Page 47 - NAMAH-Oct-2023

Namah Preparing and Opening the Being to the Higher Force

“The voidness (if by that you mean silence active. The cessation of these things is hard to
and emptiness of thoughts, movements etc.) bear for it. It begins to feel dull and restless and
is the basic condition into which the higher eager for the old interests and movements. But
consciousness can flow (3).” by this restlessness it disturbs the quietude and
brings back the things that had been thrown out.
One common struggle with virtually all of us is It is this that is creating the difficulty and the
the weakness of the container and habituated obstruction for the moment. If you can accept
grooves of older tendencies and patterns. We emptiness as a passage to the true consciousness
are unable to sustain this emptiness, unable and true movements, then it will be easier to
to bear it in immobility and become solid get rid of the obstacle (4).”
in it. We find ourselves resorting to our The spontaneous experience of emptiness
older slippery slopes in order to fill up the on this path indicates that one has lived long
empty space, and hence obstruct the way enough in the dualistic, narrow and limited
of new consciousness. Therefore, it is a part ordinary consciousness, and one is ready now
of the saadhanaa to gain stability and poise in to transcend and go beyond. And the very
containing the emptiness, and becoming fact of that emptiness is one’s experience, an
more and more a solid immovable receptacle indication of the already acting Divine Force.
within. Sri Aurobindo also talks about a persevering
quality in ‘real emptiness.’ Like, there is no
hurry to go anywhere, just the silent and
immobile, steady waiting is enough. He says,
“If it is real emptiness, one can last in it for years
together, — it is because the vital is restless and
full of desires (not empty) that it is like that
[difficult to remain empty]. Also the physical
mind is by no means at rest. If the desires were
thrown out and the ego less active and the
physical mind at rest, knowledge would come
from above; in place of the physical mind’s
“The emptiness that you described in your stupidities, the vital mind could be calm and
letter yesterday was not a bad thing — it is quiet and the Mother’s Force take up the action
this emptiness inward and outward that often and the higher consciousness begin to come
in Yoga becomes the first step towards a new down. That is the proper sequel of emptiness.
consciousness. Man’s nature is like a cup of But nothing of this has happened because the
dirty water — the water has to be thrown out, “emptiness” could not complete itself, that is
the cup left clean and empty for the divine liquor to say, the true silence and peace (5).”
to be poured into it. The difficulty is that the
human physical consciousness feels it difficult It may appear that once emptiness is exp-
to bear this emptiness — it is accustomed to erienced, it just settles down automatically.
be occupied by all sorts of little mental and But that is not the case. One has to constantly
vital movements which keep it interested and keep clearing, cultivate keeping the being
amused or even if in trouble and sorrow still pure, empty, and rejecting all the lower,

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