Dec 2022 Newsletter - edited

December 2022 SRI AUROBINDO SOCIETY VOL 36.12 Singapore NEWSLETTER Discipline Discipline Sets the example and hopes to be followed. Ocimum basilicum Common basil, Sweet basil Tiny white bilabiate flowers lightly tinged pink with green leaves and a greenish purple calyx and stem, the latter becoming entirely purple towards the tip of the raceme. A shrubby annual or perennial culinary herb with aromatic leaves. SRI AUROBINDO (http://www.blossomlikeaflower.com/2008/02/discipline.html ) Without character, without some kind of high or strong discipline, there is no enduring power of life. SRI AUROBINDO Discipline is indispensable to progress. It is only when one imposes a rigorous and enlightened discipline on oneself that one can be free from the discipline of others. The supreme discipline is integral surrender to the Divine and to allow nothing else either in one's feelings or one's activities. Nothing should ever be omitted from this surrender - this is the supreme and most rigorous discipline. THE MOTHER It can be said that any discipline whatsoever, if it is followed strictly, sincerely, deliberately, is of considerable help, for it makes the earthly life reach its goal more rapidly and prepares it to receive the new life. To discipline oneself is to hasten the arrival of this new life and the contact with the supramental reality. THE MOTHER

Discipline Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. December 2022 Guiding Light of the Month TO Thee, supreme Dispenser of all boons, to Thee who givest life its justification, by making it pure, beautiful and good, to Thee, Master of our destinies and goal of all our aspirations, was consecrated the first minute of this new year. May it be completely glorified by this consecration; may those who hope for Thee, seek Thee in the right path; may those who seek Thee find Thee, and those who suffer, not knowing where the remedy lies, feel Thy life gradually piercing the hard crust of their obscure consciousness. 1 January, 1914 Prayers and Meditations, The Mother From the Editor’s Desk as The theme for the December issue of the newsletter is There is a movement from the “ordinary mental consciousness” to a “greater spiritual consciousness”. discipline. The Mother and Sri Aurobindo have spoken and written about this as a basic necessity to succeed in In this case, the practice of concentration is one living a fruitful life, let alone for yoga Sadhana. discipline. There is an order, a method in which this can be carried out, this act of concentrating. The The English web-dictionary defines discipline as “..the discipline involves the preparation phase, the practice of training people to obey rules or a code of focussing phase and the concluding phase of that behaviour, using punishment to correct disobedience.” intense concentration. Not only the process, the Another meaning of discipline is “a branch of regularity and the consistency with which this is knowledge”. For the purpose of this editorial, we shall carried out qualifies it as a discipline. consider the first definition of discipline. In this regard, The Mother says, “To be a man, discipline is the synonyms that are attributed to discipline are: indispensable. control, regulation, direction, order, authority, rule, strictness, routine, regimen, training, drill, exercise…” Without discipline one is only an animal. In the parlance of the English language, it is significant to note that discipline considered primarily as One begins to be a man only when one aspires to a something imposed on another, as in “…training people higher and truer life and when one accepts a discipline to obey rules..” of transformation. For this one must start by mastering one’s lower nature and its desires.” In yogic parlance, the whole approach towards discipline is quite another. It is a discipline one imposes The highest discipline then is this, the discipline of on oneself for a needed change in the being so that transformation. When one is stuck in his lower nature, progress can be. Progress here can be indicated by the animality is what surfaces. If one wants to transcend evolution of consciousness. Our means here, therefore this state of being into a higher life, with an evolved is “self-discipline”. The work that is undertaken through consciousness, then one undertakes a discipline of a particular discipline for the realisation of the self is divinising the lower nature. There are many ways. known as Tapasya. Sri Aurobindo articulates his idea One is the discipline of, “Remember and offer.” When on discipline thus, “..Yoga is a generic name for any we realise the method, the focus, the consistency and discipline by which one attempts to pass out of the limits regularity that this calls for, then are we engaged with of one’s ordinary mental consciousness into a greater an endeavour with discipline. spiritual consciousness.” Gratitude for a year of learning opportunities. www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg Discipline

Discipline Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. December 2022 www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg Savitri Even the Idea’s ample sweep was cut Into a system, chained to fixed pillars of thought Or rivetted to Matter’s solid ground: Or else the soul was lost in its own heights: Obeying the Ideal’s high-browed law Thought based a throne on unsubstantial air Disdaining earth’s flat triviality: It barred reality out to live in its dreams. Or all stepped into a systemed universe: Life’s empire was a managed continent, Its thoughts an army ranked and disciplined; Uniformed they kept the logic of their fixed place At the bidding of the trained centurion mind. Or each stepped into its station like a star Or marched through fixed and constellated heavens Or kept its feudal rank among its peers In the sky’s unchanging cosmic hierarchy. Or like a high-bred maiden with chaste eyes Forbidden to walk unveiled the public ways, She must in close secluded chambers move, Her feeling in cloisters live or gardened paths. Life was consigned to a safe level path, It dared not tempt the great and difficult heights Or climb to be neighbour to a lonely star Or skirt the danger of the precipice Or tempt the foam-curled breakers’ perilous laugh, Adventure’s lyrist, danger’s amateur, Or into her chamber call some flaming god, Or leave the world’s bounds and where no limits are Meet with the heart’s passion the Adorable Or set the world ablaze with the inner Fire. A chastened epithet in the prose of life, She must fill with colour just her sanctioned space, Not break out of the cabin of the idea Nor trespass into rhythms too high or vast. Even when it soared into ideal air, Thought’s flight lost not itself in heaven’s blue: It drew upon the skies a patterned flower Of disciplined beauty and harmonic light. A temperate vigilant spirit governed life: Its acts were tools of the considering thought, Too cold to take fire and set the world ablaze, Or the careful reason’s diplomatic moves Testing the means to a prefigured end, Or at the highest pitch some calm Will’s plan Or a strategy of some High Command within To conquer the secret treasures of the gods Or win for a masked king some glorious world, Not a reflex of the spontaneous self, An index of the being and its moods, A winging of conscious spirit, a sacrament Of life’s communion with the still Supreme Or its pure movement on the Eternal’s road. Sri Aurobindo Discipline

Discipline Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. December 2022 Discipline Sri Aurobindo answers the question, \"What is the discipline to be followed in order to convert the mental seeking into a living spiritual experience\"? A reading from Letters on Yoga, vol. II. \"The first necessity is the practice of concentration of your consciousness within yourself. The ordinary human mind has an activity on the surface which veils the real self. But there is another, a hidden consciousness within behind the surface one in which we can become aware of the real self and of a larger, deeper truth of nature, can realise the self and liberate and transform the nature. To quiet the surface mind and begin to live within is the object of this concentration. Of this true consciousness other than the superficial there are two main centres, one in the heart (not the physical heart, but the cardiac centre in the middle of the chest), one in the head...\" * Sri Aurobindo prefaces the above with this word of orientation: \"To find the Divine is indeed the first reason for seeking the spiritual Truth and the spiritual life; it is the one thing indispensable and all the rest is nothing without it. The Divine once found, to manifest Him, — that is, first of all to transform one’s own limited consciousness into the Divine Consciousness, to live in the infinite Peace, Light, Love, Strength, Bliss, to become that in one’s essential nature and, as a consequence, to be its vessel, channel, instrument in one’s active nature. To bring into activity the principle of oneness on the material plane or to work for humanity is a mental mistranslation of the Truth — these things cannot be the first or true object of spiritual seeking. We must find the Self, the Divine, then only can we know what is the work of the Self or the Divine demands from us. Until then our life and action can only be a help or means towards finding the Divine and it ought not to have any other purpose. As we grow in the inner consciousness, or as the spiritual Truth of the Divine grows in us, our life and action must indeed more and more flow from that, be one with that. But to decide beforehand by our limited mental conceptions what they must be is to hamper the growth of the spiritual Truth within. As that grows we shall feel the Divine Light and Truth, the Divine Power and Force, the Divine Purity and Peace working within us, dealing with our actions as well as our consciousness, making use of them to reshape us into the Divine Image, removing the dross, substituting the pure gold of the Spirit. Only when the Divine Presence is there in us always and the consciousness transformed, can we have the right to say that we are ready to manifest the Divine on the material plane. To hold up a mental ideal or principle and impose that on the inner working brings the danger of limiting ourselves to a mental realisation or of impeding or even falsifying by a half-way formation the true growth into the full communion and union with the Divine and the free and intimate outflowing of His will in our life. This is a mistake of orientation to which the mind of today is especially prone. It is far better to approach the Divine for the Peace or Light or Bliss that the realisation of Him gives than to bring in these minor things which can divert us from the one thing needful. The divinisation of the material life also as well as the inner life is part of what we see as the Divine Plan, but it can only be fulfilled by an outflowing of the inner realisation, something that grows from within outward, not by the working out of a mental principle.\" (Sri Aurobindo on Concentration and Discipline in Spiritual Life) www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg Discipline

Discipline Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. December 2022 Work is Great Discipline Take a very amusing instance: you want to fill a bottle from another bottle; you concentrate (you may try it as a discipline, as a gymnastic); well, as long as you are the bottle to be filled, the bottle from which one pours, and the movement of pouring, as long as you are only this, all goes well. But if unfortunately you think at a given moment: “Ah! it is getting on well, I am managing well”, the next minute it spills over! It is the same for everything, for everything. That is why work is a good means of discipline, for if you want to do the work properly, you must become the work instead of being someone who works, otherwise you will never do it well. If you remain “someone who works” and, besides, if your thoughts go vagabonding, then you may be sure that if you are handling fragile things they will break, if you are cooking, you will burn something, or if you are playing a game, you will miss all the balls! It is here, in this, that work is a great discipline. For if truly you want to do it well, this is the only way of doing it. (The Mother, Questions and Answers 1950-195) Tapasya A discipline imposed by the will for any spiritual end is tapasya. * Tapasya: a discipline aiming at the realisation of the Divine. * Mental tapasya: the process leading to the goal. * Vital tapasya: the vital undergoes a rigorous discipline in order to transform itself. * Integral tapasya: the whole being lives only to know and serve the Divine. Perfect tapasya: that which will reach its goal. www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg Discipline

Discipline Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. December 2022 * No life can be successful without self-discipline. * To be a man, discipline is indispensable. Without discipline one is only an animal. One begins to be a man only when one aspires to a higher and truer life and when one accepts a discipline of transformation. For this one must start by mastering one’s lower nature and its desires. 9 March 1972 * It can be said that all discipline whatsoever, if it is followed strictly, sincerely, deliberately, is of considerable help, for it makes the earthly life reach its goal more rapidly and prepares it to receive the new life. To discipline oneself is to hasten the arrival of this new life and the contact with the supramental reality. (The Mother, Words of the Mother II) The Third Step in the Mental Discipline: Control of Thoughts The inner control of thoughts is a further development once the poise of the witness consciousness has been attained. As the seeker observes the thoughts, he can also determine their effect in the being, and see if they lead to uplifting, widening, and harmonizing results, or whether they shrink the being back down into the ego-consciousness with all of its turmoil, disruptions and limitations. For the yogic practitioner the issue is not one of an artificial external moral or ethical code, but rather, the consciousness-impact of the thoughts that are permitted to act within the being. Sri Aurobindo related the way he was introduced to the idea of observing and rejecting the thoughts that tried to enter, and indicated that at the end of 3 days he was able to achieve silence of the mind, which in turn opened up the receptivity to higher states of receptivity and awareness. He was asked to see that the thoughts came from outside and as they tried to enter, he should reject them. This somewhat strenuous approach is not suited for everyone, and most teachers recommend simply observing without reacting and letting them glide through without being grabbed on and followed. Either way, the active or the passive means, can lead to the end result of bringing quiet, silent receptivity to the mind. The Mother recommends an approach here in her discussion of the Dhammapada verses relating to the achievement of a state of happiness rather than suffering. www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg Discipline

Discipline Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. December 2022 In the book Commentaries on the Dhammapada, The Mother provides insight into a number of verses from this classical Buddhist text. The Dhammapada states: ” ‘He has insulted me, he has beaten me, he has humiliated me, he has robbed me.‘ Those who do not nourish thoughts such as these foster no hatred.” The Mother observes: “This is the counterpart of what we read the other day. But note that this concerns only thoughts that generate resentment. It is because rancour, along with jealousy, is one of the most widespread causes of human misery. … But how to avoid rancour? A large and generous heart is certainly the best means, but that is not within the reach of all. Controlling one’s thought may be of more general use.” “Thought-control is the third step of our mental discipline. Once the enlightened judge of our consciousness has distinguished between useful and harmful thoughts, the inner guard will come and allow to pass only approved thoughts, strictly refusing admission to all undesirable elements. … With a commanding gesture the guard will refuse entry to every bad thought and push it back as far as possible. … It is this movement of admission and refusal that we call thought-control and this will be the subject of our meditation tonight.” (Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, Living Within: The Yoga Approach to Psychological Health and Growth, Disturbances of Mind, Unruly and Perturbing Thoughts, pp. 35-43) November 2022 Sunday Activities at the Centre - A glimpse 6 November 2022: Savitri Reading Circle. Invitation to Savitri 04: How to Read Savitri Lines from ‘Savitri’ were read and selected lines were re-examined and appreciated. 13 November 2022: !\"#$%&'(')*+),*-./)0'1&#$)*+)$%&)!.12(+(1& Passages from the above were read and the lines taken up for further analysis and appreciation. 20 November 2022: The Life Divine, Sri Aurobindo ‘The Pure Existent’ Chapter 9 - (Sri Aurobindo’s - ‘The Life Divine’) Sri Aurobindo begins this chapter by referring to ‘Chapter VI, Part 2, Verse1’ from ‘Chandogya Upanishad’. “One indivisible that is pure existence”. We started the session with the chanting of this verse, followed by the translation – “(Dear Child), before this world was manifest there was only existence, one without a second. On this subject, some maintain that before this world was manifest there was only non-existence, one without a second. Out of that non-existence, existence emerged”. Then we took up going through ‘Point to point summary of the entire Chapter ‘by referring to the ‘Study guide’- compiled by Dr Hutchinson’. ‘The pure existence can be known by identity, intuition, but not by thought’. Our perception of things: § Looking at one aspect or another, we make the illusion of quality, or quantity, or size. § That makes one thing greater than another. § The first reckoning we have to make is between this All and ourselves. www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg Discipline

Discipline Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. December 2022 It must be infinitely important to us, as we are to it. § To do this, we have to know it. The pure existent: § It must be infinite, since reason, experience, imagination point to no end. § Even eternity, infinity are categories or symbols of the reason. § It is indefinable. § A pure absolute, it is not summed in quantity, qualities, forms. § It can be known by identity, through intuition, though not by thought. § Movement, energy is a fact, like the pure existent. Then we went through the explanation given by Shri M.P.Pandit . (Source: Legends in the Life Divine by Shri M.P.Pandit, p.28) Behind all movements of change and cessation and reappearance there is ultimate Reality of life. We come to an indefinable Absolute that cannot be grasped by our mind nor expressed by our speech(ineffable). It is One without a second. This Oneness also projects itself as Many. The One is not a numerical one constituted of the total of the many. It is the essential One that is the substance of the All. The One does not divide itself, does not split itself for bringing out the Many. The Many are not parts of one. Each of the Many is the One itself. The One remains as the whole in each of the Many. ‘Take out the full from the full and the full remains – is the logic of the infinite which looks like magic to the finite’. The features, the qualities, that are recognisable in the Many are not lies. They are modifications of Brahman in the course of its self-revelation. But it is not bound by them. In its status of the ineffable One, Brahman is pure, the Absolute. It is a supremely real Existence from which all is derived. Brahman the Absolute is the Ever-Existent which remains the same despite all the myriad existences that appear and disappear on its bosom. 20 November 2022: Questions and Answers by The Mother The above was read and discussed. 27 November 2022: The Inner Journey – Readings and Reflections This programme did not take place - Jayalakshmi, Krishnamurthy, Jayanthy - Printed and Published by The Sri Aurobindo Society of Singapore 2A Starlight Road 01-07, Singapore 217755. Anand Venkat: 86126067 or [email protected]; Anand Patel:[email protected]; Email: [email protected] Visit our website at: www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg Discipline