The Human Aspiration

The Human Aspiration.............................Shrikant Soman...........Life Divine by Sri Aurobindo - Chapter I, pg 3-4


The peak of the human enquiry has always been the same since time immemorial. It does have its ups and downs, moments of skepticism and banishment. But is rebounds with vigour to again reach the height of enquiry. It is also the highest range which the human mind is capable of rising to. It manifests itself in various forms at different times. We can visualize it

• in the divination of Godhead,
•  in the impulse towards perfection,
• in the search after pure Truth and unmixed Bliss,
• in the sense of a secret immortality

The Vedic seers have embodied it in the ancient scriptures. This is metaphorically explained as ‘the ancient dawns of human knowledge have left us their witness to this constant aspiration’. We witness this quest in these scriptures as partially reproduced at the beginning of this chapter. Thus we see : “She follows to the goal of those that are passing on beyond, she is the first in the eternal succession of the dawns that are coming”. (Kutsa Angirasa—Rig Veda)

We also see : “She desires the ancient mornings and fulfils their light” These mystical uttering’s have a profound meaning. It indicates the quest after the higher knowledge as a continuum in time – without beginning and without an end. It also indicates the heights of knowledge scaled in the ancient times are the same heights we are scaling again and again – there is no ‘higher’ height to be scaled. The same quest is taking in different forms and shapes. Therefore it is said : “ She desires the ancient mornings and fulfils their light; projecting forwards her illumination she enters into communion with the rest that are to come “(Kutsa Angirasa—Rig Veda)

 Today we are witnessing an explosion of knowledge, particularly with the proliferation of internet. The human enquiry is taking all directions across the globe with full vigour and interest. Inspite of having a sea of knowledge, we are still not satisfied. We have made great progress in the ‘victorious analysis of the externalities of Nature’. Interestingly, we are still getting drawn by our ancient longing after the True Knowledge hidden behind these externalities of Nature. Inspite of going to great length with our scientific discovery of the microcosm of atoms and electrons and the cellular life and the macrocosm of the stars and planets and galaxies and the cosmos, we are realizing that the earliest formula of knowledge is also its last, and that is : God, Light, Freedom, Immortality. Therefore, we, the modern age humanity, join the vedic seer Rushi Vamdeva in Rigveda, in his invocation : “Become high-uplifted, O Strength, pierce all veils, manifest in us the things of the Godhead. “ (Vamadeva—Rig Veda)

We see here that our normal day to day experience is anything but these deeper revelations of higher and true reality. Our normal experiences of life is full of strife and discord, division, violence and darkness of ignorance and selfish motives. These higher experiences are therefore appearing to be ‘abnormal’ for the humanity at large. We can hope to reach the heights by a revolutionary individual effort, in a direct and speedy manner or by a very slow progress through the normal ‘evolution’ of the humanity.

We can therefore see that the Goal of Nature in her terrestrial evolution is to realise the God in Matter. This is translated as the individual goals of :

• To know, possess and be the divine being in an animal and egoistic consciousness,

Our consciousness is an animal nature full of ego, driven by our vital desires. In this body we have to know, possess and be the divine being.

• to convert our twilit or obscure physical mentality into the plenary supramental illumination,

Our physical mentality is having only half light and is obscure. It is ‘groping’ with only hunches and trial and errors. We are living in the world of half lights and false lights. From this state we have to rise to the plenary supramental illumination.

• to build peace and a self-existent bliss where there is only a stress of transitory satisfactions besieged by physical pain and emotional suffering,

Our satisfaction and happiness is mainly based on physical sensations and emotional egoistic happiness. It is having its inbuilt counterparts of pain and emotional suffering. We have to build peace and a self-existent bliss which is independent of physical and vital sensory and emotional satisfactions.

• to establish an infinite freedom in a world which presents itself as a group of mechanical necessities,

We are living in a world of mechanical necessities. We are slave to our gadgets and equipments like mobile phones, computers, microwave, fridge, car, aeroplane, TV, Music Systems etc. While enjoying these ‘facilities’, inwardly we have to establish an infinite freedom from these ‘apparent’ necessities.

• to discover and realise the immortal life in a body subjected to death and constant mutation

The most visible condition of life as we are witnessing in this material world is sickness, morbidity and death. We have to re-discover and realise the immortality in this very physical body.

From our ordinary intellect, we are tempted to conclude that our present state of the development of our consciousness is whatever we can ever achieve. We may feel that there is a little possibility of having any further progress. If we consider the enormity of the task as mentioned above and the apparent contradiction between what we are today and what is the goal which we want to achieve, then we are tempted to falsely believe that the goals are unrealistic and never to be achieved. They are only day dreaming.

On the other hand, if we peep behind the Natures method of working out her mission, we find ‘that direct opposition appears rather as part of Nature’s profoundest method and the seal of her completest sanction.’ This is the way Nature works. We call it a miracle. The Nature only smiles and says – this is the way I unfold. She says that it is not only possible, but INEVITABLE, in her scheme of things. The sense of freedom a bird has when it soars in the sky has a direct base in the gravity, tending to pull it down. Without gravity, there is no sense of freedom. This is the key to understanding the quest of humanity and its possibility of satisfaction.