-08_Chapter 7.htm

Chapter 7

Spiritual Attainments

If mankind could but see though in a glimpse of fleeting experience what infinite enjoyments, what perfect forces, what luminous reaches of spontaneous knowledge, what wide calms of our being lie waiting for us in the tracts which our animal evolution has not yet conquered, they would leave all and never rest till they had gained these treasures. But the way is narrow, the doors are hard to force, and fear, distrust and scepticism are there, sentinels of Nature, to forbid the turning away of our feet from her ordinary pastures.

SRI AUROBINDO

Spirituality is in its essence an awakening to the inner reality of our being, to a spirit, self, soul which is other than our mind, life and body, an inner aspiration to know, to feel, to be that, to enter into contact with the greater Reality beyond and pervading the universe which inhabits also our own being, to be in communion with It and union with It, and a turning, a conversion, a transformation of our whole being as a result of the aspiration, the contact, the union, a growth or waking into a new becoming or new being, a new self, a new nature.

SRI AUROBINDO

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MASTERY.

450 Mastery

Know what the Divine wants and you will have mastery. Syzygium jumbos. White to greenish white

Self-mastery is the greatest conquest, it is the basis of all enduring happiness.

THE MOTHER

It is from within that you must become master of your lower nature by establishing your consciousness firmly in a domain that is free of all desire and attachment because it is under the influence of the divine Light and Force. It is a long and exacting labour which must be undertaken with an unfailing sincerity and a tireless perseverance.

THE MOTHER

The mastery must be a true mastery, a very humble and austere mastery which starts from the very bottom and, step by step, establishes control. In fact, it is a battle against small things, very tiny things: habits of being, ways ol thinking, feeling and reacting. When this mastery at the very bottom combine with the consciousness at the very top, then yoi can really begin to do work — not only work on yourself but work for all.

THE MOTHER

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KNOWLEDGE

By Knowledge we mean in yoga not thought or ideas about spiritual things but psychic understanding from within and spiritual illumination from above.

SRI AUROBINDO

The knowledge that seems to come to you from outside is only an occasion for bringing out the knowledge that is within you. Let all circumstances, all happenings in life be occasions, constantly renewed, for learning always more and more.

THE MOTHER

True knowledge is precisely knowledge by identity, and wisdom is the state one attains when one is in this true knowledge.

THE MOTHER

INTUITIVE KNOWLEDGE

Intuition is always an edge or ray or out leap of a superior light.

SRI AUROBINDO

451 Knowledge

Is conversant with all sides of a question, whatever it may be.

Leucaena leucocephala. Cream white

452 Intuitive knowledge

Innumerable and vast for exploration, it is pure and fragrant.

Caesalpinia coriaria. Cream to greenish white

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453 Supramental knowledge

454 Knowledge of details

455 Wisdom

453 Supramental knowledge

An infallible vision of problems.

Acacia farnesiana. Deep yellow

454 Knowledge of details

Manifold and minute, it forgets nothing.

Acacia leucophloea. Cream white

WISDOM

Wisdom is the vision of truth in its essence and of its application in the manifestation.

THE MOTHER

Wisdom looks behind the veil and sees. Reason divides, fixes details and contrasts them; Wisdom unifies, marries contrasts in a single harmony.

SRI AUROBINDO

455 Wisdom

Can only be acquired through union with the Divine Consciousness.

Albizia saman. Pink

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456 Striving towards wisdom

A bit of wisdom is welcome.

Calliandra. Several colours

457 Striving towards integral wisdom

Like everything that belongs to the creation, wisdom is progressive.

Calliandra portoricensis. White

458 Wisdom in the physical mind

A first step towards the supramental manifestation upon earth.

Calliandra haematocephala. Red

459 Integral wisdom

The wisdom one obtains through union with the Divine.

Albizia lebbeck. Cream white

458 Wisdom in the physical mind

459 Integral wisdom

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INSPIRATION

460 Inspiration

Brings its manifold gifts to him who knows how to receive them.

Aristolochia littoralis. Cream white and maroon

461 Lasting inspiration

Waits patiently to be received.

Aristolochia ringens. Yellow green

Inspiration is a slender river of brightness leaping from a vast and eternal knowledge; it exceeds reason more perfectly than reason exceeds the knowledge of the senses.

SRI AUROBINDO

There are different kinds of knowledge. One is inspiration, i.e. something that comes out of the knowledge planes like a flash and opens up the mind to the Truth in a moment. That is inspiration. It easily takes the form of words as when a poet writes or a speaker speaks, as people say, from inspiration.

SRI AUROBINDO

[Inspiration] is like a tiny little stream or a few falling drops and these drops are so pure, so brilliant, so complete in themselves, that they give you the sense of a marvellous inspiration, the impression that you have reached infinite domains and risen very high above the ordinary human condition. And yet this is nothing in comparison with what is still to be perceived.

THE MOTHER

461 Lasting inspiration

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REVELATION

Revelation is the direct sight, the direct hearing or the inspired memory of Truth, drishti, shruti, smriti; it is the highest experience and always accessible to renewed experience. Not because God spoke it, but because the soul saw it, is the word of the Scriptures our supreme authority.

SRI AUROBINDO

The Vedic seers seem to speak of two primary faculties of the "truth-conscious" soul; they are Sight and Hearing, by which is intended direct operations of an inherent Knowledge describable as truth-vision and truth-audition and reflected from far-off in our human mentality by the faculties of revelation and inspiration.

SRI AUROBINDO

Revelation is greater than inspiration – it brings the direct knowledge and seeing; inspiration gives the expression, but the two are not always equal.

SRI AUROBINDO

462 Revelation

The true revelation is the revelation of the Divine.

Costus speciosus. Rose purple

463 Integral revelation

Half-way to transformation.

Costus speciosus. White

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CONSCIOUSNESS

Consciousness is a fundamental thing, the fundamental thing in existence — it is the energy, the motion, the movement of consciousness that creates the universe and all that is in it – not only the macrocosm but the microcosm is nothing but conscious- ness arranging itself.

SRI AUROBINDO

Consciousness is made up of two elements, awareness of self and things and forces and conscious-power. Awareness is the first thing necessary, you have to be aware of things in the right consciousness, in the right way, seeing them in their truth; but awareness by itself is not enough. There must be a Will and a Force that make the consciousness effective.

SRI AUROBINDO

The only thing that is truly effective is the change of consciousness; it is inner liberation through a close and constant union, absolute and inevitable, with the vibration of the supramental forces. The preoccupation of every second, the will of all the elements of the being, the aspiration of the whole being, including all the cells of the body, is this union with the supramental forces, the divine forces. And there is no longer any need at all to be concerned with what the consequences will be. What has to be in the play of the universal forces and their manifestation will be, quite naturally, spontaneously, automatically; there is no need to be concerned about it. The only thing that matters is the constant, total, complete contact – constant, yes, constant — with the Force, the Light, the Truth, the Power, and that ineffable delight of the supramental consciousness.

THE MOTHER

464 Consciousness turned towards the Light

It thirsts for the light and cannot live without it.

Helianthus. Light to deep yellow

465 Consciousness turned towards the Supramental Light

It thirsts for truth and will find its satisfaction only in the Truth.

Helianthus. Yellow orange

464 Consciousness turned towards the Light

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466 Intensity of consciousness in the full Supramental Light

It is radiant and shining in order to illumine the world. Helianthus. Yellow, double

468 Solid steadfastness in the material consciousness

467 Body-consciousness undergoing the supramental transformation

Solid and resolute, it faces all difficulties.

Helianthus. Sienna with golden yellow

468 Solid steadfastness in the material consciousness

The material consciousness has a firm and solid steadfastness.

Bombax ceiba. Deep red

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469 Attraction for the life

LIGHT

Light is not knowledge but the illumination that comes from above and liberates the being from obscurity and darkness.

SRI AUROBINDO

469 Attraction for the life

To its Attraction it tries to imitate the stars.

Curculigo orchioides. Golden Yellow

470 Light

Light and airy, it radiates.

Cestrum diumum. White

471 Light in the vital

One of the first steps on the long way.

Cestrum elegans. Light purple

LIGHT

Light is primarily a spiritual manifestation of the Divine Reality illuminative and creative; material light is a subsequent representation or conversion of it into Matter for the purposes of the material Energy.

SRI AUROBINDO

471 Light in the vital

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LIGHT

Our sense by its incapacity has invented darkness. In truth there is nothing but Light, only it is a power of light either above or below our poor human vision’s limited range. For do not imagine that light is created by the Suns. The Suns are only physical concentrations of Light, but the splendour they concentrate for us is self-born and everywhere. God is everywhere and wherever God is, there is Light.

SRI AUROBINDO

473 Light in the vital movements

474 Psychic light in the physical movements

472 Movements in the Light

This is possible only with a great sincerity.

Pentas lanceolata. White

473 Light in the vital movements

This certainly means the beginning of wisdom.

Pentas lanceolata. Mauve

474 Psychic light in the physical movements

The first step towards the transformation of the physical.

Pentas lanceolata. Vivid pink

475 Psychic light in the material movements

Essential condition for transformation.

Pentas lanceolata. Bright red

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476 Light without obscurity

All-powerful in its simplicity.

Eucharis Xgrandiflora. White

LIGHT WITHOUT OBSCURITY

Even if there is much darkness — and the world is full of it and the physical nature of man also – yet a ray of the true Light can prevail eventually against a tenfold darkness. Believe that and cleave to it always.

SRI AUROBINDO

477 Obscurity offers itself to be transformed

Obscurity tired of being obscure.

Thunbergia alata. Yellow orange to orange

478 Transformation dispels obscurity

Obscurity will disappear more and more as the transformation progresses. Thunbergia alata ‘Julietta’. Golden yellow to deep orange

479 Alchemy

Supple and plastic, ready to take any form

whatever. Hymenocallis. White

480 Occultism

Truly blossoms only when it is surrendered to the Divine.

Pancratium zeylanicum. White

481 Initiation

It is unique in the whole existence of the plant.

Yucca. White

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OCCULTISM

479 Alchemy

480 Occultism

Occultism is the knowledge and right use of the hidden forces of Nature. Occult forces are the forces that can only be known by going behind the veil of apparent phenomena – especially the forces of the subtle physical and supraphysical planes.

SRI AUROBINDO

Occultism means rightly the use of the higher powers of our nature, soul, mind, life-force and the faculties of the subtle physical consciousness to bring about results on their own or on the material plane by some pressure of their own secret law and its potentialities, for manifestation and result in human or earthly mind and life and body or in objects and events in the world of Matter.

SRI AUROBINDO

481 Initiation

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CONVERSION

482 Conversion of the aim of life from the ego to the Divine

485 Conversion of the physical mind

486 Conversion of the emotional being

Conversion: the turning of all the movements of the being towards the Divine.

THE MOTHER

When [the psychic being] is awake, it begins to take hold of the rest of the being, to influence it and change it so that all may become the true expression of the inner soul. It is this change that is called the inner conversion. There can be no conversion without the awakening of the psychic being.

SRI AUROBINDO

The spiritual conversion begins when the soul begins to insist on a deeper life and is complete when the psychic being becomes the basis or the leader of the consciousness and mind and vital and body are led by it and obey it.

SRI AUROBINDO

482 Conversion of the aim of life from the ego to the Divine

Instead of seeking one’s own satisfaction, to have service of the Divine as the aim of life.

Clivia miniata. Bright orange

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483 Conversion

The starting-point of realisation.

Hippeastrum. Many colours

484 Conversion of the mind

The mind has freed itself of its arrogance and knows that it is only an instrument.

Hippeastrum. Yellow

485 Conversion of the physical mind

Ready to understand everything and to grow continually.

Hippeastrum. Salmon orange

486 Conversion of the emotional being

It blossoms in a harmonious receptivity.

Hippeastrum. Light pink

487 Conversion of the vital

Enthusiastic and spontaneous, it gives itself unstintingly.

Hippeastrum. Dark red

488 Conversion of the physical

Compact and stable, without fluctuations.

Hippeastrum. Bright red

489 Integral conversion

Above all conflicts and struggles, in a harmonious

blossoming.

Hippeastrum. White

491 Total conversion

The whole being has given itself in all its movements.

Hippeastrum. Light red

490 Integral conversion with the help of the psychic

Sweetness mingles with resolution.

Hippeastrum. White with rose

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NEW BIRTH

When I speak of "New Birth" I am always speaking of the birth of a new consciousness.

THE MOTHER

What is called "new birth" is the birth into the spiritual life, the spiritual consciousness; it is to carry in oneself something of the spirit which individually, through the soul, can begin to rule the life and be the master of existence.

THE MOTHER

492 New birth

Birth into the true consciousness, that of the Divine Presence in us.

Origanum majorana. White

You become a new person, and whatever your path or its difficulties later on, that feeling never leaves you. It is not even something, like many other experiences, which recedes, passes into the background, leaving you externally with a kind of vague memory that is difficult to hold, a memory that grows faint and blurred

— it is not that. You are a new person and you are definitively that, whatever happens. And even all the incapacities of the mind, all the difficulties of the vital, all the inertia of the physical are unable to change this new state – a new state that makes a decisive break in the life of the consciousness. The being one was before and the being one is after, are no longer the same. The position one has in the universe and in relation to it, in life and in relation to it, in understanding and in relation to it, is no longer the same: it is a true reversal which can never be undone again.

THE MOTHER

REALISATION

Realisation is … when something for which you are aspiring becomes real to you; e.g. you have the idea of the Divine in all, but it is only an idea, a belief; when you feel or see the Divine in all, it becomes a realisation.

SRI AUROBINDO

In a more deep and spiritual sense a concrete realisation is that which makes the thing realised more real, dynamic, intimately present to the consciousness than any physical thing can be.

SRI AUROBINDO

493 Beginning of realisation

Full of promise and hope, it radiates joy and confidence.

Sesbania grandiflora. Several colours

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REALISATION

Realisations are the reception in the conscious- ness and the establishment there of the fundamental truths of the Divine, of the Higher or Divine Nature, of the world-consciousness and the play of its forces, of one’s own self and real nature and the inner nature of things, the power of these things growing in one till they are a part of one’s inner life and existence, – as for instance, the realisation of the Divine Presence, the descent and settling of the higher Peace, Light, Force, Ananda in the conscious- ness, their workings there, the realisation of the divine or spiritual love, . . . the clear perception of the relation of all these things to our present inferior nature and their action on it to change that lower nature.

SRI AUROBINDO

LIBERATION

Liberation signifies an emergence into the true spiritual nature of being where all action is the automatic self-expression of that truth and there can be nothing else.

SRI AUROBINDO

Deep, intense, convincing, common to all who have overstepped a certain limit of the active mind-belt into the horizonless inner space, this is the great experience of liberation, the consciousness of something within us that is behind and outside of the universe and all its forms, interests, aims, events and happenings, calm, untouched, unconcerned, illimitable, immobile, free….

SRI AUROBINDO

The sense of release as if from jail always accompanies the emergence of the psychic being or the realisation of the self above. It is therefore spoken of as a liberation, mukti. It is a release into peace, happiness, the soul’s freedom not tied down by the thousand ties and cares of the outward ignorant existence.

SRI AUROBINDO

494 Realisation

The goal of our efforts.

Delonix regia. Pale orange to deep red

495 Liberation

The disappearance of the ego.

Careya arborea. Cream white

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VICTORY

496 Victory

Will triumph over all obstacles.

Allamanda cathartica. Bright yellow

497 Victory in the vital

In the vital even a little victory has great consequences.

Allamanda blanchetti. Soft pinkish purple

The first victory is to create an individuality. And then later, the second victory is to give this individuality to the Divine. And the third victory is that the Divine changes your individuality into a divine being. There are three stages: the first is to become an individual; the second is to consecrate the individual so that he may surrender entirely to the Divine and be identified with Him; and the third is that the Divine takes possession of this individual and changes him into a being in His own image; that is, he too becomes divine.

THE MOTHER

497 Victory in the vital

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498 Joy of victory

It resembles victory without having its power.

Anemopaegma chamberlaynii. Bright golden yellow

499 Certitude of victory

It is not noisy but it is sure.

Catesbaea spinosa. Greenish yellow

CERTITUDE OF VICTORY

You must make grow in you the peace that is born of the certitude of victory.

SRI AUROBINDO

No human will can finally prevail against the Divine’s Will. Let us put ourselves deliberately and exclusively on the side of the Divine, and the Victory is ultimately certain.

THE MOTHER

499 Certitude of victory

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500 Transformation

The goal of creation.

Millingtonia hortensis. White

TRANSFORMATION

There are … different statuses of transformation. First is the psychic transformation, in which all is in contact with the Divine through the individual psychic consciousness. Next is the spiritual transformation in which all is merged in the Divine in the cosmic consciousness. Third is the supramental transformation in which all becomes supramentalised in the divine gnostic consciousness. It is only with the last that there can begin the complete transformation of mind, life and body – in my sense of completeness.

SRI AUROBINDO

501 Attempt towards immortality

Persistent and coordinated.

Celosia argentea. Greenish white

502 Aspiration for immortality

Pure, soaring, full of trust.

Celosia argentea. Many colours

503 Vital aspiration for immortality

Clustered, intense, but short-lived.

Celosia argentea. Purplish pink

504 Physical aspiration for immortality

Intense aspiration, but ignorant of the means.

Celosia argentea. Red

502 Aspiration for immortality

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IMMORTALITY

506 Vital immortality

505 Immortality

Forms are in perpetual transformation. Identify yourself with the Immortal Consciousness and you will become it.

Gomphrena globosa. Cream white

506 Vital immortality

It exists in its own domain, but depends on surrender to the Divine.

Gomphrena globosa. Magenta purple

509 Supramental immortality

507 Conscious vital immortality

The immortality of an organised and conscious vital being.

Gomphrena globosa. Pale lavender pink

508 Integral immortality

It is a promise; when will it be a material fact? Gomphrena globosa. White

509 Supramental immortality

It is an established fact, but few human beings have experienced it.

Gomphrena globosa. Bright orange

By immortality is meant the consciousness which is beyond birth and death, beyond the chain of cause and effect, beyond all bondage and limitation, free, blissful, self-existent in conscious-being, the consciousness of the Lord, of the supreme Purusha, of Sachchidananda.

SRI AUROBINDO

Immortality in its fundamental sense does not mean merely some kind of personal survival of the bodily death; we are immortal by the eternity of our self-existence without beginning or end, beyond the whole succession of physical births and deaths through which we pass, beyond the alternations of our existence in this and other worlds: the spirit’s timeless existence is the true immortality.

SRI AUROBINDO

510 Integral immortality

It is a promise; when will it be a material fact?

Altemanthera. White

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BEAUTY

511 Beauty arising from consecration

Let Beauty be your constant ideal: beauty of soul beauty of sentiment beauty of thought beauty of action beauty in work so that nothing comes out of your hands which is not an expression of pure and harmonious beauty. And the divine help will always be with you.

THE MOTHER

511 Beauty arising from consecration

Be sincere and absolute in your consecration to the Divine and your life will become harmonious and beautiful.

Asparagus. White

512 Static beauty

Transfixed in an immutable beauty.

Camellia japonica. Several colours

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BEAUTY

In the world of forms a violation of Beauty is as great a fault as a violation of Truth in the world of ideas. For Beauty is the worship that Nature offers to the supreme Master of the universe; Beauty is the divine language in form. And a consciousness of the Divine that is not translated outwardly by an understanding and expression of Beauty would be an incomplete consciousness.

THE MOTHER

513 Abundance of beauty

A beauty that blossoms freely and abundantly.

Rhododendron. Many colours

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514 Aristocracy of beauty

So perfectly formed that it compels admiration.

Dietes iridioides. Lavender and white

515 Aristocracy of beauty

So perfectly formed that it compels admiration.

Iris. Many colours

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516 Power of beauty

Beauty acquires its power only when it is surrendered to the Divine.

Narcissus. Yellow

517 Beauty aspiring for the supramental realisation

Beauty is no longer sufficient unto itself; it wants to become divine.

Narcissus poeticus. White and yellow

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BEAUTY

518 Pride of beauty

Likes to show itself and be admired.

Hyacinthus orientalis. Several colours

519 Modesty of beauty

It blossoms without attracting attention.

Gypsophila elegans. White

Delight is the soul of existence, beauty the intense impression, the concentrated form of delight. . ..

SRI AUROBINDO

Beauty is Ananda taking form – but the form need not be a physical shape. One speaks of a beautiful thought, a beautiful act, a beautiful soul. What we speak of as beauty is Ananda in manifestation. …

SRI AUROBINDO

Beauty is the special divine Manifestation in the physical as Truth is in the mind, Love in the heart, Power in the vital. Supramental beauty is the highest divine beauty manifesting in Matter

SRI AUROBINDO

The one rule of the gnostic life would be the self- expression of the Spirit, the will of the Divine Being; that will, that self-expression could manifest through extreme simplicity or through extreme complexity and opulence or in their natural balance, — for beauty and plenitude, a hidden sweetness and laughter in things, a sunshine and gladness of life are also powers and expressions of the Spirit.

SRI AUROBINDO

Beauty is his footprint showing us where he has passed, Love is his heart-beats’ rhythm in mortal breasts, Happiness the smile on his adorable face.

SRI AUROBINDO

519 Modesty of beauty

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520 Smile of beauty

521 Smile of Nature

520 Smile of beauty

Nature is happy to be beautiful

Prunus serrulata. White to pink

521 Smile of Nature

Nature rejoices in her beauty

Prunus dulcis. White to pink

524 Pure sense of beauty

522 Joy of beauty

Beauty is the joyful offering of Nature.

Ipomoea tricolor ‘Magenta

523 Spontaneous beauty

Delicate and magnificent, it has an incomparable charm.

Ipomoea tricolor. Rose pink

524 Pure sense of beauty

Can only be acquired through a great purification.

Ipomoea tricolor ‘Heavenly Blue’. Sky blue

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ART.

525 Art

Living only to express beauty.

Fuchsia. Several colours

526 Beauty in art

A beauty that displays itself and allows itself to be contemplated.

Paeonia. Several colours

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527 Artistic taste

Is pleased with beautiful things and is itself beautiful.

Ipomoea indica. Intense blue

ART

Art is discovery and revelation of Beauty. …

SRI AUROBINDO

Art is nothing less in its fundamental truth than the aspect of beauty of the Divine manifestation.

THE MOTHER

If you want art to be the true and highest art, it must be the expression of a divine world brought down into this material world.

THE MOTHER

In a sense spirituality is the highest art, the art of life; for it aims at creating a life of beauty pure in line, faultless in rhythm, replete with strength, illumined with light and vibrant with delight.

SRI AUROBINDO

529 Poetic ecstasy

Rare and charming is your presence.

Wisteria sinensis. Lavender

530 Distinction

Of a refined beauty, sufficient to itself.

Syringa. Several colours

528 Artistic sensitivity

A powerful aid in fighting ugliness.

Ipomoea tricolor. Blue and white

529 Poetic ecstasy

Rare and charming is your presence.

Wisteria sinensis. Lavender

530 Distinction

Of a refined beauty, sufficient to itself.

Syringa. Several colours

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531 Refinement

REFINEMENT

The preoccupation with universal beauty even in its aesthetic forms has an intense power for refining and subtilising the nature, and at its highest it is a great force for purification.

SRI AUROBINDO

531 Refinement

Little by little, coarseness is eliminated from the being.

Bitddleja davidii. Several colours

532 Refinement of habits

Orderly, clean and well-organised.

Gliricidia sepium. Pink

533 Refined taste

Pleasing and delicate, always avoids mistakes of bad taste.

Kaempferia pulchra. Pinkish lavender

532 Refinement of habits

533 Refined taste

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534 Delicacy

536 Sensitivity

535 Fragile elegance

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534 Delicacy

Charming to those of refined taste.

Coriandrum sativum. White

535 Fragile elegance

Easily troubled, needs to take care of itself.

Anemone coronaria. White

536 Sensitivity

One of the results of refinement of the being.

Malpighia glabra. Rose pink

537 Sensitivity

One of the results of refinement of the being.

Malpighia coccigera. White

538 Charm

Envelops and conquers by its unfailing sweetness.

Sambucus. Cream white

539 Lightness

Charming, but prickly at times.

Parkinsonia aculeata. Light yellow

534 Lightness

540 Idealism

Delicate and harmonious, it gives elegance to life. Centaurea cyanus. Blue

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541 Aristocracy

Incapable of baseness and pettiness, it asserts itself with dignity and authority.

Dahlia. Many colours

ARISTOCRACY

Only a few, the rare aristocrats of the earth, can really and truly think. That is now the true aristocracy, not the aristocracy of the body and birth, not the aristocracy of vital superiority, wealth, pride and luxury, not the aristocracy of higher emotions, courage, energy, successful political instinct and the habit of mastery and rule, — though these latter cannot be neglected, — but the aristocracy of knowledge, undisturbed insight and intellectual ability.

SRI AUROBINDO

DIGNITY

To do this yoga, one must have, at least a little, the sense of beauty. If one does not, one misses one of the most important aspects of the physical world. There is this beauty, this dignity of soul – a thing about which I am very sensitive. It is a thing that moves me and evokes in me a great respect always.

Yes, this beauty of soul that is visible in the face, this kind of dignity, this harmony of integral realisation. When the soul becomes visible in the physical, it gives this dignity, this beauty, this majesty, the majesty that comes from one’s being the Tabernacle. Then, even things that have no particular beauty put on a sense of eternal beauty, of the eternal beauty.

THE MOTHER

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542 Nobility

The incapacity for any pettiness of feeling or action.

Dahlia. Deep wine red

543 Dignity

Affirms its worth, but asks for nothing. Dahlia. Many colours

544 Psychic dignity

Refuses all that lowers or debases.

Dahlia. Pink

545 Supramentalised mental dignity

Tolerates no pettiness in thought turned towards the Truth.

Dahlia. Orange yellow

546 Dignity of the emotions

Not to allow one’s emotions to contradict the inner Divinity. Dahlia. Mauve pink

547 Dignity in the physical

Above bargaining.

Dahlia. Intense red

542 Nobility

543 Dignity

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553 Wealth in the vital

548 Wealth

True wealth is the wealth that one offers to the Divine.

Nymphaea. Many colours

549 Supramentalised wealth

Wealth placed at the service of the Divine.

Nymphaea. Pink

550 Wealth in the Mind of Light

Open to all higher ideas.

Nymphaea. Blue

551 Wealth under the psychic influence

Wealth ready to return to its true possessor, the Divine.

Nymphaea. White shaded pink

552 Emotional wealth

The only true emotional wealth is love for the Divine.

Nymphaea. Lavender

553 Wealth in the vital

Comes willingly to generous natures.

Nymphaea rubra. Vivid magenta pink

554 Wealth in the most material vital

Can be stable only after conversion.

Nymphaea. Deep rose red

555 Generous wealth

Likes to be given and spread far and wide.

Nymphaea. Yellow

555 Generous wealth

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WEALTH

All wealth belongs to the Divine and those who hold it are trustees, not possessors. It is with them today, tomorrow it may be elsewhere. All depends on the way they discharge their trust while it is with them, in what spirit, with what consciousness in their use of it, to what purpose.

SRI AUROBINDO

Most spiritual disciplines insist on a complete self-control, detachment and renunciation of all bondage to wealth and of all personal and egoistic desire for its possession. Some even put a – ban on money and riches and proclaim poverty and bareness of life as the only spiritual condition. But this is an error; it leaves the power in the hands of the hostile forces. To reconquer it for the Divine to whom it belongs and use it divinely for the divine life is the supramental way for the Sadhaka. . . . The ideal Sadhaka in this kind is one who if required to live poorly can so live and no sense of want will affect him or interfere with the full inner play of the divine consciousness, and if he is required to live richly, can so live and never for a moment fall into desire or attachment to his wealth or to the things that he uses or servitude to self-indulgence or a weak bondage to the habits that the possession of riches creates. The divine Will is all for him and the divine Ananda.

SRI AUROBINDO