AT THE FEET OF THE MOTHER
Ask Alok da

Out of the undefinable Supreme that is “tat” is bought out “sat” (is that the same as satchitananda?) and “purushottama”, by the divine mother “aditi”, does that imply that the divine mother is greater than purushottama?ย  In the Gita, it seems that it is unequivocally declared that nothing is greater than purushottama…๐ŸŒŒ

Also, then if it is the divine mother who brings out everything from “tat”, and everything owes its existence to “tat”, who brought about the mother herself ( because she too would have to owe her own existence to “tat,” isn’t it?)?

I urge you to please excuse my ignorance, and I thank you for your time!

Time spent on contemplating the Divine Mysteries is always a time well spent. 

In the realm of the Absolute, there is no higher or lower. It depends upon the angle of approach. The Gita, developing upon the Vedantic approach, takes the Purushottama as the highest that our souls can reach. Beyond it, one would lose all sense of the cosmos as well as the individual soul. At best, one can glimpse something of That through the lights of the intuitive mind and through the veil of the Overmind.  But the Tantra leaning on the Shakti would declare the Divine Mother as the highest.  But in reality, they are one, or shall we say two sides, – passive and dynamic of ONE REALITY,  Tat or simply That. It is somewhat like the poet and his power to write poetry.  The Poet is Sat, and the Poetic Power is Aditi, the cosmos is the Poetry (yet to be completed). The Power of poetry is inherent in the Poet, and yet the beauty and the paradox are that the Poet discovers himself through the poetic power as it fills the Mind of the Poet with what lies within him as a possibility. When the Poet begins to write, then a subtle distinction comes about between the Poet and His power. He may withdraw the power within Himself and be pure Sat, or the Power within Him may impel him from within to create for the sake of Ananda. This Power is then Chit Shakti. 

But there is yet a state where the Poet and His Power are both self-contained (though always there), and we can speak neither of the Poet nor His poetic power nor of the Poetry. That is Tat.

Reference: 

Metaphysical Cosmology of Sri Aurobindo | RE 191 | Reflections by Dr Alok Pandey

YT Link: https://youtu.be/g1BFKWgdq8E 

Affectionately,

Alok Da

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