A Glimpse of Sri Aurobindo’s Delight

by Karmayogi
December 26,2001

  • In the whole book of The Life Divine, Sri Aurobindo was at great pains for the reader to have a glimpse of His Vision.
  • As the psychic is in the fourth dimension, one has to move into it or open to the fourth dimension.
  • This Vision is explained by Him from every perspective, but we too must be able to see that Vision or conceive of it from the involution, evolution, Time, Self-absorption, One, The many, Knowledge, Silence, etc.
  • The last para in the chapter on Matter, especially the very last sentence does it from the point of view of Matter which He calls Delight of Existence.
  • The main argument I should like to give for the Man who is lost in his subjective selfishness is,
    • Man is subjective earth.
    • Intellectuality restores him to Matter.
    • Matter is objective Sachchidananda.
    • By self-determination, Sachchidananda is reabsorbed into The Absolute.
  • This discovery during its middle stage reveals Matter as Delight of Existence, which is the marvel Sri Aurobindo speaks of.
  • Body is earth, not Matter, being the fifth extension of Matter.
    • First extension of Matter is sound.
    • Second extension is ether.
    • Third is heat.
    • Forth is water, and
    • Fifth is earth.
  • Body is made of earth.
  • Man can begin only in his mind, i.e. in thought.
  • Mind’s ignorance rises when he is lost in thoughts, the activities of the mind. Moving further down and losing itself in life and finally in the body, Ignorance is completed.
  • When losing ourselves in the mind, we are ignorant.
  • Losing the mind in the vital, we enjoy vital superstition, i.e. social superstition.
  • Losing oneself in the body, life itself is a force of intense superstition.
  • Philosophy, agnosticism, materialism and science have fought all their lives against all these superstitions and have established the rule of rationality, logic and philosophy.
  • The intellectuality we now cherish is the crown of this effort.
  • One who enjoys a disciplined intellect has overcome the domination of the body and vital over the mind.
  • Now we have arrived at the thought of the mind untrammeled by other planes.
  • Let us arrive at the same point from above.
  • The absolute becomes Sat by self-determination.
  • Sat has several extensions.
    1. Sat extends to Chit and Ananda.
    2. Sat extends into Time and Space.
    3. Sat objectifies into Truth.
    4. In doing so, the experience of Sat is Spirit.
      • Spirit is substance, Spiritual substance.
      • Mind viewing the Spiritual substance through its senses creates material force.
      • For our purposes, this is Matter.
  • When we become an intellectual, we exercise the power of Matter whose one end is body.
  • This Matter is the basis of Sachchidananda or the formal basis of His objective action, thought and Delight.
  • The intellectuality we saw above is this Matter or material force expressing in action as thought.
  • Man, as he lives his social life, is subjective.
  • If he is selfish, he is subjectively selfish.
  • When he objectifies, he becomes an intellectual which is the action of Matter, which is itself the objective status of Sachchidananda.
  • Now let us consider the three stages of conception, perception and sensation.
  • The pure intellect is of Matter and has no insight or intuition.
  • The concept of this intellect can either be an intellectual concept or a pure concept devoid of sense impressions.
  • This is a point of important human choice.
  • Mind that understands the above definition of Matter as a concept will move to perception, if it chooses not to insist on intellectuality which means reliance on sense impressions.
  • That concept can move to become a higher perception which gives rise to insight and intuition, or insight and intuition help the concept move to perception.
  • Moving further down to Sensation, one feels gratitude, sees the vision of the Marvel He often speaks of.
  • In our work, one should by rationality and logic form the concept of work according to Sri Aurobindo and go on moving to perception and sensation.
  • The explosion of the finite into the infinite will occur the moment MIND ceases to insist on intellectuality which is material force in action.
  • Calling, meditation, etc. have created the Spiritual atmosphere.
  • To reach the goal in work, the shortest route is the one known as perfection in value implementation.
  • Practically as well as theoretically, one cannot afford to make any mistake of any type.
  • Not to err means to keep one’s formed personality, character, behaviour, manners, ideas, and attitudes severely outside this token effort.
  • It you cannot get rid of them or dissolve them, you are obliged to keep them at a very respectable distance.