A New Synthesis of Yoga as a necessity to overcome the impasse of modernity - Skype - Track 105 (15 August 2008)

Question: I’ll like to know how to contribute in that, my first feeling has always been that Mother said the best way to help others to grow into the sphere within. So I feel like just a direction I would like to go with also to pursue that goal through thinking courses in reading more of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. I don’t know how does that fit into your point of world view. I mean should I be doing more actively and pursuing aims or should I be more concentrating on growing within.

Prof. Kireet Joshi: Your question is very, very interesting question. Your statement is that and this is in the context of what Mother has said, the best way of helping others is to make oneself more and more spiritual and therefore to go within and therefore to develop. And this is of course incontrovertible as far as I am concerned. And I fully agree with your statement, only question is when you begin to grow within – how do you go about it? You know there is a very interesting statement which the Mother has made. This is in connection with Auroville. She said the path of our work lies with the task of research and research in the new synthesis of yoga. In fact that is the main theme of all my journey today. So my answer will be that you are not contradictory. The going within and working on life, this is our method and many people may find it difficult but this is the method and we have to find the solution as to how to go within and yet to work through life. Of course, it doesn’t mean that there is no place in this Yoga for solitude, for periods of complete seclusion even but they are periods only. You can have an hour or two of seclusion, if you like or some people may not even need that, it all depends on each individual’s needs. There are moments when you need to occupy yourself twenty four hours out of twenty four hours work or else sometimes Mother said: I never go into meditation at all. And this statement also is wonderful and yet it is to say that she is always in meditation, all work is being done through meditation. So to conclude I would simply say that your answer is – I truly appreciate it’s wonderful, what she has said is wonderful that you would like to work on yourself and to develop spiritually and I would only add that your task should not be related to activities and I would very much like that all of us whatever their occupation they may be engaged in, we should all undertake the task of spiritual education. We all are responsible in this world for the children of the world and each one has to participate in the task of spiritual education. Is it alright?

Questioner: Yes, thank you very much.

Debashish: I was wondering about that very interesting conversation that you had shared with us, which the Mother regarding the Supramental manifestation and the chat that Dalai Lama visit to her. If I may recollect what you said that has to do with the very powerful action of the Supramental but it can effect itself more speedily if there are the right people in power. Would you like to comment on that?

Prof. Kireet Joshi: Well! It’s a very, very important question in fact. You know I personally feel that one of the consequences of the Supramental action, which I have myself experienced in my own personal life, is that at the right moment, the right people come to the right place of authority through the exercise of which the right things can be done as quickly as possible. And I think that’s a very important strategy of action. Supermind according to me is a power by which each person is placed in a position of highest effectivity because the present world is topsy-turvy. Those who ought to be in authority, they are in a very deplorable condition, nobody listens to them and those who are not worthy of in the position of authority they are occupying very high positions of authority. When the Supermind begins to manifest more and more this situation is bound to be reversed. And everyone who participates in this movement of Supramental manifestation will find gradually occupying a position where effectivity of his or her faculties becomes truly fruitful. Authority does not mean necessarily coming to some high position. I personally believe authority means you are able to authorise the right action, wherever you are according to your capacity, according to your function, according to whatever you want to do; at present it is being denied. In a certain sense you might say that if a very good teacher is taken up from his teachership and made a Prime Minister, where he cannot really function properly has also been taken away and this also is happening today. Those who should be very good teachers they are holding very high positions in politics. I am reminded of Sri Aurobindo’s aphorism where he says: “For thee it is better to be a good shoemaker then to become an incompetent king.” Now that is a wonderful statement of Sri Aurobindo. And I think by authority I mean, at least I understand what Mother says, “Authority to be effective at the right place, at the right moment and occupy that position where you can exercise your faculties to the highest possible effectivity.” And I think this is what has to happen.

Question: How to identify spiritual education because in the past lot of other forms like so many missionaries and others, in the name of spiritual education basically they do a lot more damage than anything else? How to identify correct spiritual education?

Prof. Kireet Joshi? I think your question is so important that I may not like to answer in one line but since our time now is very little, your question, how to identify spiritual education distinguished from the kind of education that missionaries have been giving in different parts of the world. As you know Mother has made a distinction between spiritual education and religion. And if you ask me what is the difference between what is being called very often called spiritual education but it is religion and how do you distinguish from what I call spiritual education? I will give only three examples.

You see according to me spiritual education has three stages. The first is the study of concentration; this is something that Swami Vivekananda said while speaking of ‘Man making education’. And he said, if he knew in his early days the power of concentration he would have spent time in learning the art of science of concentration than in reading so many books because not many people realise that concentration is a method of gaining knowledge. That is to say, if you want to know and if you know how to concentrate and the very process of concentration itself can lead you to the knowledge that you are looking for. So I would say, spiritual education should basically be concentration upon learning the science of concentration. Secondly, it consists of something that Mother calls tapasya, there are different kinds of austerities – what Mother speaks of tapasya, tapasya of knowledge that is to say concentration which purifies the faculties of the mind, so that the mind becomes capable of arriving at knowledge. Secondly tapasya of love, as you know love at present is a very mixed affair and tapasya of love implies a great process of purification. The liberation of our entire realm of emotions from various kinds of desires, desire to possess, to oppress, to enjoy, momentary enjoyments and so on. The purification of emotions from all these impurities, so that love begins to shine and vibrate and it burn actually in our heart; this burning of heart, so that all impurities are burnt away and purity of love alone remains in our consciousness. Thirdly is the tapasya of will. At present our will is full of desires, petty desires, bigger desires, ambitions of various kinds. As Mother said: “Have no ambition but do what you are doing as quickly as possible and as perfectly as possible.” This is the tapasya of will. Tapasya of beauty, according to me if one develops these four processes of tapasya; it’s a preliminary development of concentration. This is spiritual education, at least the foundations of spiritual education. And then comes a higher stage, it should not be given to everybody except when the individual makes a personal effort. This tapasya and concentration can be proposed to everybody but the next step of spiritual education is conditional, it cannot be given unless the individual says: ‘I have now decided to accept the full discipline of spiritual education.’ That is why when you have spoken of spiritual education in the world please limit only to the processes which I have spoken uptil now. The next step can be given and must be given to those who have decided and that process is what I call the process of self-consecration. The first stage was self-concentration, now you come to the stage of self-consecration and self-consecration requires a tremendous sadhana, tremendous development of obedience but obedience of illumined disciple of the truth. So first you should become disciple of truth as you develop discipline which is illuminating. Secondly you must develop heroism, the kind of an obedience of a hero who fights against injustice and falsehood. This is the second aspect of the self-consecration and third aspect of self-consecration is to become a faithful servant, one who does not know what is faithfulness cannot do self-consecration. These three qualities in this spirit, if they are developed then comes the final stage and that is self-transformation and that is of course psychic transformation, spiritual transformation, supramental transformation. This would be the whole program of spiritual education, very briefly. It has nothing to do with what the missionaries are doing reading this book or that book or scripture and all that sort of thing. This is a process in which you change the vey psychological fibre of the being. Thank you.

Debashish: Kireet Bhai that was so beautiful and profound and in fact it seems as if it almost like a seed summary of the new synthesis of Yoga that can break the impasse as you have brought out.