Latest / Sri Aurobindo Studies / The Quest to Establish the Connection to the Higher, Subtler, Causal Planes of Existence

Transcript

The Quest to Establish the Connection to the Higher, Subtler, Causal Planes of Existence · Sri Aurobindo Studies

• 0:00
  At a certain point in life, an individual begins to appreciate
• 0:05
  that the surface events, surface facts, the reality of the
• 0:10
  external world are all derivative results, with the
• 0:15
  causal forces and energies active on more subtle planes or
• 0:20
  domains and creating from that place the physical forms that we
• 0:25
  respond to on the physical plane.
• 0:29
  The Mayavada holds that our fixation on the external world
• 0:32
  is an illusion, Maya, and it is our job, if you will, to
• 0:38
  transcend the illusion through focus on the ultimate reality
• 0:42
  that underpins that illusion. There was a famous motion
• 0:47
  picture in the West some years ago called The Matrix.
• 0:51
  In that film, human beings were wired into an illusory world
• 0:55
  where they acted, but in reality it was a computer generated
• 1:00
  simulation within which they were living.
• 1:03
  This is more or less a parable for the illusion that our daily
• 1:07
  life is based on. Another motion picture, Avatar,
• 1:12
  depicted an individual who was physically disabled due to war
• 1:16
  injuries and who was restricted to a wheelchair for mobility.
• 1:21
  He entered a program where his waking consciousness was put to
• 1:24
  sleep, and he entered into the body of another being in another
• 1:29
  world where he was free, strong, mobile, and able to enjoy life
• 1:39
  without the physical limitations of his physical body.
• 1:43
  When he returned to the physical body, he was back in the
• 1:46
  wheelchair. He eventually chose to live
• 1:50
  entirely in that other domain. In that case, the limits of the
• 1:56
  physical world were overcome by shifting the consciousness into
• 1:59
  another plane or domain or world, however anyone wants to
• 2:04
  define it. For the individual, the
• 2:08
  alternative domain was far more satisfying than the real world
• 2:13
  of the physical external consciousness.
• 2:16
  He also got in touch with the wider universal spiritual
• 2:20
  creative force of existence. In this other domain.
• 2:26
  Plato illustrated the distinction between the
• 2:29
  externally perceived reality and a deeper truth of existence in
• 2:34
  the metaphor of The Cave. People in The Cave thought they
• 2:39
  were experiencing reality while the actual world was outside and
• 2:44
  not directly perceived by them. Once we recognize that the
• 2:49
  causal plane is our ultimate source of truth and significance
• 2:54
  in our lives, we naturally aspire to come into contact with
• 2:58
  that truth. This is the beginning of our
• 3:01
  yogic pursuit and our attempt to explore the inner reality that
• 3:07
  puts us in touch with this causal plane of existence.
• 3:12
  We turn our sight inward and upward, away from the external
• 3:16
  world and its impressions, and focus on breaking through the
• 3:20
  barrier that separates us from that higher truth.
• 3:25
  The Isha Upanishad notes that the face of truth is covered by
• 3:28
  a brilliant golden lid and we must find a way to the other
• 3:33
  side of that barrier to experience the reality.
• 3:37
  Whether we call it a yogic practice, a vision quest or a
• 3:42
  Mystic journey, the path taken is into these realms, starting
• 3:47
  with the inner vision to discover the ultimate truth of
• 3:51
  our existence. When one first enters the inner
• 3:56
  realms, 1 can be overwhelmed by the force of the vision or the
• 4:00
  experience, and thereby we can be misled by the intensity into
• 4:06
  validating everything we experience as truth in reality.
• 4:12
  We need to be able to distinguish the different forces
• 4:15
  there, just as we need to do in the outer world.
• 4:19
  There are forces that are beneficial as well as those that
• 4:23
  have their own motivations and intentions, not necessarily
• 4:27
  aligned with our best interest. It is therefore recommended to
• 4:32
  work with an experienced practitioner or guide who can
• 4:36
  help one sort out what one is experiencing and thereby help to
• 4:41
  avoid the worst outcomes, Sriorobindo writes.
• 4:47
  Quote. People value visions for one
• 4:50
  thing because they are one key. There are others to contact with
• 4:55
  the other worlds or with the inner worlds and all that is
• 4:59
  there, and these are regions of immense riches which far surpass
• 5:04
  the physical plane as it is at present.
• 5:08
  One enters into a larger, freer self and a larger, more plastic
• 5:12
  world. Of course, individual visions
• 5:16
  only give a contact, not an actual entrance.
• 5:20
  But the power of vision accompanied with the power of
• 5:23
  other subtle senses, hearing, touch, et cetera, as it expands,
• 5:29
  does give this entrance. These things have not the effect
• 5:33
  of a mere imagination as a poet's or artists, though that
• 5:38
  can be strong enough, but if fully followed out, bring a
• 5:42
  constant growth of the being and the consciousness and its
• 5:46
  richness of experience and its scope.
• 5:51
  People also value the power of vision for a greater reason than
• 5:54
  that. It can give a first contact with
• 5:57
  the divine in his forms and powers.
• 6:01
  It can be the opening of a communion with the Divine, of
• 6:05
  the hearing of the voice that guides of the Presence, as well
• 6:09
  as the image in the heart of many other things that bring
• 6:13
  what man seeks through religion or yoga.
• 6:17
  Further, vision is of value because it is often a first key
• 6:21
  to inner planes of one's own being and one's own
• 6:25
  consciousness, as distinguished from worlds or planes of the
• 6:29
  cosmic consciousness. Yoga experience often begins
• 6:34
  with some opening of the third eye and the forehead, the centre
• 6:38
  of vision in the brows, or with some kind of beginning and
• 6:42
  extension of subtle seeing which may seem unimportant at first,
• 6:47
  but is the vestibule to deeper experience.
• 6:52
  Even when it is not that for one can go to experience direct, it
• 6:58
  can come in afterwards as a powerful aid to experience.
• 7:02
  It can be full of indications which help to self knowledge or
• 7:06
  knowledge of things or knowledge of people.
• 7:10
  It can be veridical and lead to pre vision, premonition and
• 7:16
  other openings of less importance but very useful to a
• 7:20
  Yogi. In short, vision is a great
• 7:23
  instrument, though not absolutely indispensable.
• 7:28
  But as I have suggested, there are visions and visions just as
• 7:33
  there are dreams and dreams, and one has to develop
• 7:37
  discrimination and a sense of values and things and know how
• 7:42
  to understand and make use of these powers.
• 7:46
  End Quote. Reference Srioro Bindu and the
• 7:50
  Mother powers within. Chapter 19.
• 7:54
  Occult powers of the Subliminal Pages, 1:51 to 1:52.