The touch of God in our little life
A touch of God’s rapture in creation’s acts,
A lost remembrance of felicity
Lurks still in the dumb roots of death and birth,
The world’s senseless beauty mirrors God’s delight.
That rapture’s smile is secret everywhere;
It flows in the wind’s breath, in the tree’s sap,
Its hued magnificence blooms in leaves and flowers.
When life broke through its half-drowse in the plant
That feels and suffers but cannot move or cry,
In beast and in winged bird and thinking man
It made of the heart’s rhythm its music’s beat;
It forced the unconscious tissues to awake
And ask for happiness and earn the pang
And thrill with pleasure and laughter of brief delight,
And quiver with pain and crave for ecstasy.
Imperative, voiceless, ill-understood,
Too far from light, too close to being’s core,
Born strangely in Time from the eternal Bliss,
It presses on heart’s core and vibrant nerve;
Its sharp self-seeking tears our consciousness;
Our pain and pleasure have that sting for cause:
Instinct with it, but blind to its true joy
The soul’s desire leaps out towards passing things.
All Nature’s longing drive none can resist,
Comes surging through the blood and quickened sense;
An ecstasy of the infinite is her cause.
It turns in us to finite loves and lusts,
The will to conquer and have, to seize and keep,
To enlarge life’s room and scope and pleasure’s range,
To battle and overcome and make one’s own,
The hope to mix one’s joy with others’ joy,
A yearning to possess and be possessed,
To enjoy and be enjoyed, to feel, to live.
Here was its early brief attempt to be,
Its rapid end of momentary delight
Whose stamp of failure haunts all ignorant life.
[Savitri: Book Two Canto 4]
Prayers and Meditations
Making rules for oneself
February 7, 1914
For him who, by being integrally united with Thee, is constantly conscious of what expresses Thee most perfectly in action considering the circumstances, no external rule is any longer necessary. The principles of life are in sum only makeshifts for diminishing as far as possible the ignorance of those who do not know Thee yet, and for counteracting somehow or other the moments of blindness and obscurity of those who have only an intermittent contact with Thee.
To make rules for oneself and to make them as general, that is, as supple as possible, is good, but provided one considers them only as artificial lights which should not be used except when the full natural light of communion with Thee fails. Besides, a constant revision of these rules is imperative, for they can be only the expression of a present knowledge and must necessarily gain by all growth and improvement of knowledge.
That is why when meditating upon the attitude one should have towards all those who come to us, in order not only to refrain from doing them any harm but, above all, to strive to do them the utmost possible good—that is, to help them as best one can in making the supreme discovery, the discovery of Thee within them—I saw clearly that no rule was vast and supple enough to be perfectly adapted to Thy law, and that the only true solution was to be always in communion with Thee, so that it could be adapted perfectly to all the infinite variety of circumstances.
[Prayers and Meditations of the Mother]
From Their Writings
The heart is a much truer reality
Whatever difference there is between the West and the East in relation to spiritual life lies not in the inner being or nature, which is an invariable and constant thing, but in the mental habits, in the modes of outer expression and presentation which are the result of education and environment and other external conditions. All people, whether occidental or oriental, are alike in their deepest feelings; they are different in their way of thinking. Sincerity, for example, is a quality which is the same everywhere. Those who are sincere, to whichever nation they belong, are all sincere in the same way. Only the forms given to this sincerity vary. The mind works in different ways in different peoples, but the heart is the same everywhere; the heart is a much truer reality, and the differences belong to the superficial parts. As soon as you go deep enough, you meet something that is one in all. All meet in the Divine. The sun is the symbol of the Divine in the physical nature. Clouds may modify its appearance, but when they are no longer there, you see it is the same sun always and everywhere.
If you cannot feel one with somebody, it means you have not gone deep enough in your feelings.
[The Mother: CWM 3]
Songs of the Soul (2024 09 13)
Mother Divine Thy Grace has opened the brilliant lid covering the face of Truth and the golden waters pour upon the earth. Thy Love has leaned into the Abyss and here too Thou hast made a passage for Truth hidden in the nether depths to emerge from below and enter more and more into the earthly play. Our role is to become the joining link between these two streams of Truth, one pouring from Above and the other rising from Below attracted by the former. In the joining of these two streams lies the secret of transformation which shall give birth to a new stream, the stream of a new supramental life, the divine life that shall release for us the nectar of immortality here upon earth.
What then is needed for joining these two streams coming from two different directions? The streams of Truth can only be joined by links of Truth. Maa may the devious working of falsehood that deviates us from the straight path of Truth be annulled and in its place the law and workings of Truth govern our life. Maa may Truth be the leader of our life, the fire that burns away all covers, the power that makes the crooked straight, the light that makes us grow sincere and true. May the tortuous masks of falsehood and its distortions collapse like an unsubstantial thing and in its place emerge the luminous forms of Truth. May we speak the Truth, think the Truth, feel the Truth and all our actions be an outflowing of Truth, spontaneous expressions of Truth. Maa grant us a life of Truth, Truth in will, Truth in speech, Truth in feelings, Truth in thought, Truth in actions. May we become worshippers of Truth for indeed Wisdom is the radiance and Love is the beauty of Thy face, Delight is the motion of Thy limbs, Peace is Thy countenance and Force one with Truth is the very substance of Thy golden Form, O Mother of all Mights and Beauty and Wisdom and Bliss, Mother Divine.
Maa Maa Maa Maa Maa Maa Maa Maa
Notes and Reflections
What humanity really needs (a parable)
The Master had the deepest love and compassion for the struggling soul of man upon earth but his compassion was not blinded and he seldom seemed to encourage acts of charity and philanthropy of the kind practiced by rich men. He neither discouraged nor encouraged it. But in general he observed that it had little to do with true spiritual growth and did not want people to confuse one for the other.
On being asked he would simply reply, – “What does humanity needs most, – food and comfort for the body or release from the bondage of Ignorance by the growing Light of his soul?”
When questioned whether a poor man can think of God, he would laugh and say with the ring of experience that it is often the poor whose hearts are more open to God than the rich ones. Too much money was not necessarily a sign of some special Grace. Rather it was often a curse, for it put the man into so many traps and bonds that made it even more difficult to break than if he were less privileged materially.” But he agreed that spirituality had little do with riches or poverty and a rich man as well as a poor one may be deeply spiritual if they have arrived at the inner readiness. Only it made it more difficult for the rich to turn to God.
“So should one discard one’s wealth if it comes in the way of our spiritual progress?”
“How about using it divinely”, the Master would say. “It is easier to discard a difficulty rather than transform it and turn it into an opportunity to serve God’s purpose in the world. If God has given us wealth we should turn it for the good of the world, but not through blind pity but as guided by the Divine Vision.”
“By distributing it to the poor,” asked one unable to get the true import of the Master’s statement.
“No that is the worst way since it would encourage lethargy and stifle the heart and soul of another who receives money as charity. Wealth that is received without any effort often leads to its misuse except in the rare few.” The Master replied.
“So should one build hospitals and schools for free and for the poor?” asked another.
“And increase diseases and the ills that modern education brings with its almost exclusive emphasis on man as a biological entity whose only goal is to survive!” quipped the Master. He went on to add, – “there is no use repeating the past follies blindly. What humanity needs most is a new vision in the mind, a new hope and faith in his heart, a new impulse and will to live for greater aims and deeper goals. Instead of opening hospitals and multiplying diseases why not find out the root cause of human maladies and the master remedy. We need educational institutions that can embody the new Light.”
“But that is a vision,” complained another. “How can I use my wealth to further a vision?” he asked.
“Surely wealth will not give you the new vision for that can only come through personal growth,” the Master responded. “But if you have sympathy for the new vision and one has wealth then it can be put at its service. For to express this new vision upon earth and reach it out to the many who are still blind, you need both, men of vision who can carry it afar and also men of action to organize it. So also you need men of wealth to create new institutions and support old ones that would embody this new Light. That indeed is the best service that one can render for earth through wealth.”
A rich man proud of his philanthropy asked what the Master thought about those rich people who spent a lot of money on charity.
The Master had a hearty laugh and remarked, – “It is often like the case of a robber sharing a little of his loot with those whom he has looted and thereby assuage his guilt and flatter his ego.” But then not wanting to disappoint the man he added, – “Well if a rich man wants to distribute money or open hospitals that is his business and if he has nothing more to give and no other vision to uphold, then let him do that especially if that be his calling. But he should not think that he is doing something very great to solve the problem of humanity or that what he is doing is greater than the poor man is quietly seeking God in his hermitage.”
“But don’t the hermitage and the ashrams also need money? And is it not a waste of life for a young man to spend the prime of his youth doing nothing except seeking God and live on the wealth of others when he could earn that wealth for himself and be independent,” asked the rich man again unwilling to give up.
“And what makes you feel that the young man seeking God is doing nothing. Try doing it and you will understand that it is far more difficult to seek God than to earn bagfuls of money.” The Master calmly replied.
The rich man would not concede, – “But why should others support his quest, to whose benefit when he could easily earn.”
The Master became serious to see the degree of human resistance to Light. He responded: “The young man seeking God is doing a great benefit to the society. Firstly, he is earning spiritual wealth that the others are not ready to earn. Once he earns it he to shares this inner wealth with others as the great Masters and their erstwhile disciples do. In fact their gift is much more than the money that you give for their needs. You look after their physical needs while they look after your spiritual needs. So who is the gainer?”
“But such disciples and such Masters are few ad far between, what about the others. Are they not parasites upon society,” he argued one last time.
“On the contrary even the failures in the spiritual path do a service to mankind for they at least keep the fire of the soul alive by their sheer effort. And when even one succeeds he makes it easier for many others to follow. Even if he does not speak about it his mere presence brings the earth in contact with forces of Harmony and Peace and Light. He is like a silent dynamo that energises the earth and rejuvenates its sick body by digging out from our nature’s deeps the streams that sooth and heal man’s mind and heart and soul. They are like beacon Lights if not Lighthouses for man to follow on the dangerous roads of destiny to the great discovery that awaits us all one day. The seeker of Light is the spearhead in this eternal collective quest of man who makes the way for others to follow and even if he falls he becomes a brick to bridge the way towards the future. Do you then still feel with the superficial thinkers that the spiritual man is simply a do-nothing or is it simply that his great contribution goes unnoticed and he cares little for it either.” The words of the Master fell upon listening ears and the earth suddenly woke up to fresh and sublime memories that stirred in its silent deeps, memories of spiritual heroes and martyrs whose life was a burning example and without whom this world would long have sunk to perdition or gone to blazes.
Question of the Day
If all faiths and all paths lead to the same goal, should we accept them all?
Q: I believe that there is no one path for all and that all faiths lead to the same One (Goal), isn’t it true? Then we should expand to enjoy and accept the unity in diversity.
Alokda: There is no one path that is true but not all paths lead to the same goal. What the Sanatan Dharma does say is that the Reality is One, the wise call it by different names, ekam sat vipra bahudha vadanti and not, ekam lakshya nana pathanti.
The Sanatan Dharma does say that the Reality is one but it admits that in the unfolding Truth or Reality does appear differently. The admittance of this evolutionary principle, first of the immortal soul passing through death and rebirth and next, of the collective march of mankind, lokasangrahart, through the cycles and yugas and Avatars is the reason why the Sanatan Dharma has endured. That is how it allowed multiple approaches old and new or else it would have stopped with the Rishis of the Vedas.
Yes, one should not get stuck with mental gymnastics but equally one should not drop the mind. Else the entire beauty of the Gita revealing new truths through the questions of Arjuna would be an exercise in futility. In fact, to make general statements such as ‘all faiths lead to the One’, ‘law of Nature is all’, ‘expand the heart first’ is an example of dropping the mind rather than transcending it. The Sanatan Dharma bids us to ascend beyond the mind and then returning use the mind as an instrument of the Spirit. Sri Krishna even teaches the role of Buddhi, buddhi yoga, as the first step towards karma and bhakti.
Expanding the heart to include all is the straight road to self-destruction if one has not the wisdom or the vision of the One Divine in everything and knows His ways and different dealings with different people. It is in fact not heeding of this advice that has led to India’s fall. But people now-a-days seem to believe they are wiser than Sri Krishna and Sri Aurobindo, not to speak of the great teachings of the Vedas and Upanishads of which one has no idea because all is one and God is great and the hero defending the right and the cowardly robber and violent murderer are all same, law of nature, unity in diversity, call it whatever else.