Sri Aurobindo believes that the human body is not the last on this
earth. Establishment in the Self, according to him, is not perfectly
attained in a human body, for Self-knowledge does not operate there in
its natural way. Therefore the vijnanamaya sarira [the body made of pure knowledge] in which Self-knowledge can work naturally must be brought down on this earth.
M: Self-knowledge can shine very well in the human body, so there is no need of any other body.
Q: Sri Aurobindo believes that the vijnanamaya sarira will not be
attacked by disease, will not grow old, and will not die without one’s
desire.
M: The body itself is a disease. To wish for a long stay of
that disease is not the aim of the jnani. Anyhow, one has to give up
identification with the body. Just as the I-am-the-body consciousness
prevents one from attaining Self-knowledge, in the same way, one who has
got the conviction that he is not the body will become liberated even
if he doesn’t desire it.
Q: Sri Aurobindo wants to bring the power of God into the human body.
M: If, after surrendering, one still has this desire, then surrender
has not been successful. If one has the attitude, ‘If the higher power
is to come down, it must come into my body’, this will only increase
identification with the body. Truly speaking, there is no need of any
such descent. After the destruction of the I-am-the-body idea, the
individual becomes the form of the absolute. In that state, there is no
above or below, front or back.
Q: If the individual becomes the form
of the absolute, then who will enjoy the bliss of the absolute? To
enjoy the bliss of the absolute, we must be slightly separate from it,
like the fly that tastes sugar from a little distance.
M: The bliss
of the absolute is the bliss of one’s own nature. It is not born, nor
has it been created. Pleasure that is created is destroyed. Sugar, being
insentient, cannot taste itself. The fly has to keep a little distance
to taste it. But the absolute is awareness and consciousness. It can
give its own bliss, but its nature cannot be understood without
attaining that state.
Q: Sri Aurobindo wants to bring down to earth a new divine race.
M: Whatever is to be attained in the future is to be understood as
impermanent. Learn to understand properly what you have now so that
there will be no need of thinking about the future.
Q: Sri Aurobindo says that God has created various kinds of worlds and is still going to create a new world.
M: Our present world is not real. Each one sees a different imaginary
world according to his imagination, so where is the guarantee that the
new world will be real? The jiva [the individual person], the world and
God, all of these are relative ideas. So long as there is the individual
sense of ‘I’, these three are also there.
From this individual
sense of ‘I’, from the mind, these three have arisen. If you stop the
mind, the three will not remain, but Brahman alone will remain, as it
remains and abides even now. We see things because of an error. This
misperception will be rectified by inquiring into the real nature of
this jiva. Even if this jiva enters Super mind, it will remain in the
mind, but after surrendering the mind, there will be nothing left but
Brahman. Whether this world is real or unreal, consciousness or inert, a
place of happiness or a place of misery, all these states arises in the
state of ignorance. They are not useful after realization.
The
state of 'Atmanishta' [being fixed in the Self], devoid of the individual
feeling of ‘I’, is the supreme state. In this state there is no room for
thinking of objects, nor this feeling of individual being. There is no
doubt of any kind in this natural state of being-consciousness-bliss.
So long as there is the perception of name and form in oneself, God
will appear with form, but when the vision of the formless reality is
achieved there will be no modifications of seer, seeing and seen. That
vision is the nature of consciousness itself, non-dual and undivided. It
is limitless, infinite and perfect.
When the individual sense of ‘I’ arises in the body, the world is seen. If this sense is absent, who then will see the world?
-RAMANA MAHARSHI
