Sri Aurobindo and Mother - Appendix II
APPENDIX II
Glossary
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Ananta |
infinite. |
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Anandam Brahma |
(realisation of) the Brahman as the self-existent bliss and its universal delight of being; the fourth member of the brahmacatustaya. |
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Arogya |
health; freedom from disease or disturbance (roga) in the physical system; a member of the sariracatustaya. |
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Ashta Siddhi |
eight perfections or realisations. (See note at the end). |
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Bhukti |
spiritual possession and enjoyment. |
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Candibhava |
the force of Kali (Candi, 'the fierce one') manifest in the temperament. This was originally the third element of the sakticatustaya; as such, it was later replaced by the more |
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Hasyam |
'laughter', the final member of the samatacatustaya: it is 'an active internal state of gladness and cheerfulness which no adverse experience mental or physical can trouble.¹ |
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Jnanam Brahma |
(realisation of) the Brahman as the self-existent consciousness and universal knowledge; the third member of the brahmacatustaya. |
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¹ 'Record of Yoga' in Sri Aurobindo: Archives and Research
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Kama |
'desire'. In the Record, however, the term 'kama' is restricted to its divine counterpart which is 'the joy of God manifest in matter'. 'Kama' is often an abbreviation of kamananda |
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Karma |
action entailing its consequences. |
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Mukti |
spiritual liberation. |
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Samadhi |
Yogic trance. |
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Saundaryam |
beauty; physical beauty as an element of the yogic perfection of the body. |
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Samata |
equality of soul and mind to all things and happenings. |
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Shakti |
force, energy; the divine or cosmic Energy. |
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Shanti |
peace, spiritual calm proceeding from inner harmony. |
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Shuddhi |
purification, purity. |
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Siddhi |
Yogic perfection. |
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Sraddha |
faith in the Lord and his Shakti, the final element of the sakticatustaya. |
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Sukha |
happiness, pleasure. |
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Trikaladrsti |
'vision of the three times'; direct knowledge of the past, present and future; as an element of the vijnanacatustaya, it is described as jnanam applied to the facts and events of the material world. Prediction of even the most trivial domestic events could be used by Sri Aurobindo as an exercise for perfecting this power. |
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Utthapana |
the state of not being subject to the pressure of physical forces, an element of the sariracatustaya; |
Ashta Siddhi
There are two siddhis of knowledge, three of power and three of being. All siddhis exist already in nature. They exist in you. Only owing to habitual limitations you make a use of them which is mechanical and limited. By breaking these limitations, one is able to get the conscious and voluntary use of them. The three siddhis of being are siddhis of the Sat or pure substance. In matter, Sat uses these siddhis according to fixed laws but in itself it is free to use them as it chooses. If one can get partly or entirely this freedom, one is said to have these three siddhis. They are Mahima including Garima, second Laghima and third Anima.
Sat manifests as Chit, pure consciousness [,] and Chit has two sides—consciousness and energy, that is to say knowledge and
power. Consciousness in one material being communicates with the same consciousness in another material being by certain fixed methods such as speech, gesture, writing, etc. and unconscious mental communication. But these limitations are mere habits [and other methods are possible,] as for instance ants communicate by touch and not by speech. Consciousness in itself is free to communicate between one mind and another without physical means consciously and voluntarily. The two siddhis by which, this is done are called Vyapti and Prakamya.
In the same way there is a power in the consciousness of acting upon other conscious beings or even upon things without physical means or persuasion or compulsion. Great men are said to make others do their will by a sort of Magnetism, that is to say there is a force in their words, in their action, or even in their silent will or mere presence which influences and compels others. To have these siddhis of power is to have the conscious and voluntary use of this force of Chit. The tree powers are Aishwarya, Ishita, Vashita. These powers can only be entirely acquired or safely used when we have got rid of Egoism and identified ourselves with the infinite Will and the infinite consciousness. They are sometimes employed by mechanical means,
e.g. with die aid of Mantras, Tantric Kriyas (special processes), etc.
Vyapti is when the thoughts, feelings etc. of others or any kind of knowledge of things outside yourself are felt coming to the mind from those things or persons. This is the power of receptive Vyapti. There is also a power of communicative Vyapti, when you can send or put your own thought, feeling etc. into someone else.¹
Prakamya is when you look mentally or physically at somebody or something and perceive what is in that person or thing, thoughts, feelings, facts about them, etc. There is also another kind of Prakamya which is not of the mind but of the senses. It is the power of perceiving smells, sounds, contacts, tastes, lights, colours and other objects of sense which are either not at all perceptible to ordinary men or beyond the range of your ordinary senses.
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¹ The following passage is from the same scribal copy of Sapta Chatushtaya used for the opening of 'Jnana' above. This copy calls the communicative side of Vyapti 'communication of broadcasting', and goes on: 'What happens in the Amutra happens in the Iha. What the Chit-shakti reveals in the Spirit, the Maya-shakti crudely and materially attempts in the material and mental universes. So spiritual Communism of Vijnana has its shadow in the material and bolshevik Communism; and the Siddhis of Vijnana are attempted in wireless telegraphy, broadcasting, telephone, image transcription [?transmission].'
Vashita is when you concentrate your will on a person or object so as to control it.
Aishwarya is when you merely use the will without any such concentration or control and things happen or people act according to that will.
Ishita is when you do not will but merely have a want or need or a sense that something ought to be and that thing comes to you or happens.
Mahima is unhampered force in the mental power or in the physical power. In the physical it shows itself by an abnormal strength which is not muscular and may even develop into the power of increasing the size and weight of the body etc.
Laghima is a similar power of lightness, that is to say of freedom from all pressure or weighing down in the mental, pranic or physical being. By Laghima it is possible to get rid of weariness and exhaustion and to overcome gravitation. It is the basis of Utthapana.
Anima is the power of freeing the atoms of subtle or gross matter (Sukshma or Sthula) from their ordinary limitations. By this power one can get free of physical strain or pain or even make the body as light as one chooses. It is by this power that Yogis were supposed to make themselves invisible [and] invulnerable or [to] free the body from decay and death.
(From an explanatory Note by Sri Aurobindo, published in Sri Aurobindo: Archives and Research, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 10-12.)