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Overcoming the Obstruction of Universal Adverse Forces · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  Most people are skeptical about the concept of conscious
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  universal forces. Even if they profess a belief in
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  God, angels, demons, and other unseen powerful beings, they
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  tend to reject the idea when it comes down to actual influence
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  in their own actions, reactions and responses.
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  There is an inherent belief in the freedom and independence of
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  their decision process. People do not like to admit that
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  forces outside themselves, particularly conscious forces,
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  are controlling in any way how they think, feel and respond.
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  People acknowledge the reality of universal forces on the
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  material plane. They experience the effects of
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  gravity, electricity and other forces operated in the material
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  world. They also tacitly acknowledge
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  some larger universal forces at the vital level when they look
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  at instinctive behaviour in animals.
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  Anyone observing the coordinated movements of a flock of birds or
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  a school of fish can see that these actions are not the result
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  of a large number of individual decisions by each bird or each
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  fish. Rather, they are all responding
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  together to some force that transcends their individual
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  decision making power. We have thus a basis for
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  acknowledging that universal forces are at work in life, and
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  we can, if we explore our own human lives, find similar
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  instinctive or coordinated behavioral responses that
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  certainly impact our own individual reactions, thoughts,
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  and development. What we have not yet arrived at
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  in this analysis is the sense that these forces are conscious
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  and are acting from their own unique needs, desires,
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  viewpoints and ideas and utilizing their powers to
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  influence what we do. When we see vast numbers of
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  people suddenly responding to a situation in a similar way, we
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  can accept that some universal forces are at play.
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  The mind, with its limited access to information and its
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  limited range of perception and understanding is not the proper
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  instrument to appreciate the existence of forces and
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  conscious beings that operate outside the minds range of
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  perception. The lack of specific
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  acknowledgement by the mind does not prove these forces do not
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  exist. Rather, they simply amplify our
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  sense of limitation in our current understanding.
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  Using techniques developed by sages, seers and Mystics
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  throughout the ages and in many different cultures and
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  societies, new powers of understanding have been
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  deployed. People have experienced and
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  report the existence of conscious entities and interact
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  with humanity on the subliminal or supreliminal levels.
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  In the Titania Upanishad 1 chapter actually sets forth the
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  hierarchy of conscious beings who exist beyond the normal
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  human level of experience. Scientists, as they continue to
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  probe the basis of existence, have concluded that matter is a
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  concentrated form of energy and that energy is a concentrated
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  form of consciousness, and that the entire existence is 1.
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  Consciousness is universal. As we get used to this way of
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  seeing the universe, it becomes obvious that all that exists is
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  organized, developed, planned, and executed by a conscious
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  awareness far beyond the human mental capability.
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  It is also obvious that just as there are beings below the human
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  level perception, there are beings above the human level of
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  perception. Biologists have recently
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  determined that the intestinal flora, essentially bacteria
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  colonies that live in the human digestive system and which help
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  us effectively digest food, are themselves able to send signals
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  to the brain ostensibly to request food.
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  The question of whose hunger is it when we experience cravings
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  of hunger is now being answered. It is not solely our own
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  individual experience of the need for sustenance, but in many
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  cases it seems to be the bacteria who are commandeering
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  use of our nervous systems to communicate with the brain and
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  trigger a hunger response. This brings us to the topic at
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  hand, namely the existence of forces that are conscious,
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  universal, and have their own agenda with respect to human
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  beings. They try to influence us, and in
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  many cases they feed off of the energies and emotions we throw
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  off when confronted by situations raised by these
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  forces. In terms of negative or hostile
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  forces, these energies may be embodiments of fear, lust,
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  anger, hatred, strong emotions that vibrate strongly and cost
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  us energy. In terms of positive or helpful
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  forces, they tend to help us grow, to understand and to
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  appreciate and support the oneness of the creation, and
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  help us to create harmony in our lives and for the world within
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  which we move and act, Triorbindo notes quote.
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  The prolongation of the difficulty and its acuteness
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  come from the fact that there are forces in nature, not
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  personal or individual, but universal, which live upon these
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  movements and through them they have long controlled the
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  individual nature. These do not want to lose their
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  rule, and so when these movements are thrown out, they
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  throw them back on the Saddak in strong waves or with great
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  violence, Or they create in the vital a Great Depression,
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  discouragement, despair. That is their favorite weapon,
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  because it is losing its former field of desires and has not yet
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  in any certainty something that would replace it.
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  The assured continuance, psychic or spiritual condition or
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  experience. To prevent that is the whole
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  effort of these forces. So they create these upheavals,
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  and the vital admits them because of its own habit of
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  response to the lower forces. At the same time they put in
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  suggestions to the mind so as to make it also accept the
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  disturbance, discouragement, and depression.
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  That is what I meant by saying that these are attacks from
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  outside and must be rejected if they cannot be rejected
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  altogether. Yet one must try to keep a part
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  of the mind conscious which will refuse to admit the suggestions
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  or share in the depression and the trouble which will save
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  firmly. I know what this is, and I know
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  that it will pass and I can resume my way to the goal, which
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  nothing can prevent me from reaching, since my soul's will
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  is and will always be. For that you have to reach the
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  point where you can do that always.
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  Then the power of the forces to disturb will begin to diminish
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  and fall away. End Quote Reference Sri
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  Aurobindo and the Mother Looking from Within, Chapter 4, Ordeals
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  and Difficulties, pages 90 to 91.