Fifty-nine years ago, on the 5th day of December, Sri Aurobindo willfully left his earthly sheath, terminating his physical tenure here upon earth. The occasion is before us again to contemplate upon the divine departure. But can the Divine depart? There is much to this, one instinctively knows. This so called departure was too different and poignant, by all accounts, to brush it aside as a natural occurrence. Truly, it was a divine departure. But again, can the divine depart?
Sri Aurobindo left behind a sacred body, the body of the “Golden Purusha” encased by a “golden crimson hue” which The Mother referred to as the Supramental Light, the same Light Mother had seen him pulling down during his last days. In “Twelve Years with Sri Aurobindo”, Nirodbaran records that the Supramental Light had been “descending into the most outward physical since 1938”. With his departure was possible the direct descent of the Light into his body and through it “into all Matter”. This sequence of events culminated in the spectacular Supramental manifestation of 1956. However, the details are still to be “consciously worked out and a concentrated yoga…required to hasten the evolution.” Sri Aurobindo’s departure is termed a divine sacrifice, the Purusha’s plunge into death, for the sake of all of Earth.
Yet all his children have been taught that to grieve would be an insult to Him who is with us “conscious and alive.” The physical loss has been more than compensated by something else that his true child would sense - His presence felt in the midst of one’s day to day life, in one’s heart space, to converse with Him, receiving his help and guidance.
In 1972, on His birth centenary, The Mother called on all to strive to be worthy of Sri Aurobindo’s birth centenary. The message on the Samadhi testifies to all that one ought to be thankful to Him, for all that he was and has done. One senses a feeling of smallness, as one gradually realizes what it may mean to be worthy of Sri Aurobindo, and his presence in our midst, in our hearts. Where does one start? This is a helpless question. But the helplessness of this is immediately quelled as one cries out to The Mother and Sri Aurobindo. All the help and guidance is always with us, we are assured, as well as the certainty of the divine’s victory. Only one thing is asked of us - an utter consecration, a self-giving total, of our entire being at the feet of the Divine. It is for each one of us to work out within ourselves what is asked of us.
There is a promise of victory, a divine victory, an eventual evolution of the animal-man into man-divine. Meanwhile, the word departed must lose its flavour, its meaning too, when we discover and realize other realms in which the essence of the divine can exist, in concrete terms. That remains a personal experience for each one of us to live and savour. The Divine, then, has not departed. He simply cannot. Here are The Mother’s words of Dec 7 1950, clear as crystal: “Lord, this morning Thou hast given me the assurance that Thou wouldst stay with us until Thy work is achieved, not only as a consciousness which guides and illumines but also as a dynamic Presence in action. In unmistakable terms Thou hast promised that all of Thyself would remain here and not leave the earth atmosphere until earth is transformed.”
Another opportunity for introspection and contemplation avails itself at our doorsteps…
Sri Aurobindo left behind a sacred body, the body of the “Golden Purusha” encased by a “golden crimson hue” which The Mother referred to as the Supramental Light, the same Light Mother had seen him pulling down during his last days. In “Twelve Years with Sri Aurobindo”, Nirodbaran records that the Supramental Light had been “descending into the most outward physical since 1938”. With his departure was possible the direct descent of the Light into his body and through it “into all Matter”. This sequence of events culminated in the spectacular Supramental manifestation of 1956. However, the details are still to be “consciously worked out and a concentrated yoga…required to hasten the evolution.” Sri Aurobindo’s departure is termed a divine sacrifice, the Purusha’s plunge into death, for the sake of all of Earth.
Yet all his children have been taught that to grieve would be an insult to Him who is with us “conscious and alive.” The physical loss has been more than compensated by something else that his true child would sense - His presence felt in the midst of one’s day to day life, in one’s heart space, to converse with Him, receiving his help and guidance.
In 1972, on His birth centenary, The Mother called on all to strive to be worthy of Sri Aurobindo’s birth centenary. The message on the Samadhi testifies to all that one ought to be thankful to Him, for all that he was and has done. One senses a feeling of smallness, as one gradually realizes what it may mean to be worthy of Sri Aurobindo, and his presence in our midst, in our hearts. Where does one start? This is a helpless question. But the helplessness of this is immediately quelled as one cries out to The Mother and Sri Aurobindo. All the help and guidance is always with us, we are assured, as well as the certainty of the divine’s victory. Only one thing is asked of us - an utter consecration, a self-giving total, of our entire being at the feet of the Divine. It is for each one of us to work out within ourselves what is asked of us.
There is a promise of victory, a divine victory, an eventual evolution of the animal-man into man-divine. Meanwhile, the word departed must lose its flavour, its meaning too, when we discover and realize other realms in which the essence of the divine can exist, in concrete terms. That remains a personal experience for each one of us to live and savour. The Divine, then, has not departed. He simply cannot. Here are The Mother’s words of Dec 7 1950, clear as crystal: “Lord, this morning Thou hast given me the assurance that Thou wouldst stay with us until Thy work is achieved, not only as a consciousness which guides and illumines but also as a dynamic Presence in action. In unmistakable terms Thou hast promised that all of Thyself would remain here and not leave the earth atmosphere until earth is transformed.”
Another opportunity for introspection and contemplation avails itself at our doorsteps…
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