The Synthesis of Yoga (2000-2001, Super school, Auroville) - Session 5 (13 November 2000)
The supreme Shastra of the integral Yoga is the eternal Veda secret in the heart of every thinking and living being.
Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis of Yoga - I: The Four Aids
We had just stopped here and we were discussing the word Integral Yoga. And we went on a good voyage describing what yoga is, describing different yogas such as Hatha Yoga, Raja Yoga, Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga and Bhakti Yoga. We asked then the question how Integral Yoga is arrived at by a synthesis. We came to the conclusion that the synthesis of yoga is arrived at by synthesizing the objects of all the different yogas by synthesizing the instruments of all the yogas and by synthesizing the processes of all the yogas. We described a little how we synthesise the objects, instruments and processes, but the whole book is here before us and in due course we shall do all that in detail. Now we have some idea to start with what is Integral Yoga. But the statement itself is a very startling statement. You will see the wonder of the statement when he says: “You don’t need to read the book.” Such is the first answer to that statement. If this statement is understood properly, it means you don’t need to read the book. Because he says:
The supreme Shastra of the integral Yoga is the eternal Veda secret in the heart of every thinking and living being. The lotus of the eternal knowledge and the eternal perfection is a bud closed and folded up within us.
Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis of Yoga - I: The Four Aids
It is already in your heart, in my heart, in everybody's heart, secretly present.
You know there is a very interesting statement of Sri Aurobindo where he says: the first principle of teaching is that nothing can be taught. You must have heard this statement quite often. The reason is that everything that is to be learnt is already in you. There is a knowledge which is called Veda —Veda is nothing but a book of knowledge —and Sri Aurobindo says it is the eternal Veda. It was not written yesterday, it has not been written today, it will not be written tomorrow. It is eternal. What is the reason for making this statement? At the outset it may seem very, very difficult to accept. There must be a story behind it as to how we can say the supreme Shastra of Integral Yoga which you may take years and hundreds of years to understand ourselves is however already written in the heart of everyone. So there must be a story when it was written. Then only can we say that it is already secret in the heart of everyone. The story is that first of all each one of us is eternal. Although our body is born now or then, each one of us is eternal. That means we have some kind of immortality. Just as the Supreme Lord is eternal, so are we, because each one of us is nothing but the image of the Lord himself. It is if you draw a picture of the Supreme, suppose you make a figure of the Supreme, and put his head here and then you put another head here, this one will be almost identical with the Supreme image. Each one of us always exists. The Mother had put it in very nice words: “We are objective forms of the Lord.” If you take a mirror and look into it, it is yourself, but you find that your object in the mirror looks at you; although you are looking at the mirror, the result of objectivation is that the mirror looks at you. And because it looks at you there is a dialogue between you and the image as if that image is different from you —seemingly. The story of the world is simply the story of the Lord objectivised, resulting in a dialogue. Since you are yourself an image of the Lord all that is in the Lord is in you; If the Lord is omniscient so too are you. Therefore all that is known, all that constitutes knowledge is already secret in us. You have forgotten perhaps —indeed we have —but it is secret. It is present. Since it is present you simply have to recover it. So all learning is recovering.
There is a beautiful story of Plato. Plato wrote many dialogues. Western philosophy is supposed to be footnotes to Plato. If you know Plato, in a general way you know all that is in Western philosophy. Just as in the case of India the whole of Indian philosophy is footnotes to the Veda. If you know the Veda, Indian philosophy is known to you. Everything that is in India is easy to understand. That is why I started with the Veda with you at one stage. Although much of it may be forgotten it does not matter. There is a definition of learning. Learning is what remains after you have forgotten all that you have learnt. I have spoken to you about the Veda at length, so if you forget it and then what remains that is what you learnt. At the least, if somebody uses the word Veda you will not stand as a stranger. You have some acquaintance; you have heard there is something like the Veda in the world that is what remains behind and much more which you might not be able to recollect. Similarly, one day I want to deal with Plato.
Plato maintained that all knowledge is remembrance. Whenever you learn something it is only an act of recovering, remembering: “Oh! Now I remember, yes.” It is recognition. All knowledge is remembrance. And to prove his theory he has written a short dialogue in which the main character is Socrates. Socrates was discussing with a great philosopher, in this dialogue, and he was discussing that all knowledge is remembrance. And the other philosopher argued bitterly against it. Socrates said: “Let us make an experiment.” He said: “Here is a slave of yours.” In Greece at that time there were slaves, there was some people who were bought and they were lifelong slaves. Usually these people used to be very ignorant, obscure, uneducated, but laborious workers. They cannot refuse to do anything that you ask them to do. So Socrates said: “You call your slave —his name was Mino —and surely he does not know the theorem of Pythagoras” Pythagoras as you know was a great geometrician, a great mathematician and there is a very famous theorem of Pythagoras. “Surely your slave does not know Pythagoras, does not know his theorem. He has not even heard the word geometry. He is ignorant.” “Yes sure”. So Socrates said: “I will demonstrate to you that he knows the theorem of Pythagoras. Not only knows but he will prove to you the theorem of Pythagoras.” It was a surprising statement. The slave was called and Socrates began to ask questions little by little by little, like a good teacher. And then he elicited the answers from the slave —it depends how you ask the questions. You start with an assumption that he knows already and you put questions in such a way that he remembers. He has forgotten and he is only helped to remember. Ultimately he was able to prove the theorem of Pythagoras. Socrates demonstrated that the slave knew, he only now remembered it. It is a very famous dialogue of Plato, called Meno, in which he demonstrated that all knowledge is remembrance because all knowledge is secret already in you.
Sri Aurobindo says Integral Yoga is known to every one of us. We know already. Therefore Sri Aurobindo says:
The lotus of the eternal knowledge and the eternal perfection is a bud closed and folded up within us.
Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis of Yoga - I: The Four Aids
Just as in a bud the whole of the flower is included. It is a fact. The entire flower when it blooms out was already present in the bud. Similarly this knowledge is also a bud in the heart of everyone. That bud: “It opens swiftly or gradually...” Both ways are possible: it can open swiftly at one stroke or it can open slowly, petal by petal. This is our normal procedure; this is what we are doing now. All of us are in the process of opening this bud little by little, petal by petal, “through successive realisations….” The word realisation means that you realise what you already have, what is real in you, you realise. All achievement is realisation, is remembrance through successive realisations. “…once his heart, no longer compressed and confined by attachment to finite appearances, becomes enamoured, in whatever degree, of the Infinite.”This is the only condition, we just have to turn —turning is the secret. As long as you don’t turn it will remain closed but the moment you turn towards it in the mind and in the heart, then it will open either swiftly or gradually.
All life, all thought, all energising of the faculties, all experiences passive or active, become thenceforward so many shocks which disintegrate the teguments of the soul and remove the obstacles to the inevitable efflorescence.
Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis of Yoga - I: The Four Aids
Once your mind turns to the Infinite then all your experiences, whatever happens to you, is only a shock by which you are reminded. What you have forgotten is remembered, and as a result all the teguments, all the obstacles, all the ties which are preventing you from remembering are cut asunder and then you remember, you recover.
Then comes one of the greatest of all historical statements of the world: one short sentence:
He who chooses the Infinite has been chosen by the Infinite.
Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis of Yoga - I: The Four Aids
So even there you have an assurance that it is He, the Infinite Himself, who will choose and the sign of his choosing you is that you will choose Him. The moment you say: “Now I want to know the Divine,” it means the Divine has chosen you to know Him. The starting point is not you, the starting point is He. He is the Lover and the moment he beacons you, you turn to Him. So “He who chooses the Infinite has been chosen by the Infinite.” Therefore it is always better on your part to choose because it will be the sign that you have been chosen. “He has received the divine touch without which there is no awakening.” It is like Socrates who calls Meno and says, “Come” and then Meno is asked questions. Without Socrates, Meno could not have recovered his knowledge of Pythagoras. Once the Divine chooses, all kinds of questions will come up to you in your life and as you begin to answer these questions the Divine will be revealed, you will remember the Divine and you will achieve the perfection. But once it is received, attainment is sure.
You remember we started The Synthesis of Yoga because of one question which was raised. When we did the first Chapter of The Life Divine we came to the conclusion that we are now rationally convinced that aspiration for God, Light, Freedom, Bliss and Immortality is rationally justified. Granted this is so. The question was: “How should we realise it?” “How shall we attain to God, Light, Freedom, Bliss and Immortality?” This is the answer to that question basically. Although afterwards the answer is long but this is the basic answer, namely: the very fact that you ask the question in the class means you have chosen already and you chose it because He has chosen it. That is the sign otherwise you would not have raised this question at all. The very fact that you ask this question means the Divine has chosen that now you should know. You have reached the very important stage of being chosen. “…but once it is received, attainment is sure.” This is the great assurance given to us. You have started, be sure it will be done. There is no stopping now. “…whether conquered swiftly in the course of one human life or pursued patiently through many stadia of the cycle of existence in the manifested universe.” If you so choose or if he so chooses you can attain within this life itself. Again when you decide that it has to be done in one life, remember: He has chosen that it should be in one life. But it may take a longer time. It doesn't matter —attainment is sure.
Now comes the next paragraph, the very first sentence of which is an elucidation of the first line of the paragraph that we just read. This first line of the third paragraph is a repetition of the first line of the second paragraph but in other words. “Nothing can be taught to the mind which is not already concealed as potential knowledge in the unfolding soul of the creature.” If that knowledge was not concealed in your soul then nothing could be taught. If it can be taught it means: if you can learn, if you understand, it is because it was already in your soul, folded and it has now become unfolded. This is because we are nothing but an objective form of Him, all that He is so we are, only in the objective form, only in the mirror. But he is the original. We are a copy. We are only a reflection. Nothing can be taught to the mind which is not already concealed as potential knowledge in the unfolding soul of the creature.
So also all perfection of which the outer man is capable, is only a realising of the eternal perfection of the Spirit within him. We know the Divine and become the Divine, because we are That already in our secret nature. All teaching is a revealing, all becoming is an unfolding. Self-attainment is the secret; self-knowledge and an increasing consciousness are the means and the process.
Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis of Yoga - I: The Four Aids
“…Self–attainment is the secret; self-knowledge and an increasing consciousness are the means and the process.” The more you go inward, the more you know yourself the more is the self-attainment. Usually we try to know by going outward. Here Sri Aurobindo says, go inward and the more you know yourself, within, you will know truly and even what is outer will be also known because of your knowledge of yourself. These last two sentences are extremely important for the entire life of everybody. All teaching is a revealing, all becoming is an unfolding. When you become teachers, in your life you remember this sentence. You arrive at a point where all that you say becomes a revelation.
All teaching is a revealing, all becoming is an unfolding. Self-attainment is the secret; self-knowledge and an increasing consciousness are the means and the process.
Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis of Yoga - I: The Four Aids
These two paragraphs —the second and third paragraph —give you the whole shastra of the Integral Yoga. If there were no written books one could have said: “My dear friends what was to be told has been told, nothing more is needed to be told. Reflect on it, meditate on it and all that you want to know will be known.” But because there are written books we have the facility, we go ahead, we do not stop here and we have more and more elucidation. But what is told is told, fully. Everything is there. In fact these two paragraphs are all that has to be learned in life. You do not need anything more than this. This was the style of the Upanishads. The student used to sit near the teacher, the teacher used to speak a few words and then say: “Now you meditate. Realise what I have told you.” This was the practice. But now such teachers are not available and they don’t have that capacity of revealing so we have to write long long books. And you have to repeat and elucidate and further elucidate…
Now comes the elucidation. If you were able to sit at the feet of Sri Aurobindo directly then perhaps this elucidation will not be necessary. He would look into your eyes and knowledge is given. That was the power of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. They could look into you and give you, without speaking even. There is a beautiful sentence in the Upanishads: “Here are the teachers. When the teachers are young and the pupils are old. And the teacher teaches without speaking.” In complete silence, what is to be given is given. This is the right method of learning and teaching. The teachers are always young, whatever their age, why? Because where there is knowledge there is freshness. Where there is freshness there is youth. Pupils are obscure and ignorant therefore they are old. There is no freshness. But even the old become young. This is the promise of the teacher: the old become young. Because when knowledge is poured they flower. Youth comes, they bloom. All life begins to course. You become powerful. That is what happens, when you read Sri Aurobindo particularly, you find this electric effect upon you being. So now let us read.
“The usual agency of this revealing is the Word, the thing heard.” You must read these sentences of Sri Aurobindo with the same silence with which they have been uttered. When there is a complete silence and even a small sound —one little sound is the word. Sri Aurobindo does not say books and words, he only says Word. “The usual agency of this revealing is the Word…” That is a concession given to us. We are so told, we are so deaf, so unseeing, so weak, so feeble that although everything can be told to you in a silence you cannot hear. It is not revealed because we are so old, we cannot receive the revelation. So a concession is made by the teacher. But the concession is made only by uttering one word. That gives you a vibration. Brahman. Many teachers in the Upanishads speak only one word: Brahman. Brahman means the Supreme. Or they use the word Aum. It is only one word: Aum. And that is enough. It is that which unseals the ears, ears which have become deaf. And this deafness is removed by the word Aum. And there is such a tremendous awakening. It is said: “Whether you believe in God or not the moment you are told: ‘God exists’ your life cannot be as before.” Simply you are told “God exists”, simply—no argument, no embellishment, no repetition. If somebody tells you: “God exists” after hearing these words your life cannot be as before. You are troubled. The moment you are told, “God exists” you have to prove that God does not exist. You cannot rest where you are. And the moment you try to prove that God does not exist you are caught more and more into God. You have to be concerned with God. You have to wrestle with God. You have to deny him, reject him and you have to make a great effort to reject him. How can you reject him? Wherever you look around there is Brahman. How much will you reject? What will you reject? Whatever you say: “That does not exist” still that exists. It mocks at you, it laughs at you at every moment. Everything in the world reveals God. Even if you say that he does not exist, there in itself who is saying “He does not exist”? If you say: “You are saying”, who are you? You are nothing but the image of Him. If you analyse yourself when you say: “I deny God” who is this I? The moment you deny God, you have to say: “I am denying God” and the moment you say: “I am denying god” who is this I? I is He—the objective figure of Him. You cannot be without Him. In every denial He is present. So the moment you hear the words: “God exists” this is called in India sruti. The power of sruti, you hear — Sruti means that which is heard. It is also called sruta. The agency of revealing to you is the Word, even if you are not totally aware, even if you don’t become awakened. The beginning of awakening starts with one word: Aum, Brahman.
“The Word may come to us from within…” Sometimes it happens in the complete silence of your being that the word is suddenly heard. It may not happen to many but there are many people for whom the word is heard from within. It may come to us from without. This is more often — somebody tells us. “But in either case, it is only an agency for setting the hidden knowledge to work.” Hidden knowledge, forgotten knowledge, you begin to remember. The moment the word comes to you, you can no more remain what you were before. The work of revelation starts immediately. Once you hear: “God exists” finished! You are caught already. Either to affirm or to deny in either case you are caught. And the dialogue starts and you will not rest until He is known.
The word within may be the utterance of the inmost soul in us which is always open to the Divine; or it may be the word of the secret and universal Teacher who is seated in the hearts of all.
Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis of Yoga - I: The Four Aids
Either your own soul speaks out or the Lord who is seated in us —he tells you. These are mystic experiences in which you hear and if you learn how to be very, very, very quiet you will be able to hear. At the right moment the right word will come. For that we have to learn to be very, very, very quiet. “The teacher who is seated in the hearts of all.” The Universal Teacher is called jagat guru —guru means the teacher, jagat means of the world. There is a jagat guru who is the teacher of all. You don’t require a human teacher. If a human teacher is required it is only a concession: just as the word is a concession because without the word, through silence, the knowledge can be revealed. But the word is a concession; we are so deaf that sometimes shouting is necessary. So the word is heard. Similarly the teacher is always present in you. You don’t need an outer teacher and if an outer teacher is needed it is only a concession. Because you are not able to see the Universal Teacher seated in you, therefore the outer teacher who represents him may come and teach you. It is a concession. Before in India there was a system to have no teacher but to regard the Universal Teacher as your teacher. There is an Eternal Teacher in us; there is a Universal Teacher, for all of us the same teacher. He is a master who knows everyone because everyone is nothing but himself. So he knows everyone and he knows how to deal with each one. So at the right moment he gives the right word. Sometimes there are good disciples who go to an outer teacher just as a concession. They don’t need an outer teacher. But for the sake of obeying the tradition that you must go to a teacher, they go to a teacher. There is an interesting story of Sri Krishna. It is said that Sri Krishna knew the Universal Teacher seated within himself but because tradition said that you should go and seek a teacher he went to a teacher. His name was Ghora —ghora means intense. And he said: “Give me knowledge.” And the teacher spoke only one line. It is written: “The teacher spoke one line and Krishna knew.” All knowledge was revealed —one line!
“Udwayam tamasaspari swaha pashyanta uttaram devam devatra surya maganma jyotir uttamam” (Rig Veda) this is the one line that was uttered by Ghora. “We went beyond the darkness and saw the higher light and then we went still farther and gained the Supreme knowledge.” This is the meaning of this sentence. The moment Krishna was told it all knowledge was remembered; everything was known. This is what the Chandogya Upanishad tells us. It is a short story but extremely important, very interesting. How Krishna, who knew already, followed the tradition to go to a teacher, so that the teacher may teach him and the teacher simply uttered the word and he knew. There was no need for him to learn further.
Sri Aurobindo went to a teacher called Lele. A short conversation took place with the teacher and the teacher simply said: “Thoughts come to you from outside. When they assail you, throw them back.” That is all. And Sri Aurobindo knew. It is simply something like that which happened to Krishna. Thoughts are like higher knowledge and you go beyond them and get the highest knowledge. You go beyond darkness to higher knowledge and then you come to the highest knowledge.” This is all that Lele told him. “Thoughts come to you from outside. When they come into you, throw them back.” And Sri Aurobindo says, He just sat down, saw the thoughts coming from outside, and as they began to enter into the brain he sent them back! And the mind became utterly silent. Thereafter he had no approach to any teacher in his life. The Supreme Teacher taught him everything. It is what Sri Aurobindo himself has described. Going to Lele was also a concession for him. And the teacher gave him only one line. That is all. There was no volume of lectures or anything; only one line and Sri Aurobindo knew. All that is written here in The Synthesis of Yoga, Sri Aurobindo says: “I have written in a state of silence of the mind.” Nothing is written by thinking, the whole ocean of knowledge poured into him, sometimes little by little, sometimes in torrents. So this is the way in which the Word is received. One word is sufficient. If you are a good student one word is sufficient. But most of us are bad students so we require lots and lots of lectures. Doesn’t matter, as we are made so shall we do the best ourselves.
“There are rare cases in which none other is needed…” The Universal Teacher himself is enough, no outer teacher is needed at all.
There are rare cases in which none other is needed, for all the rest of the Yoga is an unfolding under that constant touch and guidance; the lotus of the knowledge discloses itself from within by the power of irradiating effulgence which proceeds from the Dweller in the lotus of the heart. Great indeed, but few are those to whom self-knowledge from within is thus sufficient and who do not need to pass under the dominant influence of a written book or a living teacher.
Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis of Yoga - I: The Four Aids
There are a few people who are capable of this but we do not come under that category, we need a long influence, a long association with the teacher.
Ordinarily, the Word from without, representative of the Divine, is needed as an aid in the work of self-unfolding; and it may be either a word from the past or the more powerful word of the living Guru. In some cases this representative word is only taken as a sort of excuse for the inner power to awaken and manifest; it is, as it were, a concession of the omnipotent and omniscient Divine to the generality of a law that governs Nature. Thus it is said in the Upanishads of Krishna, son of Devaki, that he received a word of the Rishi Ghora and had the knowledge. So Ramakrishna, having attained by his own internal effort the central illumination, accepted several teachers in the different paths of Yoga, but always showed in the manner and swiftness of his realisation that this acceptance was a concession to the general rule by which effective knowledge must be received as by a disciple from a Guru.
Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis of Yoga - I: The Four Aids
Even when you go to an outer teacher sometimes it is just a little touch and all the rest is then obtained by you from within.
Ordinarily, the Word from without, representative of the Divine, is needed as an aid in the work of self-unfolding; and it may be either a word from the past or the more powerful word of the living Guru. In some cases this representative word is only taken as a sort of excuse for the inner power to awaken and manifest; it is, as it were, a concession of the omnipotent and omniscient Divine to the generality of a law that governs Nature. Thus it is said in the Upanishads of Krishna, son of Devaki, that he received a word of the Rishi Ghora and had the knowledge. So Ramakrishna, having attained by his own internal effort the central illumination, accepted several teachers in the different paths of Yoga, but always showed in the manner and swiftness of his realisation that this acceptance was a concession to the general rule by which effective knowledge must be received as by a disciple from a Guru.
Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis of Yoga - I: The Four Aids
Because the tradition says that you must be a disciple, you must go to a teacher, so you give a concession to that rule although you don’t need it. Ramakrishna did not need to go to so many teachers; he got the central illumination without going to any teacher by his own effort, because the Teacher was already working in him openly. But he gave a concession saying “Oh, you know. Alright, I want to learn from you.” It was as if he was doing some kind of grace to his own teacher, so the teacher might not be disappointed. It is a kind of concession given to the teacher that “You want to teach me, fine. I will be your disciple. Please teach me.” But the way in which he learnt showed that it was hardly necessary. The swiftness with which he learnt showed there was no comparison between the teachings of the teacher and the learning by the pupil. The pupil learnt so swiftly and so voluminously that the trickle from the teacher became an ocean pouring. This can happen only when you don’t really need a teacher, the Universal Teacher is awake within you and you are able to learn from him directly. These are basic truths of Yoga.
The question is: “How do we realise?” And this is the basic answer. You realise the Divine, God, Light, Freedom, Immortality by this agency, first through silence. Then as a concession given to you, a word should come to you. That word may come from outside or from within. Rare are the people who do not require more than this. But mostly, generally, we require a long association with a living teacher; we require long books, long contemplations, long periods of understanding. As we are so we accept without pretence. We did not say that we are rare individuals, it does not matter, as we are made so we are. If you need a long association we accept it. That also is the joy of life.
But usually the representative influence occupies a much larger place in the life of the sadhaka. If the Yoga is guided by a received written Shastra,—some Word from the past which embodies the experience of former Yogins,—it may be practised either by personal effort alone or with the aid of a Guru.
Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis of Yoga - I: The Four Aids
If it is by Shastra—if you happen to receive this book, this is a shastra, and once you have received this book and you read it you can practice by yourself, you don’t need anything more. But sometimes you may need a living Guru, a living teacher. Even if the book is there, even if you read it you need the help from a living teacher. That is the usual method — to go to a living teacher, to live with him day by day, year after year, decade after decade and you learn. But attainment is sure. Remember, once your feet have been put on the road, the end is certain, you will go to the end. Why? Because He has chosen you, therefore, you are bound to go to the end.
“The spiritual knowledge is then gained through meditation…” The word meditation is very important. What is meditation? Meditation is a process, which has been discovered, it is a great discovery, it is a magic as it were, a magical key like the lamp of Aladdin or open sesame. You just utter the word open sesame and the door opens. So meditation is magic. You just think of the Divine and the Divine comes to you. Just think of him. But this produces the reality of God himself. This is the connection which was discovered. The Divine who you may not see, the Divine who you don’t know you are told: “Just think of him ”. By thinking of Him a magic will happen. He will come. If you want to know the Divine just think of Him. Meditate, means basically thinking. So the real process of all yoga is thinking. And we have known that yoga is a methodized effort. Think methodically of the Divine. So meditation is a methodical thinking of the Divine. Don’t think of Him in a haphazard manner. One minute I think and then I forget afterward. This is not thinking, this is not methodized thinking. Think as a constant practice of the Divine.