{"id":2947,"date":"2013-07-13T01:44:48","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:44:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=2947"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:44:48","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:44:48","slug":"06-the-mother-the-divine-and-the-lower-nature-vol-32-the-mother-with-letters-on-the-mother","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/03-cwsa\/32-the-mother-with-letters-on-the-mother\/06-the-mother-the-divine-and-the-lower-nature-vol-32-the-mother-with-letters-on-the-mother","title":{"rendered":"-06_The Mother, the Divine and the Lower Nature.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\n\n
\n

\n\tThe Mother, the Divine
\nand the Lower Nature
\n<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Consciousness and Force of the Divine
\n\t<\/a>
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Please explain to me what is meant by the Divine Mother. <\/p>\n

The Divine Mother is the Consciousness and Force of the Divine 
\n\t\u2014which is the Mother of all things.<\/p>\n

\n

24 June 1933 <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You have written in The Mother <\/i>that the Mother is the consciousness and force of the Ishwara, but here my experience is that the Ishwara is the consciousness and force of the Supreme
\nMother. Could you please make it clear to me? <\/p>\n

The Mother is the consciousness and force of the Divine 
\n\t\u2014or,
\nit may be said, she is the Divine in its consciousness \u2014force. The Ishwara as Lord of the Cosmos does come out of the Mother
\nwho takes her place beside him as the cosmic Shakti  \u2014the cosmic Ishwara is one aspect of the Divine. The experience therefore
\nis correct so far as it goes.<\/p>\n

\n

16 November 1934 <\/p>\n


\nThe Mother in the Tantra
\n<\/a>
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The experience of the Mother being the Supreme is the Tantrik
\nexperience  \u2014it is one side of the Truth. <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Tantrics used to invoke Shakti in their sadhana. Was it the same Force and Consciousness that is in the Mother here? <\/p>\n

It
\ndepends on what they invoked  \u2014it was usually some aspect of the Mother
\nthat they called.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage <\/font>\u2013  55<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n


\nThe Mother in the Gita
\n<\/a>
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Gita does not speak expressly of the Divine Mother; it
\nspeaks always of surrender to the Purushottama  \u2014it mentions her only as the Para Prakriti who becomes the Jiva, i.e., who
\nmanifests the Divine in the multiplicity and through whom all these worlds are created by the Supreme and he himself descends
\nas the Avatar. The Gita follows the Vedantic tradition which leans entirely on the Ishwara aspect of the Divine and speaks
\nlittle of the Divine Mother because its object is to draw back from world \u2014nature and arrive at the supreme realisation beyond
\nit; the Tantrik tradition leans on the Shakti or Ishwari aspect and makes all depend on the Divine Mother, because its object is to
\npossess and dominate the world \u2014nature and arrive at the supreme realisation through it. This Yoga insists on both the aspects; the
\nsurrender to the Divine Mother is essential, for without it there is no fulfilment of the object of the Yoga. <\/p>\n

In regard to the Purushottama the Divine Mother is the supreme divine Consciousness and Power above the worlds,
\nAdya Shakti; she carries the Supreme in herself and manifests the Divine in the worlds through the Akshara and the Kshara.
\nIn regard to the Akshara she is the same Para Shakti holding the Purusha immobile in herself and also herself immobile in him at
\nthe back of all creation. In regard to the Kshara she is the mobile cosmic Energy manifesting all beings and forces. <\/p>\n

18 August 1932 <\/p>\n

\n\tThe One and the Supreme Mother
\n\t<\/a>
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Shankara knowledge is, as your Guru pointed out, only one side of the Truth; it is the knowledge of the Supreme as realised
\nby the spiritual Mind through the static silence of the pure Existence. It was because he went by this side only that Shankara
\nwas unable to accept or explain the origin of the universe except as illusion, a creation of Maya. Unless one realises the Supreme
\non the dynamic as well as the static side, one cannot experience the true origin of things and the equal reality of the active
\n   <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage <\/font>\u2013 56<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

Brahman. The Shakti or Power of the Eternal becomes then a power of illusion only and the world becomes incomprehensible,
\na mystery of cosmic madness, an eternal delirium of the Eternal. Whatever verbal or ideative logic one may bring to support it,
\nthis way of seeing the universe explains nothing; it only erects a mental formula of the inexplicable. It is only if you approach
\nthe Supreme through his double aspect of Sat and Chit \u2014Shakti, double but inseparable, that the total truth of things can become
\nmanifest to the inner experience. The other side was developed by the Shakta Tantrics. The two together, the Vedantic and the
\nTantric truth unified, can arrive at the integral knowledge. <\/p>\n

But philosophically this is what your Guru’s teaching comes
\nto and it is obviously a completer truth and a wider knowledge than that given by the Shankara formula. It is already indicated
\nin the Gita’s teaching of the Purushottama and the Parashakti (Adya Shakti) who becomes the Jiva and upholds the universe.
\nIt is evident that Purushottama and Parashakti are both eternal and are inseparable and one in being; the Parashakti manifests
\nthe universe, manifests too the Divine in the universe as the Ishwara and herself appears at his side as the Ishwari Shakti.
\nOr, one may say, it is the Supreme Consciousness \u2014Power of the Supreme that manifests or puts forth itself as Ishwara Ishwari,
\nAtma Atmashakti, Purusha Prakriti, Jiva Jagat. That is the truth in its completeness as far as the mind can formulate it. In the
\nSupermind these questions do not even arise  \u2014for it is the mind that creates the problem by erecting oppositions between aspects
\nof the Divine which are not really opposed to each other but are one and inseparable. <\/p>\n

This supramental knowledge has not yet been attained, because the supermind itself has not yet been attained, but the
\nreflection of it in intuitive spiritual consciousness is there and that was what was evidently realised
\nin experience by your Guru and what he was expressing in mental terms in the
\nquoted passage. It is possible to go towards this knowledge by beginning with
\nthe experience 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<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage <\/font>\u2013  57<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n

Consciousness Force of the Eternal. If on the other hand you approach through the supreme Mother, she will give you the
\nliberation in the silent One also as well as the realisation of the dynamic One and from that it is easier to arrive at the Truth in
\nwhich both are one and inseparable. At the same time the gulf created by Mind between the Supreme and his Manifestation is
\nbridged and there is no longer a fissure in the truth which makes all incomprehensible. If in the light of this you examine what
\nyour Guru taught, you will see that it is the same thing in less metaphysical language. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Cosmic Divine and the Mother
\n\t<\/a> <\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What is the difference between the cosmic Divine and the
\nMother? <\/p>\n

It is a matter of realisation. In the yoga of the Gita the cosmic
\nDivine is realised as Vasudeva (Krishna). The Vaishnavas realise it as Vishnu, the Shaivas as Shiva. The Tantrics (Shaktas) realise
\nthe Devi (Goddess) as the Cosmic and even as the Transcendent Divine. <\/p>\n

22 October 1935 <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Self, the Divine and the Mother
\n\t<\/a>
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

My heart is aspiring for the Self, the Atman. I feel this Atman as the Lord of my being. I have to do all that I do for its sake,
\nin order to make it the absolute master of myself. <\/p>\n

It is the Divine who is the Master 
\n\t\u2014the Self is inactive, it
\nis always a silent wideness supporting all things  \u2014that is the static aspect. There is also the dynamic aspect through which
\nthe Divine works  \u2014behind that is the Mother. You must not lose sight of that, that it is through the Mother that all things
\nare attained. <\/p>\n

\n\tAgain I feel that this Self is not only the Lord of this being, but that I
\n\tmyself am this Self. All these feelings are within myself, not above me;
\n\tthey come down from above.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage <\/font>\u2013 58<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

Essentially everybody is the Self 
\n\u2014but take care to avoid the idea that you are the Lord  \u2014for that may raise up the ego. <\/p>\n

8 October 1934 <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After getting your letter [above<\/i>], I was frightened, thinking that all my experiences about the Self were untrue and were
\nmisleading influences. Then I thought I would not aspire for the higher opening any more; what is necessary for me now
\nis the growth of the psychic. So I began to concentrate on the heart and have been trying to depend on the psychic strength. <\/p>\n

You must not try to stop any opening. My remarks were only meant to keep you on your guard against certain errors that
\nsadhaks often make when the cosmic consciousness opens. If there is the psychic opening with its surrender and the higher
\nopening with its wideness and self \u2014realisation, the two together, there is little danger of any such error. <\/p>\n

11 October 1934 <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You have told me to keep on my guard against errors. What is your opinion of my recent higher experiences? I used to
\nfeel a Consciousness, a vast Wideness which has become each individual. This Consciousness contains all and is in all. I
\nused to feel that each is a part of me since I am that vast Consciousness. I felt that whatever I was doing, I was doing
\nfor myself, which is above. Will you tell me what all this means and why you warned me to take care? Was there a chance of
\nmaking an error? <\/p>\n

The experiences were all right 
\n\t\u2014but they give only one side of
\nthe Divine Truth, that which one attains through the higher mind  \u2014the other side is what one attains through the heart. Above
\nthe higher mind these two truths become one. If one realises the silent Atman above, there is no danger, but there is also
\nno transformation, only Moksha, Nirvana. If one realises the cosmic self, dynamic and active, then one realises all as the Self,
\nall as myself, that self as the Divine, etc. This is all true; but the danger is of the ego catching hold of the “my” in that conception
\n  
\n60<\/i> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage <\/font>\u2013  59<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n

of all as “myself”. For this “myself” is not my personal self but everybody’s self as well as mine. The way to get rid of any such
\ndanger is to remember that this Divine is also the Mother, that the personal “I” is a child of the Mother with whom I am one,
\nyet different, her child, servant, instrument. I have said that you should not stop realising the Self or the cosmic consciousness,
\nbut should at the same time remember that all this is the Mother.<\/p>\n

\n

13 October 1934 <\/p>\n


\nThe Mother and Self
\n\u2014Realisation <\/a> <\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What is remarkable today is that the consciousness is turning
\nmore and more towards oneness with the Mother’s Self in the silent peace. I write “Self” simply out of my perception, so I
\nwould like to be a little clear about it. <\/p>\n

You are seeking for Self
\n\t\u2014realisation  \u2014but what is that Self if not
\nthe Mother’s self? There is no other.<\/p>\n

\n

29 September 1934 <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As the soul is in direct connection with the Divine, is not our
\nSelf also in direct connection with it? Why then does one not feel intimacy with the Mother while realising the Self as one
\ndoes during the soul \u2014realisation? <\/p>\n

The Self has two aspects, passive and active. In the first it is pure
\nsilence, wideness, calm, the inactive Brahman  \u2014in the second it is the Cosmic Spirit, universal not individual. One can feel in it
\nunion or oneness with the Mother. Intimacy is a feeling of the individual, therefore of the psychic being. <\/p>\n

12 October 1934 <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Mother, the Jivatman and the Soul
\n\t<\/a> <\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the Chandi <\/i>it is said that the Devi is in everyone in the form of consciousness. This is the Bhagavat Chetana in all
\nbeings. In the true state, in the psychic and the Jivatman, it is united, a divine portion. In the fallen state, it is the ego. Is this
\ncorrect?   <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage <\/font>\u2013 60<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

I don’t understand exactly. Chitshakti or Bhagavat Chetana is the Mother 
\n\u2014the Jivatman is a portion of it, the psychic or soul
\na spark of it. Ego is a perverted reflection of the psychic or the Jivatman. If that is what you mean, it is correct. <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sometimes I feel as if I am a portion of the Mother come
\ndown into the manifestation for her work. As a result, I have to pass through various human births and experience pain,
\nseparation, suffering, falsehood and ignorance. <\/p>\n

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

\n

15 February 1937 <\/p>\n


\nThe Mother’s Interest in the World
\n<\/a>
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Is it possible for the Mother or anyone living above the
\nOvermind or even in the silence to take any interest in the world, since the world would be felt from there as a mere
\nspeck? <\/p>\n

It all depends upon what basis one lives in the silence or above.
\nA speck can be of as much interest to the Divine Consciousness as an infinity. <\/p>\n

8 August 1934 <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Mother and the Lower Prakriti
\n\t<\/a> <\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The higher Prakriti is the true nature of the Divine, so it can show Light and Ananda to people who are trying to reach the
\nhighest Truth; it is a help to sadhaks. But the lower Prakriti is impure and blind and can only show a limited Truth and a
\nbrief Ananda. <\/p>\n

Everything comes from the Divine; but the lower Prakriti is the
\npower of the Ignorance  \u2014it is not therefore a power of Truth, but only of mixed truth and falsehood. The Mother here stands
\nnot for the Power of the Ignorance, but for the Power that has<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage <\/font>\u2013  61<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n

come down to bring down the Truth and rise up to the Truth out of the Ignorance. <\/p>\n

12 April 1933 <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the past I committed one grand mistake  \u2014a total subordination of the consciousness of the Purusha to that of the
\nPrakriti alone. There was not that strong drive of the Will to make the Purusha consciousness dynamic and living. <\/p>\n

In order to get the dynamic realisation it is not enough to rescue the Purusha from subjection to Prakriti; we must transfer the
\nallegiance of the Purusha from the lower Prakriti with its play of ignorant Forces to the Supreme Divine Shakti, the Mother. <\/p>\n

Sometimes when I feel the necessity of standing apart from the play of Prakriti, I also have the counteracting feeling that this
\nwould mean a belittlement of the Mother. <\/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 put forth for the working of the evolutionary
\nIgnorance. As the ignorant mental, vital or physical being is not itself the Divine, although it comes from the Divine 
\n\t\u2014so the
\nmechanism of Prakriti is not the Divine Mother. No doubt something of her is there in and behind this mechanism maintaining
\nit for its evolutionary purpose  \u2014but what she is in herself is not a Shakti of Avidya, but the Divine Consciousness, Power, Light,
\nPara Prakriti to whom we turn for the release and the divine fulfilment. <\/p>\n

26 April 1933 <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

X <\/i>told me that whatever we do, it is the Divine who acts through us. But it seems to me that the Divine cannot be
\nbehind all <\/i>we do, because we do not always do the right thing. Is there any truth in what
\nX <\/i>says? <\/p>\n

There is this much truth that the cosmic Force works out everything and the Cosmic Spirit (Virat Purusha)
\nsupports her action. But this cosmic Force is a Power that works under the
\nconditions <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage <\/font>\u2013 62<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

of the Ignorance, 
\n\u2014it appears as the lower nature and the lower nature makes you do wrong things. The Divine allows the play
\nof these Forces so long as you do not yourself want anything better. But if you are a sadhak, then you do not accept the play
\nof the lower nature, you turn to the Divine Mother instead, and ask her to work through you instead of the lower Nature. It is
\nonly when you have turned entirely in every part of your being to the Divine Mother and to her alone that the Divine will do
\nall actions through you.<\/p>\n

\n

27 May 1933 <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How can I know that the Mother is working in me? I believe
\nthat everything is done by the Mother, the good things and the bad, but X
\n<\/i>believes that very few things are done according to
\nher will. How can I know what is divine and what is undivine? <\/p>\n

\n\tWhy should the Mother do bad things in you? It is Nature that acts for that,
\n\tnot the will of the Mother. You can at least know that anger, jealousy,
\n\tenvy, restlessness, despair, indolence etc. are not divine things and that
\n\tpurity, peace, harmony, zeal, unselfishness etc., are good things and help
\n\tthe growth to the Divine.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage <\/font>\u2013 63<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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