July
29th – Talk by Prof Vladimir Yatsenko
The Cause of Creation. THE BEGINNING:
Taking a brief look into Vedic Cosmogony. Shatapatha
Brahmana depicts the Myth of Creation in this way. “At the beginning was the Self (Atman). He was Alone. He looked around and found
nobody else except himself. He said: “I
Am…” But there was no other name to say, for he was alone. … He was not happy. He
wanted Another. it can be only for one reason, for delight.”
THE FIRST CREATION: The Eternal Night
“Out of Himself He cast
“a luminous shadow”: - gradually denying
himself, withdrawing his Supreme Knowledge from His Supreme Power, becoming
unaware of these worlds as Himself.
THE SECOND CREATION:
When the first Involution
took place and the Light was turned into the Darkness, “the Creation became as
if unsteady. It could not sustain
itself, so the Supreme Self had to enter it.
And when He has entered, as the text says: “Himself by Himself”, the
Creation became steady.”
From this point onward the Evolution starts to
takes place:
“A soul of the Divine is
here slowly awaking out of its involution and concealment in the material
Inconscience.” - says Sri Aurobindo in The Synthesis of Yoga. So, actually
there were two Creations (Involutions) before the Evolution could take place:
first, out of Himself he created the worlds, and then he entered them, plunging
into the darkness and lying down at the bottom of the Inconscient.
August
4th - Talk by Prof Vladimir
Yatsenko
Above are four operative
functions of the consciousness in the Vedantic tradition: which are defining
consciousness as an interaction of Knowledge and Power, Name and Form.
Samjnana is the contact of consciousness with an image of
things by which there is a sensible possession of it in its substance; if
Prajnana can be described as the outgoing of apprehensive consciousness to
possess its object in conscious energy, to know it, Samjnana can be described
as the inbringing movement of apprehensive consciousness which draws the object
placed before it back to itself so as to possess it in conscious substance, to
feel it.
Ajnana is the operation by which consciousness dwells
on an image of things so as to govern and possess it in power.
Vijnana is the original comprehensive consciousness
which holds an image of things in its essence, totality and parts and
properties; it is the original, spontaneous, true and complete view of it which
belongs properly to the supermind and of which mind has only a shadow in the
highest operations of the comprehensive intellect.
Prajnana is the consciousness which holds as image of
things before it as an object with which it has to enter into relations and possess
by apprehension and analytic and synthetic cognition.
These
four, therefore, are the basis of all conscious action....There are secret
operations in us, in our subconscient and superconscient selves, which precede
this action, but of these we are not aware in our surface being and therefore
for us they do not exist. If we knew of them, our whole conscious functioning
would be changed.
-
Sri Aurobindo
August
5th – Reading from AIM magazine – July 2018
1.
Renunciation and enjoyment
It talks about
how human mind is currently attached to sensuous satisfactions. To overcome
that self-denial or external renunciation is necessary for the soul to break
out of the clogged sensory pleasures. That does not mean self-torturing which
is an offence to the Divine seated within us. The enjoyment should be to see
and feel the divine expressing itself in everything within us and without us.
2.
Detachment
Our mind has the
power of detachment and it can be strengthened by a certain attitude of
indifference to the things of the body. While keeping the body in order, we
should not be too much worried about what best to eat and how much sleep
etc....More than the aid of physical ailments the mind should be trained to a
greater potentiality of vigour from the mental and vital energy.
3.
Knowing and Seeing God in the world
When one becomes
a Yogin raising his step from lower knowledge and gets higher illumination, he
can illumine the lower and make it a part of higher knowledge. He becomes a
channel of God consciousness and God action in the world. He sees nothing but
God in every form and action whether be data of science, philosophy, all
activities of past, present and future. In everything he can bring the
illumined vision and his liberated power of the spirit.
4. The Yoga of Divine Love
The Supreme
Being
Supreme
Being is also the Universal Being. To enter into more intimate relation with
him we should approach in the growing knowledge, not in ignorance. This supreme
Being guides us in whatever way we approach correcting our distorted ways which
is the beginning and finally with developing consciousness complete Divinity is
realised.
August
12th – Reading of passages from Human Cycle, The Ideal of Human Unity, War and
Self-Determination
The Spiritual Aim and Life
Jared guided us in the process of understanding the
passages read.
Right now our society is founded upon the
contracts and associations to bring harmony, otherwise there will be never
ending conflicts, clashes of egos. Sri Aurobindo says still it is far from a
society founded upon spirituality. Our civilised mentality has only created
excessive needs and desires with science developing more mechanical devices and
Nature not allowed to bring about the spiritual heart in man.
August
19th – Reading of passages from Human Cycle, The Ideal of Human Unity, War and
Self-Determination
Continuation
of The Spiritual Aim and Life
When the more advanced minds begin to declare
civilisation at the peak brings only more confusion, stagnation and decay, to
remedy this human mind goes back to think of more science and more mechanical
devices. This means to carry a disease to its height is the best way to
cure.This will push back the spiritual element in man far back.
The socio-religious machinery in the name of
giving spiritual freedom only binds man in imperious yoke and an iron prison.
So salvation of true nature of the soul is lost!
Looking forward to Sri Aurobindo’s remedy for
all these traumas in the later passages when read.
August
15th – Darshan Day, Sri Aurobindo’s 146th Birth Anniversary
It was indeed a great blessing for all the
members to get immersed in Sri
Aurobindo’s consciousness when our youth and children through their prayer
reading and the enacting of Sri Aurobindo’s and
Mother’s life made it immensly soulful! Sri Ramanathan gave us the joy
of hearing to the Spiritual journey of Sri Aurobindo in a very clarified way.
As
always Popat Bhai arranged for a delicious dinner after the programme.
Thanks to Sanjay and Shailaja for a beautiful
introduction and vote of thanks.
-
Jayalakshmi
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