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Saturday, October 21, 2006

The Day of Victory

The Day of Victory : 24th November 1926

Sri Aurobindo had a very great Realization on the 26th November 1926. It was declared as the Siddhi Divas, the Day of Victory. The Mother [Mira Alfassa] said in this regard :
The 24th November is called the day of Victory in remembrance of a very important spiritual event which took place in 1926.
In this regard, Sri Aurobindo stated:
It was the descent of Krishna into physical.
Sri Aurobindo further stated in this matter:
Krishna is not the supramental Light. The descent of Krishna would mean the descent of the Overmind Godhead preparing, though not itself actually, the descent of Supermind and Ananda. Krishna is the Anandamaya; he supports the evolution through the Overmind leading it towards the Ananda.
On 24th November 1926, in the evening, Sri Aurobindo emerged from his room and it was seen by the Mother [Mira Alfssa]. She could at once know that ‘something important has happened in the History of the Earth and Universe’. She called for all the sadhaks and asked them to assemble in the upper verandah of the Library House of the Ashram building. By 6 PM, there were all the twenty four Sadhaks assembled there including Barin, Nolini, Champaklal, Amrita, Pavitra, Purani, Datta.
Purani himself describes the event as follows :
“There was a deep silence in the atmosphere after the disciples had gathered there. Many saw an oceanic flood of Light rushing down from above. Everyone present felt a kind of pressure above his head. The whole atmosphere was surcharged with some electrical energy. In that silence ..... the usual, yet on this day unusual, tick was heard behind the door of the entrance. Expectation rose in flood. Sri Aurobindo and The Mother could be seen through the half closed door. The Mother with a gesture of her eyes requested Sri Aurobindo to step out first. Sri Aurobindo with a similar gesture suggested to her to do the same. With a slow dignified step the Mother came out first, followed by Sri Aurobindo with his majestic gait.... The Mother sat on a small stool to his right.Silence absolute, living silence- not merely living but out flowing with divinity. The meditation lasted about forty-five minutes. After that one by one the disciple bowed to the Mother. She and Sri Aurobindo gave blessings to them. Whenever a disciple bowed to the Mother, Sri Aurobindo's right hand came forward behind the Mother's as if blessing him through the Mother. After the blessings, in the same silence there was a short meditation.In the interval of silent meditation and blessings many had distinct experiences... it was certain that a Higher Consciousness had descended on earth...Sri Aurobindo and The Mother went inside. Immediately Datta was inspired. In that silence she spoke:‘The Lord has descended into the physical today.’
Datta evidently spoke in a mood of ecstasy. But what she said has been recorded in different ways by some of those present there.”
In the language of Champaklal, the event is described as follows:
Krishna the Lord has come. He has ended the hell of suffering. He has conquered pain. He has conquered death.He has conquered all.He has descended tonight. Bringing immortality and Bliss.
Rajangam, another disciple, expressed himself in these words:
He has conquered Life. He has conquered Death. He has conquered All. Krishna the Lord has descended.

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I read the following quotation posted on 20th October 2006 by Tusar Mahapatra in his Blog Aurora Mirabilis. The matter was written and originally posted by one Swami Saiexposedananda :

Sri Aurobindo's taking of voluntary retirement
Unsurprisingly, Sai devotees have seized on this as proof of Sai Baba's divinity and identity with God (Krishna) with no exception, given their belief that Sri Aurobindo was referring to the Baba who was supposedly born on the previous day (Nov. 23). The main problem with this idea is that the followers of Aurobindo widely believe that he was referring to the descent of "Krishna consciousness" into himself, being that he had been in a meditative trance for a long while and had emerged out of said trance on November 24 to inform his followers of his revelation. As an interesting aside, Aurobindo largely retired from public interactions from that date onwards and preferred to spend long periods of time in seclusion while communicating with his followers via letters. Incorrigible Sai devotees seize on that too, presenting it as an example of Aurobindo's taking of voluntary retirement after handing the reins over to "God incarnate"!
posted by H.H. Swami Saiexposedananda at 06:35 # posted by Tusar N Mohapatra : 2:16 PM

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I have personally heard and read about this claim made by some devotees of Satya Sai Baba for last three decades and more.

I am quoting one instance below :

All 24 ashramites (a number of Occult Value) without exception experienced, that the Divinity had descended upon the earth in a human form. They felt that, that divine and blessed moment was an event of utmost importance for the entire universe. At that moment, the ashramites un­doubtedly realised that Sri Aurobindo and Mother's faces and bodies were illumined, with inner divine light and beautiful heavenly effulgence and bliss. They had a perceptible glow of divinity and light radiating from them. Kumari Hudson Dutt in ecstatic delight proclaimed loudly, “Today has the Divine descended on the earth." That Supreme Divine Sakthi which had descended is the Almighty Sarva Daivathwa-Swaroopam. (The Form. in which All Forms of All Gods), Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, who was born on 23rd November 1926.*

*[the descent of divine sakthis on the earth ]

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The sense which is normally carried with the word “retirement” is of a life of total rest and ease, with no occupation, no work. If that is the meaning some persons ascribe to Sri Aurobindo’s retirement, then they are committing a foolish mistake. After 24th November 1926, Sri Aurobindo withdrew from the day-to-day contacts with the normal outside world, in order to concentrate on His Work, which He continued till His Departure. That is the most important Work to have been done by anybody on earth till His Departure, and even after His Departure, except by The Mother, as far as known record is concerned.
And the Work is the Descent of the Supermind and the Supramental Manifestation and a definite Progress in the next Evolution. And This is and was the Action of the Divine, what Sri Aurobindo was. That was an Action performed by Him out of utter Love and Compassion for the humanity, for which the mankind will definitely feel more and more grateful to Him, in course of Time, as Time will advance. Regarding this Work, Sri Aurobindo said :
"I am seeking to bring down the Supermind. I care nothing for greatness or littleness in the human sense. I am seeking to bring some principle of inner Truth, Light, Harmony, Peace into the earth-consciousness..."
He began this work virtually soon after He came to Pondicherry. That was the Divine Will. But the fullest concentration He could give to this work only after this event on the Victory Day. The Realization He had, the Consciousness that descended, inspired Him to continue this Work through the name of a Retirement.
This ‘retirement’, did not mean that he kept no information of the external developments. As he told, he "kept a close watch on all that was happening in the world and in India and actively intervened whenever necessary, but solely with a spiritual force and silent spiritual action..." Twice he broke his self-imposed silence on political matters. Once He recommendinged acceptance of the Cripps Proposal, which "provided an opportunity to organize the freedom of India." And then, during the Second World War, He revealed that Hitler represented Titanic forces aiming at destruction of the human civilization, and declared himself to be on the side of the Allies, encouraging India to join the war effort.

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Regarding this matter, I have collected some information from whatever my friend M Alan Kazlev, of the Kheper Home fame, has written on The Date of Sai Baba's Birthday.
“Back in 1982 I was at La Trobe University. I had an eccentric university teacher, by the name Moshe Kroy, and he introduced me to Sai Baba while I introduced him to Sri Aurobindo. He once mentioned a supposed coincidence of dates to me - Sai Baba said (and his devotees and biographers affirmed) that he had been born on 23rd November 1926. This happened to be one day before the date that Sri Aurobindo declared that Krishna had descended into the physical; a day that became known as Siddhi Day and was one of henceforth the four darshan days and the date of founding of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram as well.
The implication being (and of course Moshe accepted this) that Satya Sai Baba was the overmental Krishna that Sri Aurobindo had pulled down to earth (Sai Baba does often identify himself with Krishna). The date is of course off by one day, implying for the first day Sai Baba was non-divine...? A rather bigger problem is that Satya Sai Baba claims to be the reincarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba who prophecied he would return as Sathya. When I mentioned this to Moshe he just said "ah yes, but even Sri Aurobindo is an instrument of the Divine (i.e. of Sai Baba)" implying a totally deterministic descent of the Sai Baba overmind, with poor Sri Aurobindo having no choice in the matter! It sounded incredibly rigid and false to me… If Satya Sai Baba was born one day earlier and moreover did not have a Shirdi before him i think there might be more persuasive. Anyway it was only recently that some of the more sordid facts came out, and it has been persuasively suggested that Sai Baba himself or one of his biographers faked the whole thing.”
Alan refers to one Hari Sampath, who provides a school record. Accordingly, “Saibaba was born on October 4th 1929, as indicated by his school record (various other facts are also different from those of his official biographies, implying that the famous childhood leelas or miracles never took place, or if they did, it wasn't where Sai Baba said they did!)”
The reason for this deception is obvious, as Mr Sampath explains:
If Sai Baba was born on October 4th 1929, as indicated by records, then we are led to question what must have been the motivation for fraudulently choosing the date of November 23rd 1926 specifically. Obviously, it could have been any date, since it was bogus anyway, but the "choice" of the birthday in later years, probably in the late 1940's or early 1950's, must have been prompted by a specific reason which would have been necessary for the "avatar theory" to flourish. It is well known publicly that Sri Aurobindo declared on November 24th 1926 , that "Krishna consciousness had descended into the physical".
All followers of Sri Aurobindo categorically say that he meant the descent of Universal consciousness into himself, while he was still in a physical body, and it was probably true too. But when such a statement was publicly known, and must have been rather well known in South India in the 1940s and 1950s, there is a very strong probability that those promoting the Sai Baba "avatar theory" in the early days, that is close family of Sai Baba, "decided" to have Sai Baba's birthday as November 23rd 1926, in order to capitalize on Aurobindo's statement and provide "proof" that he was referring to Sai Baba's birth!
This seems to be the most logical explanation of the "choice" of the date of birth, and it shows clearly a scheming deceptive pattern, targeted at willful deception and concoted theories. What else needs to be proved about Sai Baba being a fraud?
Lies proved by Sathya Sai Baba's School Record Hari Sampath

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Thus, according to M Alan Kazlev, there are three points for consideration in this matter :
1. Satya Sai Baba is said to have been born on 23rd November, and NOT 24th November.
2. The School Record shows that he was born on 4th October 1929.
3. It is also claimed by him and his followers that he is the Incarnation of Sirdi Sai Baba. If it is true, then it is impossible that he also Sri Krishna at the same time!

In this connection, I may say that Sirdi Sai baba has never claimed that He was Shri Krishna in an earlier birth!
The people, who claim that Sri Aurobindo was referring to the birth of Satya Sai baba in His declaration on the 24th November 1926, should first decide whether Satya Sai baba was the reincarnation of Shri Krishna or of Sirdi Sai Baba!
Of course, Sri Aurobindo was totally silent on the 24th November meeting with the 24 disciples!

I fully agree with Alan on these points. And I conclude that the claim Sri Aurobindo referred to him as the Incarnation of the Overmind consciousness is totally baseless. Sri Aurobindo did never refer to the 23rd day, and never spoke of Satya Sai Baba or about his birth. The Mother, too, spoke nothing about these matters or about these possibilities – the only thing She said is that Sai Baba was a Guru ! If Sai Baba would have been the Avatar of the Cosciousness that descended on the 24th, Si Aurobindo and The Mother would have definitely told about it. It seems that the theory cropped up after Sri Aurobindo’s Departure.
I have nothing to say against Satya Sai Baba. But with due regards to him, I must say that there is no record is there to show Such ideas were ever in his mind and that he ever spoke of attempting any such work for the mankind or the Earth. Had there been any spiritual connection between this Realization and his birth, he would have definitely referred to this Work, if not he would have also participated in this Work of Supramental Descent, Manifestation and Transformation. As many people in India and abroad regard him as an Avatar, I do not think he has any need to depend upon such a reference, such a story or such a proof, as is mentioned sarcastically by Swami Saiexposedananda(!) or in the other reference I have quoted [the descent of divine sakthis on the earth] .

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It is blasphemous to suggest that Sri Aurobindo slipped into inaction and retirement, as the Divine avatar emerged!

TheFuture belongs to Sri Aurobindo !
The Mother declared that Sri Aurobindo was an Avatar of the Divine.
* Sri Aurobindo was a philosopher par excellence, a poet par excellence, a rare and superb visionary of evolution. But that is not the complete truth about Him. Further, He has been described as the Hope of Man. And Satprem, a disciple of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Mira Alfassa, has described Sri Aurobindo as the Adventure of Consciousness. He was not only an Adventurer of Consciousness, but Himself the Adventure. Yes, He was an Explorer of Consciousness, and further, He was also the builder of the New World, basing on the New and a Higher Consciousness, the Supramental Consciousness, a much higher level of Consciousness, which was hitherto unmanifest, and which is discovered by Him. And He has shown us the Way, the Integral Way to the New Realisation, not of realising the Divine Consciousness and merging into It, transcending and leaving the Manifestation, the World and the Universe, forgetting the mankind and its past and present and future. He did not teach us to have Nirvana, or Moksha, or of reaching the Heaven and staying there forever hereafter. He did not ask us to return to the Source, to the Origin. He has given us a Way to discover and manifest and realise our own possibilities, our human and also our superhuman and divine possibilities, step by step. He tells us about transforming our individual existence and also the world, breaking all our personal and egoistic limits, becoming one with our earth, as vast as our earth. To divinise and supramentalise the world was ans is the Task he performed and asked us to perform.
As a philosopher, we find Him to be at the topmost level of Consciousness, denying none of the philosophical truths reached by the earlier philosophers, but by accepting and transcending and integrating them all in a new synthesis into one whole Truth.
As a poet, he shows us the Way to the Future Poetry, and His Poems were expressions of the Truth, which He saw and realised and lived, and which creations of highers planes of mind and Consciousness.
The Mother has said :
” What Sri Aurobindo represents in the world's history is not a teaching, not even a revelation ; it is a decisive action, direct from the Supreme.” *
** [ Quoted from Sri Aurobindo – a book being written by me and being oublished in Zaadz : Barindranath Chaki. ] Posted by Barindranath Chaki


Barin Chaki
21-10-2006
Deepavali

Monday, October 09, 2006

No Religions

The Mother has said that the Age of Religions is over. She and Sri Aurobindo repeatedly proclaimed that Their Teaching is not a Religion, that Their intention was never to form or propagate any religion. With reference to Auroville, She has specifically declared that “Auroville is for those who want to live a life essentially divine but who renounce all religions whether they be ancient, modern, new or future.”

I am quoting below the oft-quoted declaration of the Mother relating to Auroville:

Auroville and the ReligionsWe want the Truth.For most men, it is what they want that they label as truth.The Aurovillians must want the Truth whatever it may be.Auroville is for those who want to live a life essentially divine but who renounce all religions whether they be ancient, modern, new or future.It is only in experience that there can be knowledge of the Truth.No one ought to speak of the Divine unless he has had experience of the Divine.Get experience of the Divine, then alone will you have the right to speak of it.The objective study of religions will be a part of the historical study of the development of human consciousness.Religions make up part of the history of mankind and it is in this guise that they will be studied at Auroville - not as beliefs to which one ought or ought not to adhere, but as part of a process in the development of human consciousness which should lead man towards his superior realization.PROGRAMMEResearch through experience of theSupreme TruthA life divinebutNO RELIGIONSOur research will not be a search effected by mystic means. It is in life itself that we wish to find the Divine. And it is through this discovery that life can really be transformed.

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I have recently read the posting dated October 6, 2006, in Savitri Era, a Blog published by my friend Tusar Mahapatra. :

As he has referred to, the Teaching of Sri Aurobindo may be regarded to be constituting a religion, as per the adjudication by Justice O. Chinnappa Reddy in his famous dissenting judgemnet of 8th November, 1982 in the Auroville Case

[We do not desire to enter into any polemics over Sri Aurobindo's teachings as it is not within the judicial province to do so except to the limited extent of finding out whether his teachings have the necessary spiritual content to qualify as religious doctrine and how his followers understood these teachings...
Sri Aurobindo, of course, disclaimed that he was founding a religion. No great religious teacher ever claimed that he was, founding a new religion or a new school of religious thought. The question is not whether Sri Aurobindo refused to claim or denied that he was founding a new religion or a new school of religious thought but whether his disciples and the community thought so. …
If the followers of Sri Aurobindo constitute a religious nomination as, to my mind, they undoubtedly do, the members of Sri Aurobindo Society are certainly a distinct and identifiable section of the ‘religious denomination’] EXTRACTS FROM THE JUDGEMENT BY JUSTICE O. CHINNAPPA REDDY IN AUROVILLE CASE New Delhi, 8th November, 1982. ¶ 9:44 AM

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Even if JUSTICE O. CHINNAPPA REDDY has opined so, by giving such a dissenting note, it raised several questions in my mind. Should we accept finally the adjudications given by the Honorable Justice Reddy ? Should we then declare that we have formed another religion, like Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, even Hinduism etc? And many other questions came to my mind, especially about the Future of the Teachings of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother.

I wanted further details about the Auroville case to answer my questions.

And luckily I found more details in Marketime, another blog published by Tusar.

The completer note given by the Honorable Justice Reddy is given below:

I have the good fortune of having before me the scholarly Judgement of my brother Misra L. I agree with my brother Misra J. t the Writ Petitions must fail. With much that he has said, also, I agree. But with a little, to my own lasting regret, I do not agree. It therefore, proper for me to explain the points of my disagreement. …We do not desire to 'enter into any polemics over Sri Aurobindo's teachings as it is not within the judicial province to do so except to the limited extent of finding out whether his teachings have the necessary spiritual content to qualify as religious doctrine and how his followers understood these teachings... …Sri Aurobindo, of course, disclaimed that he was founding a religion. No great religious teacher ever claimed that he was, founding a new religion or a new school of religious thought. The question is not whether Sri Aurobindo refused to claim or denied that he was founding a new religion or a new school of religious thought but whether his disciples and the community thought so. …
If the followers of Sri Aurobindo constitute a 'religious nomination as, to my mind, they undoubtedly do, the members of Sri Aurobindo Society are certainly a distinct and identifiable section of the ‘religious denomination’… ... But, the question is has the Fundamental Right guaranteed by Art.26 been infringed by the Auroville (Emergency Provisions) Act 1980. We have to notice straightaway that the Act did not take away the management of Sri Aurobindo Society. What it did or purposed to do was "to provide for the taking over, in the public interest, of the management of Auroville for a limited period and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto" . . . ... the question arises whether Auroville is an institution established and maintained for religious and charitable purposes and whether its management of Auroville is 'a matter of religion '.
Auroville is a township and not a place of worship. It is a township dedicated not to the practice and propagation of any religious doctrine but to promote international understanding and world peace, surely, a secular and not a religious activity.... The management of the International, cultural township of Auroville is not, in our opinion, a matter of religion. . . . On the several other questions argued before us I accept the conclusion of Misra J. . The Writ Petitions are accordingly dismissed but in the circumstances there will be no order regarding costs. . J.(0. CHINNAPPA REDDY) New Delhi, 8th November, 1982.

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I will try to understand and analyze the dissenting note given by the Honorable Justice Reddy, with due respects to him.

But his adjudications were not the whole truth. As we know, it was a dissenting note.

The Government of India had set up a probe to enquire into the reports of mismanagement and diversion of govt. funds by Sri Aurobindo Society. Consequently, the society sought minority status from the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court dismissed the petition, mainly on the ground that The Teaching of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother do not form a religion and the Ashram, the Society and Auroville were not religious institutions. The final order and judgment passed by the Honorable Supreme Court were mainly based on the quotations from of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother.

I am quoting below the conclusive portions from the judgment passed by the Honorable Supreme Court :

“On the basis of the materials placed before us viz., Memorandum of Association of the Society, the several applications made by the Society claiming exemption under s.35 and s.80 of Income-tax Act, the repeated utterings of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother that the Society and Auroville were not religious institutions and host of other documents there is no room for doubt that neither the Society nor Auroville constitute a religious denomination and the teachings of Sri Aurobindo only represented his philosophy and not a religion... ...”

In the body of the judgment, there are some quotations from Sri Aurobindo and The Mother. I am placing the relevant portions below:

“In Sri Aurobindo's own words (The Teaching and the Ashram of Sri Aurobindo 1934, p . 6): "The Ashram is not a religious association. Those who are here come from all religions and some are of no religion. There is no creed or set of dogmas, no governing religious body; there are only the teachings of Sri Aurobindo and certain psychological practices of concentration and meditation, etc. for the enlarging of the consciousness, receptivity to the Truth, mastery over the desires, the discovery of the divine self and consciousness concealed within each human being, a higher evolution of the nature."
Sri Aurobindo himself said: "I may say that it is far from my purpose to propagate any religion, new or old."
Sri Aurobindo says again : "We are not a party or a church or religion." Sri Aurobindo exposes: "Churches and creeds have, for example, stood violently in the way of philosophy and science, burned a Giordano Bruno, imprisoned a Galileo, and so generally misconducted themselves in this matter that philosophy and science had in self-defense to turn upon Religion and rend her to pieces in order to get a free field for their legitimate development.”
The Mother said on 19.3.1973: " Here we do not have religion.”
Sri Aurobindo says again: “Yogic methods have something of the same relation to the customary psychological workings of man as has to scientific handling of the natural force of electricity or of steam to the normal operations of steam and of electricity. And the two, are formed upon a knowledge developed and confirmed by regular experiments, a practical analysis and constant results. All methods grouped under the common name of Yoga are special psychological processes grounded on a fixed truth of nature and developing, out of normal functions, powers and results which were always latent but which her ordinary movements do not easily or do not often manifest."

It is pertinent to quote Mother's answer to a question:
"Q. Sweet Mother, what is the difference between Yoga and religion?
Mother's Answer: Ah! My child. It is as though you were asking me the difference between a dog and cat."
There can be no better proof than what Sri Aurobindo and the Mother themselves thought of their teachings and their institutions to find out whether the teachings of Sri Aurobindo and his Integral Yoga constitute a religion or a philosophy. The above utterings from time to time by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother hardly leave any doubt about the nature of the institution.

[Interested readers may some more relevant portions of the Judgment of the Honorable Supreme Court here.]

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It may be seen that Justice Reddy begins his dissenting note with the following words:

“We do not desire to 'enter into any polemics over Sri Aurobindo's teachings as it is not within the judicial province to do so except to the limited extent of finding out whether his teachings have the necessary spiritual content to qualify as religious doctrine and how his followers understood these teachings.”

Though Justice Reddy had given the Note otherwise, the Judgment of the Honorable Supreme Court was that the Teaching of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother do not form any religion. From a perusal of the quotations from Sri Aurobindo and the Mother made in the Judgment, it becomes crystal clear that Sri Aurobindo and the Mother did never mean to propagate or found any religion. Rather, they were fully opposed to the idea. Let me repeat what Sri Aurobindo is quoted to have said: “… philosophy and science had in self-defence to turn upon Religion and rend her to pieces in order to get a free field for their legitimate development.”

Thus, we find that the Honorable Supreme Court has declared the Teaching of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother do not form any religion, or any religious denomination.

And I am thankful also to Justice Reddy who says that he does not “… desire to 'enter into any polemics over Sri Aurobindo's teachings as it is not within the judicial province to do so …”

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So, the Truth is that the Teaching of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother is not a Religion. We, Their followers, need not rejoice and follow the Religion of Sri Aurobindo and Mother very religiously, very devoutly, and begin conflicts with other religions, and remain devoutly stationed and fixed with the new ‘creed’ for another millennium, forgetting the Aim of the Progressive Realisation of the Supramental Transformation, forgetting any real progress as visioned by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother.

The Mother said on April 29, 1953:

Otherwise [if people sought for the truth], there would be no religion : there would be masters and disciples, people with a higher teaching and an exceptional experience. That would be fine. But as soon as the master is gone, what happens is that the knowledge he gave is turned into a religion. Rigid dogmas are established, religious rules are born, and all you can do is bow before the Table of the Law…. Luckily for all of you [children here], you have no religion. And I hope you will never have any, because that is closing the door on progress.”

Let me quote another note from the Mother on religion :

( A note to a visiting Western woman who wanted to teach in a “religious school.”)

One must not confuse a religious teaching with a spiritual teaching. Religious teaching belongs to the past and arrests progress, while spiritual teaching is the teaching of the future. It enlightens the consciousness and prepares it for the future realization.

Spiritual teaching is above religions and strives towards a total truth. It teaches us to come into direct contact with the Divine.

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On April 29, 1961, the Mother replied to a disciple who asked whether a religion could be founded on Sri Aurobindo’s teachings. She wrote :

“…. Men are such fools that they can change anything at all into a religion, so great is their need for a fixed framework for their narrow thought and limited action. They do not feel secure unless they can affirm, ‘this is true and that is not’. But such an affirmation becomes impossible for anyone who has read and understood what Sri Aurobindo wrote. Religion and yoga are not situated on the same plane of the being, and spiritual life can exist in its purity only if it is free from all mental dogma.”

On April 3, 1957, the Mother stated as follows:

“A new religion would be something not only useless, but harmful. It’s a new life that has to be created ; it’s a new consciousness that has to be expressed. It is something that is beyond intellectual limits and mental formulas. It’s a living truth that must manifest.”

Again, the Mother stated on June 9, 1929 :

“It is often said that, if Jesus came back, he would not be able to recognize what he taught in the forms that have been imposed on it, and if Buddha were to come back and see what has been made of his teaching, he would immediately run back discouraged to Nirvana ! All religions have each the same story to tell. The occasion for its birth is the coming of a great Teacher of the world. He comes and reveals and is the incarnation of a Divine Truth. But men seize upon it, trade upon it, make an almost political organization out of it. The religion is equipped by them with a government and policy and laws, with its creeds and dogmas, its rules and regulations, its rites and ceremonies, all binding upon its adherents, all absolute and inviolable. Like the State, it too administers reward to the loyal and assigns punishments for those that revolt or go astray, for the heretic and the renegade….

This attitude is natural to the religious mind ; but it is just that which makes religion stand in the way of the spiritual life…. When you stop at a religious creed and tie yourself in it, taking it for the only truth in the world, you stop the advance and widening of your inner soul.”

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Let us see what Sri Aurobindo tells us :

“How much stupidity and hatred men succeed in packing up decorously and labeling ‘Religion’ !

The quarrels or religious sects are like the disputing of pots, which shall be alone allowed to hold the immortalizing nectar. Let them dispute, but the thing for us is to get at the nectar in whatever pot and attain immortality.”

Sri Aurobindo further tells us in another occasion :

“… Then again, I don’t believe in advertisement except for books etc., and in propaganda except for politics and patent medicines. But for serious works it is a poison. It means either a stunt or a boom ― and stunts and booms exhaust the thing they carry on their crest and leave it lifeless and broken high and dry on the shores of nowhere ― or it means a movement. A movement in the case of a work like mine means the founding of a school or a sect or some other damned nonsense. It means that hundreds and thousands of useless people join in and corrupt the work or reduce to a pompous farce from which the Truth that was coming down recedes into secrecy and silence. It is what has happened to ‘religions’ and is the reason of their failure…”

Founding a new religion means repeating the same mistake that has happened in connection with all religions on earth ― the Truth that was coming down receded into secrecy and silence, leaving the ‘religions’ nowhere.

He says on August 18, 1935 :

“I may say that it is far from my purpose to propagate any religion, new or old, for humanity in the future. A way to be opened that is still blocked, not a religion to be founded, is my conception of the matter.”

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To found a religion basing on the Teachings of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, or to declare Their Teachings and thought and philosophy as a religion is an act of gross disobedience and deception to Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. It is a fall, a failure and a frustration of Their Teaching. It is act of rebellion.

Founding a religion will be creating an obstruction between the seeker and the Truth that is descending.

Let us understand it and stop from disobeying and deceiving Them, from stopping the Truth that is still descending for us.
Let us not stop the Progress.

Let us not forget the Aim, the Purpose : the Supramental Manifestation on Earth. Let us not pull back and stop the March towards the New World, towards the New Horizon.


Barindranath Chaki

09-10-2006

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