Page 50 - NAMAH-Apr-2023

Namah Vol. 31, Issue 1, 24th April 2023

rest, and offering ourselves a period of re- possessions is not going to benefit me. Now
discovery of our inner ground. So that in that one can embark on a journey of cultivation
stability, once more, self-giving to the Divine of self-forgetfulness with this understanding
can happen and a new birth can happen. It is gained through life experiences; it can be a
like when one has a wound, giving it some path towards active self-giving, offering our
time to heal away from external stimuli like life to the Divine, in all aspects.
sprinkling salt or chillies, help it to heal
quicker and regain health. Wherever I am, I can start from there, for
we clearly see, if we are brave enough to
experiment with ourselves, that the peace,
beauty and joy that we get in an utter self-
giving to the Divine, is incomparable. And
we can see that we have been looking for
this throughout our life; and that there is no
end to the endless demands of the ‘little me.’

“What is the difference between ‘self-forget-
fulness’ and ‘self-giving’? Self-forget-fulness
If such is the case, in case of our past rigid may simply be a passive state resulting from
samskaras, which are showing resistances a total lack of egoism. Self-giving, which takes
again and again, one must take some time its full value when it is directed towards the
off like a retreat, to rediscover and then Divine, is an active movement which includes
begin afresh, either back in the same place, love in its purest and highest form.
or finding a new niche for oneself, where one
can continue offering oneself to the Divine. “A total self-giving to the Divine is the true
purpose of existence (5).”
Living the true purpose of human life
References
We often wonder why we are born, what
is the purpose of human birth. And most 1. The Mother. The Collected Works of the Mother,
often, all our material possessions, after we Volume. 10. Cent ed. Pondicherry: Sri
have had them, still leave us empty and Aurobindo Ashram Trust; 1977, p. 278.
unfulfilled. This revelation can be a turning-
point in one’s life. So far, I have been always 2. The Mother. Collected Works, Volume 16; 1987, p. 432.
wanting, wanting for my little separate self
through accumulating material possessions, 3. The Mother. Collected Works, Volume 10, p.10.
and where has it led me? It has at least led me
to this point where I can see that living from 4. The Mother. Collected Works, Volume 16, p.121.
this sense of lack and always obsessed with
my little separate self and accumulating more 5. The Mother. Collected Works, Volume 10, p. 278.

Dr. Monica Gulati, a learner and a seeker, is based in Gurgaon, India and an editor of NAMAH.

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