reasons for battles, group-wars and terrorism. Political institutions and activities are grossly infected by crimes and corruptions. Love is lost. Truth is lost and hidden. Light is engulfed in Darkness.
This cannot be the Earth that the Divine, the Supreme, has designed and dreamed to manifest. The earth can be and has to be transformed into Abode of God. Man has to change himself and the earth atmosphere. Man has to change this world, in all aspects, in totality, integrally.
Sri Aurobindo has said:
Man in himself a little more than an ambitious nothing. He is a littleness that reaches to a wideness and grandeur that are beyond him, a dwarf enamoured of the heights. His mind is a dark ray in the splendours of the Universal Mind. His life is a striving, exulting, suffering, an eager passion-tossed and sorrow-stricken or a blindly and dumbly longing petty moment of the universal Life. His body is labouring perishable speck in the material universe. This cannot be the mysterious upward surge of Nature.[The Hour of God, page 8]
The base of this worldly manifestation, as we know, is Matter, which appears to us to be inconscient, gross, inert, without Life or Mind. However, Matter, as Sri Aurobindo has stated, is the self-willed involution of the Existence-Consciousness-Bliss, the Superconscient Spirit, the Supreme. The Divine has Himself become Matter, as the ultimate process of an Involution. Evolution is the urge, ‘the upward surge’ of the involved Divinity in Nature — to express and manifest Itself in this and as this evolving world.
Sri Aurobindo has further said:
In every particle, atom, molecule, cell of Matter there lives hidden and works unknown all the Omniscience of the Eternal and all the Omnipotence of the Infinite.[The Hour of God, page 14]
He has also said:
Involution of a Superconscient Spirit in inconscient Matter is the secret of this visible and apparent world and the evolution of this Superconscient out of inconscient Nature is the key-world of the earth’s riddle. Earth-life is the self-chosen habitation of a great divinity and his aeonic will is to change it from a blind prison into his splendid mansion and high heaven-reaching temple.[The Hour of God, page 17]
Thus, it is an inevitable conclusion that the earth-nature and the circumstances on earth must change. Evolution cannot stop and be finalized after creating a being, the human being, whose nature is quite insufficient and insignificant and contrary to what is involved: the Superconscient. So, Man has to grow as an expression of the Divine. Man has to grow into something that is beyond his present state : half-conscious, ignorant, mortal and enslaved to the lower nature.
Sri Aurobindo has again said :
There is something beyond, something that mankind shall be; it is seen now only in broken glimpses through rifts in the broken walls of limitations that deny its possibility and existence. An immortal soul is there somewhere within him and upholds the soul-continuity if his nature. But this greater Spirit is obstructed from descent by the hard lid of his constructed personality; and that inner luminous soul is wrapped, stifled, oppressed in dense outer coatings.[The Hour of God, page 8]
Sri Aurobindo has further said:
The earth-law has to be changed and a new atmosphere has to be created.
[Evenings talks with Sri Aurobindo by A B Purani, page 148]
Body has been seen, almost always, as a barrier for spiritual sadhana and progress. Sri Aurobindo has spoken of this as follows:
In the past, the body was regarded by the spiritual seekers rather as an obstacle, as something to be overcome as discarded, than as an instrument of spiritual perfection and a field of spiritual change. It has been condemned as a grossness of Matter, as an insuperable impediment, and the limitations of the body as something unchangeable, making transformation impossible.[The Supramental Manifestation, page 7]
OOOO
The term ‘the Agenda’ definitely means The Mother’s Agenda. The reference is to the thirteen volumes of Mother’s Agenda, and it also includes in it scope the very central Idea of that has been the Aim and Goal and Purpose of all the endeavours of The Mother: the terrestrial transformation and the Advent of the supramental beings — the Supramental Transformation. It was destined that the 13 volumes of the Agenda would be published, the main contents of which put forth the Message of the Mother to the humanity, to the world, through Her words and sayings and conversations. Some persons perhaps did not desire that these Words should not se the daylight, but the Divine Will prevailed. Satprem came out to the world with these Words. In fulfillment of the Divine Will, Satprem was The Mother’s instrument.
The Mother’s Words in these volumes of the Agenda are essentially important, as they form the New Truth, create the New Vision that will lead and guide the humanity, the world, to The New Horizon, The New World, of the supramental manifestation. These words show us The New Way.
Should we continue for ever to be as imperfect and ignorant and mortal as we are now? Should we ever remain enslaved to Tamas and Darkness and Inconscience, to Death, to division and disorder and chaos? Should our existence for ever be meaningless, purposeless? Should our cycles of birth and death be aimless, meaningless? Should our existence remain for ever subject to sorrow and sufferings? Should always there be the continuance of the problems of warfare and battle, terrorism and bloodshed, of the innocent killings of the religious intolerance and atrocities, of the false and narrow and ignorant social rules, regulations, thoughts and ideologies on earth?
Sri Aurobindo and The Mother have answered with an emphatic no. There shall come a change — as certain as the sunrise. And there is a Way — as true as the sunlight. And there is a Hope — as sure as the Dawn — for all of us who are willing to collaborate and cooperate with the Divine, with Truth.
As we know, Sri Aurobindo departed after effecting the Descent of the supramental consciousness and force on and in His Person. The Mother took up the thread by bringing down the supramental consciousness on earth. She continued with after the Descent on earth for a progressive realization of the supramentalized manhood — supermanhood — by Man.
I hope the fellow seekers will be delighted to walk on The New Way.
Barindranath Chaki
21-07-2007
Friday, May 11, 2007
A Comment on Savitri
Marko Says: May 10th, 2007 at 1:15 pm Hi anon, I can appreciate what you are saying and agree with most of it. But I was coming from a different perspective, that of literature and poetry, while you seem to be coming from that of teaching, transformation and transmission.
The perspective of literature was actually started by Tusar by his remark “For his poem Savitri, he ranks along with Dante, Milton, and Goethe.” Those three did not write from the perspective of a teaching that they wanted to put into the world like Aurobindo, although obviously Dante and Goethe were spiritual developed. So when Tusar says Savriti ranks along with Dante, Milton and Goethe he is coming from the perspective of literature.
And I don’t think that you can maintain Savriti is on the same level as the Divine Comedy here. And this is not a subjective experience thing. Specialists in the field of literature and poetry are the ones would have the last say in this. Well, those specialists have written libraries full of praise for the Divine Comedy and they did not and will not do so for Savriti. And again this is not because I don’t like Aurobindo, because I do, but I also want to keep things in perspective and stay realistic. In my view, Tusar’s comment was not realistic. Open Integral ]
A Comment on Savitri :
I think my friend Tusar N. Mohapatra was too modest and not really unrealistic, when he said : “For his poem Savitri, he ranks along with Dante, Milton, and Goethe.” What one finds what the Future Poetry will be and when one reads through the poems and even the prose of Sri Aurobindo, I find them to be far above even the best normal poems on earth, including even The Divine Comedy. Savitri cannot be compared to any other poem, when we think of the New Vision that Sri Aurobindo has given us.
In the Future, of which Sri Aurobindo and The Mother had the dream, and for bringing upon which They worked so much, the present ‘realistic’ standards of valuation of literature will change. And the Future seems not to be too far. There will be difference between poems with some Inner Vision and poems with high imagination and even visions from layers NOT too high. From the highest literary appreciation of the present day literary critics, The Divine Comedy may be one of the best. But I have not heard or read anywhere that The Divine Comedy has been sought after as The Light by anyone, as millions today have accepted and are accepting Savitri. As a thing of Beauty, The Divine Comedy has been a Joy for ever, no doubt. But it has never really been the equal to Savitri in bringing us to Light and Truth and the eternal Beauty.
We are advancing on earth. And as we are marching ahead, our standards are also growing and changing. As we are on the Way to live more and more in and with an integral consciousness, our standards of evaluation will also change. Arts for arts sake will be there, pure literature will also be there, but the true evaluation will only be from the integral viewpoint.
One — who is sincerely trying to understand Sri Aurobindo, what Consciousness He represents — will never compare Him with Goethe, Milton or Dante, though they were very great. And His creations, which really belong to the Future and Truth, cannot be compared to any creation of imagination, even of the highest poetic value as per the present day or past valuation. Dante and Goethe were no doubt spiritually developed. But was Sri Aurobindo simply spiritually developed? HE is the Light and the Leader of the Next Evolution.
The Mother has said in 1972 :
What Sri Aurobindo represents in the world’s history is not a teaching, not even a revelation ; it is a decisive action, direct from the Supreme.
The mother met Sri Aurobindo on 29th March 1914.
The next day, on 30th March, She wrote :
Gradually the horizon becomes distinct, the path grows clear, and we move towards a greater and greater certiude.
It matters little that there are thousands of beings plunged in the densest ignorance, He whom we saw yesterday is on earth ; his presence is enough to prove that a day will come when darkness shall be transformed into light, and Thy reign shall be indeed established upon earth.
O Lord, Divine Builder of this marvel, my heart overwhelms with joy and gratitude when I think of it, and my hope has no bounds.
My adoration is beyond all words, and my reverence is silent.
In 1972, in the birth centenary of Sri Aurobindo, The Mother gave us the following Message:
Sri Aurobindo is an emanation of the Supreme who came on earth to announce the manifestation of a new race and a new world: the supramental.
Let us prepare for it in all sincerity and eagerness.
Again, She said:
Man is the creation of yesterday.
Sri Aurobindo came to announce the creation of tomorrow: the coming of the supramental being.
And yet another, written on 1 January 1972:
Sri Aurobindo does not belong to a country but to the whole earth. His teaching leads us towards a better future.
In the Words of Sri Aurobindo, Savitri is the Divine Word. And it is the most realistic Truth.
Barin Chaki
11-05-2007
Thursday, May 10, 2007
SUJATA
As Satprem completed his Work in his old human body and began his new journey in a new exitsence for manifestation of The New World of supramental consciousness, following The Mother and Sri Aurobindo, Sujata also followed him on 4th May 2007. She was 81 years old.
My friend Tusar N. Mohapatra informed me today as follows :
Sujata also left us
10 May 2007, 5:15 Uhrjj.vanhoutte
For information of the community, Sujata have also left us, more or less a month after Satprem, on May 4, 2007. She was 81 years old and lived since the age of 9 in the Ashram of Sri Aurobindo.
OOOO
Sujata cannot really leave us.
She spent a much long period of her life in collaboration with Satprem to transform the human existence, following the Mother and Sri Aurobindo.
How can she leave us who the way-farers to the same goal?
We will always meet her and be inspired by her on the Way.
The Consciousness and the Spirit of Sujata can never die. The spirit will continue to work for conquering death and ignorance and help others in conquering death and ignorance, in the Way led by The Master and The Mother, in collaboration with Saprem. She will be present, along with Satprem, in the New World, among the New Race!
There has been now a beginning of a New Age — of a Rejuvenation of the march towards The New Horizon, The New World. Death can never win.
The Progress towards the Supramentalisation of the World will continue till the Work is finally done.
Barin Chaki
10-05-2007
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Towards the New Horizon
This earth is known to be a field of Evolution. According to Darwin , man is the consequence of an evolution, and evolution is the history of life on earth. But Darwin has stated nothing with reference to evolution after the appearance of Man — Homo Neanderthal or of Homo Sapiens at the latest. He told us nothing about further evolution after the appearance of man on earth, or even about the purpose of the human evolution. And his view was a scientific truth, limited to the epistemology of Science. Science finds the Truth, which is but only a partial aspect of the whole Truth; it does not go beyond the senses, beyond the apparent, even with the help of logic. It’s bases are the experiences of the senses.
Reason and logic are the means of finding Truth, but they are not the only means or the whole of the means. An integral seeker of the complete Truth, a true student of Philosophy, realizes this. There are other means.
Sri Aurobindo has said:
There are two allied powers in man : knowledge and Wisdom. Knowledge is so much of the Truth, seen in a distorted medium, as the mind arrives at by groping; Wisdom what the eye of the divine vision sees in the spirit.
Late, I learned that when reason died, then Wisdom was born; before that liberation, I had only knowledge.
OOOO
Science, as well as the human commonsense, has not seen beyond the mortal imperfect Man. However, is man the final word in Evolution, in the entire Manifestation in Nature on earth? Has Nature remained satisfied having reached through Evolution at some entity such as a human being, who is so incomplete, imperfect, ignorant and incapable? How can he be the last thing? Of course, the humankind has many lofty and high aspirations, Dreams and Hopes! Will they fail?
Man has to strive towards Perfection.
Man has to know himself and transcend himself.
Out of man, the superman shall emerge.
That is the goal of this Manifestation, as it has been said by Sri Aurobindo and The Mother[Mira Alfassa].
That is purpose and goal of Evolution, of onward movement of the Supernature. That is the reason why men will have to evolve further beyond Homo Neanderthal, beyond Homo Sapiens. Man has to go beyond the limits of mind and reason, of life and impulses, and scale newer and higher heights of Consciousness and ascend the Superconscient planes and then the Supramental Consciousness, and realise his Dreams and Hopes, by bringing in the supramental race upon earth!
That is purpose and goal of Evolution, of onward movement of the Supernature. That is the reason why men will have to evolve further beyond Homo Neanderthal, beyond Homo Sapiens. Man has to go beyond the limits of mind and reason, of life and impulses, and scale newer and higher heights of Consciousness and ascend the Superconscient planes and then the Supramental Consciousness, and realise his Dreams and Hopes, by bringing in the supramental race upon earth!
OOOO
The Mother has said in this connection :
There is an ascending evolution in nature which goes from stone to the plant, from the plant to the animal, from the animal to man. Because man is, for the moment, the last rung at the summit of ascending evolution, he considers himself as the final stage in ascension and believes there can be nothing on earth superior to him. In that he is mistaken. In his physical nature he is yet almost wholly an animal, a thinking and speaking animal, but still an animal in his material habits and instincts. Undoubtedly, nature cannot be satisfied with such an imperfect result ; she endeavours to bring out a being who will be to man what man is to the animal, a being who will be a man in the external form, and whose consciousness will rise far above the mental and its slavery to ignorance.
These further steps beyond man, for transcending the limits of ignorance in man, for the advent of the supramental race is the next evolution.
OOOO
The Task before is to change the world.
But why? And how?
Why:
Some fifty thousand to more than a million years back, the early human beings started their journey on earth, definitely with hopes for Joy and Bliss, for satisfaction and fulfilment, for conquering diseases and Death, with inquisition and thirst for knowledge in their eyes and their fresh undisturbed intelligence. They marched onwards and created civilizations and cultures, created Arts and Literature and Poetry and Music, created the Society and all the social norms and rules and paraphernalia. Even they tried to solve all the problems and difficulties of life.
But in their attempts for doing so, they now find themselves in a world, which they have almost completely spoiled. Now, men and women and their world are ruled and conquered by darkness and ignorance, by sorrows and sufferings, by chaos and disorder, by battles and warfare and destructions, genocides and mass-murders, by incurable mental and physical ailments and diseases and untimely deaths, in spite of all their wisdom and knowledge, all their feasts and festivals and parties and merry-makings, all the assortments and arrangements of enjoyment and pleasure, in spite of all their prosperities and riches, in spite of all their medical and scientific researches and discoveries and preparations, in spite of all religions and worships, in spite of all their peace talks and preaching of Ahimsa or non-violence, in spite of all their civilizations and progresses. Mankind has lost all their hopes and aspirations, all their spontaneous inborn simplicity and clarity and peace.
So, we have to change the world.
And how:
We will change the world, never by preaching this and that religion. They are already fighting against each other for centuries. I do not mean to attack any religion; Persons who represented the Supreme Consciousness initiated them all. But we have added so much of falsehood, doubts, hatred, clashes and even bloodsheds into them, that they can seldom lead us to our Goal.
We will bring the change never by political changes and revolutions, by change of Governments or creating League of Nations or commonwealths or UNOs, however noble and lofty may be the Ideas behind.
We will make the change, never by changing external activities or forms of society or of life, not by keeping or shaving beards or hairs, not by changing dresses, not by changing political parties or social groups, or by changing religions. Never can we reach the Goal by trying to change others in a prototype, as the some have tried and failed.
We are to change ourselves, first.
Each of us is to change himself or herself.
If we prescribe to find the Ego and hunt it, and we really then go after the Ego, we will NEVER find it. Within there is Darkness, and the Ego is reigning there. While going after Ego, we will be lost in the Darkness. We shall follow the Light. We shall seek and find the Light within.
But before taking up the issue, I should clear some misconceptions, which are misleading and aiming to mislead.
The change is not easy. The change I am speaking of is not easy. Had it been so, it would not have been delayed by 50,000 years. All the religions, all the lofty social endeavours, including the French revolution or the Marxist revolution in Russia, have failed to change the human nature from what it is practically and what it should be. That is because the matter is very difficult. Why difficult? Because we are insincere, egoistic, driven intolerance and hatred and animal enmity and anger, and above all we fail to know and understand Truth in its entirety.
OOOO
Of this change, Sri Aurobindo says:
To raise the world to God in deathless Light,
To bring God down to the world on earth we came,
To change the earthly life to life divine.
[ Savitri ]
He says of the end of Death :
Even there shall come as a high crown of all
The end of Death, the death of ignorance.
[ Savitri ]
OOOO
Sri Aurobindo is Himself the Adventure of Consciousness, as described by Satprem, a disciple. And if one aspires and endeavours to follow the Light and the Words of
Sri Aurobindo and The Mother [Mira Alfassa]and is inspired by Them and walks through the Way trodden by Them, one has to grow up as a sort of adventurer of Consciousness, a seeker of Truth. This is an Understanding, a Light that comes from above and grows within, more and more intuitively and yet satisfying all claims Reason, even surpassing the limits of Reason, the failures and falls of Reason. Following Sri Aurobindo and The Mother is not a religion, not any worship or puja, not a dogma, not a way of creating another group or any group. The Teaching of Sri Aurobindo is a clear and open Truth, universal and worldwide and limitless, accepting and acceptable to all human beings on earth for surpassing all their imperfections and limitations, for surpassing all difficulties and deficiencies and divisions, for surpassing darkness and death. The aim of this Adventure, the journey through the Unknown and the New was and is to reach The New Horizon, The New World, the Eternal Dawn of the Supramental World. We the human beings have to evolve into a New Race, surpassing all our human and animal limitations and imperfections and inconscience and ignorance and incapacities.
Let us aspire for marching, along with others, Towards The New Horizon, The New World. Hence, let us collect all that is luminous and golden in the fruitage of our journey through all the past millennia so far, since the beginning of the human journey, and march towards The New Horizon. It is not that we will leave this world and go elsewhere to find another planet in search of the New World. We are not to retire into some lonely forests or mountains or island. We will change this world. We see that this world, as it is now, is in an extremely bad state of affairs. Falsehood, hatred, selfishness, corruption, greed, deception, violence, cruelty, inhumanity, and greed for power and wealth - these appear to be the ruling forces now. All the noble Ideals or Ideas that sometimes prevailed on earth and inspired many of our noble ancients or our forefathers, are, as it were, lost. Look at history and the present day earth: ideologically, and in consciousness, men seem to have lost their height and depth. The entire human society is sitting on a heap of bombs. In Arts and culture and relationship, vulgarity has almost been ruling in place of beauty and love and fellow feeling. In the name of religion, the people fight each other, taking themselves farther away from the Divine, from spirituality. We may live for a definite purpose, higher than ordinary, which will bring us more fulfilment, more joy. The higher our purpose, the greater is the joy and fulfilment. The higher the Consciousness we aspire for and the wider your consciousness, our life then becomes more purposeful, the greater is then our joy. We may direct our endeavor, our way of life, towards limited personal happiness and satisfaction, or towards a greater and wider Joy and fulfilment, along with and for others, maybe along with the whole of mankind, for the entire mankind, towards the higher values of Truth, Light, Wisdom, Beauty, Creativity, Goodness, Love, Wideness, Harmony and Peace, Total Well-being. Our journey is Towards The New Horizon.
OOOO
Sri Aurobindo is the Pioneer to declare that the humanity must go beyond itself, that Man must evolve beyond himself towards supermanhood, towards becoming the supramental beings. That is the Will of the Divine, that is the design of Nature, of what He has termed as Supernature.
Sri Aurobindo has said :
Our evolution in the Ignorance with its checkered joy and pain of self-discovery and world-discovery, its half fulfilments, its constant finding and missing, is only our first state. It must lead inevitably towards an evolution in the Knowledge, a self finding and self-unfolding of the Spirit, a self-revelation of the Divinity in things in that true power of itself in Nature which is to us still a Supernature.
The Mother has said :
A new consciousness is at work upon earth to prepare the coming of the superhuman being. Open yourself to this consciousness if you aspire to serve the Divine Work.To come into contact with this new consciousness, the essential condition is no longer to have any desires and to be wholly sincere.
Further, The Mother has also said:
To leap into the new consciousness, the first condition is a mental modesty sufficient to be convinced that all one thinks one knows is nothing in comparison with what remains to be learned. All that one has learned externally must be only a foothold enabling one to rise towards higher knowledge.
Hence, let us aspire for and dream of marching Towards The New Horizon, The New World. My idea is not only to dream or be a visionary, but to spread this dream, this vision, this aspiration, and the bases of this philosophical and spiritual understanding given to us, throughout the people around the world, through my Blogs and Websites, including my website The New Horizon. I hope the Light and Teaching of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother will inspire the people and change their attitude and approach, so that the Society can grow and march Towards The New Horizon, The New World.
[Simultaneously published by me, in barinchaki.sulekha.com with some adaptation, in the Community Towards the New Horizon in Orkut ]
Barin Chaki
30-1-2007
Sunday, September 24, 2006
On the Way
With all humility, I say that from my adolescence I endeavoured for understanding and following Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, not as a religion, not as any worship or puja, not as a dogma, not as a way of creating another group or any group, but as a clear and open Truth, universal and worldwide and limitless, accepting and acceptable to all human beings on earth for surpassing all their imperfections and limitations, for surpassing all difficulties and deficiencies, all divisions and darkness and death. And on the Way I met some others. And we walked together, often. The aim of the Adventure, the journey through the Unknown and the New was and is to reach The New Horizon, The New World, the Eternal Dawn of the Supramental World. We the human beings have to evolve into a New Race, surpassing all our human and animal limitations and imperfections and inconscience and ignorance and incapacities.
I have a dream, a dream of marching, along with others, towards The New Horizon, The New World. And I request all others to march towards The New Horizon, The New World. Hence, let us collect all that is golden in our harvest so far, since the beginning of the human journey, and march towards The New Horizon. It is not that we will leave this world and go elsewhere to find another planet in search of the New World. Nor should we become recluses. We need not retire into some forests or mountains. We will change this world. We can see that this world, as it is now, is in an extremely bad state of affairs. Falsehood, hatred, selfishness, corruption, greed, deception, violence, cruelty, inhumanity, and hunger for power - these appear to be the ruling forces now. All the noble Ideals or Ideas that prevailed on earth and inspired many of our noble ancients or our forefathers, have, as it were, become obsolete. Look at history and the present day earth: ideologically, and in consciousness, men seem to have become pygmies. The entire human society is sitting on a heap of bombs - atomic or non-atomic. In relationships, we can no more find beauty and love and fellow feeling. In Arts and culture, vulgarity has almost replaced beauty. In the name of religion, the people fight each other, and they are taking themselves farther away from the Divine, from spirituality. You may live for a definite purpose, a purpose higher than ordinary, which will bring you more fulfilments, more joy. The higher your purpose, the greater is the joy and fulfilment. The higher the Consciousness you aspire for, and the wider your consciousness, the more purposeful your life becomes, the greater is your joy. We may orient our endeavor, our way of life, towards limited personal happiness and satisfaction, or towards a greater and wider Joy and fulfilment, along with others, for others, maybe with the whole of mankind, for the entire mankind, for higher values of Truth, Light, Wisdom, Beauty, Creativity, Goodness, Love, Wideness, Harmony and Peace, Total Well-being.
Our journey is towards the next evolution.
And Sri Aurobindo is The Leader of the next evolution.
He was the first Person to know and declare that the humanity must go beyond itself, that Man has to evolve beyond himself towards supermanhood, towards becoming supramental beings. That is the Will of the Supreme, that is the design of Nature, of what He has termed as Supernature.
Sri Aurobindo has said :
Our evolution in the Ignorance with its checkered joy and pain of self-discovery and world-discovery, its half fulfilments, its constant finding and missing, is only our first state. It must lead inevitably towards an evolution in the Knowledge, a self finding and self-unfolding of the Spirit, a self-revelation of the Divinity in things in that true power of itself in Nature which is to us still a Supernature.
The Mother has said :
A new consciousness is at work upon earth to prepare the coming of the superhuman being.Open yourself to this consciousness if you aspire to serve the Divine Work.To come into contact with this new consciousness, the essential condition is no longer to have any desires and to be wholly sincere.
Further, She has also said:
To leap into the new consciousness, the first condition is a mental modesty sufficient to be convinced that all one thinks one knows is nothing in comparison with what remains to be learned. All that one has learned externally must be only a foothold enabling one to rise towards higher knowledge.
Hence, we aspire for and dream of marching towards The New Horizon, The New World.
With this dream, with these ideas and aspirations and hopes, this website is created, which I name The New Horizon. My idea is not only to dream or be a visionary, but to spread my dream, my vision, my consciousness, my aspiration, along with the bases of my philosophical and spiritual understanding, throughout the people around the world, through my Blogs and Websites. I hope the Light and Teaching of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother will inspire the people and change their attitude and approach, so that a Society can grow and march towards The New Horizon, The New World.
There is no narrowness here. It is open to all other thinkers and Seers and spiritual Leaders of the Past and the Present and even of the Future who seek to change this world from darkness to Light, from falsehood to Truth, from death to Immortality. Not only the Dream, but also the required Action will be dealt with in these pages.
I will express myself though arts and poetry, through philosophical, intellectual and spiritual deliberations. You are invited and welcome to join or visit this place as a valuable and valued member or guest, in order to walk along towards The New Horizon.
Barin
24-09-2006
[This posting is published in my new Blog Barin Chaki and also simultaneously published by me in All choice. Barin ]