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Re: God is reading
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To: alt-hindu@uunet.uu.net
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Subject: Re: God is reading
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From: hal_computer@earthlink.net (Debashish Banerji)
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Date: 16 Dec 1994 12:15:07 GMT
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From news@earthlink.net Fri Dec 16 07: 08:44 1994
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Newsgroups: alt.hindu
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Organization: HAL Computer Systems
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References: <3citsm$s5l@ucunix.san.uc.edu>
Bon Giovanni's (<bongiovanni@delphi.com>) long and rather Antonian
delivery (article <3citsm$s5l@ucunix.san.uc.edu>) on the "Avatarhood" of
Sri Sathya Sai Baba propagates at least one glaring piece of
misinformation.
Speaking about the birth of Sathyanarayana Raju on November 23, 1926,
he says :
" The mystic scholar Sri Aurobindo some distance away and knowing nothing
of the Raju family, noted in his journal on November 24, 1926 an inner
awareness that Krishna had again taken form on earth."
Sri Aurobindo did not note anything of the sort in any journal.
November 24, 1926 is a day familiar to all devotees of Sri Aurobindo as
"Siddhi Day". To understand the significance of this day, it is necessary
to realize the distinction Sri Aurobindo makes between the Overmind and
the Supermind. In Sri Aurobindo's darshana, there is a progressive
precipitation of consciousness from Satchidananda through the principles
of Mind and Life into our world of Matter. The Transcendent, spaceless
and eternal content of the Satchidananda is brought into manifestation in
Space and Time by the operation of a Supreme Creative Consciousness, which
Sri Aurobindo calls the Supermind (Vijnana in the Upanishads, Maharloka of
the Vedas). Supermind precipitates Mind; Mind precipitates Life; and Life
precipitates Matter. Thus Satchidananda-Vijnana becomes "involved" in
Matter as a secret consciousness operating within it and causing the
progressive evolution of its own powers in the manifestation. The summit
of Mind-consciousness, swarloka, still in contact with and closely
conscious of its parent Supermind, divided from it only by the Golden
Lid, Hiranmaya Patra of the Vedas, Sri Aurobindo terms as Overmind. The
Overmind is the home of the Gods, presided over by Sri Krishna. Sri
Aurobindo writes, "Krishna is the Anandamaya; he supports the evolution
through the Overmind leading it towards the Ananda."
The Upanishads see Existence as divided into two halves or two
hemispheres, parardha and aparardha. The higher hemisphere, termed
Vidya or Knowledge consists of Sat, Chit, Ananda and Vijnana
(Existence-Consciousness-Bliss-Supermind in Sri Aurobindo's terminology),
while the lower hemisphere of Avidya or Ignorance consists of Mind, Life
and Matter. Sri Aurobindo was to discover through his Yoga that it was
only the Descent of the principle of Supermind into the Physical that
could quicken the action of the Knowledge-consciousness latent or
involved within the Ignorance and lead to a transformation of our material existence
existence into a Divine Life on earth. For 40 years (from 1910 to 1950),
Sri Aurobindo worked tirelessly towards this end, and in 1926, as an
intermediate and decisive stage in the process, realized the Descent of
the Overmind Godhead into his Physical. Thus, this had nothing to do with
Krishna's "taking form on earth", rather it was the fixing of the Krishna
consciousness in Sri Aurobindo's body. Sri Aurobindo writes, "Krishna is
not the supramental light. The descent of Krishna would mean the descent
of the Overmind Godhead preparing, though not itself actually, the descent
of the Supermind and Ananda..." After this decisive realization, Sri
Aurobindo retired into complete seclusion to concentrate on the final
stage of bringing the Supramental Consciousness into the Physical; and
the Mother took direct charge of the community of disciples, founding
the Sri Aurobindo Ashram.
The Mother's description of the "event" of November 24th, 1926 is also
very interesting. In a talk with a disciple on August 2, 1961, she said -
"It was this: Krishna consented to descend into Sri Aurobindo's body - to
be FIXED there...It was only...(how can I put it?) a participation from
Krishna. It made no difference for Sri Aurobindo personally: ..It was a
descent of the Supreme, from...some time back, now consenting to
participate in the new manifestation."
For more information about Sri Aurobindo or related bibliography,
you may contact the author at hal_computer@earthlink.net
