(by Karmayogi)
Nama Japa, repetition of Mother's name, calling The
Mother into our being are well known practices of Yoga. All these are
understood to be the same and there is a great truth in it. Still, each
practice has its own individuality and special potentialities. Occasionally
during periods of intense aspiration, one tends to continue these blissful
practices for long. What aspiration
urges him to take up will lead him incidentally to several other goals not
thought of by the devotee. Dissolution of problems, generation of fresh
capacities, sometimes fresh faculties, constant remembrance, constant Presence
making Identification for short periods possible are likely to issue out of
this benevolent practice resorted to in a moment of inspiration and maintained
by the momentum of the aspiration.
Suppose a whole family of five or seven comes forward to take up this
practice consciously and maintain it at its peak of perfection for an unbroken
seven days, what would be the inner feeling in their beings and what external
results they may encounter outside, is a question I have raised and wish to
answer in the following pages.
Sri Aurobindo said about Purna Yoga that calling is the best part of
it. If that is so, this practice must be
powerful for some reason or other.
Calling is aspiration articulated.
Aspiration collects as a force and each calling becomes an invocation
bringing Mother's Force into the being.
As the intensity of aspiration rises, it becomes difficult to
articulate. At its maximum intensity,
aspiration becomes a silent column of Agni rising from below trying to evoke a
response from the Supreme Grace. Should
one succeed in finding an inner articulation of Mother's name while at this
peak of silent magnetism, calling rises to a higher intensity and issues from
all nooks and corners of the personality, giving the call a wider amplitude to
match the greater depths from which it now springs.
Man
who stays at this level does not find the heavens very high because his inner
conditions soon begin to resemble the native endowments of high heavens. Sooner or later, it strikes him that this
great intense successful calling spread unbroken over the day, for which anyone
can congratulate himself as a high realisation, is there because he is
different form the Godhead -- The Mother -- he is calling into himself. Knowledge of his being different from Mother
stings his soul and pain issues at the thought that he is outside Her aura and
that is why he continues calling. The
stage next to intense calling is to meet moments of identification where the
necessity of calling falls away.
There is a sacred secret behind the principle of calling and we aim at
the result this secret can give us. The
human being is in its entirety, even in its perversity, Divine in its origin,
development and present existence. When
Sri Aurobindo speaks of spiritual oneness, he says that at bottom all men,
materials, etc. are one at the spiritual level, like the Central Government
office and the State Government office are essentially part of the same
government, though two such offices can be intensely at war with each other
over any small issue. Likewise, the
human being and the Divine are one and the same at the level of the
Spirit. The Divine is the whole and the
human being is the part. Hence, calling
means the part trying to reach the whole, the child crying to go back to the
mother.
The
individual human being who has forgotten his divine origin remembers now in his
inmost spirit, and the part which is awake is "calling' the Origin for
reunion. If the spiritual part is not
essentially or effectively connected with the rest of the being and the calling
of the inner spirit becomes strong enough, the spirit detaches itself from the
body and the rest of the being and reaches its Origin to attain Moksha. If the spirit is involved in the other parts
of the being and the calling becomes stronger, instead of Moksha coming to it,
calling spreads to all parts of the being with which the spirit is essentially
and effectively connected. Calling results in the continuous awakening of all
other parts of the being which join the call. At a stage when the whole being
calls, calls from all its micro-units, the very cells, calling results in
identification with the origin. Identification is the essential, desirable
first stage to final transformation.
The
power of calling and the magnitude of final transformation depend upon the
depth and the width from which the call issues, the channels used and the
amplitude of the receiving end.
Repetition of Mother's name orally is a very elementary form of calling
and it can have the minimum response of quieting a disturbed mind or solving a
problem on hand, like recovering a lost article. The above described calling
from the entire being is the most powerful. As the calling soul has several
levels from which the invocation issues, so it can be addressed to the Divine,
the Mother, one aspect of Mother, the highest power of the Supramental
Mahashakti, or the least little divinity that can readily respond to relieve
one in distress. Calling addressed to the Mahasaraswati aspect of Mother will
result not in identification or transformation, but in a powerful skill
descending perfectly like the skill of painting. There are Powers of Mother like Sincerity,
Generosity, etc., which when called will come into you.
People do not generally call from a conscious depth or address their
call to a conscious power of Mother. One
certainly does so in a specific occasion.
Generally, devotees are in a certain state, open at a certain depth. For instance, around a man's birthday, he may
be in intense adoration of Mother and be open in his emotions. He may not be fully conscious of his state. Calling Mother for him in this condition will
bring Her power into his vital and will be found as adoration of Divine
Mother. He may be writing a book or
learning to use a computer or aspiring for a political post. Calling Mother in such states will reach the
Maheshwari aspect, pouring into him the ability to write or Mahasaraswati
aspect, giving him power to perfectly learn the computer or Mahakali power
descending into him, enabling him to win political laurels.
Man is
in a hundred levels. Mother's Power
exists in a hundred levels. Each level in Man as well as Mother has infinite
horizontal dimensions. In a given case, the call may rise from the tenth level
in Man and be addressed to the twentieth level in Mother. Response and result
depend upon the strength of aspiration that meets the demand of this dimension.
Though calling can be from any level in Man to any level in Mother, for
one who wishes to take it up for seven full days along with all members of his
family, it is best he calls from the entire part of his being that is awake and
addresses it to the highest level of Mother's Divinity that he is aware of.
One
who constantly thinks of Mother in relation to anything he thinks about or one
who desires to understand any phenomenon from Mother's point of view is one whose
entire mind is awakened to Mother's Consciousness. For one to know whether he is awake in the
vital to Mother, it is enough he catches himself the next time he starts
speaking or eating. If Mother comes to
his mind before the speech issues or he begins to eat, he is one whose vital is
awake to Mother. He who involuntarily
thinks of Mother before commencing any act, like opening a pen, is one who is
awake in the physical to Her. There are
people who think of Mother as a giver of boons.
Others know Her for certain as one who gives clarity, brings silence,
and is a source of Power, etc. Each
knows the highest moment in his life with Mother and the height at which She
has revealed. Clarity is from
Maheshwari, Silence is from Mother Herself, Power is from Mahakali, and boons
are from Her external aura.
Having decided the depth and width from which he wants to call and the
height to which the call is to rise, one has to see whether the call rises
smoothly and fully reaches the end.
Before commencing the seven day period, one has to travel in this area
or rather let his call travel in this area and ascertain that the issuance,
journey and final merging with Mother are smooth, full, continuous, enjoyable
and result in expansive consciousness of an energising nature. If it is smooth, it is alright. If it is not, the alternatives before him are
to abridge the zone to a manageable level or remove the intruders of thoughts
and distractions of sights and sounds.
The most important destabilizer is the
lack of concentration. If thoughts intrude, an attempt to replace each though
by a thought of Mother will lead to neutralising the intrusion. It is easy to convince the mind that a
thought of Mother is always better than any other thought, however original it
is. Distractions of sight, sound, smell, etc., are often annoying. Bringing
Mother's Light into the vital will help remove these sensations. Lack of concentration is a bother to many.
The intensity of concentration determines the intensity of the result. Hence, concentration is of great
significance. One way to reach the
maximum concentration is to imagine Mother's Light or Figure in the calling
zone. Where the Light descends, there
will be natural concentration. An
endeavour to expand the Light will be successful to some extent. The maximum extent to which the Light is
spread is the maximum concentration available to begin with. One has to be content with that and try one
of the following alternatives.
Resort
to calling, not as part of the seven day period, but as a period of prior
preparation. During this calling, one can endeavour gently to fill in the
entire awakened zone with the Light, however tenuous it is. On the other hand, he can endeavour to call
within the available light, so that the call will take shape, form, direction,
and intensity and begin to rise. Either way, as soon as one is decided on the
minimum available energy for calling, he is ready to start the seven-day
period.
One
would like to know whether his calling is in the right direction. When you start calling, if all the energies
are focussed on the calling and all possible interferences fall away, the
beginning is in the right spirit and direction.
After a single call, if we are not in a great hurry to repeat the call,
the peace or joy or quiet that is the result of the call will be found to
spread all over the being. It is best to wait until it peters out and start the
next call after the first subsides. Initially, each call will bring a descent
that spreads all over. Later the descent and the call will slowly become
simultaneous and overlap each other. Sometimes there will be descent without
the call being there. Sometimes the call will be repeated without being
accompanied by the descent. To continue the call at this level as long as
possible is good and to see how long it continues. That period must slowly be
extended to cover one full day. This one day can be extended to seven days if
the exercise is started at this stage.
As the
early preparation for the seven-day period is on, you will see life around you
gently coming under your greater control. Your superiors are now approving of
arguments from you that your subordinates will resist. People who would
normally not obey you will now readily obey. Works that you have known for long
to be inconclusive, if undertaken by you, will for the first time be completed.
In other words, the effectivity of the mind, the vital and the physical will
have increased.
Another expression of it will be spiritual. Mind will tend to Silence involuntarily for a minute or two, joy will invade the heart, even if it for seconds, and the body will be at quiet peace for a while, forgetting its earlier tendency to fidget. In the family or office atmosphere, you can find disharmony will never rise and if it does, it quickly dissolves.
Surely, calling is not repeating Mother's name. Repetition is physical-verbal. Calling is from the Being and hence, most powerful. If repetition is verbal, silent mental repetition is mental articulation. If the entire mind is able to call, one will find Mother's name articulated by the mind, but silently. When emotions are ready to call and pass the stage of articulation, one is in a state of aspiration. Aspiration too can become silent if the entire heart calls. This is a stage of self-forgetful bliss. The cells too can call if the calling goes down to the physical. The voice of the cells can be clearly heard calling. If calling spreads all over the physical being, the cells fall silent and the call remains, giving the body an exultation. The calling can be taken up by the Being or the Spirit. There are several levels of intensity in these calls.
Nama
Japa, calling "Rama" or "
Note,
the Being being transformed into the Psychic Being is different from the Being
transformed into Mother. The stages of
transformation Sri Aurobindo has given are--
1)
Psychic transformation
2)
Spiritual transformation
3)
Supramental transformation.
Transformation into Mother, though it is on the same lines, will be
different from all these in that it will be The Mother Force at its own
level. The creative Force of The Mother
can exist at a low level of physical or vital or at a high level of overmental
or supramental. Mother speaks of Mother Nature meeting Her in Her visions. I
only underline the fact that if the whole Being calls, the chance of the Being
being transformed into The Mother at that stage emerges.
Suppose
we manage to reach great depths of being and to call from there, but the effort
is a failure to sustain the call, the result will be to envelop the whole being
with Mother's Force for the duration of the call. In practical terms, all
problems at that level will vanish and all opportunities at that level will
arise as a possibility.
A
problem at the level of mind is confusion and an opportunity at the mental
level is a new idea. If one brings down Mother's Force by calling, all
confusion in the mind will vanish and new ideas will emerge. At the vital
level, irritations will disappear and VIPs will cooperate with you. Physically, one can witness the disappearance
of disease, and the prolongation of life will make itself a possibility. Going to the very fullness, the Being will
lose its incapacities and one will get the capacity to rise above the level of
his life.
There
are nine levels of Being -- three in the mind, three in the vital and three in
the physical. Below in the first column I
give certain indication for each level.
In the second column I write down how at each level of reception of
descending Mother's Force, a condition changes into its Positive aspect. This tabular column is to explain what
happens at the nine levels of Being when Mother's Force is received by the
being's ordinary status. The first
column explains the ordinary status and the second the altered status.
Level
|
Ordinary Status
|
Changed Status
|
|
I |
I disliked the idea & didn't understand it |
I like the idea because now I understood it. |
|
II |
Unpleasantly startled. |
Pleasant surprise |
|
III |
I was stung. |
I felt uplifted. |
|
IV |
I was disturbed. |
I was beside myself with joy. |
|
V |
I felt I lost my all. |
There was a deep satisfaction. |
|
VI |
I was sucked dry. |
Inconceivable fulfilment was there. |
|
VII |
I shook in fear. |
I was thrilled. |
|
VIII |
I felt mad. |
I felt like running in joy. |
|
IX |
I fainted in distress. |
I was mad with joy and became incoherent. |
To make
the above presentation clearer, below I try to write what happens when the
Spirit touches these nine levels in another fashion, though it looks
repetitive. Negatively something
disappears and positively something arises.
I have mentioned both.
|
I |
Doubts and worries disappear. |
Clarity and confidence arise |
|
II |
Pleasant
surprises come. |
Feel a mental widening and
expansiveness. |
|
III |
Was dazed
in thought. |
Feel catapulted to heights. |
|
IV |
I was
beside myself in joy. |
Expansive joy invaded. |
|
V |
There was
deep fulfillment. |
Unmixed delight of sensations. |
|
VI |
Nothing mattered to me anymore. |
Felt light inside and was floating. |
|
VII |
Body shook with joy of delight. |
Sense of new power pervaded. |
|
VIII |
Delightfully made in disregard of society |
Felt nothing was impossible. |
|
IX |
I was lost to the world at large |
Lost even the sense of shame and would do anything for Mother. |
Mother says
that the Divine has given a special gift to Earth, i.e. matter. Matter is given the chance to reunite with
the Origin, which is a special gift to Earth and Matter. Man has lost that gift also, as he has lost
several other gifts. Mother restores that
gift too for the unconscious Man, but she does not insistently do it. She does it perhaps once. Calling is a device through which this
materialises. During our calls, they
sometimes become more intense than we intended and have a deeper
penetration. One such may open the last
door before the Origin. Such moments
occur in a flash. If man is alert at
that moment to remember Mother, Her name or Form or something of Hers, it becomes
a seminal moment and settles down there as a seed which can sprout with
nurturing. It is worthwhile to note that
Mother is different from the Origin. It
is also good not to confuse our general call which opens the Origin to us with
the special call I mention after the opening of the Origin or at the moment of
opening. It would lead to lack of
clarity if we ask what is the difference between the call that opens us to the
Origin and the one at the moment of opening.
Why is
another call necessary at all? The general call helps penetrate the Being and
leads us to the Origin. If we want that boon not to be a mere flash lost
forever but be renewable at will, if we want to convert that entry into the
Origin to a permanent passport into that region, another call just at that
moment is necessary. We pay a tuition
fee into college and complete the course. For us to take the university
examination, we again pay a special examination fee to qualify us to sit for
the examination. We do not argue, "Why pay another fee?" To be able
to enter the Origin, to be able to call Mother just when it opens, to be able
to renew the call so as to enter the Origin as and when we want to enter are no
mere simple yogic boons. Calling has that power too in its extreme effectivity.
Now, the
aspirant can decide to launch himself on a seven-day voyage into the delightful
realms of the Spirit, riding on the boat of calling. He must clearly know that
this is not the ultimate method of yoga, nor is he aiming at the highest
spiritual gift. This is a method which
anyone can follow, however humble he is, making a start from where he is. That
being the reality, this method does not aim at the final transformation. What it aims at is the highest that the given
person can aim at for his build, for his aspiration, and in the given
circumstances for him. The one condition is he should be set on aiming for the
highest possible for him. Still, if
taken along the right lines, this method can lead one into the Origin and make
that entry available to him at will.
Knowing
that limitation full well, he should take care to see that the intensity of
calling should always be kept at the maximum. That is a sine qua non. That
alone ensures its continuation. It is up to him to widen the base of calling, heighten
the maximum reach by an increased effort.
As
mentioned earlier, such a call taken to by all members of the family and
maintained for seven continuous days has several beneficial inner results and
finds the corresponding outer expressions in life. Inwardly he soon rises above being worried
and its outer life expression is that all the problems of life will vanish.
Spiritual aspects of Silence, Peace, Joy, Delight, Power emerge inside in
varying measures. They accordingly find outer expressions as original thoughts,
greater health, life rewards, success at a higher level of life and total
mastery over limited areas of outer activity.
We can
still try to explain these beatific inner conditions as beneficial family
situations. That would savour of being mercenary but will not distract us from
the inner truth. Let me endeavour to
list them out.
1)
Family income
would rise to the level as if every member of the family is earning as much as
the head of the family.
2)
Effectivity of
the family will rise to that level, as if each member has suddenly grown in his
sense of responsibility to the height of the head of the family.
3)
Fulfilments are
fleeting and come once in a way. Everyday will become a day of Life
fulfilments.
4)
Life would suck
you into its next higher level periodically--once every three years or every
year.
5)
Every meal will
be a feast.
6)
Every dress
will become the best dress you have.
7)
Every moment
will become a moment of Supreme Felicity.
8)
Every day at
home will be a festival day.
9)
Everyone we
meet will be a VIP.
10) Everyone will treat you as a
VIP.
11) Coins will be currency
notes.
12) Everyone at home will be
intimately affectionate.
13) The house will turn into the
abode of the Gods.
14) Everyone you meet will be
pleasant to see and pleasant to deal with.
15) Wishes will be order; orders
will be ordinances.
16) All facial movements will be
smiles; smiles will become divine sparks.
17) Thoughts will be
inspirations; inspirations will fulfil themselves.
18) Relationships will be
friendships; friendships will yield felicity.
19) Water will taste like milk;
milk will be amritam.
20) Food will become Prasad.
21) Your mother will be Divine
because the Divine Herself will come as your mother.
22) Stones will become precious stones;
and precious stones will become commonplace.
23) Heart will become Mother's
sanctuary; body will become the
24) Even cruelty does not hurt;
rather you are able to see the Divine Love behind it. Body will express the compassion of the heart
through its hairs standing on end.
25) Nobility of great men will
express through your behaviour; everyone except you will notice it.
26) The worthless, meaningless
Me will be seen by others as a Divine Expression. (The moment we believe others' opinions, our
worthlessness and meaninglessness will fully re-establish themselves.)
27) As grievance and falsehood
have vanished from our heart, an illusion that they are non-existent in this
world will arise.
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