{"id":1003,"date":"2013-07-13T01:31:55","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:31:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=1003"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:31:55","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:31:55","slug":"08-the-divine-and-the-hostile-powers-vol-22-letters-on-yoga-volume-22","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/01-sabcl\/22-letters-on-yoga-volume-22\/08-the-divine-and-the-hostile-powers-vol-22-letters-on-yoga-volume-22","title":{"rendered":"-08_The Divine and the Hostile Powers.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\nS<\/font>ECTION<\/font>
\nS<\/font>IX<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

\n      The Divine and the Hostile Powers<\/font><\/b><\/span> <\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

       1. FALSEHOOD AND IGNORANCE <\/font> 1<\/font><\/sup><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

                       
\n<\/font>
\nI<\/font><\/b>GNORANCE<\/font> means Avidya<\/span>, the separative consciousness and the egoistic mind
\nand life that flow from it and all that is natural to the separative
\nconsciousness and the egoistic mind and life. This Ignorance is the result of a
\nmovement by which the cosmic Intelligence separated itself from the light of
\nthe supermind (the divine Gnosis) and lost the Truth, \u2013 truth of being, truth
\nof divine consciousness, truth of force and action, truth of Ananda. As a
\nresult, instead of a world of integral truth and divine harmony created in the
\nlight of the divine Gnosis, we have a world founded on the part truths of an
\ninferior cosmic Intelligence in which all is half-truth, half-error. It is this
\nthat some of the ancient thinkers like Shankara, not perceiving the greater
\nTruth-Force behind, stigmatised<\/span> as Maya and thought
\nto be the highest creative power of the Divine. All in the consciousness of
\nthis creation is either limited or else perverted by separation from the
\nintegral Light; even the Truth it perceives is only a half-knowledge. Therefore
\nit is called the Ignorance.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Falsehood, on
\nthe other hand, is not this Avidya<\/span>, but an extreme
\nresult of it. It is created by an Asuric power which intervenes in this
\ncreation and is not only separated from the Truth and therefore limited in
\nknowledge and open to error, but in revolt against the Truth or in the habit of
\nseizing the Truth only to pervert it. This Power, the dark Asuric Shakti or Rakshasic<\/span> Maya, puts forward its own perverted
\nconsciousness as true knowledge and its wilful<\/span>
\ndistortions or reversals of the Truth as the verity of things. It is the powers
\nand personalities of this perverted and perverting consciousness that we call
\nhostile beings, hostile forces. Whenever these perversions created by them out
\nof the stuff of the Ignorance are put forward as the<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1<\/span><\/sup> This letter was written to explain certain terms
\noccurring in the book The Mother by Sri Aurobindo.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 381<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

Truth of things, that is the
\nFalsehood, in the yogic sense, mithyā<\/i><\/span>, moha<\/span><\/i>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2. POWERS AND APPEARANCES<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

These are the
\nforces and beings that are interested in maintaining the falsehoods they have
\ncreated in the world of the Ignorance and in putting them forward as the Truth
\nwhich men must follow. In India they are termed Asuras<\/span>,
\nRakshasas<\/span>, Pishachas<\/span>
\n(beings respectively of the mentalised<\/span> vital, middle
\nvital and lower vital planes) who are in opposition to the Gods, the Powers of
\nLight. These too are Powers, for they too have their cosmic field in which they
\nexercise their function and authority and some of them were once divine Powers
\n(the former gods, pūrve<\/i><\/span> devāh<\/span><\/i>,
\nas they are called somewhere in the Mahabharata) who have fallen towards the
\ndarkness by revolt against the divine Will behind the cosmos. The word
\n\u201cappearances\u201d refers to the forms they take in order to rule the world, forms
\noften false and always incarnating falsehood, sometimes pseudo-divine.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3. POWERS AND PERSONALITIES<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The use of the
\nword Power has already been explained \u2013 it can be applied to whatever or
\nwhoever exercises a conscious power in the cosmic field and has authority over
\nthe world-movement or some movement in it. But the Four 1\u00a0 <\/span><\/sup>of whom you speak are also Shaktis<\/span>, manifestations of different powers of the Supreme
\nConsciousness and Force, the Divine Mother, by which she rules or acts in the
\nuniverse. And they are at the same time divine personalities; for each is a
\nbeing who manifests different qualities and personal consciousness-forms of the
\nGodhead. All the greater Gods are in this way personalities of the Divine \u2013 one
\nConsciousness playing in many personalities, ekam<\/i><\/span> sat bahudhā<\/span><\/i>. Even in the human
\nbeing there are many personalities and not only one, as used formerly to be
\nimagined; for all consciousness can be at once one and multiple. \u201cPowers and
\nPersonalities\u201d simply describe different aspects of the same being; a Power is
\nnot necessarily impersonal and certainly it is not avyaktam<\/span>,
\nas you suggest, \u2013 on the contrary, it is a<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1<\/span><\/sup> Maheshwari, Mahakali, Mahalakshmi, Mahasaraswati.<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 382<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

manifestation acting in the
\nworlds of the divine Manifestation. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4. EMANATIONS<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Emanations
\ncorrespond to your description of the Matrikas<\/span> of
\nwhom you speak in your letters. An emanation of the Mother is something of her
\nconsciousness and power put forth from her which, so long as it is in play, is
\nheld in close connection with her and, when its play is no longer required, is
\nwithdrawn back into its source, but can always be put out and\u00a0 <\/span>brought into play once more. But also the
\ndetaining thread of connection can be severed or loosened and that which
\ncame\u00a0 <\/span>forth as an emanation can proceed
\non its way as an independent divine being with its own play in the world. All
\nthe Gods can put forth such emanations from their being, identical with them in
\nessence of consciousness and power though not commensurate. In a certain sense
\nthe universe itself can be said to be an emanation from the Supreme. In the
\nconsciousness of the sadhak an emanation of the Mother will ordinarily wear the
\nappearance, form and characteristics with which he is familiar. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In a sense the
\nfour Powers of the Mother may be called, because of their origin, her
\nEmanations, just as the Gods may be called Emanations of the Divine, but they
\nhave a more permanent and fixed character; they are at once independent beings
\nallowed their play by the Adya<\/span> Shakti and yet
\nportions of the Mother, the Mahashakti<\/span>, and she can
\nalways either manifest through them as separate beings or draw them together as
\nher own various Personalities and hold them in herself, sometimes kept back,
\nsometimes at play, according to her will. In the supramental plane they are
\nalways in her and do not act independently but as intimate portions of the
\nsupramental Mahashakti<\/span> and in close union and harmony
\nwith each other.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

5. GODS<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

These four
\nPowers are the Mother’s cosmic Godheads, permanent in the world-play; they
\nstand among the greater cosmic Godheads to whom allusion is made when it is
\nsaid that the Mother as the Mahashakti<\/span> of this triple
\nworld \u201cstands there (in the overmind<\/span> plane) above the
\nGods\u201d. The Gods, as has already <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 383<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

been said, are in origin and
\nessence permanent Emanations of the Divine put forth from the Supreme by the
\nTranscendent Mother, the Adya<\/span> Shakti; in their cosmic
\naction they are Powers and Personalities of the Divine each with his
\nindependent cosmic standing, function and work in the universe. They are not
\nimpersonal entities but cosmic Personalities, although they can and do ordinarily
\nveil themselves behind the movement of impersonal forces. But while in the overmind<\/span> and the triple world they appear as independent
\nbeings, they return in the supermind into the One and stand there united in a
\nsingle harmonious action as multiple personalities of the One Person, the
\nDivine Purushottama.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

6. PRESENCE<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is intended
\nby the word Presence to indicate the sense and perception of the Divine as a
\nBeing, felt as present in one’s existence and consciousness or in relation with
\nit, without the necessity of any further qualification or description. Thus, of
\nthe \u201cineffable Presence\u201d it can only be said that it is there and nothing more
\ncan or need be said about it, although at the same time one knows that all is
\nthere, personality and impersonality, Power and Light and Ananda and everything
\nelse, and that all these flow from that indescribable Presence. The word may be
\nused sometimes in a less absolute sense, but that is always the fundamental
\nsignificance, \u2013 the essential perception of the essential Presence supporting
\neverything else.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

7. THE TRANSCENDENT<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is what is
\ntermed the Adya<\/span> Shakti; she is the Supreme
\nConsciousness and Power above the universe and it is by her that all the Gods
\nare manifested, and even the supramental Ishwara comes into manifestation
\nthrough her \u2013 the supramental Purushottama of whom the Gods are Powers and
\nPersonalities. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Of course, the
\ngods exist \u2013 that is to say, there are Powers that stand above the world and
\ntransmit the divine workings. It is
\n <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 384<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

the physical mind which believes
\nonly what is physical that denies them. There are also beings of other worlds \u2013
\ngods and Asuras<\/span>, etc.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There are gods everywhere on all
\nthe planes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The dynamic aspect of the Divine
\nis the Supreme Brahman, not the Gods. The Gods are Personalities and Powers of
\nthe dynamic Divine. You speak as if the evolution were the sole creation; the
\ncreation or manifestation is very vast and contains many planes and worlds that
\nexisted before the evolution, all different in character and with different
\nkinds of beings. The fact of being prior to the evolution does not make them
\nundifferentiated. The world of the Asuras<\/span> is prior to
\nthe evolution, so are the worlds of the mental, vital or subtle physical Devas<\/span> \u2013 but these beings are all different from each other.
\nThe great Gods belong to the overmind<\/span> plane; in the
\nsupermind they are unified as aspects of the Divine, in the overmind<\/span>
\nthey appear as separate personalities. Any godhead can descend by emanation to
\nthe physical plane and associate himself with the evolution of a human being
\nwith whose line of manifestation he is in affinity. But these are things which
\ncannot be very easily understood by the mind, because the mind has too rigid an
\nidea of personality \u2013 the difficulty only disappears when one enters into a
\nmore flexible consciousness above where one is nearer to the experience of One
\nin all and All in one.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Formateurs<\/span>
\nof the overmind<\/span> have shaped nothing evil \u2013 it is the
\nlower forces that receive from the overmind<\/span> and
\ndistort its forms.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the descent it [the falsehood]
\nbegins with Mind, in the <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 385<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

evolutionary ascent it is difficult
\nto say where it begins \u2013 for here the beginning is Inconscience and Ignorance;
\nbut I suppose we may say that conscious falsehood begins with the beginnings of
\nmind still involved in Life or appearing out of it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Gods are in the universal
\nSelf \u2013 if identified with the universal Self one can feel their presence there.
\nAlso there is the experience of microcosm (the universe in oneself) in which
\nall that is in the macrocosm (the larger universe) is present. All these things
\nare for experience, for knowledge and must be taken as such. No merely personal
\nturn should be given to them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Again, what do you mean by a
\nsoul? My proposition simply meant that there is no existence which has not the
\nsupport of something of the Divine behind it. But the word soul has various
\nmeanings according to the context; it may mean the Purusha supporting the
\nformation of Prakriti, which we call a being, though the proper word would be
\nrather a becoming; it may mean, on the other hand, specifically the psychic
\nbeing in an evolutionary creature like man; it may mean the spark of the Divine
\nwhich has been put into Matter by the descent of the Divine into the material
\nworld and which upholds all evolving formations here. There is and can be no
\npsychic being in a non-evolutionary creature like the Asura; there can be none
\nin a god who does not need one for his existence. But what the god has is a
\nPurusha and a Prakriti or Energy of nature of that Purusha. If any being of the
\ntypal<\/span> worlds wants to evolve, he has to come down to
\nearth and take a human body and accept to share in the evolution. It is because
\nthey do not want to do this that the vital beings try to possess men so that
\nthey may enjoy the materialities<\/span> of physical life
\nwithout having the burden of the evolution or the process of conversion in
\nwhich it culminates. I hope this is clear and solves the difficulty.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 386<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

The three stages you speak of are
\nstages not of evolution but of the involution of the Divine in Matter. The Devas<\/span> and Asuras<\/span> are not evolved
\nin Matter; for the typal<\/span> being only a Purusha with
\nits Prakriti is necessary \u2013 this Purusha may put out a mental and vital Purusha
\nto represent it and according as it is centred in one or another it belongs to
\nthe mental or vital world. That is all. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There is no
\nessential difference anywhere, for all is fundamentally the essential Divine,
\nthe difference is in the manifestation. Practically we may say that the
\nJivatman is one of the Divine Many and dependent on the One; the Atman is the
\nOne supporting the Many. The psychic being does not merge in the Jivatman, it
\nbecomes united with it so that there is no difference between the eternal being
\nsupporting the manifestation from above and the same being supporting the
\nmanifestation from within it, because the psychic being has become fully aware
\nof the play of the Divine through it. What is called merging takes place in the
\nDivine Consciousness when the Jivatman feels itself so one with the Divine that
\nthere is nothing else.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

While the Gods cannot be transformed,
\nfor they are typal<\/span> and not evolutionary beings, they
\ncan come for conversion \u2013 that is to say, to give up their own ideas and
\noutlook on things and conform themselves to the higher Will and supramental
\nTruth of the Divine.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Where do you find in \u201cThe Life
\nHeavens\u201d1<\/sup> that I say or anybody says the conditions on the earth are
\nglorious and suited to the Divine Life? There is not a word to that effect
\nthere! The Life Heavens are the heavens of the vital gods and there is there
\na\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>perfect harmony but a harmony of the
\nsublimated satisfied senses and vital desires only. If there is to be a
\nHarmony, it must be of all the powers raised to their highest and harmonised
\ntogether.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1<\/span><\/sup> A poem by Sri Aurobindo. See Collected Poems and
\nPlays, Vol. II, pp. 282-84.<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 387<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

All the non-evolutionary worlds
\nare worlds limited to their own harmony like the Life Heavens. The Earth, on
\nthe other hand, is an evolutionary world, not at all glorious or harmonious
\neven as a material world (except in certain appearances), but rather most
\nsorrowful, disharmonious, imperfect. Yet in that imperfection is the urge
\ntowards a higher and more many-sided perfection. It contains the last finite
\nwhich yet yearns to the supreme Infinite, (it is not satisfied by sense-joys
\nprecisely because in the conditions of the earth it is able to see their
\nlimitations). God is pent in the mire (mire is not glorious, so there is no
\nclaim to glory or beauty here), but that very fact imposes a necessity to break
\nthrough that prison to a consciousness which is ever rising towards the
\nheights. And so on. That is \u201ca deeper power\u201d, though not a greater actual glory
\nor perfection. All that may be true or not to the mind, but it is the
\ntraditional attitude of Indian spiritual experience. Ask any yogin<\/span>, he will tell you that the Life Heavens are childish
\nthings; even the gods, says the Purana, must come down to earth and be embodied
\nthere if they want mukti, giving up the pride of their limited perfection; they
\nmust enter into the last finite if they want to reach the last infinite. A poem
\nis not a philosophical treatise or a profession of religious faith \u2013 it is the
\nexpression of a vision or an experience of some kind, mundane or spiritual.
\nHere it is the vision of the Life Heavens, its perfection, its limitation and
\nthe counter-claim of the Earth or rather the Spirit or Power behind the
\nearth-consciousness. It has to be taken at that, as an expression of a certain
\naspect of things, an expression of a certain kind of experience, not of a
\nmental dogma. There is a deep truth behind it, though it may not be the whole
\ntruth of the matter. In the poem, also, there is no question of a divine life
\nhere, though that is hinted at as the inexpressed<\/span>
\npossible result of the ascent \u2013 because the Earth is not put aside (\u201cEarth’s
\nheart was felt beating below me still\u201d); nevertheless the poem expresses only
\nthe ascent towards the Highest, far beyond the Life Heavens, and the
\nEarth-Spirit claims that power and does not speak of any descent of a divine life.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 388<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

The Gods have their own
\nenjoyments though they may not be of a material character.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The higher beings are not likely
\nto be in disharmony with each other, as they are not subject to the lower
\nignorance.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There are no planes of
\nmanifestation without forms \u2013 for without form creation or manifestation cannot
\nbe complete. But the supraphysical<\/span> planes are not
\nbound to the forms like the physical. The forms there are expressive, not
\ndeterminative. What is important in the vital plane is the force or feeling and
\nthe form expresses it. A vital being has a characteristic form but he can vary
\nit or mask his true form under others. What is primary on the mental plane is
\nthe perception, the idea, the mental significance and the form expresses that
\nand these mental forms too can vary \u2013 there can be many forms expressing an
\nidea in different ways or on different sides of the idea. Form exists but it is
\nmore plastic and variable than in physical nature.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As to the gods, man
\ncan build forms which they will accept but these forms too are inspired into
\nman’s mind from the planes to which the god belongs. All creation has the two
\nsides, the formed and the formless, \u2013 the gods too are formless and yet have
\nforms, but a godhead can take many forms, here Maheshwari, there Pallas Athene<\/span>. Maheshwari herself has many forms in her lesser
\nmanifestation, Durga, Uma<\/span>, Parvati<\/span>,
\nChandi<\/span>, etc. The gods are not limited to human forms
\n\u2013 man also has not always seen them in human forms only.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The lion with Durga on it is the
\nsymbol of the Divine Consciousness acting through a divinised<\/span>
\nphysical-vital and vital-emotional force.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 389<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

The lion is the attribute of the
\nGoddess Durga, the conquering and protecting aspect of the Universal Mother.
\nThe Death’s Head is the symbol of the Asura (the adversary of the gods)
\nvanquished and killed by the Divine Power.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mahakali and Kali are not the
\nsame. Kali is a lesser form. Mahakali in the higher planes appears usually with
\nthe golden colour<\/span>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I indicate the psychological
\npowers which they bring with them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mitra<\/span> \u2013 Harmony.<\/p>\n

Varuna<\/span> \u2013 Wideness.<\/p>\n

Aryamana<\/span> \u2013 Power \u2013 Tapasya.<\/p>\n

Brihasapati<\/span> \u2013 Wisdom (Word and Knowledge).<\/p>\n

Vishnu \u2013 Cosmic
\nConsciousness.<\/p>\n

Vayu<\/span> \u2013 Life.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yes, Mitra<\/span>
\nis rather a combination of two powers [Mahalakshmi and Mahasaraswati].<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Vayu<\/span>
\nand Indra are cosmic godheads presiding over the action of cosmic principles \u2013 they
\nare not the manomaya<\/i><\/span> purusa<\/i> or prānamaya<\/i><\/span> purusa<\/i> in each man. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Purusha is an
\nessential being supporting the play of Prakriti; the godhead (Indra, Vayu<\/span>, etc.) is a dynamic being manifested in Prakriti for
\nthe works of the plane to which he belongs. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva are only
\nthree Powers and Personalities of the One Cosmic Godhead.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 390<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

Brahma is the Power of the Divine
\nthat stands behind formation and the creation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As for Vishnu being the creator,
\nall the three gods are often spoken of as creating the universe \u2013 even Shiva
\nwho is by tradition the Destroyer.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There is no particular connection
\nbetween Shiva and the Overmind \u2013 the overmind<\/span> is the
\nhigher station of all the Gods. It is better not to call it the overmind<\/span> until the action of it is clear and there can be
\nno mistake.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mahashiva<\/span>
\nmeans a greater manifestation than that ordinarily worshipped as Shiva \u2013 the
\ncreative dance of a greater Divine manifesting Power.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is probably the realm of the
\ndynamic creative spirit from the highest mental plane which you saw as the
\nworld of Parvati<\/span>-Shankara.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Shiva is the Lord of Tapas. The
\npower is the power of Tapas. Krishna as a godhead is the Lord of Ananda, Love
\nand Bhakti; as an incarnation, he manifests the union of wisdom (Jnana<\/span>) and works and leads the earth-evolution through this
\ntowards union with the Divine by Ananda, Love and Bhakti.
\n <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Devi<\/span> is the Divine Shakti \u2013 the Consciousness and Power of
\nthe Divine, the Mother and Energy of the worlds. All powers are hers. Sometimes
\nDevi<\/span>-power may mean the power of the universal
\nWorld-Force; but this is only one side of the Shakti. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 391<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

It is, I suppose, the image of
\nSri Krishna as Lord of the divine love and Ananda \u2013 and his flute calls the
\nphysical being to awake out of the attachments of the physical world and turn
\nto that love and Ananda.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The boy with the flute is Sri
\nKrishna, the Lord descended into the world-play from the divine Ananda; his
\nflute is the music of the call which seeks to transform the lower ignorant play
\nof mortal life and bring into it and establish in its place the Lila of his
\ndivine Ananda. It was the psychic being in you that heard the call and followed
\nafter it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is the Krishna of the Gita
\n(the boy Krishna is the Krishna of Brindaban<\/span>), Krishna
\nbringing the spiritual Knowledge, Will, bhakti \u2013 and not love and bhakti alone. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The eye
\nindicates the vision of the higher spiritual consciousness and the blue expanse
\nindicates that consciousness.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Buddha stands for the conquest
\nover the Ignorance of the lower nature.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Narada<\/span>
\nstands for the expression of the Divine Love and Knowledge.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ganesha<\/span>
\nis the Power that removes obstacles by the force of Knowledge; Kartikeya<\/span> represents victory over the hostile Powers. Of
\ncourse, the names given are human, but the gods exist.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ganesha<\/span>
\n(among other things) is the Devata of spiritual <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 392<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

Knowledge \u2013 so, as you are
\ngetting this Knowledge you saw yourself in this form identified with Ganesha<\/span>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The peacock is the bird of
\nVictory and Kartikeya<\/span> the leader of the divine
\nforces.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nII<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The hostile forces exist and have
\nbeen known to yogic experience ever since the days of the Veda and Zoroaster in
\nAsia (and the mysteries of Egypt and the Cabbala) and in Europe also from old
\ntimes. These things, of course, cannot be felt or known so long as one lives in
\nthe ordinary mind and its ideas and perceptions; for there, there are only two
\ncategories of influences recognisable<\/span>, the ideas and
\nfeelings and actions of oneself and others and the play of environment and
\nphysical forces. But once one begins to get the inner view of things, it is
\ndifferent. One begins to experience that all is an action of forces, forces of
\nPrakriti psychological as well as physical, which play upon our nature \u2013 and
\nthese are conscious forces or are supported by a consciousness or
\nconsciousnesses behind. One is in the midst of a big universal working and it
\nis impossible any longer to explain everything as the result of one’s own sole
\nand independent personality. You yourself have at one time written that your
\ncrises of despair etc. came upon you as if thrown on you and worked themselves
\nout without your being able to determine or put an end to them. That means an
\naction of universal forces and not merely an independent action of your own
\npersonality, though it is something in your nature of which they make use. But
\nyou are not conscious, and others also, of this intervention and pressure at
\nits source for the reason I state. Those who have developed the inner view of
\nthings on the vital plane have plenty of experience of the hostile forces.
\nHowever, you need not personally concern yourself with them so long as they
\nremain incognito. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 393<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

One may have the experiences on
\nthe mental plane without this knowledge coming; for there mind and idea
\npredominate and one does not feel the play of Forces \u2013 it is only in the vital
\nthat that becomes clear. In the mind plane they manifest at most as mental
\nsuggestions and not as concrete Powers. Also, if one looks at things with the
\nmind only (even though it be the inner mind), one may see the subtle play of
\nNature-forces but without recognising<\/span> the conscious
\nintention which we call hostile.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There are two kinds of Asuras<\/span> \u2013 one kind were divine in their origin but have
\nfallen from their divinity by self-will and opposition to the intention of the
\nDivine: they are spoken of in the Hindu scriptures as the former or earlier
\ngods; these can be converted and their conversion is indeed necessary for the
\nultimate purposes of the universe. But the ordinary Asura is not of this
\ncharacter, is not an evolutionary but a typal<\/span> being
\nand represents a fixed principle of the creation which does not evolve or
\nchange and is not intended to do so. These Asuras<\/span>, as
\nalso the other hostile beings, Rakshasas<\/span>, Pishachas<\/span> and others resemble the devils of the Christian
\ntradition and oppose the divine intention and the evolutionary purpose in the
\nhuman being: they don’t change the purpose in them for which they exist which
\nis evil, but have to be destroyed like the evil. The Asura has no soul, no
\npsychic being which has to evolve to a higher state; he has only an ego and
\nusually a very powerful ego; he has a mind, sometimes even a highly intellectualised<\/span> mind; but the basis of his thinking and
\nfeeling is vital and not mental, at the service of his desire and not of truth.
\nHe is a formation assumed by the life-principle for a particular kind of work
\nand not a divine formation or a soul.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Asuras<\/span>
\nand Rakshasas<\/span> etc. do not belong to the earth, but to
\nsupraphysical<\/span> worlds; but they act upon the
\nearth-life and dispute the control of human life and character and action with <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 394<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

the Gods. They are the Powers of
\nDarkness combating the Powers of Light. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sometimes they
\npossess men in order to act through them, sometimes they take birth in a human
\nbody. When their use in the play is over, they will either change or disappear
\nor no longer seek to intervene in the earth-play.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Asuras<\/span>
\nare really the dark side of the mental, or more strictly, of the vital mind
\nplane. This mind is the very field of the Asuras<\/span>.
\nTheir main characteristic is egoistic strength and struggle, which refuse the
\nhigher law. The Asura has self-control, tapas<\/span> and
\nintelligence, but all that for the sake of his ego. On the lower vital plane
\nthe corresponding forces we call the Rakshasas<\/span> which
\nrepresent violent passions and influences. There are also other kinds of beings
\non the vital plane which are called the Pishachas<\/span> and
\nPramathas<\/span>. They manifest more or less in the physico<\/span>-vital. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

On the physical
\nplane the corresponding forces are obscure beings, more forces than beings,
\nwhat the Theosophists call the elementals. They are not strongly individualised<\/span> beings like the Rakshasas<\/span>
\nand Asuras<\/span>, but ignorant and obscure forces working
\nin the subtle physical plane. What we in Sanskrit call the Bhutas<\/span>
\nmostly come under this class. But there are two kinds of elementals, the one
\nmischievous and the other not.
\n <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There are no Asuras<\/span> on the higher planes where the Truth prevails,
\nexcept in the Vedic sense \u2013 \u201cthe Divine in its strength\u201d. The mental and vital Asuras<\/span> are only a deviation of that power.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yes, some kinds of Asuras<\/span> are very religious, very fanatical about their
\nreligion, very strict about rules of ethical conduct. Others of course are just
\nthe opposite. There are others who use spiritual ideas without believing in
\nthem to give them a perverted twist and delude the sadhak. It is what
\nShakespeare described as the Devil quoting scripture for his own purpose.
\n <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

At present what
\nthey are most doing is to try to raise up the <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 395<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

obscurity and weakness of the
\nmost physical mind, vital, material parts to prevent the progress or fulfilment
\nof the sadhana.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Gandharvas<\/span>
\nare of the vital plane but they are vital Gods, not Asuras<\/span>.
\nMany Asuras<\/span> are beautiful in appearance and can carry
\neven a splendour<\/span> or light with them. It is the Rakshasas<\/span>, Pishachas<\/span>, etc. who
\nare ugly or evil in appearance.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hostile Forces. The purpose they
\nserve in the world is to give a full chance to the possibilities of the
\nInconscience and Ignorance \u2013 for this world was meant to be a working out of
\nthese possibilities with the supramental harmonisation<\/span>
\nas its eventual outcome. The life, the work developing here in the Ashram has
\nto deal with the world problem and has therefore to meet \u2013 it could not avoid \u2013
\nthe conflict with the working of the hostile Powers in the human being.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The universe is certainly or has
\nbeen up to now in appearance a rough and wasteful game with the dice of chance
\nloaded in favour of the Powers of darkness, the Lords of obscurity, falsehood,
\ndeath and suffering. But we have to take it as it is and find out \u2013 if we
\nreject the way out of the old sages \u2013 the way to conquer. Spiritual experience
\nshows that there is behind it all a wide terrain of equality, peace, calm,
\nfreedom, and it is only by getting into it that we can have the eye that sees
\nand hope to gain the power that conquers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If there were no hostile forces
\nand there were still the evolutionary world, there could be ignorance still but
\nnot perversity in the ignorance. All would be a partial truth acting through
\nimperfect <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 396<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

instruments but for the best
\npurposes of this or that stage in a progressive manifestation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

They are not hostile forces, they
\nare simply the forces of the ordinary Nature. The hostile forces are those
\nwhich try to pervert everything and are in revolt against the Divine and
\nopposed to the yoga.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The lesser forces of Light are
\nusually too much insistent on seeking for Truth to make effectivity their logic
\nor their rule \u2013 the hostiles are too pragmatic to care for Truth, they want
\nonly success. As for the greater Forces (e.g. overmind<\/span>)
\nthey are dynamic and try always to make consciousness effective, but they
\ninsist on consciousness, while the hostiles care nothing for that \u2013 the more
\nunconscious you are and their automatic tool, the better they are pleased \u2013 for
\nit is unconsciousness that gives them their chance.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

About the contact with the world
\nand the hostile forces, that is of course always one of the sadhak’s<\/span>
\nchief difficulties, but to transform the world and the hostile forces is too
\nbig a task and the personal transformation cannot wait for it. What has to be
\ndone is to come to live in the Power that these things, these disturbing
\nelements cannot penetrate, or, if they penetrate, cannot disturb, and to be so
\npurified and strengthened by it that there is in oneself no response to anything
\nhostile. If there is a protecting envelopment, an inner purifying descent and,
\nas a result, a settling of the higher consciousness in the inner being and
\nfinally, its substitution even in the most external outwardly active parts in
\nplace of the old ignorant consciousness, then the world and the hostile forces
\nwill no longer matter \u2013 for one’s own soul at least; for there is a larger work
\nnot personal in which of course they <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 397<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

will have to be dealt with; but that
\nneed not be a main preoccupation at the present stage.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is the movements of the lower
\nnature that get purified. The Asuras<\/span> are not so
\neasily transformed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As to Asuras<\/span>,
\nnot many of them have shown signs of repentance or possibility of conversion up
\nto now. It is not surprising that they should be powerful in a world of
\nignorance for they have only to persuade people to follow the established bent
\nof their lower nature, while the Divine calls always for a change of nature. It
\nis not to be wondered at that the Asura has an easier task and more momentary
\nsuccess in his combinations. But that temporary success does not bind the
\nfuture.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Some of the vital beings are very
\nintelligent but they do not make friends with the Light \u2013 they only try to
\navoid destruction and wait their time.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n⁂<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The evil forces are perversions
\nof the Truth by the Ignorance \u2013 in any complete transformation they must
\ndisappear and the Truth behind them be delivered. In this way they can be said
\nto be transformed by destruction. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 398<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SECTION SIX       The Divine and the Hostile Powers            1. FALSEHOOD AND IGNORANCE 1                           IGNORANCE means Avidya, the separative consciousness and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-22-letters-on-yoga-volume-22","wpcat-21-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1003\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}