show frame | show page separately

Brahma, Purusha, Ishwara
(Book 2 Chapter II)

 

Introduction
Sri Aurobindo has earlier explained how Supermind is the creator of the universe through its comprehending and apprehending power, deploying Real Ideas through cosmic determinates. Now he reveals the source of that determination, in particular the role played by Sat (Existence, Being) of Satchitananda in the creation; the creative process.

We will learn that Sat has three distinct divisions -- Atman (self), Purusha, and Ishwara -- and three corresponding powers -- Maya, Prakriti, Shakti for enabling the universe, with various capacities to conceive and execute in the creation process. Sri Aurobindo then goes on to explain how out of Existence (Sat) emerges infinity, finite, time, timelessness, eternity, etc, explaining the nature each.

Sri Aurobindo also discusses the nature of the Infinite consciousness (the Reality, the Absolute) and its cosmic workings and logic -- essentially the "Logic of the Infinite." He says that only when we connect to our deepest consciousness within (Soul), and then rise to Supramental perception can we know the Infinite's true workings and become its instruments for bringing out the infinite in life as a practical concept.

He concludes by describing our capacity to engage The Third Dimension of Time (Simultaneous Time), our ultimate time consciousness and capacity in life.

 
Here are the main points in greater detail:

The Nature of Sat
In this chapter Sri Aurobindo describes the nature of Sat (Being, Existence) (of Sat-Chit-Ananda) and its purpose in creation (in the involution), as well as its role in our overcoming our divided nature (in the evolution).

I. The Capacities and Powers of Sat (Existence, Being) to Create a Universe
Sri Aurobindo has explained in earlier chapters how Supermind is the creator of the universe through its comprehending and apprehending power. It deploys the Real Ideas through cosmic determinates. He now goes back to the source of the determination in Sat-Chit-Ananda, in particular the role played by Sat (Existence, Being) in the creation, the creative process.

In the table below we see the role of Sat, as the first "manifestation" of Brahman. It contains three aspects: Atman (Self), Purusha (Conscious Being, Witness, Spirit, Soul), and Ishwara (Divine Being, Creator).

THE ABSOLUTE (Brahman, The Omnipresent Reality)
(Sat) Existence (Being)	(Chit) Conscious-Force	(Ananda) Delight
1. Atman (Self) -- 2. Purusha  (Conscious Being, Witness, Spirit, Soul) -- 3. Ishwara (Divine Being, Creator)	Knowledge, Will V Energy, Life V The Universe	Beauty Bliss Love

Each of these three have what we might call powers of deployment. Atman has the power of Maya to create the Many out of the One. Purusha uses the power of Prakriti (Nature) for its unfolding in life, and Ishwara uses the power of Shakti (force, power) in the process of creation of the forms of the universe.

In considering the power of these items to create, there are two aspects to consider -- the power to creatively conceptualize ("imagine"), and the power to dynamically execute (i.e. to act and make happen.) Atman (Self) through the power of Maya has the capacity to create/imagine possibilities, but not to execute and make them happen. Purusha (Conscious Being, Witness, Spirit, Soul) through the power of Prakriti (Nature) in the universe has the capacity to execute to create the forms in the universe, but not to be conceptively creative/imagine . However, the third aspect, Ishwara (Divine Being, Creator), working through the power of Shakti has the capacity to be both conceptively creative/imaginative and to execute those capacities in a created universe. In fact, it does so, as is explained in the chapter. This is all summarized in the following table:

SAT (Existence, Being)
Division of Sat:	Atman (Self)	Purusha (Conscious Being, Witness)	Ishwara (Divine Being, Creator)
Power Used:	Maya	Prakriti (Nature)	Shakti (Force)
The Power's Capacity:	Conceptually Creative	Dynamically Executive	Conceptually Creative & Dynamically Executive

The Nature of Atman, Purusha, and Ishwara in Greater Detail
Sri Aurobindo returns to explain the nature of these three aspects and its power in greater detail.  Click here to see the details.

Reuniting with the Divine Mother Connects Us with the Ishwara & Overcomes our Divided Nature
Through the involution the Consciousness and the Force were divided causing us to be divided being, inconscient and at the whim of Nature (Prakriti). To reunite them we reconnect with the Ishwara (the Divine Being) through the Divine Mother.

Sri Aurobindo explains how each of these three aspects/determinants of Existence are related to our lives. E.g. when we connect with the Divine Being (the Ishwara) through the Divine Mother, we move from our current state of inconscience born of matter to a state of consciousness. Now we are dominated by Nature (i.e. Prakriti, which is sort of the opposite of Purusha, the Conscious Being/spirit). When we open to the Divine Being (Ishwara) through the Divine Mother, we move in life from the domination of Nature (Prakriti) to Witness/Spirit (Purusha). We also reunite the Force with the Consciousness (which was divided in the process of involution).

---

II. Logic of the Infinite
Sri Aurobindo also discusses in detail the nature of the Infinite (including the above arrangement) and our capacity to understand it. The Infinite seems to be akin to Brahman, the Absolute -- immutable, ineffable, etc. It has its own cosmic workings and logic. However, our minds are not capable of perceiving that logic. It knows its own logic. Only when we come to our deepest consciousness (soul), and rise to Supramental perception can we know the Infinite's true workings.

• The Supreme and Eternal Infinite determines itself to our consciousness in the universe by real and fundamental truths, which can best be seized by spiritual intuition and beyond.

• The truths of the reality can be ceased by an intuitive sense. Their ideas can be expressed in a language that is intuitively metaphysical and revealingly poetic. [We can express this in language. Knowing this is the Logic of the Infinite.]

The Nature of the Infinite
Sri Aurobindo goes on to explain the nature of the Infinite. Click here to see.

The Infinite Creates through Self-Conception, Self-Limitation, and Self-Absorption
Click here to see the details.

---

IIIa. The Nature of Infinity, Finite, Time, Timelessness, Eternity, Etc.
Sri Aurobindo then goes on to explain how out of Existence (Sat) emerges infinity, finite, time, timelessness, eternity, etc. All of these are determined by Existence. Click here to see the details

b. The Third Dimension of Time (Simultaneous Time)
We can have our ultimate perception of time by having the triple time vision. It is the simultaneous embracing of three views of eternity: (1) the experience of the timelessness (of the eternal Being) as the Rishis' experienced it; (2) the eternity of seeing the past, present, and future in the eternal now; (3) and experiencing the eternity of time in the unfolding of time in our lives (the Becoming). Perceiving the integration of the three simultaneously is the Third Dimension. It is experienced when we connect with our evolving soul within. (The Third dimension also has further reconciliations beyond just time.) Click here to see the details.

-----------------

Now Sri Aurobindo explains how Existence (Sat of Sat-Chit-Ananda) is what determined the creation of the universe [through the power of Consciousness-Force (Chit of Sat-Chit-Ananda), using the instrument of Supermind]. He also explains how we became divided beings in that process, and how we connect back to Existence through the Divine Mother to overcome our divided nature. He also explains the origins and nature of space and time, and how we can learn to acquire the triple time vision ("The Third Dimension") within.

The Determiner of the Deployment of the Universe is Existence (Sat)
In the chapters throughout the book beginning with "Conscious Force" he has explained in essence the deployment of the powers of the Absolute in the universe. Conscious Force (of the triune Existence, Conscious-Force, Delight) divided into, deployed into Knowledge and Will and continued the process by which energy, force, matter, animus of life, and mind emerged. The whole creation, i.e. the enabling of the universe (i.e. the involution) and its evolution thereafter can be seen as issuing from Conscious Force. But what determined the process of creation in the first place?  The answer is that it was deployed by Sat. Sat determined the universe? He goes on to explain how by explaining the three aspect of Sat -- Atman (self), Purusha (Witness, Spirit), and Ishwara (Creator). -The (1) Absolute/Atman/Self aspect of Existence is beyond all limitations, indeterminate, the Source Being. It can conceive the universe, but cannot execute it. There is also the (2) Spirit or Witness consciousness (Purusha), a step closer to something we can identify (i.e. the spirit). It can stand back from creation, be a detached witness of it, and execute/initiate the process of creation. However, it cannot conceive it, which the Absolute state can. The (3) Creator (Ishwara) is the third aspect of Existence (Sat, being), and it can conceive and execute creation. Ishwara will conceive and execute creation (i.e. the universe). The Ishwara is the creator, the Divine Being which directs and controls all existence. (The Supermind -- the fourth aspect beyond Existence, Conscious-Force, Delight -- will be the instrument of the Creator aspect of Existence (Ishwara) to create the universe out of the Conscious Force.)

-Note that these three aspects are the same as the three cosmic determinants emanating from Existence (i.e. Being/Sat, of the triune Existence, Conscious-Force, Delight).

Practical Concept of Infinity
He also explains the overall Infinite nature of Existence (Sat). He describes that the Infinite nature of Existence/the Being is resolved in a Practical Concept of Infinity that we can bring into out lives. We can practically bring the infinite aspects of the Infinite Existence/Being into the finite of our lives, enabling a Divine Life.

Conscious Force (Chi) is the Power of Existence (Sat)
He states that the Conscious-Force (Chit) is the power of this Existence/Being (Sat).

 

[DETAILS]
 

THE NATURE OF THE INFINITE (EXISTENCE)

• The Logic of the Infinite is a greater spiritual logic that the mind of its own limited life-logic cannot follow. A higher-than-mind consciousness is thus needed. Mind, as an instrument of the Ignorance, cannot know the logic of the infinite. But an infinite consciousness can.

• "Reason with its partial vision sets up constructed conclusions which it strives to turn into general rules of knowledge and action and it compels into its rule by some mental device or gets rid of what does not suit with it; an infinite Consciousness would have no such rules."

• The Infinite is not just a multitude but also a boundless totality and a multitude. [i.e. The Infinite is more than the infinite behind every finite, but is a boundless totality if infinite possibility.]

• The Infinite is One in an unbound variety.

• The Infinite does not create; it manifests what is in itself, in its essence of unity.

• The Infinite self-limited itself which is expressed in the cosmic and the individual?

• The Infinite has a static status of pure being and a dynamic status.

• The Infinite is indeterminable [i.e. nothing determines It], yet that is so within its own self-determination.

• The Infinite consciousness is self-limiting, and self-absorbing, which is the basis of Maya.

SELF-CONCEPTION, SELF-LIMITATION, SELF-ABSORPTION
The Infinite consciousness has not only a power of (1) self-determination, but of (2) self-limitation. The self-limitation would be an individual specialization from out of a common universality or totality. Each self-determination has its own self-truth; it's own self-limitation from out of the universal totality. (3) Self-absorption is a third power of the Infinite Consciousness; a plunging into itself; in which all would be involved. It is the triune of infinity. The knowledge and inner consciousness would be lost in pure being.

• The self-absorption is the state (in existence) we call the inconscience.

• One is concentrated, self-absorbed in the one thing one has self-limited oneself to.

• [We see these three also in the individual. I self-conceive that which I wish to be (self-conception), select that element that I am interested in (self-limitation), and completely focus my energies on that which I selected and limited myself to (self-absorption).

THE NATURE OF ATMAN (SELF), PURUSHA (WITNESS), ISHWARA (CREATOR)

 

EXISTENCE (Sat)
1. Brahman/Atman (Self) The original, undefinable, infinite condition Self-Conscious Being Supports, informs It can conceive (the universe), but not execute. Conceptually creative through the power of Maya. (The Higher Maya perceives the unity and interrelationship of the One and the objects of creation.) As Existence (Sat) the Absolute (Brahman) moved toward manifesting in the universe by its own awareness of its own existence and its infinite potentials for creation.	2. Purusha Conscious Being, Spirit Existence also has the capacity to stand back from its creation, i.e. be a detached Witness. Witness, experiences It can execute (the universe), but not conceive. It is dynamically executive through the power of Prakriti (Nature)	3. Ishwara Divine Being, God Transcendent & cosmic consciousness Creator, leader, Wills, governs, posses its world of manifestation It can conceive and execute (the universe). It is both conceptually creative and dynamically executive through the power of Shakti (and therefore has greatest power).

• The Infinite resolves into three aspects; Atman (Self), Purusha, and Ishwara.

• Atman is the first aspect (of Brahman, the Absolute). It is the Self. It supports and informs. It is conceptually creative through the power of Maya

• The 2nd aspect of the Being is Purusha, which is the Self as Witness, the Conscious Being, the Being, the Spirit. It experiences. It is dynamically executive through the power of Prakriti (Nature)

  • In life Purusha becomes free when we draw back from Nature (Prakriti). Nature (Prakriti) is energy apart from consciousness; matter in its primal basis of action; inert mechanical consciousness. It is inconscient energy in the material world. Even Nature (Prakriti) has the consent of the Being. The Purusha (Self-Conscious Being, Spirit) and the Prakriti (Nature) aspects are seen in relationship to one another.

• The 3rd aspect of Existence/being is Ishwara. It is the Divine Being, the Creator. It is Existence in its transcendental and cosmic consciousness. It wills, governs, posses its world of manifestation. It is both conceptually creative and dynamically executive through the power of Shakti (and thus has the greatest power, as when we connect to it).

  • Unlike the Divine view, the view of Ishwara, our view of the governance of the world is anthromorphic and mechanical [e.g. God as a kind of glorified man, or the scientific view of a universe merely acting according to fixed material laws.]

  • Our surrender must be to the Divine Being (the Ishwara) through the Divine Mother.

  • There is a determination of Ishwara, the Divine Being on the individual and Soul. [We find our highest self, when we surrender to the Divine Being, the Ishwara through the Divine Mother.]

• The Divine Mother manifests as a dual principle: Supreme Consciousness Force that can intervene from above and Executive Nature that works from below.

• Consciousness-Force is the basis of the universe. But in the movement towards creation the Consciousness gets separated from the Force, leading to the inconscience in the universe. When we get in touch with the Divine being, the Ishwara, we enable the Force to be reunited with the Consciousness; we move away from the inconscient; and we get in touch with our Highest Self. We surrender to the Divine Mother to surrender to the Divine Being (Ishwara).

• There is a connection between Existence/the Being and its three aspects, and the Conscious Force (and its aspects).

• Conscious Force is the power of Existence/the Being.

 

TIME, TIMELESSNESS, ETERNITY, SPACE, SUBJECTIVITY, OBJECTIVITY, ETC.

• There are two sides of the nature of the Absolute; the essential and the self-creative, dynamic.

• Perhaps one of the things that this chapter is saying is that there are three expressions of the Infinite; the individual, the cosmic, universal, and the transcendent; and from the standpoint of any one, it expresses both itself and the other two. E.g. as an individual I can express myself as an individual self, as the cosmic, and the transcendent. Thus the individual consciousness can see itself as limited and separate (individual), but it can also know itself as universal, as well as transcendent beyond the universal. The same for the other two.

• There are three aspects of the Divine, Brahman, God. There is Being, Becoming, and Being in the Becoming. Being is the essential spiritual nature of the Divine. Becoming is universal existence; i.e. life and Nature in the cosmos. Being in the Becoming is the spirit in Life, Nature. 

• In terms of Time we can say that that there is Timelessness, Time, and Timelessness in Time. Timelessness is of the Being. Time is of the Becoming, and Timelessness in Time is of the Being in the Becoming.

• There is an Eternity in the Timeless, which is an immobile status, and an Eternity in Time, which is of motion in status. [Simultaneous Time eternity.]

• Space is Brahman self-extended for the holding together of forms and objects. Time is Brahman self-extended for the deployment of the movement of self-power, carrying forms and objects.

• There is a different Time and Space for each status of our consciousness [matter, vital, mind, etc.]; even different movements of Time and Space within each status.

• Each state of consciousness has a different time relationship. E.g. time in Mind Space, or Time in Physical Space. Time moves quickly or slowly depending on the consciousness.

• Time depends on the consciousness and position of the observer.

• There are even different speeds of time at various planes within, including in dreams, where time moves quickly (e.g. in seconds.)

• Subjectivity and objectivity are 2 sides of our consciousness.

• Both Time and Space are the original spiritual extension.

• Time has no objective reality, but subjectively depends on the status of the consciousness. [whereas space is objective in that sense.]

• The original status of Time is the eternity of the Eternal. The fundamental truth of Space is the infinity of the Infinite.

THE THIRD DIMENSION INTEGRATION OF TIME

• We can have our ultimate perception of time by having the triple time vision. It is the simultaneous embracing of three views of eternity (1) the eternity of timelessness (in Being), (2) the eternity of seeing the past, present, and future in the eternal now (in Becoming of life), (3) and experiencing the eternity of time as we normally know time (in Becoming). Perceiving the integration of the three simultaneously is the Third Dimension. It is experienced when we connect with our evolving souls within.

• When I experience spirit and live a life devoid of involvement of life, I experience Being. I live in the Timelessness of Being. When I live, am involved in the world I am in the Becoming. I live in Time in the Becoming. When I experience spirit in my actions in life I am living in the Being of the Becoming; the Timelessness in Time. 

• When I do the latter, I open the portals of the miraculous, the infinitely possible, the infinitely accomplished, and the subtle and causal responses of life.
  
  [This concept we have rendered from the chapter.]

[Additional Points]

REITERATION OF PREVIOUS STATEMENTS

• The Supreme and Eternal Infinite determines itself to our consciousness in the universe by real and fundamental truths, which can best be seized by spiritual intuition and beyond. (This is covered in the previous chapter.

• The truths of the reality can be ceased by an intuitive sense. Their ideas can be expressed in a language that is intuitively metaphysical and revealingly poetic. (We can express this in language. Knowing this is the Logic of the Infinite.)

• Brahman is all: the one and the Many, Timelessness and Time, Not Space and Space, Causality, and Cause and Effect.

• Brahman is the transcendent that sustains the cosmos; the Cosmos, i.e. the Universal that upholds all being; and the True Self, the Psychic entity of the individual.

• As a result of the Conscious-Force put out by the transcend, Brahman is Universal Self and Individual Self. We meet, experience the Reality in these three ways.

• The triune aspect of the reality is transcendent, universal, and Individual Self. The Infinite can express itself as Transcendent, Universal, and Individual.

• The individual consciousness can see itself as limited and separate (individual), but it can also know itself as universal, as well as transcendent beyond the universal.

• This parallels how the One experiencing itself from above as transcendent, between in the Cosmic Self, and from below in the individual conscious being.

• The One is aware of itself simultaneously in all three.

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS:

• [Conceived by MSS] We can develop right examples from life to explain Brahman/Atman; Purusha, Ishwara. They will make knowledge of these precise and perfect. Here are three examples:
   

  • I. Man in life -- Time -- uses his Mind -- realises Brahman/Atman (Self). [Man uses his mind to perceive his existence in time.]
    
    Rishi -- Timelessness -- sees from Overmind -- realises Purusha. [The spiritual-oriented Rishi realizes timelessness as he stands apart from life in spirit.]
    
    Supramental -- simultaneous -- sees from the Supermind -- realises Ishwara. [The supramentalized individual lives in the timelessness of time and the timelessness of eternity, bringing the infinitely, creative, dynamic spirit into life?]
     
  • II. Man in life acquiring the power of Rishi lives in simultaneous integrality of the Divine Life.
    Simply put, the Rishi in life brings the purity of spirit to human life making it into Divine life.
     
  • III. a) An employer who disciplines his organisation.
    b) An employer who sees his company through the eyes of the employees and customer develops the inner strength of SILENCE that moves the employees' acts as he wishes.