Remembering Satprem

The world is continuing with death. The humanity is still a continuing sacrifice to death.

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

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

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

The Hope

One hundred thirty-five years ago, on this day, the fifteenth of August, the Supreme answered the human call for several millennia:

Asato maa sad gamaya
Tamaso maa jyotirgamaya
Mŗtyormaamŗtam gamaya.

From the unreal, lead me to the real;
from darkness, lead me to light;
from death, lead me to deathlessness.

The Answer is Sri Aurobindo.
And Sri Aurobindo’s answer to this prayer is: tathaastu.

One hundred thirty-five years ago, there was the beginning of a very Big Change on earth, in our World, the beginning of the Next Evolution, from Man to a new species, beyond this ignorant imperfect death-bound human beings, living with and in Darkness, within and without.
That was the beginning of a Fundamental Change on earth. The seed was sown on that day.
Sri Aurobindo’s birth on earth is the most positive Answer from the Supreme to the humanity that gropes in darkness. He is the Divine Will personified — for an Evolution from Man to Superman and beyond, towards the advent of the supramental beings.

OOOO

The Mother [Mira Alfassa] met Sri Aurobindo on 29th March 1914 for the first time.
She wrote on the next day :

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.

OOOO

The Mother gave us the following message, in 1972:
“Sri Aurobindo came upon earth to announce the manifestation of the supramental world and not merely did he announce this manifestation but embodied also in part the supramental force and showed by example what one must do to prepare oneself for manifesting it. The best thing we can do is to study all that he has told us and endeavour to follow his example and prepare ourselves for the new manifestation…”

The Mother also told us:
“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.”

On 15 August 1972, the Message given by The Mother.
“Sri Aurobindo’s message is an immortal Sunlight radiating over the future.”
And yet another: “Man is the creation of yesterday.”
“Sri Aurobindo came to announce the creation of tomorrow: the coming of the supramental being.”

OOOO

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, and then towards becoming a supramental being. That is the Will of the Supreme, that is the design of Nature, rightly speaking, of Supernature.
While Matter is apparently Inconscient, evolution from Matter to Man is through Ignorance. Though Man has been evolved with more consciousness and knowledge in him in comparison with the Ape and other living beings, still he is half-conscious, half-fulfilled, with incomplete, insufficient and inconclusive knowledge, with more or less ineffective and superficial knowledge. Man has been evolved with Mind, is still being evolved with Mind, but what he carries with him as the Mind, is only a very small and miniature fragment the real principle of Mind. The humanity as a whole has not yet evolved or used or even become conscious of the higher and deeper ranges of Mind, which are touched and partly used only by a few. However, these few persons let us believe that transcendence of the present state is possible. Our endeavor for self-discovery and world-discovery is also only half-fulfilled, partial and inconclusive and insufficient. Our previous Leaders have led some, but the mass still gropes in darkness, and the followers have begun clashes, feuds and wars, and have the journey regressive and backward towards the primitive state of mind, though dressed and decorated with ornaments of modern superficialities.

OOOO

This earth is a field of Evolution, and from the scientific viewpoint, now man is at the apex of Evolution. But as we know, Man is not perfect. He lives with ignorance, incapacity, imbalance, disharmony, chaos, disorder, aimlessness, unhappiness, sufferings, diseases and death. However, that is only an aspect of the Truth. Inborn with him is a longing for happiness, joy, for light and knowledge. And always with him there is Hope. Without hope, he cannot be. Hope is an eternal companion of man. The humanity has to evolve into a race of supramental beings, or else he will be replaced by a race of higher beings, in order to give effect to the evolutionary progress: this is the necessity of Evolution. This is what the Mother [Mira Alfassa] has said :
Men, countries, continents!
The choice is imperative:
Truth or the abyss.
A beautiful, joyous, harmonious and luminous Future of divine perfection is waiting for Man as his evolutionary possibility and goal. This is our evolutionary Future. Man cannot continue for ever as he is and has been till now. He has to proceed ahead from the present situation, taking the opportunity given by The New Consciousness and Force that has descended. Or else, the evolutionary forces of Nature - Supernature -will surpass him and choose some other means for fulfilment of the goal : ever-progressive manifestation of Consciousness.
That is our Future, preordained. We shall have to ascend, integrally.

OOOO

The most important and unique Work of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother is leading the humanity and the earth the Next Evolution. They have told of a New and Higher Consciousness, the Supramental Consciousness, and of the Advent of this Higher Consciousness. The Supramental Consciousness is the Next plane of Consciousness that has to be evolved, for that is the Aim of Evolution. Evolution is the Manifestation of All that is ‘involved’ in Matter. And what is involved is nothing less than the Highest Principle of Existence, Existence-Consciousness-Bliss, or in simple language, the Divine.Matter is apparently Inconscient, and evolution from Matter to till the appearance of Man is through Ignorance. Man has evolved with more consciousness and knowledge in him in comparison with the Ape and other living beings. Yet he is only partially conscious, partially fulfilled, with incomplete, insufficient and inconclusive knowledge, with more or less ineffective and superficial knowledge. Man has evolved with Mind, but what he carries with him as the Mind, is only a very small and miniature fragment the real principle of Mind. The humanity as a whole has not yet evolved or used or even become conscious of the higher and deeper ranges of Mind, which are touched and partly used only by a few. However, these few persons have led us to believe that transcendence of the present state is possible. Our endeavor for self-discovery and world-discovery is also only fulfilled in a partial and inconclusive and insufficient manner. Our previous spiritual Leaders have led some, but the mass of the humankind is still groping in darkness. And the followers are busy with clashes, feuds and wars, and have made the situation regressive and backward towards the primitive state of mind, though ornamented with modern superficialities. Man lives with Ignorance in all walks of his life and existence, with an incomplete and imperfect mental consciousness that Nature has bestowed on him. He is ignorant and in dark about the results of his actions or about the certainty of his thoughts, of his future achievements, about his own survival, about his purpose on earth or even about his destiny. The human history is made of stories of our repeated bloodsheds in wars, battles and massacres. And we have divided and sub-divided and further subdivided our earth into smaller and smaller regions and fought against each other. Hatred is our way, and not Love. We are moving backwards to a regression. We are not conscious that there is a higher aim and meaning for our life and existence. We live with our narrow egoistic choices and selfish activities. We fail to know beyond our nose and most often, we shut up our eyes, outer and inner.

OOOO

On this birthday of Sri Aurobindo, let us remember Him and The Mother and also let us remember about our possible participation in the great Work of Transformation, so that the Next Future ushers in. Let us have faith in the Promise and march forward:
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.
[Savitri]

Sri Aurobindo has also told us that man has to and will transcend himself progressively and march forward towards the advent of a ‘mightier race’ — the race of the supermen, and then of the supramental beings.

This Hope, this Dream inspired within us by Sri Aurobindo, may become as the very Inspiration of our life.

Let us remember what Sri Aurobindo has said:


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.
[Savitri]

o0OOOOO0o

Barindranath Chaki

15-08-2007

Posted simultaneously in The New Vision , Zaadz and Sulekha.

A Comment on Savitri

[I read the following in one of the blogs of Tusar N Mohapatra — Savitri Era Open Forum. I am sending this comment thereon.

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

SUJATA

The beginning of a New Age

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

A comment on 'Satprem'

From Juliette ►

juliette said...

Dear Mr Chaki

I don't know why since some days I was trying to remember the title of Satprem's book : the Sannyasin I have read more than thirty years ago on the land of India when I stayed for a visit in Auroville. This book was kind of a bible for me at that time, when I was opening it at any page I found a relevent answer to my quest to find truth in this life. This book was the seed to show me the way. Then after a while I gave that book to some one but still keeping strong inside the impact of it. Then as a sign, suddenly, some days ago, I remembered the atmosphere of this book but forgoten the title and wondering if Satprem was still alive. So I searched in Internet and found out from your article that he died ten days ago. What a coïncidence although I've rarely thought of him during those past years. I share with you the sadness of his lost as he is a human being of our time who brought light on the way of many people's life and I am very grateful to him. For all the best to you and to those who loved him.

Juliette
4:06 AM

Satprem

Satprem
[30-10-1923 — 09-04-2007]

This cannot be an obituary. I will not say that Satprem is no more! I cannot say that he has passed away! I will not write about his works and achievements and then forget him.

Definitely, he was an author. He wrote several beautiful books, the likes of which nobody has written. He has edited and organized Mother’s Agenda, which contain the seed of the Next Future, the Next Evolution. And not only that, he is a part and parcel of Mother’s Agenda.

The possibility that there will be many more authors like him is rare. His writings are what he is! And he is unique, only one.

But Satprem is not only an author, he is an adventurer, following the footprints of The Adventure, and of The Creatrix. He wanted to break the habit of the body, the habit of death. He wanted to break into the realm of the supermen's world, the New World.

Man has to pass into the becoming of the Superman. Man has to transform himself, individually and socially, so that the New Race will come into being on earth. The Supramental World cannot come on earth, unless there is some real endeavour for it. And that has to come as soon as possible. That is the only Solution before the humankind.

And that is what Satprem has been doing. Satprem, along with Sujata, concentrated exclusively to the transformation of the cellular consciousness of the body and to the realisation of the next evolution, from Mind to the Supermind. They were / are in search of the great journey from manhood to supermanhood. And all this is the Work of The Mother and Sri Aurobindo.

Satprem described Sri Aurobindo as The Adventure of Consciousness. He wrote :

“The age of adventures is over. Even if we reach the seventh galaxy, we will go there helmeted and mechanized, and it will not change a thing for us; we will find ourselves exactly as we are now: helpless children in the face of death, living beings who are not too sure how they live, why they are alive, or where they are going. On the earth, as we know, the times of Cortez and Pizarro are over; one and the same pervasive Mechanism stifles us: the trap is closing inexorably. But, as always, it turns out that our bleakest adversities are also our most promising opportunities, and that the dark passage is only a passage leading to a greater light. Hence, with our backs against the wall, we are facing the last territory left for us to explore, the ultimate adventure: ourselves.”
He further wrote :
“There is no more room on the teeming beaches, no more room on the crowded roads, no more room in the ever-expanding anthills of our cities. We have to find a way out elsewhere. But there are many kinds of "elsewheres." Those of drugs are uncertain and fraught with danger, and above all they depend upon an outer agent; an experience ought to be possible at will, anywhere, at the grocery store as well as in the solitude of one's room--otherwise it is not an experience but an anomaly or an enslavement. Those of psychoanalysis are limited, for the moment, to the dimly lit caves of the "unconscious," and most importantly, they lack the agency of consciousness, through which a person can be in full control, instead of being an impotent witness or a sickly patient.
Those of religion may be more enlightened, but they too depend upon a god or a dogma; for the most part they confine us in one type of experience, for it is just as possible to be a prisoner of other worlds as it is of this one--in fact, even more so. Finally, the value of an experience is measured by its capacity to transform life; otherwise, it is simply an empty dream or a hallucination. Sri Aurobindo leads us to a twofold discovery, which we so urgently need if we want to find an intelligible meaning to the suffocating chaos we live in, as well as a key for transforming our world. By following him step by step in his prodigious exploration, we are led to the most important discovery of all times, to the threshold of the Great Secret that is to change the face of this world, namely, that consciousness is power.”
Following the footprints of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, Satprem himself became an adventurer. His existence is a dedication to the Cause of passing on to the Next Evolution, for creating the New World, where there will no more of any death or decay, any old age, any disease, any defeat for man. He endeavoured for translating this dream onto the reality. He was preparing himself for the great leap beyond ordinary humanity.

Satprem cannot die. I feel his presence, without any vacant feeling. He will be there, till the Work he has undertaken is done! If he dies, along with him dies the human hope and the human dream. He is a hope for all of us — the dreamers. He is a hope for all of us — the rebels. He is the hope for all of us — the adventurers towards The New Horizon, The New World.

He is the Spirit that can never die. The spirit will conquer death and let others conquer death, in the Way led by The Light and The Force.

His name will shine for ever at the Feet of The Master and The Mother. He will be present in the New World, among the New Race!

{Also published in Barin Chaki, Barin's Blog and barin chaki's blog simultaneously.)

Barindranath Chaki

On The Mother

On The Mother I

The 21st day of February 2007, was the birthday anniversary of The Mother, Mira Alfassa, the spiritual collaborator of Sri Aurobindo.

The Mother was born in Paris on 21 February 1878. She was named Mirra, and she grew up in Paris where she spent the first part of her life. Her parents had settled down in France a year before her birth.
In her early years She was conscious of the special purpose of Her life, of Her mission on earth. From the age of five she became conscious that she was not of this world and did not have a human consciousness. At this age she began her spiritual discipline, her sadhana.
She came in contact with Max Theon and Madame Theon around 1905-6. She met Sri Aurobindo at Pondicherry on 29th March 1914. She left Pondicherry in February 1915 and proceeded to France and Japan. Later, on 24th April, 1920, She returned to Pondicherry for ever.

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Sri Aurobindo, whom millions throughout the world have already regarded as an Incarnation of the Divine Consciousness, had specifically pointed out that ' the One whom we adore as The Mother,' also descended and became manifest before us on earth. He referred to Mira Alfassa, and millions on earth adore Her. Who is this Mother? What is this Principle of the Mother? How is this Principle related to the Supreme? The Ultimate Reality is the Infinite and One Existence-Consciousness-Bliss, whom we have termed as the Brahman, the Divine, God etc. He is the Supreme Divine, the One, Indivisible, Infinite and Pure, who has three aspects, the Transcendental, the Universal and the Individual. In the Transcendental mode, He is the Source of and is also above all manifestation, all the Universes, all the worlds. As the Supreme, He bears the eternal consciousness in Him, above all Time and Space. The Supreme Divine is the Existence-Consciousness-Bliss, as I have already told. He is. He is Existence, eternal existence, and can even become Non-Existence, beyond the apprehension of any manifested existence. In the Universal mode, he is one with the Universes, though He is above them and is their Creator. I am not speaking of any religious narration of creation, like that of creation in six days etc. As the Supreme, who is both Impersonal and Personal, He is the Source of all that is, of the this Universe, or rather the Universes. He has no form, no shape, and simultaneously, He is the Source and Creator of all forms and shapes. He ha become all this Universe, or rather all these universes. He is the Manifestation and the One who manifests. It is His Will that manifests and is manifested. The entire Manifestation is He, and it is His Leela, Play. He is both beyond it, and within it, and in each atom, in each living being. And He is also the Individual, Personal God. All the Avatars are but His Individual Manifestations.
“The Supreme is with His Creative Force, the Mahashakti, whom we call the Divine Mother. They are One and Indivisible, and yet They are Two in Manifestation and even above Manifestation.” [The Psychic Being in The New Horizon]
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Almost all the followers of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother know the following that Sri Aurobindo has said on the Mother :
“The One whom we adore as the Mother is the Divine Cobscious Force that dominates all existence, one and yet so many-sided that to follow her movement is impossible evn for the quickest mind and for the freest and most vast intelligence.”

Sri Aurobindo has further said :
“Her embodiment is a chance for the earth-consciousness to receive the Supramental into it and to undergo first the transformation necessary for that to be possible.”

That is why She is so valuable for the mankind and for the earth. “She is the golden bridge …,” says Sri Aurobindo in Savitri. She is the Force that enables Man and the earth to leap beyond and pass over the gulf of difference between Mind and the Supramental Consciousness, between Darkness and Ignorance and Falsehood on the one hand and on the other hand Light and Wisdom and Truth.

She is the golden bridge, the wonderful fire.The luminous heart of the Unknown is she,A power of silence in the depths of God;She is the Force, the inevitable Word,.....To heal with her feet the aching throb of lifeAnd break the seals on the dim soul of manAnd kindle her fire in the closed heart of things.
[Savitri : Sri Aurobindo]

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the Mother said :
“Throughout all this life, knowingly or unknowingly, I have been what the Lord wanted me to be, I have done what the Lord wanted me to do, I have done what the Lord wanted me to do. That alone matters.”

She has also said :

“Since, the beginning of the earth, wherever and whenever there was the possibility of manifesting a ray of Consciousness, I was there.”

And She has also shown us the Way, the most sublime Way of the Child in us, in all of us :

“You have to aspire, you have to reject; but the best is if you can keep me in your heart, if you love me, then you will have to do nothing. I shall do all for you.”

That is the best Way.
And let us remember always what She has told us to march ahead towards the Goal, towards the New Horizon :

“Let us advance always, without stopping, towards an always more complete manifestation, an always more complete and higher consciousness.”

Barin
23-2-2007
[Written on 21-02-2007]

The Mother and Sri Aurobindo

A few days back, I read in Auroramirabilis, a blog published by Tusar N Mohapatra, some quotations from some authors like Makarand Paranjape, Peter Heeh, and Mukul Kesavan. As I was traveling in various parts of West Bengal, I could not immediately find time and scope to write down the reply thereof. But I felt that I should reply at once. I had to wait till my return to Bhubaneswar.

As stated by Tusar N Mohapatra, irreverence to great men is seen as a short route to glory. He is justified. But I find that the situation attracts another truth, which is inherent in the story of the elephant and the dogs.
Sri Aurobindo and the Mother were and are great human beings. No doubt. But they are the most unique and the most incomparable ones among the hundreds and thousands of great men and women. They are the tallest monuments. They are indeed much more than great human beings. They seem to me to be like the sky. If one spits at the Sky, it is well known what happens.
The Past and the Present of the humankind may fail to recognize Them, may only accept Them as great people, great saints and remain pleased and satisfied, but to the Seer, to the Visionary, They are the Leaders of the next future.

Let us begin with Paranjape. He has written: “In time, a whole set of beliefs and rituals began to be built up around Sri Aurobindo and more so, around The Mother.” This is sheer ignorance! There were no rituals around Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. Never. The Mother has rather broken all rituals. There was / is no puja, no worship, no ritual, no self-deceit. And regarding beliefs, it can be said that people from all over the world gathered around Them, not due to any set of beliefs, but they were attracted towards Them due to Their Presence and Their Personality, due to the Philosophy of Sri Aurobindo and the spiritual experimentations done by both of Them. And among the people around Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, we find Nalini Kanta Gupta, K D Sethna, Dr. Nirodbaran, Indra Sen, Haridas Chowdhury, TV Kapali Shastry, M P Pandit, K M Mushi, R R Diwakar, A B Purani, K R Srinivasa Iyenger, Huta, Navajata, Udar, Karan Singh, Dr. Malcolm Adiseshia and many others. And among the people from outside India, we find Satprem, Datta, Judith Tyberg, Morwenna Donnelly, Roger Anger, Sir Robert Bristow, Frederic Spielberg and many others. I have no time and no space to introduce each of them to Paranjape. Each of them was personalities of worth, with sufficient philosophical and intellectual depth. To know each of them, Paranjape should have read them. He would have then known they were not the people who would have been swayed by wrong beliefs and meaningless rituals. How and why they were convinced of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother can be known by a person, if he or she is sincere enough in his or her quest. Millions of people are there on earth today who understand and know the contents in Their Teaching and are inspired by the same.
I am quoting Professor Jean Herbert, previously of the University of Geneva, who has written:
“Even those most allergic to anything that smells of mysticism … must acknowledge Sri Aurobindo as one of the greatest men, not only of our age, but of all ages. His all-embracing, crystal clear and profound philosophy is assuredly a contribution to human thought, vision and progress which ranks that of Plato, Kant, Bergson or Goethe … the findings of Sri Aurobindo which we have no means of verifying at our level of experience actually supply all the consistency which strikes us in the explanation given by Sri Aurobindo for facts which we do know, an all-embracing consistency, the equivalent of which does not seem to have attain even by any other known thinker…
“Now thousands who had Sri Aurobindo’s darsan could not help believing that they were face to face with a great saint and sage…His look very clearly had in it something superhuman, which might be said to put it as far above the human look as the latter is above the look of a dog or a cat…” [Pioneer of the Supramental Age]

Also I wish to quote Prof Frederic Spigelberg, previously of the Stanford University, California, USA :
“…I have never known a philosopher so embracing in his metaphysical structure as Sri Aurobindo, none before him had the same vision…
“I can foresee the day when the teachings which are already making headway of the greatest spiritual voice in India, Sri Aurobindo, will be known all over America and be a vast power of illumination…”

I may go on quoting, but to make the presentation short and limited and to the point, I must say that following Sri Aurobindo and the Mother is not any blind faith or belief, as Paranjape has imagined because of his ignorance and lack of depth in the matter.

Paranjape has further said : “The death of each of them caused dismay and disappointment among large sections of the faithful.” Sorry, again ignorance and unintelligent imagination and belief on the part of Paranjape. There was never any dismay or disappointment, though there was sadness and sorrow and grief, which is but natural. Had there been any dismay and disappointment, now the following Sri Aurobindo and The Mother would have come to insignificance, which is not the case. Still, the following is growing larger and larger.
In this connection let me quote Dara [Aga Syed Ibrahim], a disciple :
I found myself in Sri Aurobindo’s own room by the side of his cot. He seemed so peaceful and happy, and the flesh shone with a new luster which I had failed to seat the darsan time on 24th November. Why could I not see it before?... I could not take my eyes off his face and arms. It seemed to me he was alive. It was certain that he was in a condition of deep and upward soaring trance just then." [My Last Darshan of Sri Aurobindo]

Sri Aurobindo’s life was an experiment. What he taught was not a matter of ‘belief ‘ about which Paranjape is speaking, a sort of belief which is built up of distrust and disbelief, which is fragile and which is of no value, as it is likely to be broken at the slightest excuse. The children of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother throughout the world do not have such belief, furthermore because Their Teaching is based on a Science, a Science of Existence, a Philosophy about which the greatest scholars, thinkers and even scientists of worldwide fame have spoken. He has been accepted as the greatest of Philosophers and Teachers, by many great men, not by a bunch of believers whose belief is no belief, as imagined and spoken of by Paranjape. Paranjape has referred to the Ashram community. Sri Aurobindo and The Mother are not and never limited to the Ashram. They are followed by millions throughout the world. And does Paranjape know about the ashramites? About the Ashram? It is not an Ashram of the inactive recluses. It is one of the most visited Ashram in the world. On the 6th December 1950, more than 60000 persons visited Sri Aurobindo. Is it possible that 60000 people were befooled on the Day, when the Master passed away?

The passing away of the Master and of the Mother cannot be understood by the persons who live in a surface depthless mentality and believe in fragile beliefs. And to explain these phenomena, I do not have the space here, I may repeat again. But later on soon, I will write about Their departure surely, at least for casting away the darkness brought about by the disrespect and calumny and blasphemy by someone who has no knowledge of Them or Their Teaching.

Paranjape again says: “Besides, a whole theology began to be developed, especially because of the extensive records of what Sri Aurobindo and The Mother had said…This theology not only asserts the Avatarhood or Divine Incarnation of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, but builds around them a special cult of worship and devotion…”
There is no theology about Sri Aurobindo and The Mother. There is a clear-cut philosophy, about which Herbert said : “the findings of Sri Aurobindo which we have no means of verifying at our level of experience actually supply all the consistency which strikes us in the explanation given by Sri Aurobindo for facts which we do know, an all-embracing consistency, the equivalent of which does not seem to have attain even by any other known thinker…” I am repeating this quotation, only to emphasize the point. Herbert states that Sri Aurobindo was / is the most consistent thinker.
I am repeating Spigelberg, who has said :
“I have never known a philosopher so embracing in his metaphysical structure as Sri Aurobindo, none before him had the same vision.”
And there is no cult of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, no religion. According to the Mother, the Integral Yogi who seeks supramental transformation has no religion, no cult. Let us see what the Mother said in this matter.

I am placing below what the Mother [Mira Alfassa] wrote on the subject :

Auroville and the Religions

We want the Truth.
For most men, it is what they want that they label as truth.
The Aurovillians must want the Truth whatever it may be.
Auroville is for those who want to live a life essentially divine but who renounce all religions whether they be ancient, modern, new or future.
It is only in experience that there can be knowledge of the Truth.
No one ought to speak of the Divine unless he has had experience of the Divine.
Get experience of the Divine, then alone will you have the right to speak of it.
The objective study of religions will be a part of the historical study of the development of human consciousness.
Religions make up part of the history of mankind and it is in this guise that they will be studied at Auroville - not as beliefs to which one ought or ought not to adhere, but as part of a process in the development of human consciousness which should lead man towards his superior realization.

PROGRAMME

Research through experience of the
Supreme Truth
A life divine
but
NO RELIGIONS
Our research will not be a search effected by mystic means. It is in life itself that we wish to find the Divine. And it is through this discovery that life can really be transformed. 2 May 1970


So where do you find the theology and cult and fragile baseless so-called belief of which Paranjape has the nightmare?

Again Paranjape says:
“It needs to be acknowledged that though both Sri Aurobindo and The Mother repeatedly warned against the creation of a cult around them, they themselves encouraged it in several ways. Sri Aurobindo himself deified The Mother and vice versa.”

What a blasphemy! Can Paranjape prove by quoting any sayings or writings of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother that they encouraged creation of a cult? Can he prove that They encouraged it? This is a challenge to him.

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother told the Truth about each other. They had to open other’s eyes. They told the Truth. Should they have spoken otherwise or suppressed Truth to please the people like Paranjape? Can Paranjape deify himself or any other person?

Falsehood cannot convince millions for decades after decades.

[Continued]

Barin

03-09-2006

The New Vision

The New Vision

I have a successful blog at Zaadz , and I post my writings also in The Visionland, my Pod at Zaadz. Further, also I write in my Website The New Horizon. However, I was inspired to join and write in a larger and wider blogging community.

Hence, this new Blog. I have named my blog The New Vision, as it will be about the Vision of the New Light, the New Horizon, the New World that is now under formation in a subtle but sure way, especially after the First Supramental Manifestation on the 29th day of February 1956, as declared by Mira Alfassa [The Mother]. This Advent of the New World, this fulfilmemt of the Vision thereof, is the most important thing I am interested in. Obviously, I am interested in the Supramental Manifestation as visioned and promised by Sri Aurobindo.

And for this Advent of the Supramental Consciousness, Sri Aurobindo says that Man has to ascend from Mind to various higher levels of Mind, and then to the Supermind. Man has to go through the ways of Transformation. And when the human aspiration rises to a height, then only Supermind can be approached. The Mother [Mira Alfassa] was the Person who caused the Descent of the Supramental Consciousness on earth on the 29th February 1956. The purpose of this Supramental Descent was to make possible the ascending journey of the human being to the Supramental Being . I seek to place below the oft-quoted statement from the Mother: FIRST SUPRAMENTAL MANIFESTATION (During the common meditation on Wednesday The 29th February 1956) This evening the Divine Presence, concrete and material, was there present amongst you. I had the form of a living gold, bigger than the universe, and I was facing a huge and massive golden door, which separated the world from the Divine. As I looked at the door, I knew and willed, in a single movement of consciousness, that ‘the time has come', and lifting with both hands a mighty golden hammer I struck one blow on the door and the door was shattered to pieces. Then the supramental Light and Force and Consciousness rushed down upon earth in an uninterrupted flow. This was, and is, the purpose of the coming of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother on earth : the Manifestation of the Supramental Consciousness here on earth, so that Man can progressively change and transform himself into the Supramental Being. By the half-lit and diminished principle of Mind, Man can rise from the animalhood to a great extent, but cannot attain Perfection, nor can he become the Supramental Being and cause an end to his miseries and his ignorance, inconscience, incapacities and death.
This transformation will be integral and involve the physical, mental, emotional and vital aspects of Man, and will have three stages, psychic, spiritual, and supramental; it will concern both the individual and collective.

Thus, this Blog will be concerned with discussions and presentations relating to the Supramental Manifestation and the Integral Way and connected ideas and thoughts and other matters. Though the writings will be mostly centred around Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, there may be references to other thinkers and philosophers and spiritual people.Recently I am writing and posting a book on Sri Aurobindo, named Sri Aurobindo in Zaadz, both in my Blog and in my Pod The Visionland in zaadz. If interested, the Reader may visit Barin’s Blog in Zaadz. My website may also be viewed, if interested.

Barindranath Chaki
Friday, July 21, 2006