In Integral Yoga, after the constant practice of mental silence and concentration of the consciousness above the head, one inevitably experiences what may be called a “descent“, in which there is a palpable feeling of a Power/Force descending from above the head and working its way down the Brahmarandhra (door of Brahman, AKA anterior fontanelle) through the back of the head and down the spine. With progress, it is this Power that fills the heart and other parts of the lower being and gradually brings about a change of consciousness.
This “descent experience” has no equivalent in other Yogas where the focus is on raising the Kundalini upwards towards the head from the Muladhara at the base of the spine.
Sri Aurobindo on the mechanism of descent
The descent of Peace (Sat), the descent of Force or Power(Chit), the descent of Light, the descent of Ananda, these are the four things that transform the nature.
It is not really the plane that descends, it is the Power and Truth of it that descends into the material and then the veil between the material and it no longer exists.
Whenever there is a descent of the higher consciousness in the Adhar(i.e. support or physical body):
- Part of it is stored up in the frontal consciousness and remains there.
- Part of it goes behind and remains as a support to the active part of the being.
- Part flows out into the universal Nature.
- Part is absorbed by the inconscient and lost to the individual consciousness and its action.
Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga – III: The Triple Transformation
Painting by Dinabandhu Das from the Korsnäs Gard Art Collection. © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Click image for source.
The Mother discusses why the descent of Kundalini is better than it’s rising from the bottom
Satprem: But then what is this consciousness we feel like a force inside us? For instance, sometimes in meditation it rises, then descends; it’s not fixed anywhere. What is this consciousness?
Mother: The Shakti!
Some receive it from above; for others, it rises from below (gesture to the base of the spine). As I once told you, the old system always proceeds from below upwards, while Sri Aurobindo pulls from above downwards. This becomes very clear in meditation (well, in yoga, in yogic experience): for those who follow the old system, it’s invariably the kundalini at the base [of the spine] rising from center to center, center to center, until the lotus (in an ironic tone) bursts open here {gesture at the crown of the head). With Sri Aurobindo, it comes like this (gesture of descending Force) and then settles here (above the head); it enters, and from there it comes down, down, down, everywhere, to the very bottom, and even below the feet – the subconscient – and lower still, the inconscient.
It’s the Shakti. He said, you know (I am still translating it), that the shakti drawn up from below (this is what happens in the individual process) is already what could be called a “veiled” shakti (it has power, but it is veiled). While the Shakti drawn down from above is a PURE Shakti; and if it can be brought down carefully and slowly enough so that it isn’t (how shall I put it?) polluted or, in any case, obscured as it enters matter, then the result is immediately much better. As he has explained, if you start out with this feeling of a great power in yourself (because it’s always a great power no matter where it awakens), there’s inevitably a danger of the ego meddling in. But if it comes pure and you are very careful to keep it pure, not to rush the movement but let it purify as it descends, then half the work is done.
The Mother, Mother’s Agenda: July 25, 1962
Another kind of descent of light. The Pentecost by Tiziano Vecellio Titian(1485 – 1576). Click image for source.
Why this descent experience was absent in other Yogas
Sri Aurobindo: I explain this absence of the descent experiences myself by the old yogas having been mainly confined to the psycho-spiritual-occult range of experience – in which the higher experiences come into the still mind or the concentrated heart by a sort of filtration or reflection – the field of this experience being from the Brahmarandhra downward. People went above this only in Samadhi or in a condition of static mukti without any dynamic descent. All that was dynamic took place in the region of the spiritualised mental and vital-physical consciousness. In this yoga the consciousness (after the lower field has been prepared by a certain amount of psycho-spiritual-occult experience) is drawn upwards above the Brahmarandhra to ranges above belonging to the spiritual consciousness proper and instead of merely receiving from there has to live there and from there change the lower consciousness altogether. For there is a dynamism proper to the spiritual consciousness whose nature is Light, Power, Ananda, Peace, Knowledge, infinite Wideness and that must be possessed and descend into the whole being.
Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga – I: Integral Yoga and other Paths
Sri Aurobindo limns the descent experience in his epic poem Savitri
The Power that from her being’s summit reigned,
The Presence chambered in lotus secrecy,
Came down and held the centre in her brow
Where the mind’s Lord in his control-room sits;
There throned on concentration’s native seat
He opens that third mysterious eye in man,
The Unseen’s eye that looks at the unseen,
When Light with a golden ecstasy fills his brain
And the Eternal’s wisdom drives his choice
And eternal Will seizes the mortal’s will.
It stirred in the lotus of her throat of song,
And in her speech throbbed the immortal Word,
Her life sounded with the steps of the world-soul
Moving in harmony with the cosmic Thought.
As glides God’s sun into the mystic cave
Where hides his light from the pursuing gods,
It glided into the lotus of her heart
And woke in it the Force that alters Fate.
It poured into her navel’s lotus depth,
Lodged in the little life-nature’s narrow home,
On the body’s longings grew heaven-rapture’s flower
And made desire a pure celestial flame,
Broke into the cave where coiled World-Energy sleeps
And smote the thousand-hooded serpent Force
That blazing towered and clasped the World-Self above,
Joined Matter’s dumbness to the Spirit’s hush
And filled earth’s acts with the Spirit’s silent power.
Sri Aurobindo, Savitri – II: The Dream Twilight of the Earthly Real
See Also
- Explaining the Ascent-Descent in Integral Yoga
- Kundalini in ancient Greek and other non-Indian cultures
- Various ways in which the Kundalini rises
- Why does Yoga give you a “high”?
- The subtle sounds which indicate progress in Yoga
- The Triple Cord which has to be sundered
- The Golden Lid or Hiranmaya Patra which has to be ruptured
- Explaining out-of-body and near-death experiences
Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo & The Mother 
In silence the flame is born, in silence cuts in the ray from above and penetrates the soul and leaves its signature of the beyond. In silence is grasped the wonders of within, in silence are felt the realms deep within. In silence outpours the call for above and unites all that is here and part of that supreme. We are here to be to obey the divine’s will, and make this field its rhythmic battlefield. Sway we not for we know the truth, come what may for we are children of the Lord. Let us pick up the sword of the divine warrior within and slash all the ignorance that binds our feet and strike the blow on all the hush hush of the born and plant the seeds of the unborn.
Who will come and play and take seat in the ship and cast himself to the shores of the ever green, mortality is only a stage to prepare the deity within and love a channel to embrace the race in between.
The Glorious kingdom awaits thee.
Sunil
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Hi there,
Do you have experience with this descent?
I ask because I have experienced something that sounds more like this than any other descriptions of awakening experiences, particularly Kundalini.
A lot of the “symptoms” I had were reminiscent of Kundalini, but this started in my HEAD, not at the base of the spine. And it started with a developing presence in my head, distinctly qualitatively different from energetic phenomena (though it manifested quite a bit of energetic phenomena). And it generally wants to move DOWN, not up like Kundalini.
So I’m wondering — Is this a descending movement?
I’ve written some more detail about it on my website.
Hi Marshall,
> Do you have experience with this descent?
Sorry, I can’t speak of my experiences. There are valid reasons for not doing so discussed over at “Sharing spiritual experiences with others”
> So I’m wondering — Is this a descending movement?
I looked at your website. Based on all available descriptions that I have read, it seems to me that you are experiencing a descent. For complete transformation, the power has to come all the way down through the neck, heart, navel, until it reaches the bottom of the spine.
-Sandeep
Ascend and grow wings! Descend and grow tail. Makes sense?
Hi Sandeep,
Thanks for your response, which was very helpful. But I continue to have questions.
There are also valid reasons for sharing your experiences, right? In this post, The Mother is relaying details of Aurobindo’s awakening, and his experience with descent. It was very enlightening (forgive the pun) to read her account. It would also be very helpful to me to hear pertinent details of your experiences, seeing as there’s almost *nothing* out there on descent; it must be very rare.
With that said, you don’t need to address this again. I’ll leave it up to you to determine whether you are doing more harm by relaying important information, or withholding it. I’m more interested in the lessons you’ve learned, rather than the actual content of your experiences.
The presence I experience mostly resides in my head. Occasionally, I feel it in other places. My long-term partner has had a parallel experience that seems to have been triggered by mine, but she experiences it most intensely in her torso — is this still a descent? How can one tell?
Also, you said “For complete transformation, the power has to come all the way down through the neck, heart, navel, until it reaches the bottom of the spine.” Does this imply a practice? A sort of body-sensing meditation? I’ve done that to some extent, and noticed that the presence moves into my body, and i’ll even feel the shakti in my feet. Does this sound typical to you?
My girlfriend’s experience has been quite disruptive, keeping her awake at night with intense energetic sensations. It has also been disruptive to our digestion. Did you experience digestive issues?
Can you recommend any practices or lifestyle changes to help ameliorate the “side effects” of this descent?
Thanks again.
ln my experience when The Force descends aka Sri Aurobindo’s yoga, it does feel like an Electrical Energy.
Pressure at a certain chakra usually means there is work going on there – as far as l know.
l don’t really follow m.meera, but l know that she describes this ‘pressure’ in her books.
The other descents like Peace, Ananda, Light etc are self-explanatory. ln my case it’s like a flood which envelopes my whole body.
The best information that helped me was the ‘Letters on Yoga’ . These explained all the experiences l was having, except for some initial experiences which led to the Spiritual Opening for these other things to take place later. However this was confirmed for me later by one of the older disciples at the ashram [udar pinto – now gone].
February 23,1932
Disciple: What is the difference between direct and indirect descent of the Light?
Sri Aurobindo: When a higher force comes down into a lower plane, it is diminished and modified by the inferior substance, lesser power and more mixed movements of that lower plane. Thus, if the overmind power works through the illumined mind, only part of its truth and force can manifest and be effective—so much only as can get through this less receptive consciousness. And even what gets through is less true, mixed with other matter, less overmental, more easily modified into something that is part truth, part error. When this diminished indirect force descends further down into the mind and vital, it has still something of the overmind creative Truth in it, but gets very badly mixed with mental and vital formations that disfigure it and make it half effective only, sometimes ineffective.
(Govindbhai Patel, My Pilgrimage To The Spirit, Part 1)
I remember reading a response from mother where she mentions that one should not force the grace to descent and to flow with the natural pace, something like that.
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First of all, great blog. It helps people like me. I am new to SA’s teaching. Could someone tell me what exactly I must do – it seems receiving divine grace is most important but what are the methods? I try meditation but it is either boring or tiring (too many thoughts). I am at a loss, really. How to experience this descent?
Hari: I try meditation but it is either boring or tiring (too many thoughts).
There was a time when I also had the same problem. This happens to everybody. We find it difficult to withdraw from the physical world because Rajas and Tamas have taken hold of the consciousness. Our consciousness is loaded with the residual vasanas gathered from many movies, bad eating habits, too much chatting, foolish friends, etc.
There are several things you can do:
1) One must develop devotion to the Divine by singing devotional songs or reading uplifting poems like Sri Aurobindo’s Savitri. Gradually, as you offer your entire self to the Divine, the connection gets stronger and creates an opening.
2) Visit holy places like the Sri Aurobindo’s Samadhi or Ramana Maharshi’s room in Arunachala. The vibrations in these places are beneficial for the novice.
3) Meditate early morning or late at night when the incessant activity outside has died down.
4) If there are too many thoughts, you should meditate with open eyes. Fix the eyes on the wall or on some imaginary horizon. This prevents the thoughts from running amok.
Sri Aurobindo writes in the “Synthesis of Yoga”
Thanks. It helps. My mind is like a tornado, so it isnt easy. But in SA’s yoga, the force comes from above and not from below (as in other yogas)? So must I always focus on the crown chakra?
Ideally, the Guru gives a method which is suited to the aspirant’s temperament. Since you haven’t been given any such instruction, it is futile to bother about these distinctions right now. Just offer yourself to the Divine mentally and emotionally. Concentrate on the heart or the head – whatever works for you.
Excerpt from SA’s Letter’s:
“Your description of the solid cool block of peace pressing on the body and making it immobile makes it certain that it is what we call in this yoga the descent of the higher consciousness. A deep, intense or massive substance of peace and stillness is very commonly the first of its powers that descends and many experience it in that way. At first it comes and stays only during meditation or, without the sense of physical inertness or immobility , a little while longer and afterwards is lost; but if the sadhana follows its normal course, it comes more and more, lasting longer and in the end as an enduring deep peace and inner stillness and release becomes a normal character of the consciousness, the foundation indeed of a new consciousness, calm and liberated.” [Source here: http://www.searchforlight.org/lotusgroove/Peace/Sri%20aurobindo,mother,integral%20yoga,peace,descend%20of%20peace.htm%5D
From SA’s Letters on Yoga [III]:
“A deep , intense or massive substance of peace and stillness is very commonly the first of its powers that descends and many experience it is that way. At first it comes and stays only during meditation of, without the sense of physical inertness or immobility, a little while linger and afterwards is lost; but if the sadhana follows its normal course, it comes more and more, lasting longer and in the end as an enduring deep peace and inner stillness and release becomes a normal character of the consciousness, the foundation indeed of a new consciousness, calm and liberated.”
Vol. 24:1197
Hi Sandeep,
Kindly advise me.
While reading Sri Aurobindo books about synthesis of yoga, at the age of 17 , I visualised as per the instructions like (almost similar words)
“Invite shakti at your third eye”
The light from outside really went inside third eye and moved through the head for about one week.
I was really fresh and full of energy for these days. At last the energy got concentrated at bramharandhra. A small rain like sound is being heard from that day onwards.
For the past 15 years, it is available within me. Please guide me.
Sometimes, I even receive mild heart pain.
What is my present state and where am I?
If I knew what state you were in, I would be a Guru but I am not 🙂
If your experience was as you have described, you would automatically know your state.
I need some help.
Please suggest some one who can help me.
I am not kidding. Trust me.
I am willing to trust you but I don’t know how to guide anyone and I don’t know who can help you.
What help do you need? Is it purely a question about what state you are in ? Are you suffering from any health problems ?
Do your symptoms match the ones given here ?
https://auromere.wordpress.com/2010/02/12/the-subtle-sounds-which-indicate-progress-in-yoga/
Can a person experience the descent without a meditation practice? I do not practice meditation, but I am experiencing changes. For one, I used to be chronically fatigued. Now I have a lot of energy – almost too much energy and it is to the point of my body having too much energy – almost shaking with energy. And all depression is gone, and no physical fatigue. I had thought this had to be the attributes of the True Vital but the physical sensations are so strong. As I have mentioned before, I spend most my concentration in the heart center – I have only begun a year ago to focus above the head, but not a serious attempt.
I read this:
“Disciple: Ramana Maharshi does not believe in the descent (of the Supermind).
Sri Aurobindo: It – the descent is the experience of many Sadhaks even outside our Yoga. An old Sanyasi of the Ramakrishna Mission saw a flood of light descending and when he asked he was told it was all the work of the devil and the whole experience stopped afterwards.
In Maharshi’s case he has received the thing in the heart and has worked with it, so he does not feel the descent.” *I know Sandeep had posted this in his blogs somewhere too, but have forgotten where.
Anyway, I am not experiencing a difficulty, but I am concerned how to better direct this physical/body energy. Where is it coming from?
***Just started to reread the blog titled “Physical Cultures”. May have the answers I am looking for. Thanks!
“Can a person experience the descent without a meditation practice? I do not practice meditation, but I am experiencing changes. For one, I used to be chronically fatigued. Now I have a lot of energy – almost too much energy and it is to the point of my body having too much energy – almost shaking with energy. And all depression is gone, and no physical fatigue. I had thought this had to be the attributes of the True Vital but the physical sensations are so strong. As I have mentioned before, I spend most my concentration in the heart center – I have only begun a year ago to focus above the head, but not a serious attempt.”
l don’t think meditation is necessary for the Descent, as SA says:
“The Peace, Power, Light, Ananda of the higher spiritual consciousness are there in all veiled above. A certain opening upwards is needed for it to descent- the quietude of the mind and a certain wide concentrated passivity to the descending Influence are the best conditions for the descent.”
A silent mind seems to be the main condition.
” …it is oftenest when the mind falls silent that there is the full descent of a wide peace from above and in that wide tranquillity the realisation of the silent Self above the mind spread out in its vastness everywhere”
Usually, l can just ask for it {or aspire without words} and a bit later [could be out sitting, walking etc], it will come down [or just enter me some other way].
ln my own case it just happened before l knew anything about SA and M [l think l’ve mentioned it here before]. ln the beginning lt started when l was lying in bed [l can’t remember it happening any other way back then]. l would see and feel a kind of revolving wheel at the third-eye centre which would fill the whole body with a Force or Strength, and l would feel like a giant steel ball [very heavy] which felt like it was going to explode – it never did of course. This was the Force or Power [not sure which] preparing me for the Spiritual Opening, as it’s called. These days it just fills the body without the steel ball effect, and can happen anywhere. Like you, l’m filled with energy most of the time, and depression doesn’t affect me much [that’s more to do with the psychic influence, l think], but, of course, there is still much resistance, physically, emotionally [vitally] and mentally. Other things have Descended too – Peace, Calm, Light etc.
The Descent of Force in particular, will eventually become stable and the body will feel stronger and more energetic, although this ‘stability’ will not happen, according to my experience, unless Bhramacharya is strictly observed [SA has said this somewhere – He also says that the Yoga can’t be completed without it, although there can be realisations].
The conversion of retas into ojas can also create much energy in the body even without a Descent, l believe, as sandeep says in another section:
hxxps://auromere.wordpress.com/2010/04/06/the-transmutation-of-sexual-energy/
Mark, forgot to mention that l don’t really meditate, but you do ‘Concentrate’ in the heart, which l do sometimes, so that is the same thing [l know meditation and concentration are traditionally different things, but still..]. M says we don’t have to meditate but if we feel a force dragging our consciousness within [which l get fairly often], we should remain still and go with it – this is more likely to be true meditation anyway..IMO
Also, in the ashram [when SA and M were there] some were told to meditate and some were told not to. SA said not to assume that sadhaks were’nt making progress just because didn’t meditate..
Thanks Mike. Yes, I have been concentrating on the heart center for a long time. My progress comes mostly through interior observation.
Anyway, Satprem mentions energy here:
“Depending on the degree of our development, all kinds of new capacities can emerge from this vital immobility, but first of all we feel an inexhaustible energy; any fatigue is a sign that we have fallen back into the superficial turmoil.” https://auromere.wordpress.com/techniques/vital-immobility/
When this first came, this energy, about a month ago or so (it came permanently then), first I thought how could it be prana, since I do not practice pranayama or anything like this? And then I read Satprem’s topic ‘the true vital’ which appears to be matching this. Of course there is more changing vitally, the entire world dynamic is changing, like looking through a different lens.
Here is an example of one realization gained:
“Atmarati (One who delights in the Self)
This term occurs in Chapter 3, Verse 17 of the Bhagavad Gita. It is an intermediate state which comes when the Yogin, after some effort, begins to live in a state of peace which is unaffected by the turbulence of the world.” https://auromere.wordpress.com/2009/11/18/states-of-self-realization-defined-in-the-gita/
At first I just thought I was becoming dull, lazy (or irresponsible) toward the worlds plight/s. Rather, it is “Atmarti.” But I wonder if you see the difficulty here, these realizations are coming, but I only am aware of them after they have been realized. And then comes the detective work because I am not certain how it happened which makes me question the authenticity of the realization. The experiences (before) and realizations (after) are happening without my knowledge of having any solid educated idea about them nor having set it as a set goal to achieve, nor any working discipline. I am like a blind man without a cane on a path to somewhere – perhaps following the heat of the Sun on my face…. I did read this particular blog before (self-realization), but it did not leave me with the notion that it is something I must achieve. Rather I read it, and forgot about it until recently.
“The Descent of Force in particular, will eventually become stable and the body will feel stronger and more energetic, although this ‘stability’ will not happen, according to my experience, unless Bhramacharya is strictly observed”
Yes, Bhramacharya began for me a few years ago.
The changes that are happening, rather than through effort/disciplines on my part (that I am aware of) appear to be happening automatically. Like a door opening. For instance, lifestyle changes around food/diet, exercise, health (for example: transitioning to vegetarian, loss of weight, lowering blood pressure, etc), and Bhramacharya. I had to be vigilant to notice them (the doors) and then work hard thereafter. I know I would not have succeeded if they were not ‘sanctioned.’ And, yes, silent mind is coming like the rest, automatically. I started feeling this other force or power, something very vast, calm, solid, and that quiets my mind. I do not try to stop thoughts, I just begin to lose interest in them, or see them as they really are – insignificant by comparison – and a quiet mind is becoming the natural state.
As far as descents of forces, prana, or shakti, those influences are having an effect, I’m sure, but I am not yet aware of their subtle definitions. And I do remember reading your ‘iron ball’ account sometime ago – I’ve had nothing like that yet. Most likely will not experience things that you have and vice versa, not exactly.
I think initially that meditation techniques are set-up for the beginners, and later they will find their own way. As far as advanced techniques, I am not sure about that. I have just ordered a book that Sandeep suggested in another blog (here: https://auromere.wordpress.com/2010/04/18/stabilizing-the-body-before-meditation/) titled ‘Dharana Darshan-Yogic,Tantric and Upanishadic Practices of Concentration and Visualization, by Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati.’
Thanks again Mike. I really do appreciate your contact. I do not have any other resource available. There are a couple SA&M facilities in the area (San Francisco and Lodi) but I have never been to either of them, they are distant.
“And then comes the detective work because I am not certain how it happened which makes me question the authenticity of the realization. The experiences (before) and realizations (after) are happening without my knowledge of having any solid educated idea about them nor having set it as a set goal to achieve, nor any working discipline.”
Yes, mark. lt is a strange process your going through. A lot of it appears to be going on behind a veil – Which is what MP Pandit said in that post l made a while ago. Once an Opening has been made the Force or Shakti is constantly at work, and even though we’re unconscious of it’s workings the RESULT [as in your case] will manifest eventually. As you say, your only conscious of the final result or realization. l think this is because if the mind is aware of the inner workings it can interfere with them. SA has said this a few times..lt’s a blessing to be unconscious sometimes.
Although, we do get intimations in dreams quite often [usually in symbolic form], and also in visions, if we get those. l’ve had dreams that have turned into experiences later on. But with the ‘Descents’, they obviously have to be felt throughout the external being. Probably, much preparation takes place on the inner planes before these things manifest outwardly – at least in my understanding. M says the important thing is to break through that Lid at the top of the head [which l think we’ve done].
Of course, Satprem mentions his lack of ‘experiences’ in the Agenda. But M tells him he does have experience, he just doesn’t remember them [the bridges of consciousness need to be built first]..
” am like a blind man without a cane on a path to somewhere – perhaps following the heat of the Sun on my face”
Yes, that’s a good description of it lol.. l know the feeling..
“The experiences (before) and realizations (after) are happening without my knowledge of having any solid educated idea about them nor having set it as a set goal to achieve, nor any working discipline”
Your in good company, because M said the same thing about Herself. She said all Her major experiences happened long before She knew what they were, or had ever read about them, She even says it’s always best not to know what they are beforehand, because the mind won’t invent the experience then [apparently She met quite a few who had read about things like Kundalini, and from that had somehow mentally constructed a false experience]..
“The changes that are happening, rather than through effort/disciplines on my part (that I am aware of) appear to be happening automatically. Like a door opening. For instance, lifestyle changes around food/diet, exercise, health (for example: transitioning to vegetarian, loss of weight, lowering blood pressure, etc), and Bhramacharya”
Yes, it’s all an act of Grace, l think. l still eat meat but it’s not really something l’m over-attached to. My main observance is to say a mantra to SA and M before eating.
Overcoming the sex-impulse [l’m not saying full Mastery of course], would never have happened without meeting my twinsoul [which l’ve mentioned on here ad nauseum lol] – l’m certain of that..
The ‘iron ball’ experience was actually going on in the subtle body, but it certainly felt physical enough lol..
“Most likely will not experience things that you have and vice versa, not exactly.”
Yes, your right. We aren’t following the same line of development, but the realisations must be the same, ultimately, l suppose.
“There are a couple SA&M facilities in the area (San Francisco and Lodi) but I have never been to either of them, they are distant”
I forget how big the US is sometimes. I live in a small town in UK, and it feels like l’m walking through a Spiritual ghost town sometimes.
l think we might be two ppl who are mean’t to work alone in the shadows, in complete anonymity – suits me though [at least in this life].
” A lot of it appears to be going on behind a veil – Which is what MP Pandit said in that post l made a while ago. Once an Opening has been made the Force or Shakti is constantly at work, and even though we’re unconscious of it’s workings the RESULT [as in your case] will manifest eventually. …She even says it’s always best not to know what they are beforehand, because the mind won’t invent the experience then”
Excellent! I passed the test, or failed, or both. lol.
I think that reading about this and going through the experience of isolation (?) are two very different things. The former is reassuring to some degree, and then when actually going through that period of “not knowing”, well, I stated that already. But now that realizations are beginning to come, it feels like reaching solid ground after walking on thin ice for many years. And yes (regarding dreams) I had one dream in particular (in 1999) that is being played out. By the way, in that dream I met my ‘twinsoul’ at the end of that dream (or it was a symbol of Divine union), but as it is I am midway through this dream. This was one of a series of dreams I had for about ten years that were very strong, not regular dreams. I would wake up and know I had “one of ‘those’ dreams”.
As an analogy, I think of Earnest Shackleton and his men after their ship sank off the coast of Antarctica and they were forced out onto the ice shelf for many months before reaching Elephant Island (and land!). Life on the ice shelf was very difficult: they could feel the ocean swaying beneath them, there came cracks suddenly, eerie sounds underneath from sea creatures – seals, penguins and the such.
I was thinking of something today and was trying to think how to put it into words, and then I found this by the Mother which both put it into words and answered my question at the same time [sorry about the length, I did edit this portion out of the much longer letter]:
“The first thing to do then is to find out what it is that you are meant to realise, what is the role you have to play, your particular mission, and the capacity or quality you have to express. You have to discover that and also the thing or things that oppose and do not allow it to flower or come to manifestation. In other words, you have to know yourself, recognise your soul or psychic being.
For that you must be absolutely sincere and impartial. You must observe yourself as if you were observing and criticizing a third person. You must not start with an idea that this is our life’s mission, this is your particular capacity, this you are to do or that you are to do, in this lies your talent or genius, etc. That will carry you away from the right track. It is not the liking or disliking of your external being, your mental or vital or physical choice that determines the true line of your growth. Nor should you take up the opposite attitude and say, “I am good for nothing in this matter, I am useless in that one; it is not for me.” Neither vanity or arrogance nor self-depreciation and false modesty should move you. As I said, you must be absolutely impartial and unconcerned. You should be like a mirror that reflects the truth and does not judge.
If you are able to keep such an attitude, if you have this repose and quiet trust in your being and wait for what may be revealed to you, then something like this happens: you are, as it were, in a wood, dark and noiseless; you see i front of you merely a sheet of water, dark and still, hardly visible — a bit of pond imbedded in the obscurity; and slowly upon it a moonbeam is cast and in the cool dim light emerges the calm liquid surface. That is how your secret truth of being will appear and present itself to you at your first contact with it: there you will see gradually reflected in the true qualities of your being, the traits of your divine personality, what you really are and what you are meant to be. …” The Mother, Words of the Mother, p.355-58
“but the realisations must be the same, ultimately, l suppose.”
Makes good sense.
“I forget how big the US is sometimes. I live in a small town in UK, and it feels like l’m walking through a Spiritual ghost town sometimes.”
Yes, everything seems far away here. Fortunately where I live we are surrounded by nature, so I feel like I am outside the City in a rural area. But it is densely populated and growing. I used to feel outside it all and kind of like what you say about a ‘spiritual ghost town’, which made me feel even more outside, and now I am feeling the opposite and realizing that what these people are is meaningful to themselves some how. or I hope so, for their own sakes. But I do not feel locked out anymore, some how I feel more integrated than I have ever felt before. And I had hoped that, well, for a long time, that I had to undergo my spiritual process in my home town area (as opposed to a cave in Lhasa, for instance) where I am forced to face my deepest fears, ingrained habits, all of it. Only then would I be convinced that the spiritual transformation was true and somewhat complete (as complete as can be expected in this lifetime). It is nice to begin to see this world (my little area) in a different light. Before it was dismal and I hated it!
BTW, I’m semi-vegetarian, still eat fish, poultry, some pork, less beef. But off most processed foods. Eat mostly organic. I follow this mans work – not a yogic – mediterranean diet, but very good: http://www.whfoods.com/
I never dream’t about my ‘Twinsoul’ before meeting her [not that l remember], which you’d think l would have, because it’s the most powerful experience l’ve had in this life. l’ve had many dreams with her AFTER meeting, of course. But, as you say, these dreams are more than dreams – they have a reality and a quality that goes beyond ordinary dreaming. ln fact, l’m sure that they were actual out-of-body meetings – in other worlds.
The question of a personal mission is still a mystery to me. Obviously, l believe my goal is to Realize and Manifest the Divine in a Supramental way [l’m actually reading G.Van.Wrekham’s book on the ‘Overman’ atm], but as for a ‘personal mission’ in this world, l have no idea what that is. l need the Psychic contact for that l suppose – as M says above..
Nolini mentions it too:
“Each man has then a mission to fulfil, a role to play in the universe; a part he has been given to learn and take up in the cosmic Purpose which he alone is capable of executing and none other. This he has to learn and acquire through life-experiences, that is to say, not in one life, but in life after life. In fact, that is the meaning of the chain of lives that the individual has to pass through, namely, to acquire experiences and to gather out of them the thread – the skein of qualities and attributes, powers and capacities – for the pattern of life he has to weave”..
“and now I am feeling the opposite and realizing that what these people are is meaningful to themselves some how. or I hope so, for their own sakes”
Yes, even though the general lgnorance of ppl around me [and in the world at large] can be painful, l understand, as you say, that they’re evolving at their own pace. And, of course, with the advent of the Supramental, it will go faster..
l do get moments when l feel a kind of Oneness, though – like there is no separation. Probably a mental experience, but still…
Seeing the Divine in everything must be a wonderful experience [the way SA had it in Alipore jail]. lt would mean we can live anywhere, in any condition, under all circumstances, without being affected by the least thing..
“BTW, I’m semi-vegetarian, still eat fish, poultry, some pork, less beef. But off most processed foods. Eat mostly organic. I follow this mans work – not a yogic – mediterranean diet, but very good”
Yes, they’ve warning ppl over here, in the papers and TV news, about processed meat [red meat] causing cancer..
l’ve being trying Colloidal Gold lately [mainly as an aid in remembering dreams]. lt has, apparently, a lot of benefits. l do think it’s making my dreams more vivid, though..
“To the extent that we lose the habit of referring everything to ourselves and more to give ourselves more completely, with greater love, to earth and men, we shall see our horizons widen and our duties become numerous and clear.” Q & A ’57-’58, The Mother, p. 417
This has to be the true nature of the psychic being coming through, the influence of the psychic rather. It’s an opening, or openness — that Charles Dicken’s Scrooge transformation — this reversal is liberating.
“that they’re evolving at their own pace.”
It’s helps me to at least imagine they have a psychic being. Eventually oneness will come as a realisation.
Sweet Dreams. I just began to look into Yoga Nidra.
Haven’t met the twinsoul yet, just the dream image. But like I said, it may have been a symbol of Union with the Divine.
**Cutting this message short due to the time – I need to get to sleep. 🙂
It stirred in the lotus of her throat of song,
And in her speech throbbed the immortal Word,
Her life sounded with the steps of the world-soul
Moving in harmony with the cosmic Thought.
Nice!
Heh, taoists are circulating energy but letting the energy go upwards out of the head only when one is like, very healthy. I guess energy can be moved in all kinds of ways, upwards, downwards, in circles, lol. I wonder if ‘descent’ can have any negative health effects, like ‘normal’ kundalini rising can have. But there’s probably nothing written on it, did Aurobindo cared much about the body?
you need Dharana Shakti (capacity) to withstand the descent as explained here https://auromere.wordpress.com/2012/03/16/dharana-shakti-the-capacity-to-sustain-spiritual-experiences/
Sri Aurobindo did care about the physical body. It needs to be maintained in good health because it is the “Adhara”(support) for the spiritual manifestation. See https://auromere.wordpress.com/techniques/physical-culture/
IS SHAKTIPAT WHICH IS DISCUSSED IN SIDDHA LITERATURES AND PRACTISED BY SOME GROUPS SIMILAR TO THE DESCENT WHICH SRI AUROBINDO SPEAKS OF? OR IS IT DIFFERENT ?
Don’t know if they are similar or different
Well in the book ‘Art of Living’ by M.P.Pandit (on amazon for kindle), m.p pandit is asked this question:
Q: What is Shaktipat? ls it the same as we experience when we sit for meditation.
A: Well in our ashram, where M and SA lived and did the tapasya, there is a 24-hour Shaktipat. You feel the Shaktipat all the time.
He says the Shakti is impersonal, it goes and it grabs. And when it does, it’s called Shaktipat, as popularised by Muktananda – (so, l assume the descent occurs when we have an opening to this all-pervading Shakti or Force).
thank you mike and sandeep ji. I feel although the concept is same, there is a difference between the shaktipat or descent which Sri Aurobindo speaks off and the shaktipat of siddha literatures and of muktananda, though I am unable to express it . May be the shaktipat , which siddhas speak and also of muktananda, requires some discipline to be followed and the Descent which Sri Aurobindo speaks off basically requires an opening. yes I think this is the difference. May be Sandeep Ji and mike can explain better
‘I feel although the concept is same, there is a difference between the shaktipat or descent which Sri Aurobindo speaks off and the shaktipat of siddha literatures and of muktananda, though I am unable to express it’
Yes shankar, l think the Shaktipat of ppl like Muktananda is dealing with Kundalini rising from below, whereas with SA it’s always descending from above. As M and SA say at the beginning of this post, it’s much better coming from above – She calls it the ‘Pure Shakti’, as you probably read yourself.
At the top of sandeeps’ post here, SA explains this in relation to the ‘Old Yogas’ that never experience a Descent. Even Ramana denied that it happened.
Thank you Mike!!!! These kind of questions indicate a lack of faith in my being, though Bhagavan and Shri MAA, continually pouring their Grace on me. Yes I must completely have faith in Bhagavan’s statement when he says this “Descent” is something new and not experienced by any schools of Yoga so far. I pray to Bhagavan and Shrii MAA, to bless our whole being with complete faith!!! Thank you once again!!!! OM MAA JAI MAA SHRII MAA
It is not exactly that way as Mike explained. Sri Aurobindo mentioned that descent of force has been happening in the past but most often it was misinterpreted or considered evil due to its unusual nature.
Yes Darius, your right. SA has said that in His letters.
I can’t help wonder why we can be so blind to the truth of our own divinity. An I was thinking about matter and consciousness. So energy can be in both material as well as non-material states. And I guess even unmanifest in some non-spacial involuted domain. Maybe we could correlate it with the spiritual realm. I do not know. But in the process of becoming material, becoming a packet of energy or particle, that energy (and maybe consciousness) becomes discrete or individualized, no longer part of some unified field. And as a result it no longer is part of that unified consciousness but experiences a darkness separate from it rather than a conscious connection with it.
And so in this life we do not recognize our direct connection with the spiritual realm. We do not see it. Rather we are focused on the material distinctions and can only yearn for a realization of that innate unity. But we can also live as if we are part of that unity by the kindness and love we show to each other. Still, why does it have to be so slow, so arduous a realization. People are committing suicide. Why nor more divin intervention?
Just thinking on paper here.