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Religion and Occultism RELIGION
God gives Himself to His whole creation; no one religion holds the monopoly of His Grace.
Instead of excluding each other, religions ought to complete each other.
The spiritual spirit is not contrary to a religious feeling of adoration, devotion and consecration. But what is wrong in the religions is the fixity of the mind clinging to one formula as an exclusive truth. One must always remember that formulas are only a mental expression of the truth and that this truth can always be expressed in many other ways. 6 December 1964 You express your faith in Sri Aurobindo with certain words which are for you the best expression of this faith; this is quite all right. But if you are convinced that these very words are the only correct ones to express what Sri Aurobindo is, then you become dogmatic and are ready to create a religion. 5 March 1965 In a severe tone: “Madam, you are pledging your word.” Very quietly: “I know it, sir, and when I make a promise, I keep it. But for me these things don’t have much importance. Page - 30 I have no attachment for any religion, and when one has no attachment, one has no aversion either. For me religions are forms, much too human, of spiritual life. Each one expresses one aspect of the single and eternal Truth, but in expressing it exclusive of the other aspects, it deforms and diminishes it. None has the right to call itself the only true one, any more than it has the right to deny the truth contained in the others. And all of them together would not suffice to express the Supreme Truth which is beyond all expression, even whilst being present in each one.” In a dry tone: “I am sorry, madam, but in this field I cannot follow you.” Smiling and peaceful: “I know that very well, sir, and I told you all this only to explain to you why I did not reply very seriously to the promise you were demanding from me.”
Why do men want to worship? It is far better to become than to worship. It is the reluctance to change that makes one worship. 24 June 1969 One may abstain from worship only on condition that one changes, for there are many who want neither to change nor to worship! June 1969 The attitude to be taken towards religions A benevolent goodwill towards all worshippers. An enlightened indifference towards all religions. Page - 31 All religions are partial approximations of the one sole Truth that is far above them. April 1969 A benevolent goodwill towards all worshippers. An enlightened indifference towards all religions. As for the relation with the beings of the Overmind, if this relation exists already, each case must have its own solution.
Why do men cling to a religion? Religions are based on creeds which are spiritual experiences brought down to a level where they become more easy to grasp, but at the cost of their integral purity and truth. The time of religions is over. We have entered the age of universal spirituality, of spiritual experience in its initial purity.
(About an article entitled “Religion in the New Age”)
I have read the article − it is all right. I have made only one change − in the last page, where you write “since it will be the age of God” (God is still too religious) I have put “of the ONE” − because it will truly be the age of Unity.
I approve of your continuing this practice in the Arya Home provided those who live there are absolutely free to attend or not according to their own conviction. Practices of this kind have no spiritual value if they become a habit or a compulsion, Page - 32 even if it is only a mental compulsion. I mean to say that no propaganda spirit must be used. With blessings.
Religious thought cannot be used unless it is liberated from the influence of religions.
The notion of religion is most often linked with the search for God. Should religion be understood in this context only? As a matter of fact, these days, are there not other forms of religion?
We call “religion” any concept of the world or the universe which is presented as the exclusive Truth in which one must have absolute faith, generally because this Truth is declared to be the result of a revelation. Most of the religions affirm the existence of a God and the rules to follow to obey Him, but there are some Godless religions, such as the socio-political organisations which, in the name of an Ideal or the State, claim the same right to be obeyed. Man’s right is to pursue the Truth freely and to approach it freely in his own way. But each one ought to know that his discovery is good for him alone and is not to be imposed upon others. 13 May 1970 You must not confuse a religious teaching with a spiritual one. Religious teaching belongs to the past and halts progress. Page - 33 Spiritual teaching is the teaching of the future − it illumines the consciousness and prepares it for future realisation. Spiritual teaching is above religions and strives towards a global Truth. It teaches us to enter into direct relation with the Divine. 15 July 1972
Occultism does not truly blossom except when it is surrendered to the Divine.
And yet there is an analogy. Just as you may read all the books possible on the art of playing the piano, but if you do not play it yourself you will never be a pianist, so too you may read everything that has been written on occultism, but if you do not practise it yourself you will never be an occultist. November 1957 Pre-vision: the power of projecting one’s consciousness into the future.
I do not like these showy miracles − they most often fail pitifully under the pressure of the Force. The first effect is a dangerous swelling of the ego. In front of all that, there is only one attitude to take − do your best and leave the result to the Lord. Page - 34 In the lives of many saints we read that with full trust the devotee refused to eat unless the Lord appeared and took part. And the Lord did appear and eat and work like human beings. Is there any truth in such stories?
A psychological truth because anybody can become for you the Lord if so you decide. The subjective point of view is much more widely prevailing than is generally admitted.
I have gone through the papers you sent me. The historic part of the papers seems to be true. The founder must surely have been acquainted with the Kaballah and with some mystics of Asia Minor. The original appears to have been written in Latin with adjuncts of Hebrew words (probably taken from the Kaballah). But the Osiris-Isis part looks to me like a more recent addition which came in something like 50 or 60 years ago. The whole thing is from its origin a very well-made, a very strong and elaborate mental formation, powerfully designed to Catch hold of certain vital elements and forces (both outside and inside the individuals) to rule and use them and through the vital to exercise a partial power over the physical. Formations of this kind are numerous; they translate upon earth into secret societies. I have met it many of the kind, more or less ancient, more or less powerfully organised, but all of a similar type. They are not, in their nature, spiritual. If there is any spirituality in them, it comes not from the formation itself but from the presence, in the society, of one or several personalities with a spiritual character and achievement. Page - 35 In ancient times the teaching of the great spiritual truths was a secret teaching reserved for a small number of initiates. Even now there are things that are spoken but cannot be written down, and still less can they be printed.
In our daily practices we are endeavouring to express the great mystery of the Divine Incarnation.
In the final analysis, formulated knowledge is only a language that gives the power to act upon the object of this knowledge.
(A sadhak wrote that devotees were performing ceremonies much like the worship of deities in front of the photographs of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. Stating that for proper worship there should be a bija-mantra [seed-mantra] to invoke the deity, he asked whether there was such a mantra for Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. Mother replied:)
I always advise to let the mantra rise from the depth of the heart as a sincere aspiration.
It occurs to me to beg Thee for a key word for japa.
OM. Page - 36 OM is the signature of the Lord.
(About pranam, the gesture of obeisance to the Divine)
This gesture, when one makes it in all sincerity, is the consecration to the Divine in the whole creation. It is that, that is the origin of the thing… Like a recognition, a recognition and a submission to the Divine in the creation. That is the true meaning. Naturally, in outer appearance, not one person in a thousand does that… but that is the true meaning of this gesture.¹ 19 March 1973 Page - 37 |