The Ascent towards Supermind, Part II, Chapter XXVI - The Ascent towards Supermind 204

All that I have said so far is all that has been attained in the past history of India. These have been all verified, repeatedly. It is true that not many have got all these experiences, all simultaneously. But these experiences have been known, experienced very repeatedly and therefore we can confidently say that there is a big science of this. The roads are built up, methods are defined and if you follow those methods, you can yourself verify and come to the conclusion as before. Therefore, it’s a complete science of Yoga. There is a farther experience, which also is possible and has been done already, of which I have already spoke earlier that Shakti when it moves into Prakriti there is normally a kind of a boundary line between Prakriti and Shakti. Sattva, rajas and tamas are the three knots and when the Shakti moves these three knots resists this flow of Shakti. Therefore, normally the transmission of Shakti into Prakriti is not absolutely pure. It gets resisted by these three knots. Normally these get resisted by two other knots, − desire and ego, but when ego is dissolved, when desire is dissolved these two knots cease to obstruct. As a result the Shakti moves into Prakriti but with lesser resistance. This is the great advantage which occurs that even when sattva, rajas and tamas still continue because of the absence of ego and desire, the Shakti can now move much more powerfully. Therefore any individual who enters into this experience of Ishwara, any individual who experience himself as a true individual, Jivatman has a possibility of manifesting even when sattva, rajas and tamas still continue, a great dynamo of Shakti, − the Divine Will. Such are the great manifestations of the Divine Will this is also been in the past. There have been many individuals in the past, by doing yoga they have been able to allow the Shakti to flow through them and there can be called the vehicles of Divine Will. As a result of this even sattva, rajas and tamas begin to become modified.

Having reached this point, a central question can be raised. Can this sattva, rajas and tamas be completely modified, is it possible? The Vedic Rishis had raised this question. If you read the Veda and if you read the description of experiences which are given, you will find that they were not satisfied merely with Purusha consciousness, or with Brahman consciousness, or merely with Ishwara consciousness, they discovered the Jivatman, they discovered the secret of Shakti, which they called Aditi. They also saw that Aditi can inundate the nature of Prakriti, sattva, rajas and tamas. They give different names sattva, rajas and tamas the three names which do not exactly appear in the Veda as they appear later on in the development of Indian thought. But they called it, this nature of anvritam. This Prakriti is described by them as ‘anvritam bhurahe’ that which is full of falsehood, this was the description. And they wanted to bring the inundation, the flood of this Shakti, Aditi into this world of anvritam − falsehood. This was the experiment and the question was, − is it possible to inundate Prakriti to such an extent that it can be completely modified, completely changed and the entire experiment made by Vedic Rishis was on this subject. This is the heart of the Veda.

It seems that it is quite possible that they really could modify completely, it’s quite possible from some of the descriptions you find that they might have perhaps done it. But still the question remains, − was it done to such an extent that it could be embedded, not only modified fully, but could be embedded in this Prakriti to such an extent as mind is embedded in Prakriti. Inundation is one thing; you can modify it but to establish it in such a way that it becomes a part of Prakriti. In an individual case the knots of sattva, rajas and tamas can be broken but could it be broken in such a way that in the universal Prakriti, not only the individual but Prakriti can this be embedded.

This question seems to have been raised but was achieved at the individual level but this embedding of Shakti into Prakriti; – this is where Sri Aurobindo says, ‘this is an ill explored region’. This is what has still not been done and Sri Aurobindo further found out that unless that is done the problems of the world which we are facing today, particularly cannot be resolved. So, Sri Aurobindo worked on this particular problem and accomplished it. And it is that aspect on which we are now concentrating in this chapter. The so far unexplored and now newly explored region, not entirely unexplored, but partially explored. So that there is something here which is known, something which is not known, in any case the whole path, the road was not found built as Sri Aurobindo says that when he started this process, he found that no road was built. How to go about this, how to arrive at a point by which Shakti can be embedded, not only Shakti flooding Prakriti, not only modifying it, not only changing it completely in the individual case but in the universal principle, how to flood it, so that it becomes a part of the normal experience of nature. What is the process? It is therefore, Sri Aurobindo says that if you really want to know the process, our first difficulty is that Shakti is so different from mind, that Shakti is so different from sattva, rajas and tamas that to describe it is very difficult. For example, we spoke of omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence but what exactly is this. All our experiences, partial capacity, very limited capacity, our understanding of the present to be so limited in a small field, and our knowledge is so limited. This is all our experience as against that a consciousness which knows everything, a comprehensive consciousness, you use a word, but to be able to understand it is extremely difficult. What is omnipotence, it is very difficult to understand? What is omnipresence, it is very difficult – all the three are very difficult for us to understand. We seem to be familiar with these words because they have been used for ages but really to understand what it is, is very difficult. But one salutary fact is that although it is very different and difficult some of the gunas, anantagunas are some times experienced in a scattered manner in our lower consciousness, this is one enabling factor.