Question of the month

“When I was asleep in the Ignorance, I came to a place of meditation full of holy men and I found their company wearisome and the place a prison; when I awoke, God took me to a prison and turned it into a place of meditation and His trysting-ground.”

Q: Is Sri Aurobindo speaking here of his own experience in prison during his political life?

A:  The Mother: Yes, Sri Aurobindo is referring here to his experience in Alipore jail.

But what is interesting in this aphorism is the contrast he points out between the material prison where only his body was confined, while his spirit, unfettered by social conventions and prejudice, free from all preconceived ideas and all doctrinaire limitations, had a direct and conscious contact with the Divine and a first revelation of the integral Yoga; and on the other hand, the mental prison of narrow rules which excludes life and within which people often confine when they renounce ordinary existence in order to devote themselves to a  spiritual life based on traditional dogmatic ideas.

So Sri Aurobindo is here, as always, the champion of the real freedom beyond all rules and limitations, the total freedom of perfect union with the supreme and eternal Truth.

“Thus said Ramakrishna and thus said Vivekananda . Yes, but let me know also the truths which the Avatar cast not forth into speech and the prophet has omitted from his teachings. There will always be more in God than the thought of man has ever conceived or the tongue of man has ever uttered.”

Q: Will the Avatars still need to take birth on earth once the supramental consciousness is firmly established?

A:  The Mother: This question will be easier to answer when the supermind is manifested in living beings on earth.

I had always heard that Sri Aurobindo was “the last Avatar”; but his was probably the last Avatar in a human body- afterwards, we do not know.

(CWM Vol. 10, ‘On Thoughts and Aphorisms’, Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust 1978, Published by Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Puducherry)

  

Q: What is the part of the Samadhi of Sri Aurobindo here?

A:  M.P. Pandit: The Samadhi is the physical concentration of the consciousness of Sri Aurobindo embodied in his material body. Those who have faith can draw as much spiritual sustenance from the Samadhi as they did when he was physically present.

The Samadhi is not a tomb where the physical remains of the Master are preserved. It is a living reservoir of spiritual consciousness and force, emanating its vibrations incessantly. I hope I am not revealing any great secrets in recording here that there is in these vibrations a powerful sanction to every deep prayer that is offered at the Samadhi. I have known of countless instances where confirmed sceptics have returned men of faith after a visit to the Samadhi. Not all the prayers that are daily offered are of the spiritual kind. They are of all types, worldly , material, idealistic etc. Whatever the seeking the sanction goes forth.

(‘All Life is Yoga’, M.P.Pandit, Dipti Publications, Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Puducherry)

Sri Aurobindo Says:

"A nation is not made by a common blood, a common tongue or a common religion; these are only important helps and powerful conveniences. But whatever communities of men not bound by family ties are united in one sentiment and aspiration to defend a common inheritance from their ancestors or assure a common feature for their posterity, there a nation is already in existence.

Nationality is a stride of the progressive God passing beyond the stage of the family; therefore the attachment to clan and tribe must weaken or perish before a nation can be born."