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An essay on Essence and Form, Part III
Reproduced from The Vishaal Newsletter
Volume 4, Number 5, December 1989
© Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet 1989
[Link to Introduction]
[Link to Part I]
[Link to Part II]
We are saddled with false conceptions often dating back thousands of years. One is that the ‘spiritual truth’ is untouched by the corrosive substances of a material world – to the extent that that world became known as ‘maya’ and equated with ‘illusion’, when Shankara put the final nail in the coffin of the eternal dharma. Sri Aurobindo insistently pointed out this false conception and sought to redeem Maya by revealing its ancient Vedic sense to the world: measure, knowledge, the formative power of the Absolute. I have carried this work ahead and ‘materialised’ this effort somewhat by providing the seeker with the actual Divine Maya or Measure – that Golden Rod of ancient traditions whereby the enlightened ‘measure’ comes into being which eliminates the distortions or the disfiguring veils dividing Essence and Form. The ‘illusion of Maya’ is that abysmal chasm with its exuding toxic fumes and not the material universe. Therein obscuring waves arise which cast the two worlds farther and farther apart, to the point where there seems to be no meeting ground at all, no possibility of the emergence of a connecting bridge…the effects of which are a totally separative existence and the loss of a ‘one world’ perception, the plague of our times. Pursuits of the spirit become one thing, the material another. The inadequate tools for governing which India is saddled with are the direct result of that abysmal chasm.
In practical terms, what does this mean? How does it become reflected in the life of a nation? In India this has resulted in a totally ego-centric, egoistic consciousness replacing the wide and all-embracing vision of ancient times, those prior to the schism. The individual is out for his own personal gains; the state and community mean nothing to him at all. Increasingly we witness that corrosive elements cannot be corrected or eliminated. They are a ‘world unto themselves’. They abide in their own ‘universe’ or ‘space’. They are out of the reach of the usual channels (‘unaccountable’ is the common term), because they are the channels: The parasite is finally the tree.
New channels are sought to rectify the position; but they too arise from within the ranks of the already contaminated body/system, hence they themselves bear the corrosive seeds within and become additional means to further the contamination they are supposed to eradicate. We attempt to reform, we seek to introduce a new ‘raj’ in which local bodies are given more power, closer to the people and therefore more directly accountable to them. But the people respond with indifference and wisely point out that these bodies are also limbs of that parasite-ridden tree, parts of that ‘system’, the whole of which is contaminated, saddled with inadequate ‘forms’. Thus the well-intentioned move has no guarantee of success or that it will alter matters in any significant way. On the contrary. Many believe it will only spread the rot more deeply down and into the system and reach those (grass)roots of the Tree more easily. In other words, it is not truth or rightness that is spread through the system but rather the corrosive seeds. It is then that whatever slogan is adopted rings hollow. The ‘form’ is devoid of any resounding essence.
This is again mathematical. Inadequate forms will invariably, inevitably, predictably distort or corrode even the finest essence (intention). Thus, to bring about any REAL change, and consequent benefit to the people, one must go to the source; or rather, construct that ‘bridge’ and heal this age-old slowly but steadily growing chasm. This can be done only by persons of Knowledge.
And thus we stumble upon another ancient truth of the Indian polity: The Brahmin stood above kings, the man or woman of God-realisation was the highest and first ‘citizen’ of the nation and the one who inspired and advised kings, who guided the course of the kingdom and even, in certain instances, guided it through the turmoil of war. But in very ancient times, before those corrosive seeds of undermining were planted, the matter/spirit split did not exist. It exists today. Hence, where is the sage who lives in a unified consciousness which permits this superior guidance? We do not mean by ‘unified consciousness’ a union with God elsewhere, ‘up there’, away from this material plane and thus removed from the realities of existence in a universe of matter and subject to, as well as a participant in, the cosmic play of forces. By unified consciousness we mean one who ACCEPTS the world as the Body of the Lord, as the truth-essence in matter, and therefore a consciousness which is able to perceive the unbroken link between essence and form where lesser mortals fail. In a word, we mean a consciousness which has no difficulty whatsoever in perceiving the exact and unadulterated form or system or structure which is the only real channel for that essence to express itself in the world, on this planet Earth, at this precise crossroads in Time.
The present-day abounding crop of godmen, all of them, are incapable of providing this impeccable guidance because the current attitude is one of denial of the physical reality as being intrinsically real and true and equal to the subtle essence, not to speak of religions and religious leaders who gave up the struggle to establish a ‘heaven on Earth’ long ago. None see the truth of Form. Each and every one bears in his consciousness and in his very God-realisation, the seeds of that infamous Undermining of ages gone by, which the passage of Time has covered over in thick crusts and layer upon layer of now depleted and de-energised consciousness-soil.
Time is thus the agent of Maya, of that deceptive act of veiling. Time it is therefore who must be the instrument of UNVEILING. Time it was who nurtured, who gestated those seeds to produce the distorted forms which burden our civilisation today. Time it must be therefore who gestates and gives birth to new Seeds, the golden seeds of Truth-Consciousness which produce undistorted, uncontaminated forms of Itself. Time it is therefore who has provided us with the ‘formula’ for this superior operation: 9/6/3-0/1. People of Knowledge know this Formula and use it, and it alone, to build the uncontaminated structure of a new world.
In practical terms, what does this mean? How does it become reflected in the life of a nation? In India this has resulted in a totally ego-centric, egoistic consciousness replacing the wide and all-embracing vision of ancient times, those prior to the schism. The individual is out for his own personal gains; the state and community mean nothing to him at all. Increasingly we witness that corrosive elements cannot be corrected or eliminated. They are a ‘world unto themselves’. They abide in their own ‘universe’ or ‘space’. They are out of the reach of the usual channels (‘unaccountable’ is the common term), because they are the channels: The parasite is finally the tree.
New channels are sought to rectify the position; but they too arise from within the ranks of the already contaminated body/system, hence they themselves bear the corrosive seeds within and become additional means to further the contamination they are supposed to eradicate. We attempt to reform, we seek to introduce a new ‘raj’ in which local bodies are given more power, closer to the people and therefore more directly accountable to them. But the people respond with indifference and wisely point out that these bodies are also limbs of that parasite-ridden tree, parts of that ‘system’, the whole of which is contaminated, saddled with inadequate ‘forms’. Thus the well-intentioned move has no guarantee of success or that it will alter matters in any significant way. On the contrary. Many believe it will only spread the rot more deeply down and into the system and reach those (grass)roots of the Tree more easily. In other words, it is not truth or rightness that is spread through the system but rather the corrosive seeds. It is then that whatever slogan is adopted rings hollow. The ‘form’ is devoid of any resounding essence.
This is again mathematical. Inadequate forms will invariably, inevitably, predictably distort or corrode even the finest essence (intention). Thus, to bring about any REAL change, and consequent benefit to the people, one must go to the source; or rather, construct that ‘bridge’ and heal this age-old slowly but steadily growing chasm. This can be done only by persons of Knowledge.
And thus we stumble upon another ancient truth of the Indian polity: The Brahmin stood above kings, the man or woman of God-realisation was the highest and first ‘citizen’ of the nation and the one who inspired and advised kings, who guided the course of the kingdom and even, in certain instances, guided it through the turmoil of war. But in very ancient times, before those corrosive seeds of undermining were planted, the matter/spirit split did not exist. It exists today. Hence, where is the sage who lives in a unified consciousness which permits this superior guidance? We do not mean by ‘unified consciousness’ a union with God elsewhere, ‘up there’, away from this material plane and thus removed from the realities of existence in a universe of matter and subject to, as well as a participant in, the cosmic play of forces. By unified consciousness we mean one who ACCEPTS the world as the Body of the Lord, as the truth-essence in matter, and therefore a consciousness which is able to perceive the unbroken link between essence and form where lesser mortals fail. In a word, we mean a consciousness which has no difficulty whatsoever in perceiving the exact and unadulterated form or system or structure which is the only real channel for that essence to express itself in the world, on this planet Earth, at this precise crossroads in Time.
The present-day abounding crop of godmen, all of them, are incapable of providing this impeccable guidance because the current attitude is one of denial of the physical reality as being intrinsically real and true and equal to the subtle essence, not to speak of religions and religious leaders who gave up the struggle to establish a ‘heaven on Earth’ long ago. None see the truth of Form. Each and every one bears in his consciousness and in his very God-realisation, the seeds of that infamous Undermining of ages gone by, which the passage of Time has covered over in thick crusts and layer upon layer of now depleted and de-energised consciousness-soil.
Time is thus the agent of Maya, of that deceptive act of veiling. Time it is therefore who must be the instrument of UNVEILING. Time it was who nurtured, who gestated those seeds to produce the distorted forms which burden our civilisation today. Time it must be therefore who gestates and gives birth to new Seeds, the golden seeds of Truth-Consciousness which produce undistorted, uncontaminated forms of Itself. Time it is therefore who has provided us with the ‘formula’ for this superior operation: 9/6/3-0/1. People of Knowledge know this Formula and use it, and it alone, to build the uncontaminated structure of a new world.
‘Skambha’
27 October 1989
27 October 1989
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