Transformation implies the change of human nature into the Divine Supernature. But the change cannot come if our consciousness remains human. An animal cannot change into man if it consciousness remains like an animal. Or to put it more contextually, even if an animal, by some magic changed his outer form and took a human body, it would make no difference to his habits, understanding and reactions if his consciousness remains like an animals. There are a number of human beings like that whose speech and thinking and actions simply amplify an animal state. On the other hand there have been instances of gods who took a human body or even an animal body yet, despite the limitations of the body, their perceptions and actions carried the hallmark of a higher consciousness, of a god. In other words, the transformation or the change of consciousness must precede the transformation of the body.
This change again is not a magic. For the human consciousness and human nature to change into the Divine Perfection or the Divine Supernature, it must come in contact with the Divine first. The Supermind is the Divine in all His Glory and Splendour. It is the Omnipotence and Omniscience of the Divine. There cannot be any transformation without coming in contact with the Supramental Truth of the Divine. The Divine realisation is therefore evidently the first step towards transformation.
This is not easy. Even great Rishis could not cross the borderland. They only glimpsed it from afar. Now Sri Aurobindo and The Mother have opened the doors of the Supramental Divine Consciousness but it is impossible for the limited human consciousness to bear its impact. It is by realising the psychic, by growing into the wideness of the Cosmic Divine it becomes possible for the human consciousness to be transformed further into the likeness of the supramental Divine consciousness. Without the experience of the inner Divine, without the experience of the cosmic Divine it is impossible for the supramental consciousness to do anything with the human. It will be like trying to teach mathematical concepts to an ant.
It is difficult, no doubt. But that is why the Mother is here, to do this for us if we open ourselves to Her. It is certainly not by our own efforts that one is expected to do it but by the workings of the Divine Grace within it. It is by a progressive opening to the Divine Mother, a progressive surrender to Her that this Yoga can be done.
Here is the method that Sri Aurobindo speaks of.
‘The followers of this path must be like the men of the early yugas, dhīrāḥ, the great word of praise in the Upanishads. In the remembrance, the smṛti or smaraṇa, you must be apramatta, free from negligence. It is by the loss of the smṛti owing to the rush and onset of the guṇas that the yogin becomes bhraṣṭa, falls from his firm seat, wanders from his path. But you need not be distressed when the pramāda comes and the state of fall or clouded condition seems to persist, for there is no fear for you of a permanent fall since God himself has taken entire charge of you and if you stumble, it is because it is best for you to stumble, as a child by frequent stumbling and falling learns to walk. The necessity of apramattatā disappears when you can replace the memory of the yoga and its objects by the continual remembrance of God in all things and happenings, the nitya anusmaraṇa of the Gita. For those who can make the full surrender from the beginning there is no question; their path is utterly swift and easy.
It is said in the “Sanatsujatiya” that four things are necessary for siddhi—śāstra, utsāha, guru and kāla—the teaching of the path, zeal in following it, the Guru and time. Your path is that which I am pointing out, the utsāha needed is this anumati and this nitya smaraṇa, the Guru is God himself and for the rest only time is needed. That God himself is the Guru, you will find when knowledge comes to you; you will see how every little circumstance within you and without you has been subtly planned and brought about by infinite wisdom to carry out the natural process of the yoga, how the internal and external movements are arranged and brought together to work on each other, so as to work out the imperfection and work in the perfection. An almighty love and wisdom are at work for your uplifting. Therefore never be troubled by the time that is being taken, even if it seems very long, but when imperfections and obstructions arise, be apramatta, dhīra, have the utsāha, and leave God to do the rest. Time is necessary. It is a tremendous work that is being done in you, the alteration of your whole human nature into a divine nature, the crowding of centuries of evolution into a few years. You ought not to grudge the time. There are other paths that offer more immediate results or at any rate, by offering you some definite kriyā you can work at yourself, give your ahaṅkāra the satisfaction of feeling that you are doing something, so many more prāṇāyāmas today, so much longer a time for the āsana, so many more repetitions of the japa, so much done, so much definite progress marked. But once you have chosen this path, you must cleave to it. Those are human methods, not the way that the infinite Shakti works, which moves silently, sometimes imperceptibly to its goal, advances here, seems to pause there, then mightily and triumphantly reveals the grandiose thing that it has done. Artificial paths are like canals hewn by the intelligence of man; you travel easily, safely, surely, but from one given place to another. This path is the broad and trackless ocean by which you can travel widely to all parts of the world and are admitted to the freedom of the infinite. All that you need are the ship, the steering-wheel, the compass, the motive-power and a skilful captain. Your ship is the Brahmavidya, faith is your steering-wheel, self-surrender your compass, the motive-power is she who makes, directs and destroys the worlds at God’s command and God himself is your captain. But he has his own way of working and his own time for everything. Watch his way and wait for his time. Understand also the importance of accepting the Shastra and submitting to the Guru and do not do like the Europeans who insist on the freedom of the individual intellect to follow its own fancies and preferences which it calls reasonings, even before it is trained to discern or fit to reason. It is much the fashion nowadays to indulge in metaphysical discussions and philosophical subtleties about Maya and Adwaita and put them in the forefront, making them take the place of spiritual experience. Do not follow that fashion or confuse yourself and waste time on the way by questionings which will be amply and luminously answered when the divine knowledge of the vijñāna awakes in you. Metaphysical knowledge has its place, but as a handmaid to spiritual experience, showing it the way sometimes but much more dependent on it and living upon its bounty. By itself it is mere pāṇḍitya, a dry and barren thing and more often a stumbling-block than a help. Having accepted this path, follow its Shastra without unnecessary doubt and questioning, keeping the mind plastic to the light of the higher knowledge, gripping firmly what is experienced, waiting for light where things are dark to you, taking without pride what help you can from the living guides who have already trod the path, always patient, never hastening to narrow conclusions, but waiting for a more complete experience and a fuller light, relying on the Jagadguru who helps you from within.’
Affectionately,
Alok Da
