Who is asking to reject the form? In the quote from Sri Aurobindo as given above, he is not asking us to reject the form but to treat it with utmost respect since the form itself is a dwelling place of the Divine. In fact, the Gita says that those who give torture to the body are asuras because by torturing the body, we torture the Divine Presence within. In fact, in the ancient Vedic culture, the body was not despised but treated with care and respect it deserves. This care implies a healthy lifestyle, no drinking and smoking because it disturbs this instrument, cleanliness within and without. It is the latter Vedanta, with overemphasis on Mayavada and Sannyasa, that has created this division, with the result of weakening India.
Affectionately,
Alok Da
(The above referring line is from a Sonnet written by Sri Aurobindo:)
Form
O worshipper of the formless Infinite,
Reject not form, what lives in form is He.1
Each finite is that deep Infinity
Enshrining His veiled soul of pure delight.
Form in its heart of silence recondite
Hides the significance of His mystery,
Form is the wonder-house of eternity,
A cavern of the deathless Eremite.
There is a beauty in the depths of God,
There is a miracle of the Marvellous
That builds the universe for its abode.
The One, in His glory multitudinous,
Bursting into shape and colour like a rose,
Compels the great world-petals to unclose.
Note:
- what dwells in it is He. ↩
