{"id":1511,"date":"2013-07-13T01:35:20","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:35:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=1511"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:35:20","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:35:20","slug":"05-aspects-and-powers-of-the-mother-vol-25-the-mother-volume-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/01-sabcl\/25-the-mother-volume-25\/05-aspects-and-powers-of-the-mother-vol-25-the-mother-volume-25","title":{"rendered":"-05_Aspects and Powers of The Mother.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n


\nASPECTS AND POWERS OF THE MOTHER<\/font><\/b><\/P>
\n


\n      EXPLANATION  OF  SOME  TERMS  IN  “THE 
\nMOTHER”<\/font><\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

1.  FALSEHOOD  AND  IGNORANCE<\/b><\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

I<\/font><\/b>gnorance means Avidya, the separative consciousness and the
\negoistic mind and life that flow from it and all that is natural to the
\nseparative consciousness and the egoistic mind and life.  This Ignorance is the
\nresult of a movement by which the cosmic Intelligence separated itself from the
\nlight of the Supermind  (the divine Gnosis) and lost the Truth, ― truth of being,
\ntruth of divine consciousness, truth of force and action, truth of Ananda. As a result, instead of a world of integral truth and divine harmony created in the
\nlight of the divine Gnosis, we have a world founded on the part truths of an
\ninferior cosmic Intelligence in which all is half-truth, half-error.  It is this
\nthat some of the ancient thinkers like Shankara, not perceiving the greater
\nTruth- Force behind, stigmatised as Maya and thought to be the highest creative
\npower of the Divine.  All in the consciousness of this creation is either limited
\nor else perverted by separation from the integral Light;  even the Truth it
\nperceives is only a half-knowledge. Therefore it is called the
\nIgnorance.    <\/P>
\n

             <\/P>
\n

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

 <\/P>
\n

Page – 61<\/P>
\n

<\/p>\n

2.  POWERS  AND  APPEARANCES<\/b><\/P>
\n\t\t

 <\/P>
\n

These are the forces and beings that are interested in
\nmaintaining the falsehoods they have created in the world of the Ignorance and
\nin putting them forward as the Truth which men must follow.  In India they are
\ntermed Asuras, Rakshasas, Pishachas  (beings respectively of the mentalised
\nvital, middle vital and lower vital planes)  who are in opposition to the Gods,
\nthe Powers of Light.  These too are Powers, for they too have their cosmic field
\nin which they exercise their function and authority and some of them were once
\ndivine Powers  (the former gods, pūrve devā<\/i>\u00ca<\/span>, as they are called somewhere in the
\nMahabharata)  who have fallen towards the darkness by revolt against the divine
\nWill behind the cosmos.  The word “appearances”  refers to the forms they take in
\norder to rule the world, forms often false and always incarnating falsehood,
\nsometimes pseudo-divine.<\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

3.  POWERS  AND  PERSONALITIES<\/b><\/P>
\n\t\t

 <\/P>
\n

The use of the word Power has already been explained ― it can be
\napplied to whatever or whoever exercises a conscious power in the cosmic field
\nand has authority over the world-movement or some movement in it.  But the Four 
\n(Maheshwarj, Mahakali, Mahalakshmi, Mahasaraswati.<\/font>) of whom you speak are also Shaktis, manifestations of different powers of the Supreme Consciousness and
\nForce, the Divine Mother, by which she rules or acts in the universe.  And they
\nare at the same time divine personalities;  for each is a being who manifests
\ndifferent qualities and personal consciousness-forms of the Godhead.  All the
\ngreater Gods are in this way personalities of the Divine ― one Consciousness
\nplaying in many personalities, ekam sat<\/i> bahudhā<\/i>.  Even in the human being there
\nare many personalities and not only one, as used formerly to be imagined;  for
\nall consciousness can be at once one and multiple.  “Powers and Personalities”  simply describe different aspects of the same being;  a Power is not necessarily
\nimpersonal and certainly it is not avyaktam<\/i>, as you suggest, ― on the contrary,
\nit is a manifestation acting in the worlds of the divine
\nManifestation.<\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

 Page – 62<\/P>
\n

<\/p>\n

4.  EMANATIONS<\/b><\/P>
\n\t\t

 <\/P>
\n

Emanations correspond to your description of the Matrikas of
\nwhom speak in your letters.  An emanation of the Mother is something of her
\nconsciousness and power put forth from her which, so long as it is in play, is
\nheld in close connection with her and, when its play is no longer required, is
\nwithdrawn back into its source, but can always be put out and brought into play
\nonce more.  But also the detaining thread of connection can be severed or
\nloosened and that which came forth as an emanation can proceed on its way as an
\nindependent divine being with its own play in the world.  All the Gods can put
\nforth such emanations from their being, identical with them in essence of
\nconsciousness and power though not commensurate.  In a certain sense the universe
\nitself can be said to be an emanation from the Supreme.  In the consciousness of
\nthe Sadhak an emanation of the Mother will ordinarily wear the appearance,  form
\nand characteristics with which he is familiar. <\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

In a sense the four Powers of the Mother may be called, because
\nof their origin, her Emanations, just as the Gods may be called Emanations of
\nthe Divine, but they have a more permanent and fixed character;  they are at once
\nindependent beings allowed their play by the Adya Shakti and yet portions of the
\nMother, the Mahashakti, and she can always either manifest through them as
\nseparate beings or draw them together as her own various Personalities and hold
\nthem in herself, sometimes kept back, sometimes at play, according to her will. 
\nIn the supramental plane they are always in her and do not act independently but
\nas intimate portions of the supramental Mahashakti and in close union and
\nharmony with each other.<\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

5.  GODS<\/b><\/P>
\n\t\t

 <\/P>
\n

These four Powers are the Mother’s cosmic Godheads, permanent in
\nthe world-play;  they stand among the greater cosmic Godheads to whom allusion is
\nmade when it is said that the Mother as the Mahashakti of this triple world 
\n“stands there<\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

Page – 63<\/P>
\n

<\/p>\n

(in the Overmind plane)  above the Gods”.  (Part One, 
\np.  23.<\/font>)  The
\nGods, as has already been said, are in origin and essence permanent Emanations
\nof the Divine put forth from the Supreme by the Transcendent Mother, the Adya
\nShakti;  in their cosmic action they are Powers and Personalities of the Divine,
\neach with his independent cosmic standing, function and work in the universe.  They are not impersonal entities but cosmic Personalities, although they can and
\ndo ordinarily veil themselves behind the movement of impersonal forces.  But
\nwhile in the Overmind and the triple world they appear as independent beings,
\nthey return in the Supermind into the One and stand there united in a single
\nharmonious action as multiple personalities of the One Person, the Divine
\nPurushottama.<\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

6.  PRESENCE<\/b><\/P>
\n\t\t

 <\/P>
\n

It is intended by the word Presence to indicate the sense and
\nperception of the Divine as a Being, felt as present in one’s existence and
\nconsciousness or in relation with it, without the necessity of any further
\nqualification or description.  Thus, of the  “ineffable Presence”  it can only be
\nsaid that it is there and nothing more can or need be said about it, although at
\nthe same time one knows that all is there, personality and impersonality, Power
\nand Light and Ananda and everything else, and that all these flow from that
\nindescribable Presence.  The word may be used sometimes in a less absolute sense,
\nbut that is always the fundamental significance, ― the essential perception of
\nthe essential Presence supporting everything else.<\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

7.  THE  TRANSCENDENT  MOTHER<\/b><\/P>
\n\t\t

 <\/P>
\n

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

Page – 64<\/P>
\n

<\/p>\n

ADYA  SHAKTI<\/b><\/P>
\n\t\t

 <\/P>
\n

Adya Shakti is the original Shakti, therefore, the highest form
\nof the Mother.  Only she manifests in a different way according to the plane on
\nwhich one sees her.<\/P>
\n

22-7-1933<\/font><\/b><\/P>
\n

THE  DIVINE  MOTHER<\/b><\/P>
\n\t\t

 <\/P>
\n

The Divine Mother is the Consciousness and Force of the Divine ― which is the Mother of all things.<\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

THE  MOTHER  AND  THE  ISHWARA<\/b><\/P>
\n\t\t

 <\/P>
\n

The Mother is the consciousness and force of the Divine ― or, it
\nmay be said, she is the Divine in its consciousness-force.  The Ishwara as Lord
\nof the cosmos does come out of the Mother who takes her place beside him as the
\ncosmic Shakti ― the cosmic Ishwara is one aspect of the Divine.<\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

THE  DIVINE  MOTHER  IN  THE  GITA,  THE  TANTRA  AND  THE 
\nINTEGRAL  YOGA<\/b><\/P>
\n\t\t

 <\/P>
\n

The Gita does not speak expressly of the Divine Mother;  it
\nspeaks always of surrender to the Purushottama ― it mentions her only as the
\nPara Prakriti who becomes the Jiva, that is, who manifests the Divine in the
\nmultiplicity and through whom all these worlds are created by the Supreme and he
\nhimself descends as the Avatar.  The Gita follows the Vedantic tradition which
\nleans entirely on the Ishwara aspect of the Divine and speaks little of the
\nDivine Mother because its object is to draw back from world-nature and arrive at
\nthe supreme realisation beyond it;  the Tantric tradition leans on the Shakti or
\nIshwari aspect and makes all depend on the Divine Mother because its object is
\nto possess and dominate the world-nature and arrive at the supreme<\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

Page – 65<\/P>
\n

<\/p>\n

realisation through it.  This Yoga insists on both the aspects;  the surrender to the Divine Mother is essential for without it there is no
\nfulfilment of the object of the
\nYoga.                <\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

In regard to the Purushottama the Divine Mother is the supreme
\ndivine Consciousness and Power above the worlds, Adya Shakti;  she carries the
\nSupreme in herself and manifests the Divine in the Worlds through the Akshara
\nand Kshara.  In regard to the Akshara she is the same Para Shakti holding the
\nPurusha immobile in herself and also herself immobile in him at the back of all
\ncreation.  In regard to the Kshara she is the mobile cosmic Energy manifesting
\nall beings and forces.<\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n\t\t


\n\t\t*<\/font><\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n\t\t

The experience of the Mother being the Supreme is the Tantric
\nexperience ― it is one side of the Truth.<\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n\t\t


\n\t\t*<\/font><\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n\t\t


\n\t\tQ:<\/b>  The Tantrics used to invoke Shakti in their Sadhana.  Was it
\nthe same Force and Consciousness which is in the Mother here ?<\/i><\/P>
\n

A:<\/b>  It depends on what they invoked
\n― it was usually some aspect
\nof the Mother that they called.<\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

THE  WORLD-MOTHER<\/b><\/P>
\n\t\t

 <\/P>
\n

The Ishwari Shakti, divine Conscious-Force and World-Mother
\nbecomes a mediatrix between the eternal One and the manifested Many.  On one
\nside, by the play of the energies which she brings from the One, she manifests
\nthe multiple Divine in the universe, involving and evolving its endless
\nappearances out of her revealing substance;  on the other, by the reascending
\ncurrent of the same energies she leads back all towards That from which they
\nhave issued so that the soul in its evolutionary manifestation may more and more
\nreturn towards the Divinity there or here put on<\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

Page – 66<\/P>
\n

<\/p>\n

its divine character.  There is not in her, although she devises
\na cosmic mechanism, the character of an inconscient mechanical Executrix which
\nwe find in the first physiognomy of Prakriti, the Nature-Force;  neither is there
\nthat sense of an Unreality, creatrix of illusions, or semi-illusions, which is
\nattached to our first view of Maya.  It is at once clear to the experiencing soul
\nthat here is a conscious Power of one substance and nature with the Supreme from
\nwhom she came.  If she seems to have plunged us into the Ignorance and Inconscience in pursuance of a plan we cannot yet interpret, if her forces
\npresent themselves as all these ambiguous forces of the universe, yet it becomes
\nvisible before long that she is working for the development of the Divine
\nConsciousness in us and that she stands above drawing us to her own higher
\nentity, revealing to us more and more the very essence of the Divine Knowledge,
\nWill and Ananda.  Even in the movements of the Ignorance the soul of the seeker
\nbecomes aware of her conscious guidance supporting his steps and leading them
\nslowly or swiftly, straight or by many detours out of the darkness into the
\nlight of a greater consciousness, out of mortality into immortality, out of evil
\nand suffering towards a highest good and felicity of which as yet his human mind
\ncan form only a faint image.  Thus her power is at once liberative and dynamic,
\ncreative effective, ― creative not only of things as they are, but of things
\nthat are to be;  for, eliminating the twisted and tangled movements of his lower
\nconsciousness made of the stuff of the Ignorance, it rebuilds and new-makes his
\nsoul and nature into the substance and forces of a higher divine Nature. [The
\nSynthesis of Yoga<\/font><\/i><\/b>  <\/font>(Centenary
\nEdition,  1972<\/font>),  pp.  116-17.<\/font>]<\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

THE  MOTHER  AND  THE  LOWER  PRAKRITI<\/b><\/P>
\n\t\t

 <\/P>
\n

It is a mistake to identify the Mother with the lower Prakriti
\nand its mechanism of forces.  Prakriti here is a mechanism only which has been
\nput forth for the working of the evolutionary Ignorance.  As the ignorant mental,
\nvital or physical being is not itself the Divine, although it comes from the
\nDivine ― so the mechanism of Prakriti is not the Divine Mother.  No doubt
\nsomething of her <\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

Page – 67<\/P>
\n

<\/p>\n

is there in and behind this mechanism maintaining it for the
\nevolutionary purpose;  but what she is in herself is not a Shakti of Avidya, but
\nthe Divine Consciousness, Power, Light, Para Prakriti to whom we turn for
\nrelease and the divine fulfilment.<\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

THE  COSMIC  FORCE  OF  IGNORANCE  AND  THE  DIVINE  MOTHER<\/b><\/P>
\n\t\t

 <\/P>
\n

There is this much truth that the Cosmic Force works out
\neverything and the Cosmic Spirit  (Virat Purusha)  supports her action.  The Cosmic
\nForce is a Power that works under the conditions of the Ignorance ― it appears
\nas the lower nature and the lower nature makes you do wrong things.  The Divine
\nallows the play of these forces so long as you do not yourself want anything
\nbetter.  But if you are a Sadhak, then you do not accept the play of the lower
\nnature, you turn to the Divine Mother instead, and ask her to work through you
\ninstead of the lower nature.  It is only when you have turned entirely in every
\npart of your being to the Divine Mother and to her alone that the Divine will do
\nall actions through you.<\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

SAGUNA  AND  NIRGUNA  ISHWARA  AND  THE  MOTHER<\/b><\/P>
\n\t\t

 <\/P>
\n

Nirguna, Saguna are only aspects taken by the Divine in the
\nmanifestation.  It is the Mother who manifests  (creation is only manifestation)  the Saguna or the Nirguna Ishwara. <\/P>
\n

28-6-1933<\/font><\/b><\/P>
\n

THE  SILENT  ATMAN,  THE  DYNAMIC  SELF  AND  THE  MOTHER<\/b><\/P>
\n\t\t

 <\/P>
\n

The experiences were all right ― but they give only one side of
\nthe Divine Truth, that which one attains through the higher mind ― the other
\nside is what one attains through the heart.  Above the higher mind these two
\ntruths become one.  If one realises the silent Atman above, there is no danger,
\nbut there is also no transformation, only Moksha, Nirvana.  If one realises
\nthe<\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

Page – 68<\/P>
\n

<\/p>\n

cosmic self, dynamic and active, then one realises all as the
\nSelf, all as myself, that self as the Divine, etc.  This is all true;  but the
\ndanger is of the ego catching hold of the  “my”  in that conception of  “all is
\nmyself”.  For this  “myself”  is not my personal self but everybody’s self as well
\nas mine.  The way to get rid of any such danger is to remember that this Divine
\nis also the Mother, that the personal  “I”  is a child of the Mother with whom I
\nam one, yet different, her child, servant, instrument.  I have said that you
\nshould not stop realising the Self as the cosmic consciousness, but should at
\nthe same time remember that all this is the Mother. <\/P>
\n

13-10-1933<\/font><\/b><\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n


\n*<\/font><\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

It is possible to go towards the knowledge by beginning with the
\nexperience of dissolution in the One, but on condition that you do not stop
\nthere, taking it as the highest Truth, but proceed to realise the same One as
\nthe Supreme Mother, the Consciousness- Force of the Eternal.  If, on the other
\nhand, you approach through the Supreme Mother, she will give you the liberation
\nin the silent One also as well as the realisation of the dynamic One, and form
\nthat it is easier to arrive at the Truth in which both are one and inseparable.  At the same time, the gulf created by the mind between the Supreme and his
\nmanifestation is bridged, and there is no longer a fissure in the truth which
\nmakes all incomprehensible.<\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n\t\t


\n\t\t*<\/font><\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n\t\t

It is the Divine who is the Master ― the Self is inactive, it is
\nalways a silent witness supporting all things ― that is the static aspect.  There
\nis also the dynamic aspect through which the Divine works ― behind that is the
\nMother.  You must not lose sight of that, that it is through the Mother that all
\nthings are attained.<\/P>
\n

1-9-1933<\/font><\/b><\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

Page – 69<\/P>
\n

<\/p>\n

You are seeking for Seif-realisation ― but what is that Self if
\nnot the Mother’s self ― There is no other. <\/P>
\n

29-9-1934<\/font><\/b><\/P>
\n

The Self has two aspects, passive and active. In the first it is
\npure silence, wideness, calm, the inactive Brahman, in the second it is the
\nCosmic Spirit, universal not individual.  One can feel in it union or oneness
\nwith the Mother.  Intimacy is a feeling of the individual, therefore of the
\npsychic being. <\/P>
\n

12-10-1934<\/font><\/b><\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

THE  MOTHER’S  UNIVERSAL  AND  PERSONAL  PRESENCE<\/b><\/P>
\n\t\t

 <\/P>
\n

What people mean by the formless svarūpa<\/i> of the Mother, ― they
\nmean usually her universal aspect.  It is when she is experienced as a universal
\nExistence and Power spread through the universe in which and by which all live.  When one feels that Presence one begins to feel a universal peace, light, power,
\nbliss without limits ― that is her svarūpa<\/i>.  One meets this more often by rising
\nin consciousness above the head where one is liberated from this limited body
\nconsciousness and feels oneself also as something wide, calm, one self with all
\nbeings ― free from passion and disturbance in an eternal peace.  But it can be
\nfelt through the heart also ― then the heart too feels itself wide as the world,
\npure and blissful, filled with the Mother’s presence.<\/P>
\n

There is also the Mother’s
\npersonal and individual presence in the heart which brings immediately love and
\nBhakti and the sense of a close intimacy and personal oneness. <\/P>
\n

9-6-1935<\/font><\/b><\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

FAITH  IN  THE  DIVINE  SHAKTI  AND  THE 
\nISHWARA<\/b><\/P>
\n\t\t

 <\/P>
\n

The faith in the divine Shakti must be always at the back of our
\nstrength and when she becomes manifest, it must be or grow<\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

Page – 70<\/P>
\n

<\/p>\n

implicit and complete.  There is nothing that is impossible to
\nher who is the conscious Power and universal Goddess all-creative from eternity
\nand armed with the Spirit’s omnipotence.  All knowledge, all strengths, all
\ntriumph and victory, all skill and works are in her hands and they are full of
\nthe treasures of the Spirit and of all perfections and Siddhis.  She is
\nMaheshwari, goddess of the supreme knowledge, and brings to us her vision for
\nall kinds and widenesses of truth, her rectitude of the spiritual will, the calm
\nand passion of her supramental largeness, her felicity of illumination:  she is
\nMahakali, goddess of the supreme strength, and with her are all mights and
\nspiritual force and severest austerity of Tapas and swiftness to the battle and
\nthe victory and the laughter, the a<\/i>\u00f0\u00f0<\/span>ahāsya<\/i>, that makes light of defeat and
\ndeath and the powers of the ignorance:  she is Mahalakshmi, the goddess of the
\nsupreme love and delight, and her gifts are the spirit’s grace and the charm and
\nbeauty of the Ananda and protection and every divine and human blessing:  she is
\nMahasaraswati, the goddess of divine skill and of the works of the Spirit, and
\nhers is the Yoga that is skill in works, yoga<\/i>\u00ca<\/span> karmasu kauśalam<\/i>, and the
\nutilities of divine knowledge and the self-application of the spirit to life
\nand the happiness of its harmonies.  And in all her powers and forms she carries
\nwith her the supreme sense of the masteries of the eternal Ishwari, a rapid and
\ndivine capacity for all kinds of action that may be demanded from the instrument,
\noneness, a participating sympathy, a free identity, with all energies in all
\nbeings and therefore a spontaneous and fruitful harmony with all the divine will
\nin the universe.  The intimate feeling of her presence and her powers and the
\nsatisfied assent of all our being to her workings in and around it is the last
\nperfection of faith in the Shakti.<\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

And behind her is the Ishwara and faith in him is the most central thing in
\nthe śraddhā<\/i> of the integral Yoga.  This faith we must have and
\ndevelop to perfection that all things are the workings under the universal
\nconditions of a supreme self-knowledge and wisdom, that nothing done in us or
\naround us is in vain or without its appointed place and just significance, that
\nall things are possible when the Ishwara as our supreme Self and Spirit takes up
\nthe action and that all that has been done before and all<\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

Page – 71<\/P>
\n

<\/p>\n

that he will do hereafter was and will be part of his infallible
\nand foreseeing guidance and intended towards the fruition of our Yoga and our
\nperfection and our life work.  This faith will be more and more justified as the
\nhigher knowledge opens, we shall begin to see the great and small significances
\nthat escaped our limited mentality and faith will pass into knowledge.  Then we
\nshall see beyond the possibility of doubt that all happens within the working of
\nthe one Will and that that will was also wisdom because it develops always the
\ntrue workings in life of the self and nature.  The highest state of the assent,
\nthe śraddhā<\/i> of the being will be when we feel the presence of the Ishwara and
\nfeel all our existence and consciousness and thought and will and action in his
\nhand and consent in all things and with every part of our self and nature to the
\ndirect and immanent and occupying will of the Spirit.  And that highest
\nperfection of the śraddhā<\/i> will also be the opportunity and perfect foundation of
\na divine strength:  it will base, when complete, the development and
\nmanifestation and the works of the luminous supramental Shakti.  [The Synthesis
\nof Yoga<\/font><\/i><\/b>  <\/font>(Centenary<\/font>
\nEdition,  1972<\/font>), 
\npp.  752-53.<\/font>]<\/P>
\n

 <\/P><\/p>\n


\n*<\/font><\/P>
\n

 <\/P><\/p>\n

Q:<\/b>  In  “The Mother”  you have said that the Mother as the Cosmic
\nMahashakti determines  “all that shall be in this universe and in the terrestrial
\nevolution by what she sees and feels and pours from her, she stands there above
\nthe Gods and all her Powers and Personalities are put out in front of her for
\nthe action and she sends down emanations of them into these lower worlds to
\nintervene, to govern, to battle and conquer, to lead and turn their cycles, to
\ndirect the total and the individual lines of their forces”.  <\/i>(
\nPart One,  p.  23.<\/font>)  Does this imply that the World War or the Bolshevic Revolution or the Satyagraha
\nmovement, etc. were in some manner arranged and determined by the
\nMother ?<\/i><\/P>
\n

A:<\/b>  They are incidents in the cosmic plan and so arranged by
\nthe <\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

Page – 72<\/P>
\n

<\/p>\n

Cosmic Mahashakti and worked out by men under the impulse of the
\nforces of Nature. <\/P>
\n

1-6-1933<\/font><\/b><\/P>
\n

THE  MOTHER’S  SUPRAMENTAL  POWER  OF  LOVE  AND  ANANDA<\/b><\/P>
\n\t\t

 <\/P>
\n

Q:<\/b>  In the  “Chandi”  <\/i>(A Tantric scripture forming a part of
\nMarkandeya Purana.<\/font>)  the names of the four
\nCosmic Powers of the Mother ― Maheshwari, Mahakali, Mahalakshmi, Mahasaraswati ― are mentioned along with
\nothers, but the name  “Radha”  is not mentioned.  This is a clear proof of the fact
\nthat when the  “Chandi”  was composed the Radha -Power was not manifested to the
\nvision of the saints and that the  “Chandi”  mentions only the Cosmic Powers of
\nthe Mother and not her supramental Powers.  In the book  “The Mother”, after
\ndescribing the four Powers of the Mother, you have said:  “There are other great
\nPersonalities of the Divine Mother, but they were more difficult to bring down
\nand have not stood out in front with so much prominence in the evolution of the
\nearth-spirit.  There are among them Presences indispensable for the supramental
\nrealisation, ― most of all one who is her Personality of that mysterious and
\npowerful ecstasy and Ananda which flows from a supreme divine Love, the Ananda
\nthat alone can heal the gulf between the highest heights of the supramental
\nspirit and the lowest abysses of Matter, the Ananda that holds the key of a
\nwonderful divinest Life and even now supports from its secrecies the work of all
\nthe Powers of the universe”.  <\/i>(Part One,  pp.  35-36.<\/font>)
\n Is not the Personality
\nreferred to in this passage the Radha -Power which is spoken of as Premamayi
\nRadha, Mahaprana Shakti and Hladini Shakti ?<\/i><\/P>
\n

A: <\/b> Yes;  but the images of the Radha-Krishna
\nlīlā<\/i> are taken from
\nthe vital world and therefore it is only an inner manifestation <\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

Page – 73<\/P>
\n

<\/p>\n

of the Radha-Shakti that is there depicted.  That is why she is
\ncalled Mahaprana Shakti and Hladini Shakti.  What is referred to  [in
\nthe passage quoted]  is not this inner form but the full Power of Love and Ananda above. <\/P>
\n

7-2-1934<\/font><\/b><\/P>
\n

THE  MOTHER’S  POWERS  ON  ALL  PLANES<\/b><\/P>
\n\t\t

 <\/P>
\n

Q:<\/b>  Does Maheshwari belong to the Intuitive and the Overmind
\nlevels ?<\/i><\/P>
\n

A: <\/b> These powers can manifest on all levels from the Overmind to
\nthe Physical. <\/P>
\n

25-8-1933<\/font><\/b><\/P>
\n

MANY  FORMS  OF  THE  MOTHER’S  POWERS<\/b><\/P>
\n\t\t

 <\/P>
\n

As to the gods, man can build forms which they will accept but
\nthese forms too are inspired into man’s mind from the planes to which the god
\nbelongs.  All creation has the two sides, the formed and the formless, ― the gods
\ntoo are formless and yet have forms, but a godhead can take many forms, here Maheshwari, there Pallas Athene. Maheshwari herself has many forms in her lesser
\nmanifestation, Durga, Uma, Parvati, Chandi, etc.  The gods are not limited to
\nhuman forms ― man also has not always seen them in human forms only.<\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

KRISHNA – MAHAKALI<\/b><\/P>
\n\t\t

 <\/P>
\n

The Mother in her cosmic power is all things and all divine
\nPersonalities, for nothing can be in manifestation except by her and as part of
\nher being. But what was meant in the Visions and Voices<\/i> 
\n(A book by a Sadhak.<\/font>) 
\nwas that the Ishwara and the Divine Shakti were one Person or Being in two
\naspects and it puts forward this vision of<\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

Page – 74<\/P>
\n

<\/p>\n

them as Krishna-Mahakali as a great power for the
\nmanifestation. <\/P>
\n

20-10-1936<\/font><\/b><\/P>
\n

DURGA<\/b><\/P>
\n\t\t

 <\/P>
\n

Durga combines the characteristics of Maheshwari and Mahakali to
\na certain extent, ― there is not much connection with Mahalakshmi.  The
\ncombination of Krishna and Mahakali is one that has a great power in this Yoga
\nand if the names rise together in your consciousness, it is a good
\nsign. <\/P>
\n

 21-3-1938 <\/font><\/b><\/P>
\n


\n*<\/font><\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

Durga is the Mother’s power of Protection. <\/P>
\n

15-4-1933 <\/font><\/b><\/P>
\n


\n*<\/font><\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

The lion with Durga on it is the symbol of the Divine
\nConsciousness acting through a divinised physical-vital and vital-emotional
\nforce. <\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n\t\t


\n\t\t*<\/font><\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n\t\t

The lion is the attribute of the Goddess Durga, the conquering
\nand protecting aspect of the Universal Mother. <\/P>
\n

The Death’s Head is the symbol of the Asura  (the adversary of
\nthe gods)  vanquished and killed by the Divine Power.<\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

MAHAKALI  AND  KALI<\/b><\/P>
\n\t\t

 <\/P>
\n

Mahakali and Kali are not the same.  Kali is a lesser form.  Mahakali in the higher planes appears usually with the golden
\ncolour. <\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n\t\t


\n\t\t*<\/font><\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n\t\t

This Kali, Shyama, etc. ― are ordinary forms seen through
\nthe<\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

Page – 75<\/P>
\n

<\/p>\n

vital;  the real Mahakali form whose origin is in the
\nOvermind is not black or dark or terrible but golden of colour and full of
\nbeauty, even when formidable to the Asuras. <\/P>
\n

10-2-1934 <\/font><\/b><\/P>
\n


\n*<\/font><\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

Q:<\/b>  While praying today I saw the image of Mother Kali.  She was
\nblack and naked and was standing with her foot on the back of Shiva <\/i>― as she is
\ntraditionally described.  Why is Kali seen in such a form and on what plane is
\nshe seen like this ?<\/i><\/P>
\n

A:<\/b>  It is in the vital.  It is Kali as a destroying Force
\n\u2014<\/font> a symbol
\nof the Nature Force in the ignorance surrounded by difficulties, wresting and
\nbreaking everything in a blind struggle to get through till she finds herself
\nstanding with her foot on the Divine itself  \u2014<\/font> then she comes to herself and the
\nstruggle and destruction are over.  That is the significance of the
\nsymbol. <\/P>
\n

9-2-1934<\/font><\/b><\/P>
\n

ACTION  OF  THE 
\nMOTHER’S  MAHAKALI  POWER<\/b><\/P>
\n\t\t

 <\/P>
\n

Q: <\/i><\/b> In  “The Mother”  it is said about the Mahakali power of the
\nMother that  “her hands are outstretched to strike and to succour”.<\/i>  (Part One,  p.<\/font>
\n 29.<\/font>)  What is meant by  “strike”  here ?<\/i><\/P>
\n

A:<\/b>  It expresses her general action in the world.  She strikes at
\nthe Asuras, she strikes also at everything that has to be got rid of or
\ndestroyed, at the obstacles to the Sadhana, etc.  I may say that the Mother never
\nuses the Mahakali power in your case nor the Mahakali pressure. <\/P>
\n

5-6-1936 <\/font><\/b><\/P>
\n


\n*<\/font><\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

Q:<\/b>  About the Mother’s Mahakali aspect it is said in  “The
\nMother”:   “When she is allowed to intervene in <\/i><\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

Page – 76<\/P>
\n

<\/p>\n

her strength, then in one moment are broken like things without
\nconsistence the obstacles that immobilise or the enemies that assail the
\nseeker”.  <\/i>(Part<\/font> One,  p.  29.<\/font>)  How is this intervention of the Mahakali force
\nfelt ?<\/i><\/P>
\n

A:<\/b>  It is felt as if something swift, sudden, decisive and
\nimperative.  When it intervenes, it has a kind of divine or supramental sanction
\nbehind it and is like a fiat against which there is no appeal.  What is done
\ncannot be reversed or undone.  The adverse forces may try, may even touch or
\ninvade, but they retire baffled and it is seen as soon as they withdraw that the
\npast ground has remained intact ― it is felt even in the attack.  Also the
\ndifficulties that were strong before it touched by this fiat lose their power,
\ntheir verisimilitude destroyed or are weak shadows that come only to flicker and
\nfade away.  I say  “allowed”, because this supreme action of Mahakali is
\ncomparatively rare, the action of the other Powers or a partial action of
\nMahakali is more common. <\/P>
\n

24-8-1933<\/font><\/b><\/P>
\n

MITRA <\/b> (A Vedic god.<\/font>)<\/P>
\n\t\t

 <\/P>
\n

Yes, Mitra is rather a combination of two powers  [Mahalakshmi
\nand Mahasaraswati].<\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

THE  TOUCH  OF  MAHASARASWATI<\/b><\/P>
\n\t\t

 <\/P>
\n

Q:  <\/b>What is the wisdom that brought deeper gyri in the human
\nbrain, the perfect septa in the ventricles of the heart and such other details
\nof structure ? Is it the work of Mahasaraswati ?<\/i><\/P>
\n

A:<\/b>  Yes ― all perfection in intricacy of detail shows the touch
\nof Mahasaraswati. <\/P>
\n

19-9-1933  <\/font><\/b><\/P>
\n

Page – 77<\/P>
\n

<\/p>\n

THE  PRESENT  WORKING  OF  SADHANA<\/b><\/P>
\n\t\t

 <\/P>
\n

Q:<\/b>  Is it true that it is mostly the Mahasaraswati aspect of the
\nMother that works in our Sadhana here ?<\/i><\/P>
\n

A:<\/b>  At present since the Sadhana came down to the physical
\nconsciousness \u2014 <\/font>or rather it is a combination of Maheshwari – Mahasaraswati
\nforces. <\/P>
\n

25-8-1933<\/font><\/b><\/P>
\n

THE  VIBHUTIS  OF  THE  MOTHER<\/b><\/P>
\n\t\t

 <\/P>
\n

Q:  <\/b>What is the difference in the form of expression or
\nrealisation between the Vibhutis of the Ishwara and the Vibhutis of the
\nMother ?<\/i><\/P>
\n

A:  <\/b>The Mother’s Vibhutis would usually be feminine personalities
\nmost of whom would be dominated by one of the four personalities of the Mother.  The others you mention  (Christ, Buddha, Chaitanya, Napoleon, Caesar, etc.)  would
\nbe personalities and powers of the Ishwara, but in them also, as in all, the
\nMother’s force would act.  All creation and transformation is the work of the
\nMother. <\/P>
\n

29-10-1935 <\/font><\/b><\/P>
\n


\n*<\/font><\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

Q:<\/b>  Since all creation is her work, can it be taken that it is
\nthe personalities of the Mother who, behind the veil, prepare the conditions for
\nthe descent of the Avatar or Vibhutis ?<\/i><\/P>
\n

A: <\/b> If you mean the divine Personalities of the Mother
\n― the
\nanswer is yes.  It may even be said that each Vibhuti draws his energies from the
\nFour, from one of them predominantly in most cases, as Napoleon from Mahakali,
\nRama from Mahalakshmi, Augustus Caesar from Mahasaraswati.<\/P>
\n

31-10-1935<\/font><\/b><\/P>
\n

Page – 78<\/P>
\n

<\/p>\n

CHIT  SHAKTI,  JIVATMA,  SOUL  AND  EGO<\/b><\/P>
\n\t\t

 <\/P>
\n

Chit Shakti or Bhagavat Chetana is the Mother ― the Jivatma is a
\nportion of it, the psychic or soul a spark of it.  Ego is a perverse reflection
\nof the psychic or the Jivatma.  If that is what you mean, it is
\ncorrect.<\/P>
\n

THE  SOUL  AND  THE  DIVINE  MOTHER<\/b><\/P>
\n\t\t

 <\/P>
\n

It is true of every soul on earth that it is a portion of the
\nDivine Mother passing through the experiences of the Ignorance in order to
\narrive at the truth of its being and be the instrument of a Divine Manifestation
\nand work here.<\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

THE  SUPREME  MOTHER
\n<\/b>―  A  MANTRA
\n<\/b><\/P>
\n\t\t

 <\/P>
\n

(The last two words
\nin the English transliteration of this Mantra have been added by the Mother as
\nthey were not written by Sri Aurobindo in the original.<\/font>)<\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n

<\/P>
\n

 
\n<\/P>
\n

Page – 79<\/P>\n\t\t<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ASPECTS AND POWERS OF THE MOTHER       EXPLANATION  OF  SOME  TERMS  IN  “THE  MOTHER”   1.  FALSEHOOD  AND  IGNORANCE   Ignorance means Avidya, the separative…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-25-the-mother-volume-25","wpcat-33-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1511","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=1511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1511\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}