29th
February
The spiritual journey of Man has a revolutionary and evolutionary turning
since Sri Aurobindo. He and The
Mother Mira Alfassa have given to Spirituality a totally new turn and
meaning, a completely new purpose and value.
Owing to the special and unique
striving of The Mother, unseen ever earlier on earth, on the 29th
February, 1956, the supramental
Light and Force and Consciousness descended upon earth in an uninterrupted flow.
A true spirituality does not any more mean fleeing from the world and life.
We need not go to the forest, forsaking the social life and ‘renouncing'
everything, and become a recluse or a monk or a sannyasin, after you attain the
fiftieth year of your life, or even earlier, and then strive to attain nirvana
or moksha and be free from the cycle of birth and rebirth for ever. Thereby by
doing so, we allow the world and creation to go on, as it is going on now, in
spite of the attainment of nirvana or moksha by several yogis, seekers, and saints.
The world continues to remain as it was, in ignorance and darkness, in
suffering and struggle and death. By attaining nirvana or moksha, we still
allow the Divine, the Supreme, to incarnate in human form on earth several
times, but we may still regard the coming back of ourselves as a bondage of
ignorance.
As the principle of Existence-Consciousness-Bliss, the Divine, is Truth,
then this Creation, which is but a Manifestation of the Divine, cannot be
false. When we are a part of the Manifestation of the Supreme Divine, there is
no reason why should we withdraw ourselves from the Manifestation.
Here on earth, the Divine is manifesting Himself - through Evolution - from
Matter to Mind, and then onwards towards the supramental race in a supramental
world. This is Evolution. As Mind has evolved and is evolving,
the principle of Supermind is scheduled also to surely descend on earth and be
evolved.
According to the Teaching of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, Evolution
aims at ultimately manifesting That which is the Source of this Manifestation,
the Supreme Existence-Consciousness-Bliss (in Sanskrit and other Indian
languages, Sat-Chit-Ananda or Sachchidananda), the Divine. This principle of
Existence-Consciousness-Bliss is involved in Matter. That has become Matter.
What is involved in Matter, is being evolved.
The aim of Sri Aurobindo's Yoga is not the attainment of nirvana or moksha,
not a freedom from the world and the cycles of birth and rebirth. The aim is
not spiritual selfishness. The aim is not to say that others may continue to
suffering, but we will leave this whirlpool.
OOOOO
This march onwards towards the Supramental Manifestation on earth is not
only an Idea or Ideal only. This is not an abstract ‘spiritual' teaching. It is
a practical Truth, a practical necessity.
The Ascent to Supermind and the Descent of the Supramental Consciousness on
earth makes the Evolution from Man to Superman possible.
Sri Aurobindo said:
"The supramental change is the
thing decreed and inevitable in the evolution of the earth-consciousness; for
its upward ascent is not ended and mind is not its last summit. But the change
may arrive, take form and endure, there is needed the call from below with a
will to recognise and not deny the Light when it comes, and there is needed the
sanction of the Supreme from above."
Supermind is out of reach of the common ordinary mind. But when Man reaches
the higher regions of mind, namely the Higher Mind, the Illumined Mind, the
Intuitive Mind, and then finally the Overmind, as defined by Sri Aurobindo, he
can have the glimpses and the touch of Supermind. It may be very difficult,
even appear to be impossible. But when the Supramental Consciousness is present
on earth, things should be now easier, much easier.
Now the Supermind is actively present on earth. Let me quote the oft-quoted
message of the Mother from Mother's Agenda Vol.1:
First
Supramental Manifestation
(During the common meditation on WednesdayThe
29th February 1956)
This evening the Divine Presence,
concrete and material, was present amongst you. I had the form of a living gold,
bigger than the universe, and I was facing a huge and massive golden door,
which separated the world from the Divine.As I looked at the door, I knew and willed in a single movement of
consciousness, that ‘the time has come', and lifting with both hands a mighty
golden hammer I struck one blow on the door and the door was shattered to
pieces.
And then the supramental Light and Force and Consciousness rushed down upon
earth in an uninterrupted flow.
The Mother has said in this connection:
The Manifestation of the
Supramental upon earth is no more a promise but a living fact, a reality. It is
at work here, and one day will come when the most blind, the most unconscious,
even the most unwilling shall be obliged to recognise it.
OOOOO
However, we know that the mankind, along with this earth, is at present
in a great turmoil and chaos and disharmony. There is unrest, struggle, warfare
and violence everywhere.
Yet, man has the inborn capacity to conquer and master and transform all his
imperfections and all darkness and ignorance around him, to grow into a
creative, constructive, perfect and divinized higher being. The human
society may also grow accordingly, conquering all darkness within and without,
surpassing all racial, religious, linguistic, political and other
artificial barriers, divisions and differences.
Sri Aurobindo and The Mother do not only speak of the
Realisation of the Divine, of the Soul or the Psychic being, but also of an
integral transformation of the entire human personality - his mind, and life
and body, also of his ascent to the several planes of the Superconscient and to
the Supermind.
Sri Aurobindo and The Mother aims at the
total transformation of the human existence and the world. They want to change
the world, the human lot. They know the bright and joyous future that the
Divine has designed for this earth. They told us : don't leave this world,
change this; don't give up yourself, transform yourself.
This is the Truth. We must participate in this Truth. We must cooperate with
the Divine. We must march onwards, by transforming ourselves, towards becoming
the supramental race in a supramental world. That is the only Way now left for
us, for the human beings.
Sri
Aurobindo has said that the time has come when man must surpass himself. Man is
not perfect. He is not complete. But he has the aspiration and dream for
attaining perfection and completeness.
Out of
Man, the Superman shall manifest. Man has to become the basis for the advent of
the Superman. He has to become the Superman. The purpose of the appearance of
man must now be fulfilled. Man's surpassing himself will do that. Man has to
collaborate with the new Evolution, or the evolutionary forces will ignore him
and go beyond him and find out its own means.
If we do not accept the Truth, if we do not try to change ourselves and the
World, if we choose to continue with Old World of ignorance and darkness, of
suffering and struggle and death, then result of our choice will be the Abyss.
The Mother has told us :
Men, countries, continents!The choice is imperative: Truth or
the abyss.
Barindranath Chaki
25-02-2016
[ Revised from a previous writing by myself, published on
29-2- 2008, after adaptation from a previous writing by me, published in Zaadz
even earlier.]
[ The readers are requested to visit The Next for finding a new variance of the Essay "29th February" at the following link :
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