Chapter 7
Spiritual Attainments
If mankind could but see though in a glimpse
of fleeting experience what infinite enjoyments, what perfect forces, what
luminous reaches of spontaneous knowledge, what wide calms of our being lie
waiting for us in the tracts which our animal evolution has not yet conquered,
they would leave all and never rest till they had gained these treasures. But
the way is narrow, the doors are hard to force, and fear, distrust and
scepticism are there, sentinels of Nature, to forbid the turning away of our
feet from her ordinary pastures.
SRI AUROBINDO
Spirituality is in its essence an awakening
to the inner reality of our being, to a spirit, self, soul which is other than
our mind, life and body, an inner aspiration to know, to feel, to be that, to
enter into contact with the greater Reality beyond and pervading the universe
which inhabits also our own being, to be in communion with It and union with It,
and a turning, a conversion, a transformation of our whole being as a result of
the aspiration, the contact, the union, a growth or waking into a new becoming
or new being, a new self, a new nature.
SRI AUROBINDO
Page-153
MASTERY.
|
450 Mastery
450 Mastery
Know what the Divine wants and you will have
mastery.
Syzygium jumbos. White to greenish white
|
Self-mastery is the greatest conquest, it is the
basis of all enduring happiness.
THE MOTHER
It is from within that you must become
master of your lower nature by establishing your consciousness firmly in a
domain that is free of all desire and attachment because it is under the
influence of the divine Light and Force. It is a long and exacting labour which
must be undertaken with an unfailing sincerity and a tireless perseverance.
THE MOTHER
The mastery must be a true mastery, a very
humble and austere mastery which starts from the very bottom and, step by step,
establishes control. In fact, it is a battle against small things, very tiny
things: habits of being, ways ol thinking, feeling and reacting. When this
mastery at the very bottom combine with the consciousness at the very top, then
yoi can really begin to do work — not only work on yourself but work for all.
THE MOTHER |
Page-154
KNOWLEDGE
|
By Knowledge we mean in yoga not thought
or ideas about spiritual things but psychic understanding from within and
spiritual illumination from above.
SRI AUROBINDO
The knowledge that seems to come to you from
outside is only an occasion for bringing out the knowledge that is within you.
Let all circumstances, all happenings in life be occasions, constantly renewed,
for learning always more and more.
THE MOTHER
True knowledge is precisely knowledge by identity,
and wisdom is the state one attains when one is in this true knowledge.
THE MOTHER
INTUITIVE KNOWLEDGE
Intuition is always an edge or ray or out leap of a
superior light.
SRI AUROBINDO
|
451 Knowledge
451 Knowledge
Is conversant with all sides of a question,
whatever it may be.
Leucaena leucocephala. Cream white
|
452 Intuitive knowledge
452 Intuitive knowledge
Innumerable and vast for exploration, it is
pure and fragrant.
Caesalpinia coriaria. Cream to greenish
white
|
Page-155
|
453 Supramental knowledge
454 Knowledge of details |
455 Wisdom
453 Supramental knowledge
An infallible vision of problems.
Acacia farnesiana. Deep yellow
454 Knowledge of details
Manifold and minute, it forgets nothing.
Acacia leucophloea. Cream white
WISDOM
Wisdom is the vision of truth in its essence and of
its application in the manifestation.
THE MOTHER
Wisdom looks behind the veil and sees. Reason
divides, fixes details and contrasts them; Wisdom unifies, marries contrasts in
a single harmony.
SRI AUROBINDO
455 Wisdom
Can only be acquired through union with the Divine
Consciousness.
Albizia saman. Pink |
Page-156
|
456 Striving towards wisdom
456 Striving towards wisdom
A bit of wisdom is welcome.
Calliandra. Several colours
457 Striving towards integral wisdom
Like everything that belongs to the creation,
wisdom is progressive.
Calliandra portoricensis. White
458 Wisdom in the physical mind
A first step towards the supramental manifestation
upon earth.
Calliandra haematocephala. Red
459 Integral wisdom
The wisdom one obtains through union with the
Divine.
Albizia lebbeck. Cream white
|
458 Wisdom in the physical mind
459 Integral wisdom |
Page-157
INSPIRATION
|
460 Inspiration
460 Inspiration
Brings its manifold gifts to him who knows
how to receive them.
Aristolochia littoralis. Cream white and
maroon
461 Lasting inspiration
Waits patiently to be received.
Aristolochia ringens. Yellow green
|
Inspiration is a slender river of brightness
leaping from a vast and eternal knowledge; it exceeds reason more perfectly than
reason exceeds the knowledge of the senses.
SRI AUROBINDO
There are different kinds of knowledge. One is
inspiration, i.e. something that comes out of the knowledge planes like a flash
and opens up the mind to the Truth in a moment. That is inspiration. It easily
takes the form of words as when a poet writes or a speaker speaks, as people
say, from inspiration.
SRI AUROBINDO
[Inspiration] is like a tiny little stream or a few
falling drops and these drops are so pure, so brilliant, so complete in
themselves, that they give you the sense of a marvellous inspiration, the
impression that you have reached infinite domains and risen very high above the
ordinary human condition. And yet this is nothing in comparison with what is
still to be perceived.
THE MOTHER
461 Lasting inspiration |
Page-158
REVELATION
|
Revelation is the direct sight, the direct hearing
or
the inspired memory of Truth, drishti, shruti, smriti; it is the
highest experience and always accessible to renewed experience. Not because God
spoke it, but because the soul saw it, is the word of the Scriptures our supreme
authority.
SRI AUROBINDO
The Vedic seers seem to speak of two primary
faculties of the "truth-conscious" soul; they are Sight and Hearing, by which is
intended direct operations of an inherent Knowledge describable as truth-vision
and truth-audition and reflected from far-off in our human mentality by the
faculties of revelation and inspiration.
SRI AUROBINDO
Revelation is greater than inspiration - it brings
the direct knowledge and seeing; inspiration gives the expression, but the two
are not always equal.
SRI AUROBINDO
462 Revelation
The true revelation is the revelation of the
Divine.
Costus speciosus. Rose purple |
463 Integral revelation
463 Integral revelation
Half-way to transformation.
Costus speciosus. White
|
Page-159
CONSCIOUSNESS
|
Consciousness is a fundamental thing, the
fundamental thing in existence — it is the energy, the motion, the movement of
consciousness that creates the universe and all that is in it - not only the
macrocosm but the microcosm is nothing but conscious- ness arranging itself.
SRI AUROBINDO
Consciousness is made up of two elements, awareness
of self and things and forces and conscious-power. Awareness is the first thing
necessary, you have to be aware of things in the right consciousness, in the
right way, seeing them in their truth; but awareness by itself is not enough.
There must be a Will and a Force that make the consciousness effective.
SRI AUROBINDO
The only thing that is truly effective is
the change of consciousness; it is inner liberation through a close and constant
union, absolute and inevitable, with the vibration of the supramental forces.
The preoccupation of every second, the will of all the elements of the being,
the aspiration of the whole being, including all the cells of the body, is this
union with the supramental forces, the divine forces. And there is no longer any
need at all to be concerned with what the consequences will be. What has to be
in the play of the universal forces and their manifestation will be, quite
naturally, spontaneously, automatically; there is no need to be concerned about
it. The only thing that matters is the constant, total, complete contact -
constant, yes, constant — with the Force, the Light, the Truth, the Power, and
that ineffable delight of the supramental consciousness.
THE MOTHER
464 Consciousness turned towards the Light
It thirsts for the light and cannot live without
it.
Helianthus. Light to deep yellow
465 Consciousness turned towards the Supramental
Light
It thirsts for truth and will find its satisfaction
only in the
Truth.
Helianthus. Yellow orange |
464 Consciousness turned towards the Light
|
Page-160
|
466
Intensity of consciousness in the full
Supramental Light
466 Intensity of consciousness in the full
Supramental Light
It is radiant and shining in order to illumine the
world.
Helianthus. Yellow, double |
468
Solid steadfastness in the material
consciousness
468 Solid steadfastness in the material
consciousness
467 Body-consciousness undergoing the
supramental transformation
Solid and resolute, it faces all difficulties.
Helianthus. Sienna with golden yellow
468 Solid steadfastness in the material
consciousness
The material consciousness has a firm and solid
steadfastness.
Bombax ceiba. Deep red
|
Page-161
|
469 Attraction for the life
LIGHT
Light is not knowledge but the illumination that
comes from above and liberates the being from obscurity and darkness.
SRI AUROBINDO
|
469 Attraction for the life
To its Attraction it tries to imitate the stars.
Curculigo orchioides. Golden Yellow
470 Light
470 Light
Light and airy, it radiates.
Cestrum diumum. White
471 Light in the vital
One of the first steps on the long way.
Cestrum elegans. Light purple |
LIGHT
Light is primarily a spiritual manifestation of the
Divine Reality illuminative and creative; material light is a subsequent
representation or conversion of it into Matter for the purposes of the material
Energy.
SRI AUROBINDO
471 Light in the vital
|
Page-162
|
LIGHT
Our sense by its incapacity has invented darkness. In truth there is nothing but Light, only it is a power of light either above or below our poor human vision's limited range. For do not imagine that light is created by the Suns. The Suns are only physical concentrations of Light, but the splendour they concentrate for us is self-born and everywhere. God is everywhere and wherever God is, there is Light.
SRI AUROBINDO
473 Light in the vital movements |
474
Psychic light in the physical movements
472 Movements in the Light
This is possible only with a great sincerity.
Pentas lanceolata. White
473 Light in the vital movements
This certainly means the beginning of wisdom.
Pentas lanceolata. Mauve
474 Psychic light in the physical movements
The first step towards the transformation of the
physical.
Pentas lanceolata. Vivid pink
475 Psychic light in the material movements
Essential condition for transformation.
Pentas lanceolata. Bright red |
Page-163
|
476 Light without obscurity
476 Light without obscurity
All-powerful in its simplicity.
Eucharis Xgrandiflora. White
LIGHT WITHOUT OBSCURITY
Even if there is much darkness — and the world is
full of it and the physical nature of man also - yet a ray of the true Light can
prevail eventually against a tenfold darkness. Believe that and cleave to it
always.
SRI AUROBINDO |
477
Obscurity offers itself to be transformed
477 Obscurity offers itself to be transformed
Obscurity tired of being obscure.
Thunbergia alata. Yellow orange to orange
478 Transformation dispels obscurity
Obscurity will disappear more and more as the
transformation progresses.
Thunbergia alata 'Julietta'.
Golden yellow to deep orange
479 Alchemy
Supple and plastic, ready to take any form
whatever.
Hymenocallis. White
480 Occultism
Truly blossoms only when it is surrendered to the Divine.
Pancratium zeylanicum. White
481 Initiation
It is unique in the whole existence of the plant.
Yucca. White |
Page-164
|
OCCULTISM
Occultism is the knowledge and right use of the
hidden forces of Nature. Occult forces are the forces that can only be known
by going behind the veil of apparent phenomena - especially the forces
of
the subtle physical and supraphysical planes.
SRI AUROBINDO
Occultism means rightly the use of the higher
powers of our nature, soul, mind, life-force and the faculties of the subtle
physical consciousness to bring about results on their own or on the material
plane by some pressure of their own secret law and its potentialities, for
manifestation and result in human or earthly mind and life and body or in
objects and events in the world of Matter.
SRI AUROBINDO |
481 Initiation
|
Page-165
CONVERSION
|
482
Conversion of the aim of life from the ego to
the Divine
|
Conversion: the turning of all the movements of the
being towards the Divine.
THE MOTHER
When [the psychic being] is awake, it begins to
take hold of the rest of the being, to influence it
and change it so that all may become the true expression of the inner soul.
It is this change that is called the inner conversion. There can be no
conversion without the awakening of the psychic being.
SRI AUROBINDO
The spiritual conversion begins when the soul
begins to insist on a deeper life and is complete when the psychic being becomes
the basis or the leader of the consciousness and mind and vital and body are led
by it and obey it.
SRI AUROBINDO
482 Conversion of the aim of life from the ego
to the Divine
Instead of seeking one's own satisfaction, to have
service of the Divine as the aim of life.
Clivia miniata. Bright orange
|
Page-166
|
483 Conversion
The starting-point of realisation.
Hippeastrum. Many colours
484 Conversion of the mind
The mind has freed itself of its arrogance and
knows that it is only an instrument.
Hippeastrum. Yellow
485 Conversion of the physical mind
Ready to understand everything and to grow
continually.
Hippeastrum. Salmon orange
486 Conversion of the emotional being
It blossoms in a harmonious receptivity.
Hippeastrum. Light pink
487 Conversion of the vital
Enthusiastic and spontaneous, it gives itself
unstintingly.
Hippeastrum. Dark red
488 Conversion of the physical
Compact and stable, without fluctuations.
Hippeastrum. Bright red
489 Integral conversion
Above all conflicts and struggles, in a harmonious
blossoming.
Hippeastrum. White
491 Total conversion
The whole being has given itself in all its
movements.
Hippeastrum. Light red
|
490
Integral conversion with the help of the psychic
490 Integral conversion with the help of the
psychic
Sweetness mingles with resolution.
Hippeastrum. White with rose |
Page- 167
NEW BIRTH
|
When I speak of "New Birth" I am always speaking of
the birth of a new consciousness.
THE MOTHER
What is called "new birth" is the birth into the
spiritual life, the spiritual consciousness; it is to carry in oneself something
of the spirit which individually, through the soul, can begin to rule the life
and be the master of existence.
THE MOTHER
492 New birth
492 New birth
Birth into the true consciousness, that of the
Divine Presence in us.
Origanum majorana. White
|
You become a new person, and whatever your path or
its difficulties later on, that feeling never leaves you. It is not even
something, like many other experiences, which recedes, passes into the
background, leaving you externally with a kind of vague memory that is difficult
to hold, a memory that grows faint and blurred
— it is not that. You are a new person and
you are definitively that, whatever happens. And even all the incapacities of
the mind, all the difficulties of the vital, all the inertia of the physical are
unable to change this new state - a new state that makes a decisive break in
the life of the consciousness. The being one was before and the being one is
after, are no longer the same. The position one has in the universe and in
relation to it, in life and in relation to it, in understanding and in relation
to it, is no longer the same: it is a true reversal which can never be undone
again.
THE MOTHER
REALISATION
Realisation is ... when something for which you are
aspiring becomes real to you; e.g. you have the idea of the Divine in all, but
it is only an idea, a belief; when you feel or see the Divine in all, it becomes
a realisation.
SRI AUROBINDO
In a more deep and spiritual sense a concrete
realisation is that which makes the thing realised more real, dynamic,
intimately present to the consciousness than any physical thing can be.
SRI
AUROBINDO |
493 Beginning of realisation
493 Beginning of realisation
Full of promise and hope, it radiates joy and confidence.
Sesbania grandiflora. Several colours
|
Page-168
REALISATION
|
Realisations are the reception in the conscious-
ness and the establishment there of the fundamental truths of the Divine, of
the Higher or Divine Nature, of the world-consciousness and the play of its
forces, of one's own self and real nature and the inner nature of things, the
power of these things growing in one till they are a part of one's inner life
and existence, - as for instance, the realisation of the Divine Presence, the
descent and settling of the higher Peace, Light, Force, Ananda in the conscious-
ness, their workings there, the realisation of the divine or spiritual love, . .
. the clear perception of the relation of all these things to our present
inferior nature and their action on it to change that lower nature.
SRI
AUROBINDO
LIBERATION
Liberation signifies an emergence into the true
spiritual nature of being where all action is the automatic self-expression of
that truth and there can be nothing else.
SRI AUROBINDO
Deep, intense, convincing, common to all who have
overstepped a certain limit of the active mind-belt into the horizonless inner
space, this is the great experience of liberation, the consciousness of
something within us that is behind and outside of the universe and all its
forms, interests, aims, events and happenings, calm, untouched, unconcerned,
illimitable, immobile, free....
SRI AUROBINDO
The sense of release as if from jail always
accompanies the emergence of the psychic being or the realisation of the self
above. It is therefore spoken of as a liberation, mukti. It is a release
into peace, happiness, the soul's freedom not tied down by the thousand ties and
cares of the outward ignorant existence.
SRI AUROBINDO |
494 Realisation
494 Realisation
The goal of our efforts.
Delonix regia. Pale orange to deep red
495 Liberation
The disappearance of the ego.
Careya arborea. Cream white |
Page- 169
VICTORY
|
496 Victory
496 Victory
Will triumph over all obstacles.
Allamanda cathartica. Bright yellow
497 Victory in the vital
In the vital even a little victory has
great consequences.
Allamanda blanchetti. Soft pinkish purple
|
The first victory is to create an individuality.
And then later, the second victory is to give this individuality to the Divine.
And the third victory is that the Divine changes your individuality into a
divine being. There are three stages: the first is to become an individual; the second is to consecrate the individual so that
he may surrender entirely to the Divine and be identified with Him; and the third is that the Divine takes possession
of this individual and changes him into a being in His own image; that is, he too becomes divine.
THE MOTHER
497 Victory in the vital
|
Page-170
|
498 Joy of victory
498 Joy of victory
It resembles victory without having its power.
Anemopaegma chamberlaynii. Bright golden yellow
499 Certitude of victory
It is not noisy but it is sure.
Catesbaea spinosa. Greenish yellow
CERTITUDE OF VICTORY
You must make grow in you the peace that is born of
the certitude of victory.
SRI AUROBINDO
No human will can finally prevail against the
Divine's Will. Let us put ourselves deliberately and exclusively on the side of
the Divine, and the Victory is ultimately certain.
THE MOTHER |
499 Certitude of victory
|
Page-171
|
500 Transformation
500 Transformation
The goal of creation.
Millingtonia hortensis. White
TRANSFORMATION
There are ... different statuses of transformation.
First is the psychic transformation, in which all is in contact with the Divine
through the individual psychic consciousness. Next is the spiritual
transformation in which all is merged in the Divine in the cosmic consciousness.
Third is the supramental transformation in which all becomes supramentalised in
the divine gnostic consciousness. It is only with the last that there can begin
the complete transformation of mind, life and body - in my sense of
completeness.
SRI AUROBINDO |
501 Attempt towards immortality
Persistent and coordinated.
Celosia argentea. Greenish white
502 Aspiration for immortality
Pure, soaring, full of trust.
Celosia argentea. Many colours
503 Vital aspiration for immortality
Clustered, intense, but short-lived.
Celosia argentea. Purplish pink
504 Physical aspiration for immortality
Intense aspiration, but ignorant of the means.
Celosia argentea. Red
502
Aspiration for immortality
|
Page-172
IMMORTALITY
|
506
Vital
immortality
505 Immortality
Forms are in perpetual transformation. Identify
yourself with the Immortal Consciousness and you will become it.
Gomphrena globosa. Cream white
506 Vital immortality
It exists in its own domain, but depends
on
surrender to the Divine.
Gomphrena globosa. Magenta purple
|
509
Supramental immortality
507 Conscious vital immortality
The immortality of an organised and conscious vital being.
Gomphrena globosa. Pale lavender pink
508 Integral immortality
It is a promise; when will it be a material fact?
Gomphrena globosa. White
509 Supramental immortality
It is an established fact, but few human beings have experienced it.
Gomphrena globosa. Bright orange
|
By immortality is meant the consciousness which is
beyond birth and death, beyond the chain of cause and effect, beyond all bondage
and limitation, free, blissful, self-existent in conscious-being, the
consciousness of the Lord, of the supreme Purusha, of Sachchidananda.
SRI
AUROBINDO
Immortality in its fundamental sense does not mean
merely some kind of personal survival of the bodily death; we are immortal by
the eternity of our self-existence without beginning or end, beyond the whole
succession of physical births and deaths through which we pass, beyond the
alternations of our existence in this and other worlds: the spirit's timeless
existence is the true immortality.
SRI AUROBINDO
510 Integral immortality
510 Integral immortality
It is a promise; when will it be a material fact?
Altemanthera. White
|
Page-173
BEAUTY
|
511 Beauty arising from consecration
Let Beauty be your constant ideal: beauty of soul beauty of sentiment beauty of
thought beauty of action beauty in work so that nothing comes out of your hands which is
not an expression of pure and harmonious beauty. And the divine help will always
be with you.
THE MOTHER |
511 Beauty arising from consecration
Be sincere and absolute in your consecration to the
Divine and your life will become harmonious and beautiful.
Asparagus. White
512 Static beauty
512 Static beauty
Transfixed in an immutable beauty.
Camellia japonica. Several colours
|
Page-174
BEAUTY
|
In the world of forms a violation of Beauty is as
great a fault as a violation of Truth in the world of ideas. For Beauty is the
worship that Nature offers to the supreme Master of the universe; Beauty is the
divine language in form. And a consciousness of the Divine that is not
translated outwardly by an understanding and expression of Beauty would be an
incomplete consciousness.
THE MOTHER |
513 Abundance of beauty
513 Abundance of beauty
A beauty that blossoms freely
and abundantly.
Rhododendron. Many colours |
Page-175
|
514
Aristocracy of beauty
514 Aristocracy of beauty
So perfectly formed that it compels admiration.
Dietes iridioides. Lavender and white
|
515 Aristocracy of beauty
515 Aristocracy of beauty
So perfectly formed that it compels admiration.
Iris. Many colours |
Page-176
|
516 Power of beauty
516 Power of beauty
Beauty acquires its power only when it is
surrendered to the Divine.
Narcissus. Yellow
|
517
Beauty aspiring for the supramental realisation
517 Beauty aspiring for the supramental
realisation
Beauty is no longer sufficient unto itself; it
wants to become divine.
Narcissus poeticus. White and yellow
|
Page- 177
BEAUTY
|
518 Pride of beauty
518 Pride of beauty
Likes to show itself and be admired.
Hyacinthus orientalis. Several colours
519 Modesty of beauty
It blossoms without attracting attention.
Gypsophila elegans. White |
Delight is the soul of existence, beauty the
intense impression, the concentrated form of delight. . ..
SRI AUROBINDO
Beauty is Ananda taking form - but the form need
not be a physical shape. One speaks of a beautiful thought, a beautiful act, a
beautiful soul. What we speak of as beauty is Ananda in manifestation. ...
SRI
AUROBINDO
Beauty is the special divine Manifestation in the
physical as Truth is in the mind, Love in the heart, Power in the vital.
Supramental beauty is the highest divine beauty manifesting in Matter
SRI
AUROBINDO
The one rule of the gnostic life would be the self-
expression of the Spirit, the will of the Divine Being; that will, that
self-expression could manifest through extreme simplicity or through extreme
complexity and opulence or in their natural balance, — for beauty and plenitude,
a hidden sweetness and laughter in things, a sunshine and gladness of life are
also powers and expressions of the Spirit.
SRI AUROBINDO
Beauty is his footprint showing us where he has passed, Love is his heart-beats' rhythm in mortal
breasts, Happiness the smile on his adorable face.
SRI AUROBINDO
519 Modesty of beauty
|
Page-178
|
520
Smile of beauty
Nature is
happy to be beautiful
Prunus
serrulata. White to pink
521
Smile of Nature
Nature
rejoices in her beauty
Prunus
dulcis. White to pink |
524
Pure sense of beauty |
522
Joy of beauty
Beauty is
the joyful offering of Nature.
Ipomoea tricolor 'Magenta
523
Spontaneous beauty
Delicate
and magnificent, it has an incomparable charm.
Ipomoea tricolor. Rose pink
524
Pure sense of beauty
Can only
be acquired through a great purification.
Ipomoea tricolor 'Heavenly Blue'. Sky blue |
Page-179
ART.
|
525
Art
525 Art
Living only to express beauty.
Fuchsia. Several colours
|
526
Beauty
in art
526 Beauty in art
A beauty that displays itself and allows itself
to be contemplated.
Paeonia. Several colours
|
Page-180
|
527 Artistic taste
527 Artistic taste
Is pleased with beautiful things and is itself beautiful.
Ipomoea indica. Intense blue
ART
Art is discovery and revelation of Beauty. ...
SRI AUROBINDO
Art is nothing less in its fundamental truth than
the aspect
of
beauty of the Divine manifestation.
THE MOTHER
If you want art to be the true and highest art, it
must be the expression of a divine world brought down into this material world.
THE MOTHER
In a sense spirituality is the highest art, the art
of life; for it aims at creating a life of beauty pure in line, faultless in
rhythm, replete with strength, illumined with light and vibrant with delight.
SRI AUROBINDO |
529 Poetic ecstasy
Rare and charming is your presence.
Wisteria sinensis. Lavender
530 Distinction
Of a refined beauty, sufficient to itself.
Syringa. Several colours
528 Artistic sensitivity
528 Artistic sensitivity
A powerful aid in fighting ugliness.
Ipomoea tricolor. Blue and white
|
|
529 Poetic ecstasy
529 Poetic ecstasy
Rare and charming is your presence.
Wisteria sinensis. Lavender
|
530 Distinction
530 Distinction
Of a refined beauty, sufficient to itself.
Syringa. Several colours |
Page-182
|
531 Refinement
REFINEMENT
The preoccupation with universal beauty even in its
aesthetic forms has an intense power for refining and subtilising the nature,
and at its highest it is a great force for purification.
SRI AUROBINDO
531 Refinement
Little by little, coarseness is eliminated from the
being.
Bitddleja davidii. Several colours
532 Refinement of habits
Orderly, clean and well-organised.
Gliricidia sepium. Pink
533 Refined taste
Pleasing and delicate, always avoids mistakes of
bad taste.
Kaempferia pulchra. Pinkish lavender
|
532 Refinement of habits
533 Refined taste
|
Page- 183
Page-184
|
534 Delicacy
Charming to those of refined taste.
Coriandrum sativum. White
535 Fragile elegance
Easily troubled, needs to take care of itself.
Anemone coronaria. White
536 Sensitivity
One of the results of refinement of the being.
Malpighia glabra. Rose pink
537 Sensitivity
One of the results of refinement of the being.
Malpighia coccigera. White
538 Charm
|
538 Charm
Envelops and conquers by its unfailing sweetness.
Sambucus. Cream white
539 Lightness
Charming, but prickly at times.
Parkinsonia aculeata. Light yellow
534 Lightness
|
540 Idealism
540 Idealism
Delicate and harmonious, it gives elegance to life.
Centaurea cyanus. Blue
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541 Aristocracy
541 Aristocracy
Incapable of baseness and pettiness, it asserts
itself with dignity and authority.
Dahlia. Many colours
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ARISTOCRACY
Only a few, the rare aristocrats of the earth, can
really
and
truly think. That is now the true aristocracy, not the aristocracy of the
body and birth, not the aristocracy of vital superiority, wealth, pride and
luxury, not the aristocracy of higher emotions, courage, energy, successful
political instinct and the habit of mastery and rule, — though these latter
cannot be neglected, — but the aristocracy of knowledge, undisturbed insight and
intellectual ability.
SRI AUROBINDO
DIGNITY
To do this yoga, one must have, at least a little,
the sense of beauty. If one does not, one misses one of the most important
aspects of the physical world. There is this beauty, this dignity of soul - a
thing about which I am very sensitive. It is a thing that moves me and evokes in
me a great respect always.
Yes, this beauty of soul that is visible in the
face, this kind of dignity, this harmony of integral realisation. When the soul
becomes visible in the physical, it gives this dignity, this beauty, this
majesty, the majesty that comes from one's being the Tabernacle. Then, even
things that have no particular beauty put on a sense of eternal beauty, of
the eternal beauty.
THE MOTHER
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542 Nobility
The incapacity for any pettiness of feeling or
action.
Dahlia. Deep wine red
543 Dignity
Affirms its worth, but asks for nothing.
Dahlia. Many colours
544 Psychic dignity
Refuses all that lowers or debases.
Dahlia. Pink
545 Supramentalised mental dignity
Tolerates no pettiness in thought turned towards the Truth.
Dahlia. Orange yellow
546 Dignity of the emotions
Not to allow one's emotions to contradict the inner
Divinity.
Dahlia. Mauve pink
547 Dignity in the physical
Above bargaining.
Dahlia. Intense red
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542 Nobility
543 Dignity
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553
Wealth in the vital
548 Wealth
True wealth is the wealth that one offers to the
Divine.
Nymphaea. Many colours
549 Supramentalised wealth
Wealth placed at the service of the Divine.
Nymphaea. Pink
550 Wealth in the Mind of Light
Open to all higher ideas.
Nymphaea. Blue
551 Wealth under the psychic influence
Wealth ready to return to its true
possessor,
the Divine.
Nymphaea. White shaded pink
|
552 Emotional wealth
The only true emotional wealth is love for the
Divine.
Nymphaea. Lavender
553 Wealth in the vital
Comes willingly to generous natures.
Nymphaea rubra. Vivid magenta pink
554 Wealth in the most material vital
Can be stable only after conversion.
Nymphaea. Deep rose red
555 Generous wealth
Likes to be given and spread far and wide.
Nymphaea. Yellow
555
Generous wealth
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Page-188
WEALTH
|
All wealth belongs to the Divine and those who hold
it are trustees, not possessors. It is with them today, tomorrow it may be
elsewhere. All depends on the way they discharge their trust while it is with
them, in what spirit, with what consciousness in their use of it, to what
purpose.
SRI AUROBINDO
Most spiritual disciplines insist on a complete
self-control, detachment and renunciation of all bondage to wealth and of all
personal and egoistic desire for its possession. Some even put a - ban on money
and riches and proclaim poverty and bareness of life as the only spiritual
condition. But this is an error; it leaves the power in the hands of the hostile
forces. To reconquer it for the Divine to whom it belongs and use it divinely
for the divine life is the supramental way for the Sadhaka. . . . The ideal
Sadhaka in this kind is one who if required to live poorly can so live and no
sense of want will affect him or interfere with the full inner play of the
divine consciousness, and if he is required to live richly, can so live and
never for a moment fall into desire or attachment to his wealth or to the things
that he uses or servitude to self-indulgence or a weak bondage to the habits
that the possession of riches creates. The divine Will is all for him and the
divine Ananda.
SRI AUROBINDO
|
556
Integral 'wealth of
Mahalakshmi
556 Integral 'wealth of Mahalakshmi
Wealth in all domains and all activities,
intellectual, psychological, material, in feeling and action.
Nymphaea. White
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557
First movement of riches towards the Divine
557 First movement of riches towards the Divine
The sure sign of conversion.
Tithonia diversifolia. Deep golden yellow
558 Prosperity
Remains only with him who offers it
to the
Divine.
Couroupita guianensis. Light to deep red
560 Fortune
Very attractive, but beware - it pricks!
Cereus. White
|
559
Unselfish prosperity
559 Unselfish prosperity
He who receives it abundantly gives all that he has as he receives it.
Couroupita guianensis. Pink and white
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562 Richness of feelings
562 Richness of feelings
No false show — sincere and
concentrated.
Echinopsis oxygona. Light pink
|
561 Riches
561 Riches
It is the Divine to whom all riches belong. It is
the Divine who lends them to living beings. It is He to whom they must
naturally return.
Cactus. Many colours
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563 Supramental riches
563 Supramental riches
Riches that are at the disposal of the
supramental being and still unknown to man.
Selenicereus. White
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