{"id":10720,"date":"2014-07-13T14:21:47","date_gmt":"2014-07-13T21:21:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/saa.santansoftwaresystems.com\/?p=10720"},"modified":"2014-12-06T23:07:36","modified_gmt":"2014-12-07T07:07:36","slug":"savitri-study-book-2-canto-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/savitri-study\/book-2-savitri-study\/savitri-study-book-2-canto-2","title":{"rendered":"Savitri-study-Book-2-Canto-2"},"content":{"rendered":"
\nIntroduction<\/a>   Notes<\/a>   Book 1<\/a>   Book II<\/a>   Book III<\/a>   Book IV<\/a>   
\nBook V<\/a>   Book VI<\/a>   Book VII<\/a>   Book VIII<\/a>   
\nBook IX<\/a>   Book X<\/a>   Book XI<\/a>   Book XII<\/a>
\n<\/br><\/br><\/div>\n
\n
\n

Book Two. The Book of the Traveller of the Worlds<\/p>\n

\nCanto I<\/a>    Canto II<\/a>    Canto III<\/a>    Canto IV<\/a>    
\nCanto V<\/a>
\n    Canto VI<\/a>    Canto VII<\/a>    Canto VIII<\/a>    
\nCanto IX<\/a>
\n    Canto X<\/a>    Canto XI<\/a>    Canto XII<\/a>    
\nCanto XIII<\/a>    Canto XIV<\/a>    
\nCanto XV<\/a>           \n<\/p>\n

<\/br><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

Book Two<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\n

The Book of the Traveller of the Worlds<\/b><\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n\n
\n


\nBook Two: Canto 2<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nThe Kingdom of the
\nSubtle Matter<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Summary<\/B>
\n
Crossing beyond the borders of the physical world, Aswapathy
\nenters into a realm of wonder and delight\u2014the world of subtle
\nmatter. This world overtops our physical world. Beautiful,
\nsymmetrical in forms, with senses subtler and more far-ranging than
\nthe physical ones, this realm is the shining origin of the world
\nbelow. All here on earth follows the lines already mapped out there
\nin the subtle world above.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nIt forms a protective
\nshield to the material world, intercepting the charge of the higher
\nLight and Power and allowing only so much of it as can be borne by it
\nwithout it breaking under the impact. It functions as a regulating
\nchannel to the downflow of the Powers from above.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nThe source of all movements
\ncreative of Beauty, Delight and Grace is there in the subtle physical
\nworld. But only a fragment of the true inspiration received there is
\nable to get through to this world of gross matter. There is no gulf
\nbetween Matter and Soul, between Mind and Form. Each truth finds its
\nnatural expression without deformation. Form does not conceal but
\nreveals.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nThis subtle world is the
\nfirst station of the human soul after its exit from the physical
\nworld on its way to the higher realms; the subtle physical embodiment
\nis the radiant vehicle of the soul after it has shed the grosser
\nbody.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nWith all its glitter,
\nhowever, this world is not all safe. Attractive and delightful though
\nit is on its summits, it has dangerous gulfs on its lower levels.
\nPeril is clothed in beauty, danger is invested with charm. The
\nbeginnings of what ensues in death on earth are here in its nether
\nplanes.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nAll on earth is a
\ndiminished figure of what obtains in this world of subtle
\nMatter\u2014power, beauty, knowledge. The decadence from its perfect
\ntypes culminates in the chaotic disintegration on the plane of gross
\nMatter.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nIn spite of this fall, the
\nearth is a nurse of souls. For hidden in its being is a Divinity that
\npresses for manifestation. It becomes articulate as a Force of
\nConsciousness that insists on building on earth all that has been
\nenvisaged by the Creative Spirit. This labouring Force becomes
\nself-aware in Man and in him and through him seeks to found
\nImmortality in this field of death.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nAnd this is possible
\nbecause the earth is not alone. There are constant influxes of Light
\nand Powerfrom the Higher Consciousness through the various planes of
\nthe graded Existence. The original Idea goes on exerting pressure for
\nrealisation and through a series of attempts, some half-lived, some
\nimperfect,\u2014what with its incomplete instruments\u2014evolving Nature
\nmoves step by step nearer fulfilment.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nThe Divine Spirit above
\nmotivates all upward strivings; it holds all that is manifest in its
\ndynamic Oneness. All creation is one in this Spirit. Each plane in
\nthis vast Creation seeks to manifest this Truth in its characteristic
\nway and form. There is a higher Nature at work in the higher planes
\nabove this terrestrial universe and it manifests the Godhead in
\nperfect forms and undiminished intensities of Knowledge, Beauty, Love
\nand Bliss. This creative dynamis is there in man too, but it is
\nlatent in his depths, throwing up jets of its power occasionally and,
\neven then only briefly.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nThis subtle world
\nimmediately above this material world of ours is unique for its
\nbeauty, the symmetry of its forms, the perfect layout of its designs.
\nWithin its limits it is a perfect world and all in that world is
\nhappy to stay in that perfection. There is no effort for progress,
\nfor self-exceeding; consequently there is no failure, no pain. There
\nis no room here for the stretchings and variations of the Infinite
\nSpirit, All is fixed in a frame of beauty. The Soul stands almost
\nlost to sight behind this plethora of beauteous forms and riotous
\nhues. Nature is content to luxuriate in the enchanting play of her
\njoyous rhythm and bright felicities.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nAswapathy regards this
\nenchanting scene with wonder, tarries there for a while, but his
\nsoaring spirit will not rest there. From this brilliant threshold he
\npasses on to the larger spaces of a greater world.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Field of Secret Self
\n(I)<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIn
\nthe impalpable field of secret self,
This little outer being\u2019s
\nvast support
Parted from vision by earth\u2019s solid fence, <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIn the common view of
\nthings the physical body with its mind and life constitutes almost
\nthe whole of man, with the soul or self within\u2014when it is admitted
\nto be existing\u2014occupying a very small portion of the being. The
\nouter and the visible is the larger; the inner and the invisible is
\nthe smaller. But in truth, the position is the other way round\u2014the
\nsecret self is greater and vaster than the outer body. Spiritual
\nexperience speaks of the soul carrying the body in its hold. This
\nself and the expanse of its direct operation\u2014its field\u2014is not
\nfelt or seen by the physical senses which are limited in their range
\nby the materiality of their physical base and form. Nevertheless the
\nsecret self exists in its operative power and it supports and makes
\npossible the existence of the outer being of man.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Field of the Secret
\nSelf (II)<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nHe
\ncame into a magic crystal air
And found a life that lived not by
\nthe flesh,
A light that made visible immaterial things. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThis inner domain of the
\nsoul is a world in itself. It is differently constituted from the
\nouter world and it is less weighed down by the dense pull of matter.
\nFree from the obscurities of the material world, the breath of this
\nrealm is lighter, clearer, more enchanting. Here is a life that is
\nnot dependent upon the physical body and its senses. Here also is a
\nlight that is other than the physical light in the outer world which
\nshows up only physical objects; this light brings into view what is
\nnot material and therefore not visible to the physical eye. It is a
\nsubtler light that illumines subtler objects.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Kingdom of Subtle
\nMatter<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\nfine degree in wonder\u2019s hierarchy,
The kingdom of subtle
\nMatter\u2019s faery craft
Outlined against a sky of vivid hues,
\n
Leaping out of a splendour-trance and haze,
The wizard
\nrevelation of its front. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIn this inner hemisphere
\nthere is a hierarchy of worlds, each world more wonderful than the
\none below it. The first of these worlds that one meets on leaving
\nthis material world behind is the world of subtle matter. The
\nsubstance of this world is subtler than the substance of the world of
\nphysical Matter; it is less hard and rigid, more supple and plastic,
\nallowing more scope to the action of the Force operating in it. The
\nformations of this world are more variegated, more changeful of form
\nthan those of the material world. There is a spectacular plane of
\nlights, colours, figures, symbols in this Kingdom of subtle Matter
\nwhich forms the picturesque front, as it were, of the bright,
\nprofound, inner universe facing the outer.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Beautyland<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\nworld of lovelier forms lies near to ours,
Where, undisguised by
\nearth\u2019s deforming sight,
All shapes are beautiful and all
\nthings true. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe subtle physical world
\nis a world of Beauty. But there is a good deal of deformation of
\nform, malformation, in the material universe due to interference by
\nthe forces of Ignorance, of Inconscience, of Falsehood which prevent
\nthe soul of things from acquiring its just and adequate form of
\nexpression. There is a gulf between the conception and the execution,
\nwith the result that forms do not normally correspond to their
\nensouling truths, are not their natural figurations, and consequently
\nfall short of their intended beauty. It is not so in the world of
\nsubtle Matter where truths spontaneously assume their natural forms
\nand all is genuine, all is beautiful. This world is the origin of all
\nthat is beautiful on earth, the source of all movements that aspire
\nfor the expression of the Beautiful.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Celestial Sense<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIn
\nthat lucent ambiance mystically clear
The eyes were doors to a
\ncelestial sense,
Hearing was music and the touch a charm
And
\nthe heart drew a deeper breath of power. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIn this bright lit world
\nthere are no shades of obscurity and darkness; there is a profound
\nclearness everywhere. The subtler senses awaken and all experience
\nhas a heavenly quality. What one hears are notes of harmony, what one
\ntouches conveys the feel of charm and beauty and what one breathes is
\nan invigorating air of calm strength.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Earth-Nature’s
\nOrigins<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThere
\ndwell earth-nature\u2019s shining origins:
The perfect plans on
\nwhich she moulds her works,
The distant outcomes of her
\ntravailing force
Repose in a framework of established fate. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThis world of subtle Matter
\nis the immediate origin of all that takes place on the earth, in the
\nphysical world. Here are determined all the movements that
\nprecipitate themselves in earth-life. What truths are to be
\nmanifested and in what form, which possibilities are to be allowed to
\nwork themselves out and on what lines, is decided on this plane.
\nThings move and effectuate themselves on earth largely according to
\nthe pattern that is set there above. For every form here on earth
\nthere is an original counterpart in the subtle physical world. The
\nends towards which forces on earth are striving are already
\npre-figured there in the higher world.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Pre-Determined<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAttempted
\nvainly now or won in vain,
Already were mapped and scheduled
\nthere the time
And the figure of her future sovereignties
In
\nthe sumptuous lineaments traced by desire. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nDesire is the main
\nmotive-force of action in earth-life. Goaded by desire, much effort
\nis thrown in by the energies active in Nature; some of it fails to
\nachieve its purpose or comes to naught, while successes achieved
\nprove to be disappointing in their results. The precise time, the
\nform and the manner in which the victories of the Earth-Nature will
\nbe achieved, however, are all prefigured in the subtle physical
\nworld. Attempts on the material plane are successful or unsuccessful,
\nnow or later, according to the previous determination on the subtle
\nmaterial plane.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Riches Abide<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe
\ngolden issue of mind\u2019s labyrinth plots,
The riches unfound or
\nstill uncaught by our lives
Unsullied by the attaint of mortal
\nthought
Abide in that pellucid atmosphere. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe human mind pursues
\nvague objectives without clearly knowing its way thereto; it
\nimprovises, it constructs, it leaves abruptly, takes fresh routes and
\ngenerally loses itself in a maze of its own making. However, the
\ngoal, which it perceives but vaguely and is unable to arrive at here,
\nis there in the higher world patent and bright in its fullness. So
\nalso many treasures of the manifesting Spirit either not perceived or
\nnot secured though glimpsed by the striving life-energies of man, are
\nfound there in their purity, uncontaminated by the ignorance and
\ndisabilities of the mind of man.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Ends Anticipated<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nOur
\nvague beginnings are overtaken there,
Our middle terms sketched
\nout in prescient lines,
Our finished ends anticipated live. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAll movements here on earth
\nare present there in the world of the subtle physical. What appear to
\nbe inchoate beginnings here are already found there in developed
\nform; all the stages of the developing process there are graphed out
\nsignificantly and even the results of movements are foreseen and
\nexist vibrant.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Intercepting Shield<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThis
\nbrilliant roof of our descending plane,
Intercepting the free
\nboon of heaven\u2019s air,
Admits small inrushes of a mighty breath
\n
Or fragrant circuits through gold lattices;
It shields our
\nceiling of terrestrial mind
From deathless suns and the streaming
\nof God\u2019s rain,
Yet canalises a strange irised glow,
And
\nbright dews drip from the Immortal\u2019s sky. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIn the gradation of planes
\nthat are formed in the descent of the Spirit, each plane represents
\nin the downward incline\u2014a growing densification of the
\nConsciousness. Each plane is more gross in its constitution than the
\none preceding it above but more subtle than the one following it
\nbelow.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nThe world of subtle Matter
\nimmediately above the material universe acts as an intercepting wall
\nbetween the worlds above it and the earth below; it also acts as a
\nwholesome shield, a shock-absorber, against the open impact of the
\nhigher forms on the earth-being. For the earth-nature is not yet
\nevolved enough to bear the full descent of the Powers of the Spirit;
\nit can hold only a diminished charge and the subtle physical layers
\nabove act as a diminishing agent and let pass only what the earth can
\nbear. Thus it prevents the direct reception of the workings of the
\nSpirit’s Powers, and canalises down only what the earth can receive
\nwithout breaking.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
A Passage (I)<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\npassage for the Powers that move our days,
Occult behind this
\ngrosser Nature\u2019s walls,
A gossamer marriage-hall of Mind with
\nForm
Is hidden by a tapestry of dreams; <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nWhatever the appearance,
\nthe life of man is largely influenced and shaped by Powers that are
\noccult to the physical sense. Even the element of human will is
\nturned into an instrument of these greater Powers behind the veil.
\nThe subtle physical world\u2014behind this physical world\u2014to which man
\noften repairs in his dream state, acts as a passage to these Powers
\nthat are stationed in the still higher planes of life, mind and
\nspirit. Here also the ideas and thoughts of the mind plane begin to
\nassume form before they enter into the atmosphere of the physical
\nworld in their organised formations.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
A Passage (II)<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nHeaven\u2019s
\nmeanings steal through it as through a veil,
Its inner sight
\nsustains this outer scene. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe real significance of
\nwhat happens here on earth is to be found in spheres that are occult
\nand above the earth-region. There things are planned and originated
\nwith an end that is perceived and projected at the same time. Events
\nin the material world are only the workings of processes that have
\nbeen initiated far above. These truths slowly communicate themselves,
\nas conditions get ready, through the intervening regions of subtle
\nMatter. Their active presence and concentration in the subtle world
\nsupports the workings in the grosser world. What takes place on the
\narena of outer life is based upon this inner dynamic vision.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Finer Consciousness<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\nfiner consciousness with happier lines,
It has a tact our touch
\ncannot attain,
A purity of sense we never feel; <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThough the Consciousness
\nthat pervades the entire Cosmos is essentially one, it formulates
\nitself differently on different planes according to the principles of
\nBeing that base them. In this material universe the manifest
\nConsciousness is coloured and weighed down by the density and
\ngrossness of physical Matter. This physical world has elements of
\nobscurity that bring in deviation and friction in its workings; its
\nnature is mechanical and it is shot through with the impurities of
\nignorance and sub-conscience. But this is not so in the world of
\nsubtle Matter; there the consciousness is lighter, finer, purer, more
\nvibrant, sensitive, and harmonious in its workings.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Inspires Beauty<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIts
\nintercession with the eternal Ray
Inspires our transient earth\u2019s
\nbrief-lived attempts
At beauty and the perfect shape of things. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nMost strivings at
\nexpression of beauty, symmetry and harmony in forms on earth\u2014however
\nincomplete and failing\u2014are really rooted in impulsions from this
\nfiner Consciousness in the world immediately above the physical. That
\nConsciousness is closely linked with the eternal Light of Truth and
\ncanalises something of its Perfection for expression upon earth.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Dream-Hued<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIn
\nrooms of the young divinity of power
And early play of the
\neternal Child
The embodiments of his outwinging thoughts
Laved
\nin a bright everlasting wonder\u2019s tints
And lulled by whispers
\nof that lucid air
Take dream-hued rest like birds on timeless
\ntrees
Before they dive to float on earth-time\u2019s sea. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThis subtle physical is a
\nregion of the dream-world where conceptions, ideations, gatherings of
\npower, brood, as it were, absorbing and forming themselves in its
\nsoothing clarifies, invigorated in the intensities of this marvellous
\nworld, before they enter into the waking earth-world for expression.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nIt is a world of
\npreparation for the manifestation of the Spirit in the material
\nworld.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Lovelier<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAll
\nthat here seems has lovelier semblance there. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe forms that things have
\non earth do not fully answer to the truths they embody. They are not
\ncomplete, not in the image of the figure cast for them in the
\noriginal conception of the creative Idea. The true forms in their
\nnative beauty and delightful appeal are there in the subtle physical
\nworld. Each form here has its fuller counterpart there.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Earthly Tinge<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nWhatever
\nour hearts conceive, our heads create,
Some high original beauty
\nforfeiting,
Thence exiled here consents to an earthly tinge. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nBehind every idea that man
\nconceives in himself and his intellect processes into action, there
\nis a truth-possibility urging for expression from this higher world.
\nBut in the process of translation into actuality on earth, it suffers
\na diminution due to the limiting and deforming elements of Ignorance
\nand Inconscience in the material world. The form achieved fails to
\ncorrespond to the pattern cast in the higher world.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Beauty That is
\nDivine<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nWhatever
\nis here of visible charm and grace
Finds there its faultless and
\nimmortal lines;
All that is beautiful here is there divine. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nBeauty is divinity in Form.
\nEach effort at the production of something beautiful represents an
\nurge of the Spirit to manifest in its aspect of Beauty, sundaram. But
\nunder the prevailing conditions of imperfection and even perversion
\nin this physical world, no form succeeds in figuring the full and
\nperfect beauty that it is intended to express. That perfect figure in
\nall the lineations of beauty that is divine is found there in the
\nsubtle physical world.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Figures Undreamed<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nFigures
\nare there undreamed by mortal mind:
Bodies that have no earthly
\ncounterpart
Traverse the inner eye\u2019s illumined trance
And
\nravish the heart with their celestial tread
Persuading heaven to
\ninhabit that wonder sphere. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThis subtle world contains
\nnot merely the ideal forms of the imperfect ones on earth. There is
\nmuch else there which has not yet entered into the earth-atmosphere.
\nThere are forms and figures in this world which have no
\ncorrespondence here below. But they can be perceived in their
\nbeauteous shapes by the inner sight, experienced in their delightful
\nintensities by the deeper heart. It is a veritable heaven of beauty
\nand marvel.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
A Magic Kingdom<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe
\nfuture\u2019s marvels wander in its gulfs;
Things old and new are
\nfashioned in those depths:
A carnival of beauty crowds the
\nheights
In that magic kingdom of ideal sight. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nPossibilities yet to enter
\ninto the field of realisation, still gestating, are there awaiting
\ntheir hour. Things that are on the earth already and those that are
\nto come are all first hatched, as it were, in the pro-founds of the
\nsubtle physical world. In the higher regions of that world
\napproaching the still higher and greater worlds of Life, the Beauty
\nand Harmony that prevail are festive\u2014a scene of joyous happiness.
\nAll is enchanting in this domain of perfect pattern.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Soul and Matter in
\nUnion<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIn
\nits antechambers of splendid privacy
Matter and soul in conscious
\nunion meet
Like lovers in a lonely secret place:
In the clasp
\nof a passion not yet unfortunate
They join their strength and
\nsweetness and delight
And mingling make the high and low worlds
\none. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nUnlike as in the material
\nuniverse where the Soul is lost in self-forgetfulness in its
\nidentification with material Nature\u2014thus originating the rule of
\nInconscience and Ignorance which lead to so much deviation, error and
\nsuffering,\u2014in this world of subtle Matter, the Soul retains its
\nfull consciousness of the Purusha in its oneness with Nature. The
\nsubtle material Nature executes faultlessly the will of the Soul and
\nthe Soul takes full joy and delight in her workings. Soul and Nature
\nmingle in a joyous unity which is reflected in the oneness of their
\ncreation.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Spirit’s Leap<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIntruder
\nfrom the formless Infinite
Daring to break into the Inconscient\u2019s
\nreign,
The spirit\u2019s leap towards body touches ground. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nSomething in the formless
\nInfinite conceives the possibility of taking form and this starts a
\ncreative movement. The Spirit desires to embody itself in a concrete
\nform and it takes a bold plunge which culminates in the formation of
\ndense Matter grounded on the Inconscient. The beginnings of this
\nMatter are in the world of the subtle material; here the descending
\nSpirit experiences the first touch of Matter and its laws.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Covering of
\nImmortality<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAs
\nyet unwrapped in earthly lineaments,
Already it wears outlasting
\ndeath and birth,
Convincing the abyss by heavenly form,
A
\ncovering of its immortality
Alive to the lustre of the wearer\u2019s
\nrank,
Fit to endure the rub of Change and Time. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nHere in the world of subtle
\nMatter, the spirit is not yet enclosed in the mortal form of the
\nphysical world. The form it has woven around itself corresponds to
\nits intrinsic nature of immortality. It is capable of undergoing the
\nmutations of the creative process and the procession in Time without
\ncessation. It bears the message of the Immortal Light to the depths
\nof mortal obscurity.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Subtle Physical Body<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\ntissue mixed of the soul\u2019s radiant light
And Matter\u2019s
\nsubstance of sign-burdened Force,\u2014
Imagined vainly in our
\nmind\u2019s thin air
An abstract phantasm mould of mental make,\u2014
\n
It feels what earthly bodies cannot feel
And is more real
\nthan this grosser frame. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThis subtle material body
\nis significantly different from the gross physical body on earth. It
\nis lit with the lustre of the soul, not obscure and dense, smothering
\nthe soul, like the other. Its element of Matter is more a
\nconcretisation of a multi-significant Force than an imprisoning
\nmould. The mind tries to conceive of such a glorious body-vehicle but
\nit ultimately delegates it to the realm of phantasy.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nThis subtle body has its
\nown subtle senses that range far wider and deeper than the physical
\nsenses. It is more enduring, and, in a sense, more indestructibly
\nconcrete than the gross material body.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Vehicle of The Soul
\n(I)<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAfter
\nthe falling of mortality\u2019s cloak
Lightened is its weight to
\nheighten its ascent; <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nWhen, at the moment of
\ndeath, the physical body is shed, the many-sheathed vehicle of the
\nsoul becomes lighter. The weight of gross matter and the downward
\npull of its basic inconscience are got rid of and the subtle body is
\nfreer to ascend to the higher planes of existence in the transition
\nto its destination.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Vehicle of The Soul
\n(II)<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nRefined
\nto the touch of finer environments
It drops old patterned palls
\nof denser stuff,
Cancels the grip of earth\u2019s descending pull
\n
And bears the soul from world to higher world, <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAbove the world of dense
\nMatter, open realms of subtle and still subtler orders of existence
\nand the subtle body, as it enters them, absorbs their vibrations,
\ngets nourished in their elements of purity and lightness. It leaves
\nbehind the denser legacies of the past, frees itself from the hold
\nand pull of the lower obscurities of the sub-conscience and
\nInconscience and journeys with its indwelling soul from world to
\nworld\u2014from the subtle physical to the worlds of the vital domains,
\nfrom thence to the worlds of the mental planes and thus on to higher
\nand higher planes of consciousness.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Transparent Robe<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nTill
\nin the naked ether of the peaks
The spirit simplicity alone is
\nleft,
The eternal being\u2019s first transparent robe. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe soul that thus travels
\nfrom plane to higher plane, sheds its sheaths one after the other in
\ntheir respective worlds: the vital sheath in the vital world, the
\nmental sheath in the mental world and so on. This progressive
\ndispossession of the sheaths or veils continues till, on the summits
\nof the rarefied planes of the Spirit, it leaves the being ultimately
\nin its sheer spirit-form\u2014that original form which veils it not but
\nacts as a robe transparent.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Resumption of Mortal
\nDress<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nBut
\nwhen it must come back to its mortal load
And the hard ensemble
\nof earth\u2019s experience,
Then its return resumes that heavier
\ndress. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nBut the soul which has been
\nlaunched into manifestation cannot stay for long in its world of
\nrest. After the assimilation of the experiences gathered in the
\nprevious embodiment is complete, it is ready for the next round of
\nexperiences needed for its further growth, and descends again to the
\nearth-field and assumes the dense, mortal body natural to
\nearth-nature.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nIt is by repeated births
\nand progressive growth in the field of experience and evolution on
\nearth that the being reaches its objective of conscious embodiment
\nand manifestation of the divine Spirit.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Lucent Envelope<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nFor
\nlong before earth\u2019s solid vest was forged
By the technique of
\nthe atomic Void,
A lucent envelope of self-disguise
Was woven
\nround the secret spirit in things. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe
\nsubtle realms from those bright sheaths are made. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe material body assembled
\nby the aggregation of atoms by physical Nature is not the sole
\nencasement of the evolving soul. Prior to this encasement, it is
\nprovided with a subtler body, lighter and luminous with the stuff of
\nfiner substances. But even this subtle body\u2014in spite of its
\nbrightness\u2014conceals the true nature of the spirit-being within it.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nThe same holds good for the
\nmacrocosm also.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Wonder-World of
\nPerfect Forms<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThis
\nwonder-world with all its radiant boon
Of vision and inviolate
\nhappiness,
Only for expression cares and perfect form; <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nEach world in this graded
\nCreation has its own unique principle of which it is an organised
\nexpression. The subtle material world strives for perfection of form;
\neach truth finds its expression in a form of utmost beauty. This
\nworld of wonder is filled with bright views and there is happiness
\nthere that is unbroken.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Wonder-World of
\nPerilous Charm<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nFair
\non its peaks, it has dangerous nether planes;
Its light draws
\ntowards the verge of Nature\u2019s lapse;
It lends beauty to the
\nterror of the gulfs
And fascinating eyes to perilous Gods,
\n
Invests with grace the demon and the snake. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nHowever, all is not
\nwholesome and safe in this world. Pleasing and nourishing it is in
\nits upper realms; but in its lower reaches where it is nearing its
\nlapse into the gross material plane of Creation, there are regions
\nthat are dangerous. They too have an appearance that is enchanting,
\nbut their misleading exterior hides dreadful abysses. Powerful beings
\nabound in these domains casting a spell with their attractiveness,
\nbut they are evil and malevolent. Even the obviously harmful
\nformations of greed, passion, violence, desire appear and move in
\nforms of appealing grace and beauty.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Pre-Earth<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIts
\ntrance imposes earth\u2019s inconscience,
Immortal it weaves for us
\ndeath\u2019s sombre robe
And authorises our mortality. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAll that takes place on
\nearth, in this material Universe, has its roots in the subtle
\nphysical world. The workings there are transcribed here, some
\nimperfectly, some pervertedly. The self-gathering of the creative
\nConsciousness there results here in an exclusive concentration
\nlapsing into self-forgetfulness. Though Nature in that world is
\nimmortal\u2014free from decay and disintegration\u2014it undergoes here the
\nprocess of mortality for thus alone could the Immortal work out its
\ngradual reign in the terrestrial universe. Under the conditions of
\nInconscience and Ignorance prevailing here, forms need to undergo
\nchange, dissolution and renewal from time to time, otherwise there
\nwould be only stagnation and perpetuation of Ignorance. Death ensures
\na progressive evolution of life.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Subtle Ground<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThis
\nmedium serves a greater Consciousness:
A vessel of its concealed
\nautocracy,
It is the subtle ground of Matter\u2019s worlds,
It
\nis the immutable in their mutable forms, <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThis plane of subtle
\nMatter, standing between the plane of physical Matter below and the
\nstill subtler plane of life, mind etc. above, acts as a transmuting
\nfilter to the greater Consciousness from the heights of Existence
\nseeking to manifest on earth. It absorbs its intensities and passes
\non as much and such of the charge as the earth can bear. It bears
\nwithin itself the unexpressed intensities of the Consciousness-Force
\nand forms the base for the worlds of physical Matter that issue from
\nit. In all the changing forms of these worlds, the basic unchanging
\nstuff is from the plane of subtle Matter.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Typal World<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIn
\nthe folds of its creative memory
It guards the deathless type of
\nperishing things:
Its lowered potencies found our fallen
\nstrengths;
Its thought invents our reasoned ignorance;
Its
\nsense fathers our body\u2019s reflexes. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe permanent archetypes of
\nall forms on physical earth are there in the subtle physical region.
\nForms on earth are continually striving to shape themselves in the
\nmould of their original perfect types above. The forces and powers
\nthat are active on earth are only diminished and imperfect
\nderivations from the Powers that are projected from there with
\nreduced strengths to suit the conditions on earth. The faculties and
\nworkings of reason here\u2014operating in the shadow of an overall
\nIgnorance\u2014are the off-shoots of the subtler thought-mind above.
\nEven the movements of the physical body are ultimately derived from
\nand influenced by the subtle sense movements in the higher world.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Inner Force and
\nLight<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nOur
\nsecret breath of untried mightier force,
The lurking sun of an
\ninstant\u2019s inner sight, <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe force that operates in
\nthe life of man is normally limited to meet the needs of his
\nsuperficial life. But that is only a working arrangement of Nature.
\nBehind that operation, sustaining it, is an untapped reservoir of
\nforce from the subtle physical world, almost unlimited in extent,
\nmuch more intense in quality.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nFurther, though the sight
\nof man As normally turned outward and lost in external phenomena,
\nthere are moments when his eye turns within and catches fleeting
\nglimpses of a glory that is supernormal. The Light that reveals this
\ninner splendour, however briefly, comes from the subtle physical
\nplane.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Covert Fount<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIts
\nfine suggestions are a covert fount
For our iridescent rich
\nimaginings
Touching things common with transfiguring hues
Till
\neven earth\u2019s mud grows rich and warm with the skies
And a glory
\ngleams from the soul\u2019s decadence. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAll the bright movements of
\nhuman imagination that are the beginnings of developments leading to
\nstriking progress and advance in the various spheres of life are
\nreally prompted from this veiled source of the subtle material. It is
\ndue to impulsions from there that movements are set afoot on earth
\nwhich gradually or rapidly result in common things being uplifted to
\nan uncommon beauty: the poverty of barren Matter transformed into a
\nluxuriant opulence and from the fallen state of the soul the emerging
\nof a Radiance.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Starting Point<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIts
\nknowledge is our error\u2019s starting-point;
Its beauty dons our
\nmud-mask ugliness,
Its artist good begins our evil\u2019s tale. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe source of all that
\nexists in this material world is in the subtle material. Only, things
\nassume a distorted form in the process of transmission from above
\ninto this field based upon Inconscience and covered with Ignorance.
\nWhat is knowledge there becomes error here; what is beautiful there
\ngets deformed into ugliness here; what is good there turns into evil
\nhere. The forces of Ignorance and Falsehood twist and pervert
\nmovements originating from there into forms that are totally the
\nopposite of their original nature.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Triple Subtle Realm<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\nheaven of creative truths above,
A cosmos of harmonious dreams
\nbetween,
A chaos of dissolving forms below,
It plunges lost
\nin our inconscient base. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nOut of its fall our denser
\nMatter came. <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThis subtle physical realm
\nis not all of one piece. On its summits, reaching to the still higher
\nregions in creation, it is a play of creative truths that are
\ngathered for manifestation on earth. In its mid-region, it is an
\nordered harmony of forces and movements preparing behind the veil to
\nprecipitate their truths into the field of manifestation below. At
\nthe lowest where it touches and fuses into the material domain, the
\nstate is one of disintegration, a breaking-up; forms that are precast
\nundergo a disintegrating change and the whole creative movement loses
\nitself in the pro-founds of the Inconscience. From this self-oblivion
\nof the subtle material creation emerges the gross physical Matter of
\nwhich our earth is formed.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
World-Nurse<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThus
\ntaken was God\u2019s plunge into the Night. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThis
\nfallen world became a nurse of souls
Inhabited by concealed
\ndivinity. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIt was by a process of
\nincreasing densification that the creative Divine Consciousness
\ninvolved itself into a complete self-oblivion at the lowest end of
\nits devolutionary course. What was a free, self-aware and all-aware
\nConsciousness turned into a Nescience. From the depths of this
\nNescience, based upon its state of Inconscience this material world
\nhas emerged. In this world are born souls that are to evolve and grow
\nto their full stature. This world acts as their field of growth. This
\nit is able to do because, despite all appearances to the contrary,
\nwithin this material formation and movement which looks mechanical
\nand devoid of consciousness, there is enwombed the Divine
\nConsciousness that not only dwells inside but presses for release and
\ngrowth in terms of manifestation. It is this factor of the concealed
\nDivine Consciousness that makes the material movement meaningful and
\nproductive.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Emergence<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\nBeing woke and lived in the meaningless void,
A world-wide
\nNescience strove towards life and thought,
A Consciousness
\nplucked out from mindless sleep. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nOut of this barrenness of
\nNon-Being, asat, a Being, sat, has come to be. Where there was
\nnothing and where there was none, the One has taken birth and come to
\nlive. Out of an inert, pervading Nescience has emerged a Movement
\nthat struggles towards life and Consciousness. Out of a blank trance
\nof Inconscience has sprung the jet of Consciousness.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nAll this has been possible
\nbecause of the Divinity which is concealed in the womb of things and
\nwhich is incessantly active, pushing to manifest.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Driven by Will<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAll
\nhere is driven by an insentient will. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAll movement in this
\nuniverse is directed. Nothing is fortuitous, nothing really
\nmechanical. Behind every movement there is the compulsion of a will
\nwhich, however, is not articulate sensationally; that is why it is
\nnot patent on the surface. All the same the Will exists; the Will
\nacts. It is in truth the projection of the Will in the Idea that has
\npreceded this Creation. Though on the material plane this Will is
\ninvolved and hence is insentient in its workings, it forms and
\ncommunicates itself differently on other levels of existence\u2014those
\nof life, mind etc.\u2014as the Consciousness emerges more and more into
\novert activity.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Alien wonder<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThus
\nfallen, inconscient, frustrate, dense, inert,
Sunk into inanimate
\nand torpid drowse
Earth lay, a drudge of sleep, forced to create
\n
By a subconscient yearning memory
Left from a happiness dead
\nbefore she was born,
An alien wonder on her senseless breast. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThis earth represents a
\ntotal oblivion of the Conscious Spirit in inconscience, immobility
\nand dense obscurity All is a dead desert at the beginning. And yet
\nout of its Womb arises a creation that is a wonder: out of nescience
\nemerges consciousness, out of immobility comes movement, out of
\ndarkness gleams light. This creative movement is impelled by the
\ninvolved spirit which retains in its depths the awareness of the
\ntruth-idea that is at the source of all becoming and urges its
\nexpression, however contrary the conditions be.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nThe active delight of
\nexistence inherent in the creative Consciousness lapses into a
\ncomplete insensibility with the plunge of the Consciousness into
\nNescience\u2014a state anterior to the appearance of the material Earth
\nin Creation.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Beauty Emerges<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThis
\nmire must harbour the orchid and the rose,
From her blind
\nunwilling substance must emerge
A beauty that belongs to happier
\nspheres. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThis earth is constituted
\nof Matter which is insentient, obscure and dense. And yet out of this
\nsoil slowly emerges a creation that is developing features of beauty
\nand delight, features that are more natural to domains that are not
\nsubject to the rule of inconscience and death as the earth is.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nThis emergence is due to
\nthe presence and pressure of a diviner Element within the earth-being
\nseeking to manifest.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Destiny of Earth (I)<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThis
\nis the destiny bequeathed to her,
As if a slain god left a golden
\ntrust
To a blind force and an imprisoned soul. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe Nature-Force that acts
\non earth may appear to be blind and mechanical in its workings; the
\nsoul of this Nature-Being may be circumscribed by the limiting
\nconditions of ignorance, incapacity and death, but they are charged
\nwith a mission\u2014to manifest the Glory that is Divine. The creative
\nGodhead that plunged into this Nescience in the course of its
\ninvolutive movement has planted this seed out of which the
\nmanifestation shall blossom.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Destiny of Earth
\n(II)<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAn
\nimmortal godhead\u2019s perishable parts
She must reconstitute from
\nfragments lost,
Re-word from a document complete elsewhere
Her
\ndoubtful title to her divine Name. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe task before
\nMother-Earth is indeed difficult. Out of total inconscience, she has
\nto build up consciousness; out of insentience, delight; out of death,
\nlife. The creative Godhead has in effect lost these potencies in its
\nself-forgetful involution in the culmination of its descent. Evolving
\nEarth has to re-form and rebuild them in the pattern of the Divine
\nIdea that broods at the source of all Creation in the Truth-plane and
\nthus justify her role as the divinely missioned Agent and field of
\nthe cosmic manifestation.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
All Things She
\nCarries<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\nresidue her sole inheritance,
All things she carries in her
\nshapeless dust. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nWhat the Earth starts with
\nis only a fraction of the Spirit whose infinity has been lost in the
\nfragmentation of form, whose consciousness is all but lost in
\nNescience. What is left after a series of devolutionary movements is
\na speck of the Spirit, the soul embodied in Matter of which the Earth
\nis the representative formation. And yet all the possibilities
\ninherent in the Movement of manifestation originating from the
\nSupreme are there embedded in seed form, as it were, in this soul
\ncast in the indeterminacy of Matter.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Stupendous Task<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nHer
\ngiant energy tied to petty forms
In the slow tentative motion of
\nher power
With only frail blunt instruments for use,
She has
\naccepted as her nature\u2019s need
And given to man as his
\nstupendous work
A labour to the gods impossible. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe Earth-Nature is endowed
\nwith a mighty Power whose incalculable energies, however, are obliged
\nto work in set, limited grooves, through imperfect and limiting
\ninstruments with diminished force to suit the improvised vehicles.
\nHer motions are slow and tentative, but the task set for and accepted
\nby her as imperative to her existence is huge\u2014a task beyond the
\ncapacity of the Gods. This she has entrusted to man, the crown of her
\nlong labour of evolution.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nWhat is not possible for
\nthe Gods who are beings of the typal worlds can be possible for man
\nwho works in the field of evolution, this world of change and
\nprogress.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Stupendous Labour
\n(I)<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\nlife living hardly in a field of death
Its portion claims of
\nimmortality; <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAnd this is the labour set
\nfor man: To win immortality in the domains of mortality.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nAll in this material world
\nis subject to the movement of disintegration, decay and death. The
\nrule of death is so pervasive and incessant that life seems to be an
\nerratic marvel, a transient exception. It is a wonder how life
\nmanages to survive, however briefly, in such a hostile environment.
\nIt does so because inherent in life-force is a secret immortal
\nelement. On its own plane above the physical, life is beyond death,
\nimmortal\u2014it is a projection of the supreme cit-Sakti,
\nConsciousness-Force. It is now seeking to affirm its immortal truth
\nin Matter, on Earth. Everywhere the movement of life is to establish
\nitself, energise its material forms and prolong itself as long as
\npossible. Life is steadily asserting itself against the pull of
\ndeath.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Stupendous Labour
\n(II)<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\nbrute half-conscious body serves as means <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe means to work out this
\nhigh objective is the physical body. The body is the base on which
\nman holds himself, organises his evolutionary movement. It supports
\nhis life-effort by its solidity of material structure but it also
\nhandicaps him by its denseness, its strong element of unconsciousness
\nand sub-consciousness which vitiate and clog much of his effort
\ntowards growth in life and consciousness.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Stupendous Labour
\n(III)<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\nmind that must recover a knowledge lost <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nMan is essentially a mental
\nbeing. His main instrument for action and progress is the mind. But
\nthis mind is imperfect, incomplete. It is not in possession of
\nknowledge. The knowledge of what is and what is to be, the
\ntruth-perception inherent in the Real Idea at the origin of Creation
\nhas been lost in the culmination of the devolutionary movement of the
\nSpirit. The mind is striving to recover this knowledge; it is still
\nan ignorance groping towards knowledge.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Stupendous Labour
\n(IV)<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nHeld
\nin stone-grip by the world\u2019s inconscience, <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nFurther, man is weighed
\ndown by the hold of the inconscience over his material body and its
\npull on all that is encased in it. At the base of his physical
\nstructure is this hard encrustation of inconscience. And the
\noperations of this inconscience are hard to break. They dim, they
\nlimit the movements of everything that evolves from and in Matter:
\nthe life, the mind etc. All is held\u2014directly or indirectly\u2014in the
\nvice-like grip of the law of inconscience.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Stupendous Labour
\n(V)<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAnd
\nwearing still these countless knots of Law
A spirit bound stand
\nup as Nature\u2019s king. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nSuch is man, an evolving
\nspirit in embodiment, subjected to multiple limitations: obscurities
\nof Matter, ceaseless pressures of disintegration and decay on life,
\nblinding shadows of ignorance dogging the mind. On each level of his
\nbeing he is constricted by different factors. And still it is he whom
\nEarth-Nature is preparing to emerge as the sovereign issue of her
\naeonic evolutionary labour.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Mighty Kinship<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\nmighty kinship is this daring\u2019s cause. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAll
\nwe attempt in this imperfect world,
Looks forward or looks back
\nbeyond Time\u2019s gloss
To its pure idea and firm inviolate type
\n
In an absolute creation\u2019s flawless skill. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThis bold attempt by
\nEarth-Nature is inspired and supported by a Higher Nature with which
\nshe has a constant relationship. Everything that is striven for on
\nearth\u2014however imperfect and incomplete\u2014points to something that
\nhas already been conceived and cast in perfect form on the creative
\nplane of Truth above this world of possibilities in the duration of
\ntime. The movement of evolution is impelled from within by a memory
\nof this perfect pattern even as it is drawn to it as to a magnet.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Law of Perfection<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nTo
\nseize the absolute in shapes that pass,
To feel the eternal\u2019s
\ntouch in time-made things,
This is the law of all perfection
\nhere. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nHere on earth there is a
\ncontinual movement from incompleteness to progressive completeness,
\nfrom imperfection to growing perfection. All is in incessant change:
\nforms are built, tried, cast away and replaced by others in an
\nattempt to embody the Infinite which is beyond form, to house the
\nTimeless in products of a creation governed by time. In the measure
\nin which this effort is successful, the compulsive law of perfection
\nis fulfilled.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Fragment of Heaven’s
\nDesign<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\nfragment here is caught of heaven\u2019s design;
Else could we never
\nhope for greater life
And ecstasy and glory could not be. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nBut for this subtle
\npressure from the Truth-plane where are the archetypes of all things
\nevolving in manifestation, life on earth could only move in
\nmechanical grooves without any real issue. Fortunately, something of
\nthe Truth-pattern above is perceived\u2014however fragmentarily\u2014and
\nevolving Nature strives to render this perception in terms of life
\nhere on earth. There is a deliberate effort to uplift and shape the
\nlife-movement nearer the intended design and, in the process, all the
\njoy and thrill of that adventure.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Passage Driven<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nEven
\nin the littleness of our mortal state,
Even in this prison-house
\nof outer form,
A brilliant passage for the infallible Flame
Is
\ndriven through gross walls of nerve and brain, <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nMan is extremely limited in
\nthe range of his faculties; his life-force and life-span are
\nconditioned by many forces of decay and disintegration. His material
\nbody instead of being a sound vehicle for the radiations and workings
\nof his soul acts as a confining enclosure. Still, in spite of all
\nthese adverse factors, the Consciousness-Force of the Spirit is
\nactive, cuts across the thick barriers of density and obscurity of
\nMatter and vitalised Matter, and forges for itself a luminous channel
\nfor its action.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Barrier Removed<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\nSplendour presses or a Power breaks through,
Earth\u2019s great dull
\nbarrier is removed awhile,
The inconscient seal is lifted from
\nour eyes
And we grow vessels of creative might. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThrough the passage so
\neffected a Higher Light moves in, a greater Power descends and the
\nobstinate barriers of the material formations recede, with the result
\nthat man’s vision is freed\u2014for the time\u2014from the opacities of
\ninconscience and he receives and embodies greater charges of power
\nfor creation.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nMan begins to see clearly
\nand act effectively as a result of an ingression of Higher Light and
\na descent of a mightier Power.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Mystic Stir<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe
\nenthusiasm of a divine surprise
Pervades our life, a mystic stir
\nis felt,
A joyful anguish trembles in our limbs; <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nWhen such a descent of
\nPower or revelation of Splendour takes place from on high, one is
\nfilled with elation and the thrill of the unexpected. One feels
\nwithin a throb of something that defies mental understanding. There
\ncourses through the body an intense joy that almost borders on pain.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nA new state of being comes
\ninto existence.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Intimations<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\ndream of beauty dances through the heart,
A thought from the
\neternal Mind draws near,
Intimations cast from the Invisible
\n
Awaking from Infinity\u2019s sleep come down,
Symbols of That
\nwhich never yet was made. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIn this state of
\nupliftment, intimations from above, from the planes of truths that
\nare preparing to manifest out of the bosom of the Infinite, come down
\nin the form of revelation, in the form of inspiration. The heart
\nreceives an image that trails waves of delight in its wake; the mind
\nopens to a new thought from the eternal Idea. They are the pointers,
\nthe first indications of fresh truths from the Reality emerging into
\ncreation.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Flesh Tires<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nBut
\nsoon the inert flesh responds no more,
Then sinks the sacred orgy
\nof delight,
The blaze of passion and the tide of power
Are
\ntaken from us and, though a glowing form
Abides astonishing
\nearth, imagined supreme,
Too little of what was meant has left a
\ntrace. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nMortal nature, however,
\ncannot bear this pressure from the supernal planes for long. Pulled
\ndown by inertia and the weight of the inconscient below, it tires and
\nits energies flag. It can no more support the action of the higher
\nPower and Bliss; their waves recede, leaving behind merely some
\ncharacteristic remnants of their workings. Though what thus remains
\nis new to earth, a gift wonderful and striking in appearance, it is
\nonly a skeletal figure of what had been vouchsafed but could not be
\nheld.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Copies of Heaven’s
\nArt<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nEarth\u2019s
\neyes half see, her forces half create;
Her rarest works are
\ncopies of heaven\u2019s art. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nBlinded by ignorance,
\nlimited in the range of their faculties, men see but imperfectly.
\nThey get only partial glimpses of truths and even what they so see,
\nthey lack the necessary power to render faithfully. With their
\nlimited capacities they succeed in creating only partially what is
\nseeking expression. That is why even the best that is created on
\nearth is a pale imitation of the original in its own place above.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nAll that is created here in
\nthe physical world derives from its archetype in the supra-physical
\nplanes. The origin is there above. But the true pattern of things as
\ndetermined there fails to get through due to several vitiating and
\ndistorting factors in its transmission into the terrestrial world and
\nwhat is reproduced here\u2014even at its best\u2014is a lifeless figure,
\nhowever exact in formal execution.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Unseized Shapes<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\nradiance of a golden artifice,
A masterpiece of inspired device
\nand rule,
Her forms hide what they house and only mime
The
\nunseized miracle of self-born shapes
That live for ever in the
\nEternal\u2019s gaze. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThus it is that creation on
\nearth, however skilful in technique, splendid in form, fails to
\nmanifest truths as they are. Here in the terrestrial world form
\nconceals, it does not reveal the ensouling truth. Things only imitate
\nbut do not recapture on earth the perfect forms that inhere in the
\ncreative Idea of the Supreme.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nAll forms on earth are
\ndistant, transient, approximations of the original self-projection of
\nthe Reality cast and held for ever in the Real-Idea at the head of
\nCreation.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Slow-Toiling World<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nHere
\nin a difficult half-finished world
Is a slow toiling of
\nunconscious Powers;
Here is man\u2019s ignorant divining mind,
His
\ngenius born from an inconscient soil. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThis world of our earth is
\nnot a typal world, complete in itself, like those in the planes above
\nit. It is an evolving world, still incomplete, forging its way across
\nthe opposition of the downward pull of the Inconscience in Matter,
\nthe resistance of the ubiquitous Ignorance that envelopes it. The
\nPowers that exert themselves to effect this onward march on the path
\nof evolution are themselves not fully conscious; their energies are
\nmechanical in their execution and their speed is necessarily slow
\nunder the adverse conditions obtaining. Man is the highest product of
\nthis evolutionary movement and is its leader. But the mind which is
\nhis main instrument is ignorant; it does not know; it makes guesses
\nat truth. Even his special capacities are rooted in the material base
\nof Inconscience and carry the legacy of that infirmity in their very
\nconstitution.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Man Copies<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nTo
\ncopy on earth\u2019s copies is his art. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nWith all these
\nimperfections besetting his faculties, with the narrow vision of his
\nignorant mind, man achieves little on his own. As a rule he repeats
\nwhat Earth-Nature has already done. He follows in the grooves already
\nmade by Nature and consequently he registers little advance. He
\nstudies the processes of material Nature and adopts them for his own
\nprogress; he does not go beyond them.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Achieves Little<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nFor
\nwhen he strives for things surpassing earth,
Too rude the
\nworkman\u2019s tools, too crude his stuff,
And hardly with his
\nheart\u2019s blood he achieves
His transient house of the divine
\nIdea,
His figure of a Time-inn for the Unborn. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAnd when he does try to
\nexceed the formulations of Earth-Nature he finds how inadequate are
\nhis instruments of action, his faculties, internal and external, how
\ninsensate and resistant the material out of which he is to create. He
\npours his best energies into the effort but all that he is able to
\nachieve is pitifully wanting; the forms he builds for embodying the
\ntruths that seek to manifest are too inadequate and perishable to
\nserve the purpose. He is unable to provide a permanent and lasting
\nedifice for the Eternal to dwell on earth; what he erects are
\nstructures that change and need to be changed with the flow of time.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
High Far Memories<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nOur
\nbeing thrills with high far memories
And would bring down their
\ndateless meanings here,
But, too divine for earthly Nature\u2019s
\nscheme,
Beyond our reach the eternal marvels blaze. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAll the same man goes on
\nattempting to create what is beyond the extant formulations of
\nNature. That is because something in him\u2014his inmost being, his
\nsoul\u2014remembers, however faintly, things as they are on the highest
\nplanes of its own existence and this memory urges him to work for
\ntheir projection here on earth. But conditions in this world of
\nIgnorance are not yet ready to allow their manifestation without
\ndiminution and vitiation; they remain intact in their own home of
\nGlory.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Marvels<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAbsolute
\nthey dwell, unborn, immutable,
Immaculate in the Spirit\u2019s
\ndeathless air,
Immortal in a world of motionless Time
And an
\nunchanging muse of deep self-space. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThus do the marvels of
\nTruth-creation remain beyond this manifestation in the terrestrial
\nworld, pure, unchanging, undying, in their own realm where Time is
\nnot of the earthly kind\u2014not durational but still\u2014and Space is not
\nearthly either\u2014not an extension but a sheer existence of the Self.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nTime and Space are of
\nseveral kinds, each plane having its own time and its own space, e.g.
\nthe time and space experienced in dream are totally different from
\nthose experienced in the waking state.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Climb Up<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nOnly
\nwhen we have climbed above ourselves,
A line of the Transcendent
\nmeets our road
And joins us to the timeless and the true; <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAs long as man accepts and
\nis content to work within the limitations of his mortal nature in
\nignorance, his life cannot expand beyond the terrestrial formula; he
\nis bound to remain imperfect, incomplete. But if by effort of
\nconscious evolution he exceeds the formulation of his limited human
\nnature, it is possible for him to go beyond this creation in
\nIgnorance. His consciousness is taken up by a greater and freer
\nConsciousness that links him to the highest existence, the perfect
\nand eternal truth.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Gifts from on High
\n(I)<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIt
\nbrings to us the inevitable word,
The godlike act, the thoughts
\nthat never die. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAnd from the plane of Truth
\ndescend in the being of man Truth-Knowledge, Truth-Power. His
\nconsciousness receives the right Knowledge, the living Idea-form, the
\nexact expression for it, and the indispensable Power to effectuate
\nthe Truth as transmitted from above.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nThe Knowledge that comes is
\nnot the tentative seizure of the mind groping in ignorance; it is a
\ndirect perception of the truth. The thought that clothes it is not an
\nunsure product of the fallible thinking faculty; it is the real idea
\nform of the truth. The word that comes to express it is not a
\ndiminishing vehicle of the human type; it is the pure, transparent
\nsound-body of the truth. The power to dynamise the truth is not the
\ninadequate and obscure labouring force of mortal man that fails or
\nonly half-succeeds in its purpose; it is a luminous and
\nself-effective power that fulfils itself.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Gifts from on High
\n(II)<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\nripple of light and glory wraps the brain,
And travelling down
\nthe moment\u2019s vanishing route
The figures of eternity arrive. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAt such moments of
\nrevelation and inspiration the brain channel gets lit up and charged
\nwith an intensity that lasts till the transmission is effected. But
\nno sooner is that done than the characteristic workings of nature in
\nignorance reassert themselves, cover up the higher passage and begin
\nto dilute the contents of the intimations.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Intimations<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAs
\nthe mind\u2019s visitors or the heart\u2019s guests
They espouse our
\nmortal brevity awhile,
Or seldom in some rare delivering glimpse
\n
Are caught by our vision\u2019s delicate surmise. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThese illuminations from
\nthe higher spheres may appear on the horizon of the mind or rise from
\nthe depths of the heart. They hold themselves in the human
\nreceptacles as long as their charge can be borne\u2014which is not very
\nlong\u2014and work as best they can under the limiting and interfering
\nconditions of this material world. Occasionally the human
\nconsciousness itself catches, in its high leaps, some glimpses of
\nthese intimations. And these glimpses, however fleeting and
\nincomplete they may be, are truly liberative.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Pointers<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAlthough
\nbeginnings only and first attempts,
These glimmerings point to
\nthe secret of our birth
And the hidden miracle of our destiny. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThese intimations from
\nabove that drop into the world of man are in the nature of first
\nessayings of the higher Consciousness to enter and organise itself in
\nhumanity. They come repeatedly and establish links for a passage.
\nThey serve to remind man of the truth that this mortal world of his
\npresent existence is not all, to point out that the secret of his
\nlife is elsewhere in a vaster, immortal existence and that his high
\ndestiny\u2014though veiled to his normal vision\u2014prospects a
\ntransforming change in him.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Call<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nWhat
\nwe are there and here on earth shall be
Is imaged in a contact
\nand a call. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nMan is not a static being,
\nfixed in a type given by Nature. He is an entity in a constant
\nbecoming, developing today into what he was not yesterday and moving
\ninto a state tomorrow that is not his today. This becoming is
\ndetermined by his essential being. Being determines the Becoming. And
\nthis truth of the being of man is on the heights of his self; what he
\nis there governs what he shall be here. This potentiality and the
\npossibility of realising it is revealed to man again and again by the
\nhigher intimations that at once show him the goal and summon him to
\nstrive to that end.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Earth’s Imperfection<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAs
\nyet earth\u2019s imperfection is our sphere,
Our nature\u2019s glass
\nshows not our real self;
That greatness still abides held back
\nwithin. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nBoth man’s instrumental
\nnature and the field of his operations are imperfect, limited in
\ncapacity and range. The encasement of body-life-mind of the real
\nbeing of man,\u2014his soul is opaque, dense with obscurities and the
\ninner greatness is unable to get through. The light and power of the
\ndivinity seated within lies latent.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Our Heritage<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nEarth\u2019s
\ndoubting future hides our heritage:
The Light now distant shall
\ngrow native here,
The Strength that visits us our comrade power;
\n
The Ineffable shall find a secret voice,
The Imperishable
\nburn through Matter\u2019s screen
Making this mortal body godhead\u2019s
\nrobe. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIn the context of the
\nchequered history of the Earth, the constant rise and fall of the
\ncurve of life of her peoples, it may appear doubtful if she has any
\nworthwhile future at all. But behind the conflicting appearances
\nthere is an unmistakable line of development which points to the
\ndestiny reserved for man. The Light from above whose rays touch man
\nin moments of upliftment, the Might that flows down into him on
\noccasions of real need, are on the way to establishing themselves
\npermanently here. So too the Reality that has remained inexpressible
\nhitherto will create its own means of expression; and the Immortal
\nshall radiate in Matter making of this material body a glowing Form
\nof Divinity. <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe mind, the life-force,
\nthe physical body shall turn into embodiments of supreme Knowledge,
\nPower, Immortality; man shall become God.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Our Crown<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe
\nSpirit\u2019s greatness is our timeless source
And it shall be our
\ncrown in endless Time. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThis material world is not
\nan independent, self-sufficient creation "dl here is rooted in
\nthe Above, \u016brdhvam\u016blam, in the vasts of the Spirit Eternal. From
\nthere originate all movements of consequence here. And this Glory of
\nthe Spirit is not only the real source but also the ultimate goal of
\nall movements on earth. Everything evolves in this direction. Matter,
\nLife, Mind, Soul are in a process of development that is leading to a
\nculmination in which each shall find its perfection in the unveiled
\nSpirit beyond the flux of time.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Unknown<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\nvast Unknown is round us and within; <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nMan knows but little of
\nhimself. He is aware of only a fragment of his being, the little that
\nconstitutes the surface complex of his body, life, mind. He is hardly
\nconscious of his greater subtle physical being, the inner physical,
\nthe inner and truer life-being, the inner and larger mind, much less
\nof his deepest soul. There are ranges of the subliminal and there are
\nbelts of the subconscient most of which he does not know. If he is
\nthus unaware of most of his own being, he is still less aware of the
\ngreat forces and movements that course behind the external surfaces
\nin the universe around him. The vaster planes of existence that
\novertop and surround this physical universe and the workings therein
\nare unknown to him.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nBoth within and without
\nwhat he knows is insignificant compared to the much that still
\nremains to be known.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Dynamic One<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAll
\nthings are wrapped in the dynamic One:
A subtle link of union
\njoins all life. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe universe is a creation
\nof an innumerable multiplicity of forms and names, forces and
\nmovements. But this multiplicity is not a disparate collection. All
\nthat is in the creation is enclosed in a unity. The Many comprise the
\nOne. This One, however, is not a static Unity, forming a kind of
\nbackground to the Many. It is a dynamic Reality that manifests out of
\nits Oneness the Many. The One throws up the Many of which it is the
\norigin, the constituent and the goal. It is thus an active Oneness
\nthat bases and governs the Many. This Oneness, though veiled by
\ndivisive appearance, is nevertheless a fact on a subtler level of
\nexistence and holds all together.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Not Alone<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThus
\nall creation is a single chain:
We are not left alone in a closed
\nscheme
Between a driving of inconscient Force
And an
\nincommunicable Absolute. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThis earth-world would
\nappear to a material intelligence to be a creation sole and entire,
\nwith a mechanical material energy acting from below and an Above that
\nis beyond the earth-experience. But in truth it is not so. This
\nphysical world is a part of a gradation of worlds that constitute a
\nmanifestation of the One Divine. This cosmos is not only created, but
\nmaintained, guided and led to its goal by the Divine Intelligence
\nthat dwells in it, individually and collectively. It is not left to
\nitself. Nor does it live by itself; there is a constant communication
\nand interchange with the other worlds that overtop it. All together
\ninterdependent, interpenetrating, constitute one creation.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Greater Worlds<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nOur
\nlife is a spur in a sublime soul-range,
Our being looks beyond
\nits walls of mind
And it communicates with greater worlds;
There
\nare brighter earths and wider heavens than ours. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe real life of man is not
\nconfined to the range of the physical senses nor to the roof of the
\nmind encased in living matter. Behind the surface open larger ranges,
\nprofound depths and unbounded heights: the domains of the inner being
\nopening on the inmost soul. There life is not bound to its physical
\nframe, but is a freer driving force; the being is not confined to the
\nboundaries of the sense and thought mind but extends its faculties to
\nfarther ranges of consciousness. There goes on a constant interchange
\nbetween the inner being and the worlds beyond the physical. For this
\nphysical world is not the only one in the creation. There are other
\nworlds with larger and greater intensities of light and joy than this
\none.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Being Broods (I)<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThere
\nare realms where Being broods in its own depths;
It feels in its
\nimmense dynamic core
Its nameless, unformed, unborn potencies
\n
Cry for expression in the unshaped Vast: <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nEven these many worlds of
\nmanifestation are not all. Above and behind are realms of the
\nUnmanifest. There are states of Consciousness in which the creative
\nBeing concentrates in itself, feels within its vastness those truths
\nthat press for expression and prepares them in its heat of
\nincubation, tapas, for their transition from the state of boundless
\nindeterminacy to that of determination by form, designation by name.
\nWhat is thus manifested comes from the own Being of the Supreme,
\nbrought out by his own creative dynamism, Shakti, after a state of
\ngestation.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Being Broods (II)<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIneffable
\nbeyond Ignorance and death,
The images of its ever-living Truth
\n
Look out from a chamber of its self-rapt soul: <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe creative Being is lost,
\nas it were, in its self-communion. In this state of self-awareness,
\nsome of the truth-contents of its immortal Existence come up from
\ntheir profounds and gaze at the possibilities opening before them to
\nmanifest. But they are still in an unformulated condition far above
\nthe touch of mortality.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Being Broods (III)<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAs if
\nto its own inner witness gaze
The Spirit holds up its mirrored
\nself and works,
The power and passion of its timeless heart,
The
\nfigures of its formless ecstasy,
The grandeurs of its
\nmultitudinous might. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe Self, in this movement,
\nregards in a concentrated gaze the various possibilities of the play
\nof its eternal Consciousness, its splendorous Power, its ineffable
\nBliss that it is preparing to release into manifestation. Before the
\nMany issue from the One, they are perceived, dwelt upon and charged
\nwith their mission by the brooding Spirit, sa tapo tapyata.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Soul’s Origin<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThence
\ncomes the mystic substance of our souls
Into the prodigy of our
\nnature\u2019s birth,
There is the unfallen height of all we are
And
\ndateless fount of all we hope to be. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThere in the creative
\ntrance of the Spirit is determined the line of manifestation each of
\nits emanations is to follow, the precise truth to be worked out. And
\nwhen the soul\u2014a spark of the Spirit\u2014takes birth in the form
\nprovided by Nature, it is instinct with this truth-seed. It is never
\ncut off from its origin in the Supreme Spirit; on the summits of its
\nbeing it shares in the glory of the creative Spirit and the source of
\nall its aspiration and higher movements is there above constantly
\npulling it upwards.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Multiform Creation<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nOn
\nevery plane the hieratic Power,
Initiate of the unspoken
\nverities,
Dreams to transcribe and make a part of life
In its
\nown native style and living tongue
Some trait of the perfection
\nof the Unborn,
Some vision seen in the omniscient Light,
Some
\nfar tune of the immortal rhapsodist Voice,
Some rapture of the
\nall-creating Bliss,
Some form and plan of the Beauty unutterable.
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe Shakti, the
\nConsciousness-Force of the Supreme in manifestation, builds the
\nCreation on each of the graded planes of Existence. It formulates
\nthings on each plane in terms of the particular Principle that
\ngoverns that plane with the result that the type of each graded world
\nis different, distinctive. The Verities of the Divine in Becoming,
\nborn from its Being, cast and organised in seed form in its creative
\ntrance, are sought to be variously expressed on the various planes of
\nthis multiform Cosmos. The stress in manifestation differs from plane
\nto plane though the Reality that so formulates itself is One.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Higher Worlds<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nWorlds
\nare there nearer to those absolute realms,
Where the response to
\nTruth is swift and sure
And spirit is not hampered by its frame
\n
And hearts by sharp division seized and rent
And delight and
\nbeauty are inhabitants
And love and sweetness are the law of
\nlife. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAll the planes in the
\nCreation are not of the same kind. The formulated consciousness on
\neach plane is of a different nature, and the working relation between
\nthe Truth-Existence above and these several worlds differs in
\naccordance with their stage in the descent of the manifesting
\nConsciousness which takes place through a series of increasing
\ndensifications of itself. In the higher domains, the consciousness is
\nnot so obscured as in our material world, for instance; forms are not
\nso rigid as to act as imprisoning frames of the soul within, not so
\nfragmented and separative as to divide each from the others. There,
\nin planes which are nearer the highest Truth-creations, is a
\nspontaneous working of the Truth-laws and an effortless manifestation
\nof the Divine Verities of Love, Beauty, Bliss. These are natural in
\nthose realms.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Finer Substance<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\nfiner substance in a subtler mould
Embodies the divinity earth
\nbut dreams;
Its strength can overtake joy\u2019s running feet;
\n
Overleaping the fixed hurdles set by Time,
The rapid net of
\nan intuitive clasp
Captures the fugitive happiness we desire. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe Spirit in manifestation
\nformulates itself in varying grades of substance on various planes,
\nthe densest being in physical Matter. The obscurities and opacities
\nof this Matter-substance imposes severe limitations of form and
\nmovement. But these are less and less insistent as one moves upward
\nin the scale of manifestation where the substance gets progressively
\nsubtler and finer. There on the higher planes, the divinity that
\nensouls form is palpable, not beyond grasp as on earth; its form is
\nnot gross and opaque but subtle and transparent. The movements of
\nthis embodied divinity are not cramped, missing their objectives.
\nThey are sure, rapid and self-fulfilling. There is an unfailing
\nintuition guiding them; there is an unimpeded power carrying them to
\nsecure the lasting joy of life that eludes on earth.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Higher Nature (I)<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\nNature lifted by a larger breath,
Plastic and passive to the
\nall-shaping Fire,
Answers the flaming Godhead\u2019s casual touch:
\n
Immune from our inertia of response <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nUnlike the material Nature
\non earth, subject to the incessant downward pull of inertia and
\ninconscience, the higher Nature on the subtler planes is freed to
\nfunction, capable of freely responding to whatever calls are made
\nupon it by the manifesting Spirit. More supple, it does not resist
\nthe pressure of the reigning Consciousness-Force but readily receives
\nand assimilates its workings. Even casual touches of that Force evoke
\nimmediate responses from that Nature which is both wider and higher
\nin its reach than the terrestrial Nature.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Higher Nature (II)<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIt
\nhears the word to which our hearts are deaf,
Adopts the seeing of
\nimmortal eyes
And, traveller on the roads of line and hue,
\n
Pursues the spirit of beauty to its home. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe capacities and the
\nranges of the faculties of this higher Nature are immensely superior
\nto those of mortal nature. What the physical ears cannot hear, the
\nhigher hearing receives; higher sound-values of the Truth that the
\nhuman audition cannot grasp are within the reach of that Nature. So
\ntoo with sight; vision extends far beyond the human range. This
\nprogressing Nature perceives and follows the Vision of the Divine as
\nthe Beautiful, sundaram, that meets it in the vistas extending before
\nit.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
All-Wonderful<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThus
\nwe draw near to the All-Wonderful
Following his rapture in things
\nas sign and guide;
Beauty is his footprint showing us where he
\nhas passed,
Love is his heartbeats\u2019 rhythm in mortal breasts,
\n
Happiness the smile on his adorable face. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nDelight is the origin of
\nthis manifestation. Out of the Bliss of Brahman issues this creation,
\non an underlying Bliss it is sustained and towards an increasing
\nunfoldment of Bliss it moves. Wherever there is this stamp of Bliss
\nthere is found a greater stress of the Creative Spirit: Bliss is the
\nsavour of fulfilment, raso vai sah. And this deep Bliss expresses
\nitself in form as harmonious Beauty, in feeling as sheer Love, in
\nnatural formulation as a Happiness without any outward cause. In
\nrecognising these Verities in creation, wherever they are found, as
\nconcrete impressions of the especial pressure of the Divine Spirit
\nand by pursuing them and letting them grow in one’s own
\nconsciousness, one grows nearer to the Marvel that is in
\nmanifestation, adbhuta.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
One Creation<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\ncommunion of spiritual entities,
A genius of creative Immanence,
\n
Makes all creation deeply intimate: <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThis creation may appear to
\nthe outer eye as characterised by division all over; each in the
\nuniverse is separate from all the others and the only contact between
\nthe disparate units is one of conflict. But that is only an
\nappearance. Behind each external form there is a spiritual entity and
\nall these entities are really one in consciousness; they commune in
\nthe oneness of their Self. Within all there pulsates One
\nConsciousness which is active in its Force. This fact of an
\nunderlying Oneness active at a deeper level keeps the creation
\ntogether as one Whole.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Fourth Dimension<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\nfourth dimension of aesthetic sense
Where all is in ourselves,
\nourselves in all,
To the cosmic wideness re-aligns our souls. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIt is only as long as one
\nis confined to the three dimensions\u2014height, length, breadth\u2014of
\nthe physical world that one feels separate from others. The
\nindividual pits himself against all the rest\u2014the universe around.
\nBut there is another dimension\u2014in consciousness\u2014where one meets
\nall and feels all as one, an area of beauty and bliss. There one’s
\nheart throbs in unity with all on the bosom of the waves of delight:
\non this ground of the Self as bliss, all are felt within oneself and
\noneself as in all, sarv\u0101ni bh\u016bt\u0101ni \u0101tmani, sarvabh\u016bte\u0219u ca
\n\u0101tm\u0101nam. The original unity of the souls in the one Spirit is
\nrestored in this union of the individual with the universal.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Rapture Joins<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\nkindling rapture joins the seer and seen;
The craftsman and the
\ncraft grown inly one
Achieve perfection by the magic throb
And
\npassion of their close identity. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe division caused by
\nIgnorance between form and form, between subject and object is healed
\nby the thrill of delight which erupts from within. He who sees and
\nthat which is seen get identified in the flow of this delight. So
\nalso he who works in concentration and the technique he follows
\nbecome one on some deeper level and in the heat of their joy of union
\nproduce perfect results.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nIt is the manifestation of
\nthe underlying bliss that brings about the completing oneness and
\nachieves perfection.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Self-Born<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAll
\nthat we slowly piece from gathered parts,
Or by long labour
\nstumblingly evolve,
Is there self-born by its eternal right. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIn the sphere where the joy
\nof existence, the bliss of harmony, is dominant there is a natural
\nperception and experience of Verities as they are. Here in the ways
\nof Ignorance, the human mind works from without by assembling part
\nafter part to arrive at some whole, labours with chequered steps to
\nproduce some results; but where and when this deeper bliss of
\nexistence is active, there is no need of struggling labour. Things
\nare naturally revealed in their true, native, perfect form.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Intuition (I)<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIn us
\ntoo the intuitive Fire can burn;
An agent Light, it is coiled in
\nour folded hearts,
On the celestial levels is its home:
\n
Descending, it can bring those heavens here. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThis revelation of truths,
\nthe direct perception of them, so natural on the higher, subtler
\nplanes of existence, can be made possible here in the consciousness
\nof man. For the Ray of Intuition, the flash of the Sun of
\nTruth-Knowledge, has its station of radiation in the heart of man,
\nhowever entangled and covered up it might be by layers of emotions,
\ndesires and the like which act like a cloud. The "own Home"
\nof this Flame of Intuition is indeed high above on the Truth-planes,
\nbut in the process of the manifestation, it can and does descend
\nhere, first occasionally, then at intervals and then consistently as
\nthe human consciousness is more and more uplifted, purified and
\nreceptive. It descends and as its operations get organised in the
\nhuman consciousness, the glories of its Home of Truth follow in their
\nwake.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Intuition (II)<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nBut
\nrarely burns the flame nor burns for long, <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nBut the conditions here are
\nnot conducive to the play of intuition. The mind of man is still
\nsteeped in a many-sided ignorance and even its most cultivated
\nthought-movements share its nature of segmentation and separative
\nanalytical operation. The result is that a ray of intuition, as soon
\nas it touches the mental level, is seized, coated, cut up and
\nswallowed by the activity of mental intelligence. Even if it can
\nshine by its own splendour, it is not allowed to do so for long. The
\nsmoke of the habitual operations of the thinking mind quickly covers
\nit up.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Intuition (III)<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe
\njoy it calls from those diviner heights
Brings brief magnificent
\nreminiscences
And high splendid glimpses of interpreting thought,
\n
But not the utter vision and delight. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAnd yet, in spite of all
\nthe inevitable interference by the activity of the thought-mind, the
\nscintillating play of intuition brings with it a kind of joy of
\ncertitude, intimations of truth or truths that strike a level
\nsomewhere in the being where the seed-memory of the originative
\nstatus is held and significant revelations on the crest of mounting
\nthought-movements affording quick and bright glimpses into higher
\ntruths.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nBut the vision is not yet
\nfull, the joy it brings is not the utmost possible.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Veil<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\nveil is kept, something is still held back,
Lest, captives of the
\nbeauty and the joy,
Our souls forget to the Highest to aspire. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThere is indeed a purpose
\nin not revealing the full, the entire body of truth to man even in
\nhis states of high upliftment. If that were done, he would remain
\ncontent in his usual condition of ignorance, happy with the
\nfelicities coming from on high. There would be no sense of
\nincompleteness, no want, no discontent, no spur to progress and move
\ntowards greater and larger heights of being in order to reach and
\npossess the further truth on the summits.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Subtle Realm (I)<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIn
\nthat fair subtle realm behind our own
The form is all and
\nphysical gods are kings. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThis creation consists of a
\nnumber of planes of existence and a world r worlds on each plane.
\nThese worlds are all interpenetrating and interdependent. This
\nphysical world of man is supported by a subtle physical world behind
\nit. Not governed by the rigidities and densities of the material
\nworld, not vitiated by its obscurities, the subtle world is a realm
\nof lightness and beauty of form. Each form is perfect. This world is
\nruled by the gods of the physical sphere. Each world is dominated by
\nthe gods of its kind\u2014the vital gods in the vital worlds, the mental
\ngods in the mental and so on. Those that rule in the subtle physical
\nare the gods who share the characteristics of the typal physical,
\nembodying the highest perfection possible on that plane.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Subtle Realm (II)<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe
\ninspiring Light plays in fine boundaries;
A faultless beauty
\ncomes by Nature\u2019s grace; <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe Light that radiates in
\nthe subtle world is not obscured by the shadow of Ignorance as in the
\nmaterial world, nor is it inadequate and largely ineffective as
\nthere. It is a Light that illumines and inspires, spreading all over.
\nThere are no fixed limits to the expanse of this realm; above, it
\nmerges into still subtler regions, below, it plunges into the gross
\nphysical\u2014the borders are fluid. Further there is no necessity of
\nspecial effort to create beauty of form. Perfect forms of beauty come
\nby spontaneously and naturally.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Perfect Symmetry<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThere
\nliberty is perfection\u2019s guarantee:
Although the absolute Image
\nlacks, the Word
Incarnate, the sheer spiritual ecstasy,
All
\nis a miracle of symmetric charm,
A fantasy of perfect line and
\nrule. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIn this world, unlike the
\nmaterial world, each potentiaIIty has full freedom to work itself out
\nwhile in the material world it has to reckon with several extraneous
\nfactors like the pulls of the Inconscient, the deformations of
\nIgnorance etc. Given free scope, each formation follows the line of
\nits conception in the seed-truth and achieves a marvellous
\neffectuation in the harmony and beauty of form. The highest
\nfulfilment in perfect form\u2014of line and of sound\u2014however, is not
\nyet. Also the utter bliss of the Spirit still is not.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Bounded Marvel<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThere
\nall feel satisfied in themselves and whole,
A rich completeness
\nis by limit made,
Marvel in an utter littleness abounds,
An
\nintricate rapture riots in a small space: <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIn this world of perfect
\nform, beautiful and delightful, all is replete with a sense of
\ncompleteness; there is contentment everywhere, individually and
\nmutually. But things are limited in their scope, however wondrous
\nthey may be within their bounds.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Harmony of Rhythm
\nand Form<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nEach
\nrhythm is kin to its environment,
Each line is perfect and
\ninevitable,
Each object faultlessly built for charm and use. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThere is a wonderful
\nharmony in this world: every individual movement is spontaneously
\nrelated to the general life-movement; each form is an object of
\nbeauty and joy, just in its proportions, fitting in exactly with the
\nscheme. There is no note of disharmony, of imbalance, of imperfection
\nanywhere.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Self-Contented<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAll
\nis enamoured of its own delight. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIntact
\nit lives of its perfection sure
In a heaven-pleased self-glad
\nimmunity;
Content to be, it has need of nothing more. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nEach is self-content in its
\nown perfection, happy in its innate joy, without friction with others
\nequally self-contented. Consequently there is no urge to move
\nfurther, no need felt for progress. It remains a typal world set
\nwithin its own limited perfection of rhythm and of form.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
No Struggle<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nHere
\nwas not futile effort\u2019s broken heart:
Exempt from the ordeal
\nand the test,
Empty of opposition and of pain,
It was a world
\nthat could not fear nor grieve. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThis world, unlike the
\nearth, is not a field of struggle and evolution. It is a world fixed
\nin its type. There is no effort by any to transcend its formulation.
\nThere is no opposition, no clash of possibilities struggling for
\nsupremacy; nothing has to guard itself\u2014as in the world of ignorance
\nbelow\u2014from others: each luxuriates in its own perfection. So there
\nis no friction, no combat, no pain, but also no progress.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
**No Fall<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nIt
\nhad no grace of error or defeat,
It had no room for fault, no
\npower to fail. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nError is a wrong or false
\nstep taken by the seeking mind\u2014half-lit by some knowledge\u2014which
\nleads to a result that compels the mind to retrace and reform itself.
\nThus it is ultimately a factor for progress. Similarly is defeat a
\nspur to learn and progress better and quicker. Both are bricks in the
\nedifice of progress. Neither of these is in operation in this subtle
\nworld. All being set to typal completeness, there is no lack, no
\ndiminution, no scope to be found wanting and therefore bettered.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Creation Out of
\nSelf-Bliss<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nOut
\nof some packed self-bliss it drew at once
Its form-discoveries of
\nthe mute Idea
And the miracle of its rhythmic thoughts and acts,
\n
Its clear technique of firm and rounded lives,
Its gracious
\npeople of inanimate shapes
And glory of breathing bodies like our
\nown. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe workings of Nature in
\nthis subtle world are not laboured, tentative and slow as in the
\nearth-world. To each Idea that seeks for expression, Nature finds the
\nright form in a spontaneous ebullition of its own bliss; so does it
\nset into movement, effortlessly, a harmonious rhythm of life and
\nthought activity, a play of sustained order and symmetry, and a
\nluxuriance of beauty of forms and splendour of life.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
A Divine yet Kindred
\nWorld<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAmazed,
\nhis senses ravished with delight,
He moved in a divine, yet
\nkindred world
Admiring marvellous forms so near to ours
Yet
\nperfect like the playthings of a god,
Deathless in the aspect of
\nmortality. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nSuch is the world in which
\nAswapathy finds himself\u2014so near to the earth-world left behind and
\nyet so different. Though it is other than human, a kind of divine
\nworld, he does not feel a total stranger here; he feels some
\nrelation, some affinity He is overcome with wonder, with joy while
\nmoving in this world, looking at forms that resemble those on
\nearth\u2014though with a different intensity\u2014but are cast in moulds of
\nsome heavenly perfection, not subject to decay and disintegration as
\nin the mortal world below. Forms here do not die, though they may
\nchange.Each form in the material world has its archetype in the
\nsubtle material.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Absolute but Bounded<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIn
\ntheir narrow and exclusive absolutes
The finite\u2019s ranked
\nsupremacies throned abide;
It dreams not ever of what might have
\nbeen;
Only in boundaries can this absolute live. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nHere in the subtle material
\nworld, each form though finite is absolute in its own type. Each type
\nrepresents a perfection that is different from that of others and it
\nremains so, unmodified by any interchange. The entire world exists
\nunchanging in its typal limits. There is here no movement to exceed
\nits extant formulation, no visioning of other possibilities. All
\nstays as it is, content in its own perfection, because nothing goes
\nbeyond the determined type.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Bound to its Own
\nPlan<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIn a
\nsupremeness bound to its own plan
Where all was finished and no
\nwidths were left,
No space for shadows of the immeasurable,
No
\nroom for the incalculable\u2019s surprise,
A captive of its own
\nbeauty and ecstasy,
In a magic circle wrought the enchanted
\nMight. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAll in this world moves in
\ncertain fixed grooves. There is no scope here for the free variations
\nof the becomings of the Infinite, for the adventures of the creative
\nForce in adaptation and experimentation. Everything is cast in unique
\nmoulds of beauty and joy, everything stays satisfied in its own
\nstate. It is one scheme everywhere and always.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Spirit Stands Behind<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe
\nspirit stood back effaced behind its frame. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAdmired
\nfor the bright finality of its lines
A blue horizon limited the
\nsoul; <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe Spirit that ensouls
\nthis creation holds back its dynamis and remains behind this facade
\nof symmetry, perfection, beauty. It restricts itself to the point of
\neffacement. The self-extension of the Soul here has limits, however
\nenchanting the figuration.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Small Happinesses<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThought
\nmoved in luminous facilities,
The outer ideal\u2019s shallows its
\nswim-range:
Life in its boundaries lingered satisfied
With
\nthe small happiness of the body\u2019s acts. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe thought-mind has a
\nbrighter horizon here than on the earth-plane. It is lit with the
\ndelightful glow of a freer consciousness. But there is a limit beyond
\nwhich it cannot venture. The utmost is its ideations that take the
\nform of ideals\u2014not the deeper truth-formulations, but their
\nclothings on the outer fringe as mental ideals.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nSimilarly, the life-force
\nhere has a larger sweep, less of a struggle to effectuate itself. But
\nit stays confined to the limits set to it, content with whatever joys
\nit can derive through the subtle physical body in which it is
\nencased. And these joys are indeed paltry when compared to what is
\npossible under different conditions.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Bound Force<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAssigned
\nas Force to a bound corner Mind,
Attached to the safe paucity of
\nher room,
She did her little works and played and slept
And
\nthought not of a greater work undone. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe Nature-Force active in
\nthis realm of the subtle physical has to work under the rule of
\nlimited mind, regulate her movements in accord with the scope of this
\nintelligence, with the consequence that the process and the field of
\nher workings are ever within set confines. They never aim beyond,
\nnever attempt anything outside their habitual rounds.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Nature Forgets (I)<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nForgetful
\nof her violent vast desires,
Forgetful of the heights to which
\nshe rose,
Her walk was fixed within a radiant groove. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIn staying confined to the
\nfixed grooves of this world, however glowing in its brilliance, the
\nNature Force forgets for the time all the deep impulsions that have
\nactuated her large movements, forgets also the capacities with which
\nshe is instinct and which have brought her to the present heights
\nfrom humbler beginnings below.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Nature Forgets (II)<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe
\nbeautiful body of a soul at ease,
Like one who laughs in sweet
\nand sunlit groves,
Childlike she swung in her gold cradle of joy.
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nSuch is Nature in this
\nworld of the subtle physical. Like the world in which she works, she
\nis beautiful and she embodies a being that is content. She luxuriates
\nin the rhythmic play of delight in this realm of beautiful forms and
\nbewitching hues.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nBoth the Purusha and the
\nPrakriti here are satisfied with themselves and make no exertion to
\nexceed their existing formulations.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
No Yearning<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe
\nspaces\u2019 call reached not her charmed abode,
She had no wings
\nfor wide and dangerous flight,
She faced no peril of sky or of
\nabyss,
She knew no vistas and no mighty dreams,
No yearning
\nfor her lost infinitudes. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nNature here does not
\nventure. In her enchanted existence in this subtle world of charm,
\ncolour and joy, the call of the Infinite does not reach her ears. Her
\npotential force lies latent and she is reluctant to aspire for the
\nheights that exceed her present status. She does not leave her safe
\nand comforting limits to regain the freedom of infinity that is hers
\non the original summits of her being but which she has forfeited in
\nher plunge into the Ignorance. She neither seeks nor works to go
\nbeyond the formula of the subtle material existence.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Moment’s Fine
\nRelease<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\nperfect picture in a perfect frame,
This faery artistry could not
\nkeep his will:
Only a moment\u2019s fine release it gave;
A
\ncareless hour was spent in a slight bliss. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThis scene of marvellous
\ndesign, of perfect symmetry in form and rich pleasing hues, fails,
\nhowever, to satisfy Aswapathy. It affords him a happy relaxation for
\na moment; he enjoys its beauty and delight for a while but would not
\nrest there. He chooses to go ahead.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nIt is only lesser spirits
\nthat stay content with a modicum of joy and glory.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Turn to Hidden
\nPowers<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nOur
\nspirit tires of being\u2019s surfaces,
Transcended is the splendour
\nof the form;
It turns to hidden powers and deeper states. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe questing spirit in man
\ncannot long be held by appearances however glittering they may be.
\nThe pleasures and excitements of surface life pall after sometime and
\nthe being turns elsewhere for a more lasting sustenance. It begins to
\nlook beyond and behind the web of apparent life: it feels within
\nitself for richer states of consciousness, scans the depths of life
\nfor latent powers that can make for greater fulfilment. For powers
\nand forces there are behind the surfaces, waiting to be tapped and
\nmobilised for the fuller development of man and his world.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
On to Larger Space<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nSo
\nnow he looked beyond for greater light. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nHis
\nsoul\u2019s peak-climb abandoning in its rear
This brilliant
\ncourtyard of the House of Days,
He left that fine material
\nParadise. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nHis
\ndestiny lay beyond in larger Space. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nBeautiful, ravishingly
\ndelightful, though it was, the subtle material realm fails to detain
\nAswapathy on his upward climb. He sees that with all its brilliant
\nglow this world is limited on all sides and it is only a vestibule to
\nthe great Mansion of Light ahead. His being turns to realms of still
\ngreater light, to yet larger vistas of Infinity.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nHe crosses beyond.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n



\n<\/P><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n

<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Introduction   Notes   Book 1   Book II   Book III   Book IV    Book V   Book VI   Book VII   Book VIII    Book IX   Book X   Book XI   Book XII Book Two. The Book of the Traveller of the Worlds…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[250],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-2-savitri-study","wpcat-250-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10720","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=10720"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10720\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11084,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10720\/revisions\/11084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}