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"The Divine Soul"

(Book 1 Chapter XVII)

 

Sri Aurobindo says that from the actions of Supermind will emerge forms that are in essence emanations and embodiments of the Spiritual reality, and that we as those forms are destined to express that Reality as Divine Souls.

He explains that there are three aspects of existence, which we mirror and embody as Divine Souls. 1. There is the entire unity of the Reality from which all emerges (which we the Divine Soul will come to express in our consciousness). 2. There is the unity of that Reality expressing in its extended status, which mirrors the unity that we as the Divine Soul express in our own individuality. 3. There is a return in the universe to the unity of the Reality through the individual forms, which we as those forms will make indicating our own true individuality.

As Divine Souls we express that spiritual Reality, that Existence in a number of ways. Living in truth, in Unity, in Delight, through Love; experiencing its individuality in terms of it Oneness with its source; knowing itself as an extension of the One; experiencing Timelessness in every moment in Time; in Knowledge and Will; in Oneness with others; in having the God experience; knowing the transcendent and the universal Divine within. [These are very similar to what he describes as 'The Gnostic Being' in the next to last chapter of the book.]

 

[DETAILS]

The Destiny of the Divine Soul to Return to Its Divine Nature

-The world has emerged from the Divine reality.

-We must also return, evolve to the Divine.

"That which came out of the Divine must return to the Divine."

-We are the Divine in the individual ascending back out of limited Nature to its own proper divinity.
 

The Three Aspects of the One Existence Mirrored by the Divine Soul

-There are three Aspects to the One Existence:
1. The entire unity (from which all emerges).
2. The extended and modified unity.
3. returning to the unity through the individuality.
[These are parallel to the three poises of Supermind.]

-The individual through soul consciousness will embody these three aspects:
1. The soul will have in the foundations of its consciousness the entire unity from which all emerges.
2. It will have the extended and modified unity within itself.
3. It will be capable of returning to the unity and contemplating from them its individuality.

-The Divine soul will  have the Delight.

-It will be free from the discords of our divided consciousness.

-These three selves of the individual will be blended into one another.

[Perhaps we can say that the Divine Soul contains and integrates the Oneness of the Infinite, the Oneness through Its Own Individuality, and the return to that Oneness through its individuality.]

Various Expressions of Consciousness by the Divine Soul

-What would be the consciousness of such a Divine Soul? Living in the truth of things; living in an inalienable unity; be like the Divine existence (but by the play of the Divine Maya; and by distinctions enjoy differences from God, yet unity with Him; embracing differences and oneness.

-That Divine Soul would be pure and infinite existence; it would be immortal beyond death; a pure, unlimited conscious in its energy; luminously tranquil; a pure and inalienable delight in it experience in Time.

-It would live eternally in the presence of the Absolute. It would always have the conscious sense of itself as manifestation of the Absolute. Its very foundation of being would be the Absolute.

-The Timeless self would be there in every moment of Time.

-It would live simultaneously in the One and the Many.

(-We actually do lie there now, but we are unaware of it.)

-It would be aware of itself at once of the infinite self-concentration, and the infinite self-extension and diffusion.

-It would know the One in its unitarian consciousness and of the One in its extended consciousness of multiplicity.

-It is aware that all variation in existence is the extension and diffusion of the self-concentrated Unity; and would perceive the Oneness in that differentiated existence.

-It knows that all that takes place in one's self will be the manifested potentialities of the One.

-It will be aware of three grades of supramental existence, and all three in their compressive unity.

-The Divine Soul will have the oneness of the transcendent and the universal Divine within its own being.

-Knowledge and Will will be there (simultaneously).

-Oneness with others souls will be there.

-The divine soul connects with others in recognizing the variety of possibilities and variety in the play -- in the delight of experience of others as if they were its own, - in experiencing that self and others are an expression of joy, Ananda of the One. This is the unity experienced.

-Utter Joy and Delight and Love through the God experience will be there. (There will be God enjoyment, Bliss.)

-One would be able experience a pure existence, consciousness, and delight mirroring those three aspects of Satchitananda. This would enable the possibility of an existence thus would ultimately be immortal, devoid of inconscience, with unlimited energy.

-One would feel one with those around one, in the unfolding of events and circumstances one is engaged in, would be open and flow with the unfoldings of life. The divine soul connects with others in recognizing the variety of possibilities and variety in the play -- in the delight of experience of others as if they were its own, - in experiencing that self and others are an expression of joy, Ananda of the One. This is the unity experienced.

[So far what Sri Aurobindo is describing as the Divine Soul is very similar to what he describes as the Gnostic Being in the next to last chapter of the book.]

How the Divine Soul Will Gain These Qualities

-But how will this Divine Soul realize itself?

-For now we can say that when there is an abolition of the seperative ego, and therefore of overcoming division, there is the possibility for the divine life for the Divine Soul. It will enable a return to Oneness, integrality, and harmony.