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Note on Book I, The Life Divine

 

April 12, 2005

  • p. 99 "Just as Sachchidananda moves towards....which eternally exists" - Man seeks the objects that express Sachchidananda but misses Sachchidananda.
  • p. 97 "That which is common to all is....development of delight." Seek the solution for ethics not in the human being but in what is common to the animal, man and supra human.
  • p. 5 "It is better and more rational to accept ... self-guiding will." The cosmic necessity cannot be escaped.
  • p. 12 "When we speak of it as unknowable....supreme effort of consciousness." What cannot be known by thought can be known by consciousness, as it is the origin of thought. Reconciliation of Matter and Spirit in cosmic consciousness.
  • p. 24 The entire last para. Four supreme points:
  • 1. Reconcile ‘One without a second' with ‘All this is Brahman'.
  • 2. Ascent must be understood in terms of descent.
  • 3. The scientist has not fully understood science as the Sannyasi has understood the Spirit.
  • 4. Aryan balance.
  • p. 30 "In any case, as the perfect man....and the universe." Reconciliation in Transcendent consciousness.
  • p. 36 "Life exists in Brahman in order to discover Brahman in itself." To fulfil God in man's life.
  • p. 40 "The divine soul reproduces itself....bodies." The birth of the spiritual individual in the universe.
  • p. 37 "The nodus of Life.....supracosmic" Life is the centre of the universe.
  • p. 46 "But Man cannot....rest permanently until he reaches some highest good." Man, not gods or the animal can unite the subconscient and the Superconscient.
  • p. 52 "States of consciousness there are...substantial experience." Death, pain and evil are not inevitable.
  • p. 61 " To correct the errors of the sense mind ....beings." Intuition is Reason devoid of sense impressions.
  • p. 70 The complete para starting with "Nevertheless.....of India."
  • p. 77 "Becoming is the only being," Being and Becoming are one.
  • p. 78 The whole of the last para - central question
  • p. 82 "However the phenomenon...forms of Force." Force meeting Force generates Form. Form meeting Form generates consciousness.
  • p. 89 The whole of the 2nd para There is no waste in Nature.
  • p. 113 The whole para beginning, "Thus by the very nature..." This is the key to the creation.
  • p. 120 "But it is only when...mental limitation." Overcome reason to know the process of creation.
  • p.128 "By the Idea it develops...indivisible unity" How the Supermind creates.
  • p. 136 "This then is the first operative principle of the divine Supermind....all-inhabiting." Operative principle.
  • p. 145 "The first founds the inalienable unity of things...separate ego." The three statuses of Supermind.
  • p. 154 "For these three are aspects of the one Existence." Definition of the Divine Soul.
  • p. 166 "Thus separate, Mind perceives....of the Infinite." Definition of the Mind.
  • p. 175 "But we see that...the name of Life." Definition of Life.
  • p. 197 "Therefore in capacity is necessary...an impossible cosmic situation." The knot of the cosmic situation.
  • p. 205 "But here it has not yet attained...its own individual..." Character of Love.
  • p. 216 "For only by developing a mind...his own universal self." Solution for life lies in universalisation.
  • p. 223 "Self-knowledge is impossible...to our surface being." The essential point where Integral yoga branches off from the tradition.
  • p. 239 The whole of the last para. Study the following points:
  • Extension of the Being in the universe.
  • Creation of substance.
  • Self-creative action of cosmic mind and cosmic life.
  • Division and aggregation.
  • Matter, Life and Mind are Brahman.
  • Creation of Form and the Force hidden in the Form.
  • Consciousness hidden in the Force.
  • Take note of the four reversals of Being into Matter, force into consciousness, Delight into the painful work of discovery and the gross going into subtle everywhere.
  • Examine the phrase "objective basis of".
  • cf: Vol. 12 of the Centenary set of Sri Aurobindo's work, p. 23, first line, "projected in Itself this luminous shadow". This para explains the secret of creation the Rishis missed. The secret is: Sachchidananda created the world by objectifying Itself.
  • Supermind is the objective status of Sachchidananda.
  • Again the same Vol. 12, p. 21, "And the second Trinity Satyam, Jnanam, Anantam "Objective expression".
  • Ch. XXV, Knot of Matter - Ignorance, inertia, division are the obstacles for the transformation of Matter.
  • Ch. XXVI, The Ascending Series of Substance - All the 7 planes are of the same substance. It enables evolution.
  • Ch. XXVII, The Sevenfold Chord of Being
  • The inversions are:
  • Sat - Matter
  • Chit - Life
  • Ananda - Psychic
  • Supermind - Mind
  • The central points to be kept in Mind:
  • The reason for creation - seeking of delight by self-discovery. p. 410 whole of last para.
  • The constitution of Ego.
  • The difference between Self, Soul, Being.
  • The importance of the a) Transcendent, Universal, Individual, b) impersonal, personal, c) surface and subliminal, d) surface mind, inner mind, subliminal mind - psychic cave.
  • The seven Ignorances.
  • The reversal at each stage of transition. Various forms of reversal
  • Mind to emotion - rationality is the key.
  • Physical mind to subtle Mind - Silent will and secrecy
  • Body to Mind - possession to possessiveness.
  • Mind to Soul - Silence
  • Soul to psychic - action in the state of Silence.
  • All yogas so far were on the surface, ego, partial. Integral yoga is in the subliminal, whole. Man did yoga so far. Now God in him takes it over.
  • Consecration passes through such reversals.
  • Intellectuality - insight - intuition - integral experience (somewhere in the Chapter on ‘Pure Existent' it is explained).
  • Changing levels:

-- Surface Mind - Karma - faith in Nature

-- Faith in God - Inner Mind - karma - Rishi - Grace

-- Still one has faith in himself, dissolves to reach God. He believes in his capacity. Giving up that faith,   grace becomes Supergrace.

-- Subliminal cave - faith in the evolving Spirit (matter) - losing faith in oneself - Grace changes into Supergrace.

By accepting Mother, surrendering our faith in our own capacity, we become qualified to receive Supergrace which acts instantaneously. Shifting from the outer to the inner, ages become a moment, Mind becomes Supermind. With the above ten points in the mind, The Life Divine will reveal its full knowledge to the reader.



story | by Dr. Radut