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Concepts and Strategies

 

 

Infinity, Remembrance, Hostility, Transformation and Surrender are the five concepts and strategies that summarise this yoga.

Infinity should be seen not as a mere opposite to the finite which is the boundless finite, but that which is,

- Self-existing as the Infinite in its own right.

- Capable of neither decreasing nor increasing by movement.

- Richer in the lower planes when transformed than in the higher planes.

- Not a concept but a live force that is a being.

- A condition that can create infinite finites so that the finite will preserve its infinite nature.

- Beyond being influenced by movement, moving fast ahead without movement (that is,‘It moves not but is always ahead' - The Gita)

- In every way transcending the human conception, the human mind in generating forms, in being time, in manifestation, in activity, immutability, in oneness, in unity, in qualities and features, in being force, and so on.

- Formless out of which all forms can be endlessly created because here we see the Infinity in its aspect of creating or generating forms, not out of one form but out of an infinite condition from which any number of forms are generated.

- Time that can contain time-movement and the timeless state simultaneously, thereby being an eternity of that kind.

- That phase of infinite silence out of which infinite activities and words may issue.

- Infinite that can create finites which essentially retain their infinity, so that all aspects of the infinite can issue out of it as finites, but retaining their essential infinite nature which is outside movement, activity, manifestation, form, time,and so on

  • To know or remember that you are that infinity who has forgotten your hiding and now seeks the joy of that remembrance is another concept that is practical at the mental level of thought, vital level of feelings and the physical level of sensations.
  • It is necessary to see at the mental level all thoughts are negative, as thought itself in the mind is negative in the sense it originated in the body. It becomes positive only when it transforms itself into the Real-Idea of the Supermind. (It is well to remember that the whole creation is a self-conceptive extension of the Being which enables thought to see the Absolute).
  • Thoughts are negative, feelings are evil, and sensations are hostile. This is a reality no human being can concede. This is why the earlier beings prior to this creation turned hostile to God. As you go down from mind to body, you witness the progress of negativity to hostility. To recognize this evolutionary fact is again essential.
  • Sri Aurobindo says transformation is inevitable. If Sachchidananda has converted or inverted into this world of matter, for Him to emerge out of this dark hostile condition it must be easy to follow that transformation is inevitable.
  • Man is God in coma, the self-forgetting godhead who can change or transform himself in the measure of his choice. This choice is called in yogic language, 'surrender' which means man gives up his all to become its opposite.
  • This surrender can be in part or as a whole, part of the mind or the whole of the Being.
  • That choice depends upon his awareness of all these fine concepts and strategies.
  • That is why Sri Aurobindo says The Mother has the power to supramentalise the world in a day. He did not make this statement on his own. When he was asked this question, He said 'Yes'.
  • These five concepts and strategies thus summarise this yoga and are there for us to avail of.
  • It is easy to see that each aspect is effective in the measure the previous is perceived. The totality of the surrender depends on the appreciation of transformation and it is determined by the extent that one sees one's hostility. All begins with the concept of Infinity becoming comprehensive as a concrete experience in the bodily sensation. It is this appreciation that enables the evolutionary memory of the initial vibrations of creation to become hostile. The crux is in the concept of Infinity.
  • When the dozen ways of the Infinite are concretely conceived of, not merely as a thought in the mind but as a feeling in the heart and also sensation in the body, they lend themselves to be practised or experimented upon.
  • Here begins the yoga in human life.
  • Examples of these are abundant in our lives.

- A litre of rice serving ten persons serves 12 persons.

- A work that has always taken 1 ½ hours is over in 55 minutes.

- A negotiation for price expected at 96,000 rupees is settled at 36,000 rupees.

- Collection aimed at 10,000 becomes 240,000.

- Promised 5% profit sharing is raised to 10%.

- One unit of work multiplies to 465.

- The chief of the rival camp calls on you to offer laurels.

- Money spent brings in greater inflow of money.

  • There is no devotee who has not seen these concrete expressions of Infinity in life. Equally there is no one who has realized the truth of it.
  • Praying to Mother gives us the experience of concrete conception of Infinity.
  • Following that, further experiences of revealing abundance must be organised to complete this conception.
  • It must enable one to raise the question why does this abundance reveal itself and from where. If followed, it will lead to that remembrance.
  • Most of that remembrance or all of it will reveal evil, etc.
  • Sincerity accepts it in oneself.
  • Sincerity of effort leads one to transformation.
  • At the level one is, this transformation reveals in hundreds of ways of good behaviour of a bad man, bad food not tasting bad to you, a pickpocket returning your purse, a corrupt official doing your work without bribes, and so on. Your own inner transformation matters.
  • From consciousness point of view, inner transformation and from work point of view outer results matter.
  • The comprehensiveness of transformation depends upon the completeness of one's confidence in Mother. It can theoretically be total and the result instantaneous.
  • To know Infinity, one should move to the Supermind.
  • To remember one is Brahman, one should look at his own life and see every great act he has done was done unaided. He must be severely alone to remind himself that he is Brahman.
  • To know thought is bad, feelings are evil and sensation is hostile comes through humility.
  • Sincerity brings in transformation.
  • To surrender totally, one should have exhausted his present opportunities.
  • Consciousness, Devotion, Sincerity, Purity and Humility contain all the above.
  • Consciousness makes you see the infinity, devotion helps the remembrance, sincerity comes when you know you are hostile, purity gives transformation and surrender issues out of humility.



story | by Dr. Radut