Reflections on the Nature of the Real - 2

Growing Pains

Thea (PNB)

Aeon Centre of Cosmology

Tamil Nadu, South India

14.8.2014

The number of controversies flying across India in large part can be termed ‘growing pains’: the need to accommodate the diversity that is India with the obligation to unify this diversity, particularly with regard to the compulsions of a planetary society. Language is usually central to these controversies and English is a primary target. Of course it is a ‘fall out’ of the British Raj, but is it not a fact that English has displaced French as the international ‘link’ language? French dominated while monarchies ruled; it was then the language of aristocrats. English is dominant today at a time when the people’s voice is heard, on the international stage. This was facilitated by colonisation which affected the entire populace and not merely an elite. And is it not a fact that most if not all of the technological and scientific publications are written in English? To abolish English in such a scenario would be a case of cutting one’s nose to spite one’s face. In a country as diverse as India, where that diversity manifests primarily through languages, what will the ultimate solution be?
There is another way of looking at the issue: India is privileged to have been given a jump-start with English, a language that in the future would displace French in international relations. But that advantage Providence has bequeathed is being contested. The desire to eliminate and replace English with Hindi, for example, has been again fiercely opposed by the southern states in particular.
For decades since Independence and the removal of the Raj the nation has sought a replacement to counter the constant reminder of subjugation in the eyes of many. One has to question in the same manner why cricket, a pre-eminently Raj sport, has appropriated centre stage, not allowing other international sports to flourish. Yet, no one protests against the dominance of cricket to the detriment of all other sports, when at the Olympic Games every four years we are reminded of the imbalance. The Commonwealth Games have recently been concluded. India did well, unlike at the international venue not limited to former colonies. Does India require some more time to spread her wings and fly beyond such self-imposed boundaries? Cricket is cherished when it is a product par excellence of British rule, similar to English. What is the difference? To add weight to my argument, today it is played exclusively in once-colonised nations and has never been able to extend its influence beyond. No one complains, no one sees this as a sort of umbilical cord. On the other hand, the language inherited from colonial rule has allowed India to move into an international role that was not the result of British imperialism alone but is part of the workings of the Time-Spirit which has used this imperialism to globalise the world. French dominated while monarchies dominated the international stage; it was a symbol of the Old World, the language of the aristocrats. English is dominant today as the people’s voice becomes an international phenomenon through the wide-reaching democratic process.
Internally a solution has to be found to the language conundrum. But is Hindi the answer, being easily seen as an imposition of the North over the South? This too is a relic from colonial times: the well-known divide-and-rule strategy of imperial Britain successfully used the world’s most ancient Scripture to cement this north/south divide in the nation; along with the idea that the subcontinent was devoid of anything that could be considered an advanced civilisation. In other words, Bharat was a geographic void which therefore could be ‘filled’ by the strongest contender – i.e. the British. There was hardly any effective protest for over a century. Finally, in the early part of the last century, Sri Aurobindo voiced a protest and penned the unique The Secret of the Veda so that the hidden regions the Veda itself brings to our attention could be understood for what they are and not as most Indologists concluded. The Riks speak of the realms accessed only by the Immortal Ones, the ancients who had undertaken the same journey that is open to seekers on the subcontinent and throughout the world – no boundaries, no proprietorship, no monopoly because the ‘language’ employed is universal. It is not English or Sanskrit. It is the Cosmic Script, the same today as thousands of years ago. This is universalism, so well put in the Sanskrit vasudhaivam kutumbakam.
In the meantime we realise that the cosmic language is embedded in the human soul, but how many are in touch with that hidden dimension of consciousness? The British through English left their stamp on the world and successfully displaced French as international link language. The subcontinent is to leave the cosmic script as the new ‘link’ of a planetary society. However, this is not learned in universities anywhere on the globe.
Finally we have reached the core of the problem. Has India left evidence of this universalism which every true Indian intuitively knows lies at the root of nationhood? We feel proud of the unbroken link with the past, particularly demonstrated in the place the Rig and other Vedas hold in contemporary Hindu society. But we must also acknowledge that no one understands the language of the Veda. I do not refer to Sanskrit, please note; that is the external dress the Sanatana Dharma clothes herself in for this cosmic cycle of many thousands of years. It wore another dress during other turns of the cosmic wheel. What the Rig Veda holds as its most cherished rahasya is that abiding Truth that today may even use English to clothe itself and hide its everlasting beauty that is only unveiled to those highest of souls.
   
In the news today we learn of a comment made by a learned former Justice of the Supreme Court of India. He emphatically states that the national Epics are ‘fiction’ – his precise word as reported in the news. In several of my publications I have disclosed that the language of the Epics is cosmic entirely (see Kashmir and the Convergence of Time and Destiny and The Secrets of the Earth, Aeon Books), and certainly they can never be termed fiction as we understand the word today, except by those who have been so thoroughly influenced by the legacy of the Raj that the channel of the cosmic script has become even more heavily covered over by a rationalism that denies what India holds most sacred: the Soul.
I have demonstrated that the tale the Epics tell is simply the ‘history’ as recorded in the cosmos and can be deciphered today as in the distant past and well into the future. The only prerequisite is to acknowledge its existence and to open oneself to the true history wise men and women of the subcontinent have known from time immemorial. This is what India is unveiling today.
Humility is also a prerequisite. Those in positions of authority must cultivate this quality above all others. Sobriety is another – the clarity of vision to distinguish what is temporal, though of value in its own day, and what is the eternally abiding Truth. Does it really matter who first made the discovery of certain mathematical and geometric formulas, when sight of that Eternal Truth has been lost, when the Epics can be cavalierly labelled fictitious, though they are factually the repositories of that Truth? Pride in one’s past achievements is certainly important and must be accurately conveyed to students, but within the context of India’s everlasting heritage.
A new cosmology is the need of the hour. The philosopher Ervin Laszlo has echoed this need in his book, The Creative Cosmos, a Unified Science of Matter, Life and Mind. He writes

The next paradigm shift will be by nature transdisciplinary – it will be a cosmological revolution in the classical sense in which cosmology has always been the science of the whole of reality (kosmos, after all means ‘ordered whole’ in classical Greek). (Floris Books, 1993.)

It is this ‘language’ that the true emanation of Vishnu brings to the Earth yuge-yuge, re-clothed as each new age requires, but ever voicing that abiding, underlying Truth. Or, as Laszlo describes, the aim of his study is

To shed light on the dynamics by which universal fields interactively create the evolving cosmos, producing the diverse yet consistent orders that meet our eye… (Ibid, p.27)

Certainly the cosmology of the New Way fulfils Ervin Laszlo’s aspirations, but one has to question whether or not he can set aside his academic conditioning and recognise its newness; precisely for this fact it has no parallel and must be evaluated on its own terms, based only on the material presented before the enquirer in the numerous publications of Aeon Centre of Cosmology/Aeon Books. This will come to pass, today, tomorrow – or perhaps this is immaterial; because we do note that since the beginning of this year in particular, there is an acceleration in evidence of the evolution of consciousness across the globe. This is particularly evident in the youth, abroad and in India. To be noted in this regard is the thoughtful article of Tufail Ahmed, entitled Herald of a New India, which appeared in The New Indian Express, 13.8.2014. It is available online as well. The author stresses the fact that India is expressing a timeless tradition now clothed in the new scripture which is her Constitution – as is certainly a befitting adornment in this Aquarian Age.
And this brings me to a controversy created by another sitting Justice. He declared that the Bhagavad Gita should be taught in schools from the first grade itself.
Howling and gnashing of teeth across the land!
All the other holy books would have to be taught, the demand was.
But surely it is a self-evident truth that the Gita speaks to us of things Indian, that bear a relation to India today as in the past, that is native to this sacred land, as sacred as is the Ganga because both are born in the subcontinent and bear a relevance that no other holy book can equal. If Indonesia does not have a problem with the Ramayana as national epic, though the country is predominantly Islamic, one has to ask what bedevils India that she feels obliged to diminish her millennia-old culture born of this sacred bhoomi, just to prove her secular credentials.
Finally, not only is a new cosmology needed, it is a cosmology that is Indo-Centric.

‘The new era has dawned…’

Twenty-two years have passed between writing ‘The Seeds of Undermining’, carried on this site, to Anna Hazare’s victory, as a first concrete step to eradicating corruption, the central theme of that article. It would seem a long time to wait for the Power of the Word to act and to bear results. But I must stress that we are now dealing with spherical processes, not linear. The latter left great abysses on either side of the linear demarcation, filled with collective energies that could not be accommodated in the straight and narrow formulas of the past. Only spherical processes can ‘put each thing in its place’, the activity at the third level of the Supramental Manifestation, leaving nothing out of the circle. However, initially more time is required for results to be made apparent. Linear methods move more quickly precisely because they do not have the wide embrace of sphericality. For that very reason they inevitably breakdown; they cause revolts and ultimate collapse. The tool is destruction which is complete breakdown and waste, not the method of sphericality – that is, dissolution. The latter simply liberates energies trapped in those great abysses that remain outside of the circle, which I call the cosmic wastebin. Sphericality requires more time but it is the safe and all-inclusive way. Surely when linearity overtook the evolution, as witnessed in India for example, societal strictures imposed themselves that demanded the exclusion of large sections of the populace. The reasons for the exclusion need not detain us at this point; I have dealt with the subject extensively elsewhere

As a concrete example of the power that the ancient Veda hold and also of the need to update the Knowledge from time to time, I am presenting a chapter from my book, The Magical Carousel, a zodiacal odyssey. It was written in March of 1970 – a pure experience of dristi and shruti at a time when I had no connection to India, much less to the Veda. But I did have the very same KEY as extolled in the Rig Veda and which is the same today as it was in the age of the Immortal Ones. That Key bestows an eternal quality to the Dharma: for as long as Time is the motor of evolution on Earth, for as long as the cosmic harmonies are what they are, for as long as there is a human eye TO SEE and a human ear TO HEAR, dristi and shruti will continue to carry the Dharma forward to victory, regardless of the colour of one’s skin or the class or the creed. That Key is as universal as it is eternal.
The chapter of The Magical Carousel I reproduce is an example of that eternal quality; it bears testimony to the validity and universality of the Vedic 12-month ‘journey’ to attain victory in the 10^th. Then the 11^th month is, in this 9^th Manifestation, the Age of Aquarius. In The Magical Carousel’s 11^th chapter the characteristics of that Age, our current times, have been described in detail. We see the ‘wave’ that is engulfing the entire world, transforming every aspect of our global civilisation. The Speaker of the story is an influence acting directly on the consciousness of each human being. That influence acts from within, therefore nothing can interfere with this method of transformation so typical of the Aquarian Age.
We have seen that the Wave is neutral, as the text reveals; it affects every aspect of civilisation. It uses everything – including weather – to create the conditions for the Great Transformation. Through the story’s main characters it is revealed as a power that relies on an inner transformation. As I have described in Volume 3 of The New Way, a new poise has to come about in human consciousness-being. It starts in one individual and through that channel spreads to others – finally like a sweeping wave it is an unstoppable tsunami. This is what we have the privilege of witnessing across the globe.
Aquarius of The Magical Carousel’s twelve-month journey, the same as the Vedic, describes the subtle etheric dimensions where pre-physical ‘forms’ come into being in their essential nature and which are then solidified in this universe of 9 – the most dense plane. Thus, the detritus in the Aquarian tornado of the story are those subtle formations. They are being broken down to allow the new structures to manifest according to the Spirit of the Times.
The only imperatives of this ‘wave’ are Freedom and Unity. These ideals reside in ALL human beings regardless of ideologies and dogmas. This is the new ‘exclusivism’ because freedom and unity are principles at the foundation of human consciousness and they exceed and extend beyond all sectarian, ideological boundaries of recent vintage. They can be suppressed for a while (in cosmic time), as witnessed in the last millennium, but they cannot be eradicated totally from the heart and mind of humanity.
Those entrenched in the linear way of the past and dying system fear what is taking place across the globe. In India, for example, the cry we hear is ‘An undermining of the democratic institutions!’ Rulers have dealt with these fears by setting in place systems to suppress and to control the masses. The civilisations we have inherited from the Age of Pisces (234 BCE – 1926 CE) – be it in the sphere of politics or religion or any of the ideologies that guide our collective life – have been devised as efforts to control the people, covert or overt, by repressive means. When critical thresholds are reached, those methods collapse into the cosmic abyss and new ways evolve to set in place enlightened systems that can accommodate the Spirit of the Times that demands this freedom in order to attain the unity we all desire in our hearts but which inadequate systems do not permit.
However, this is the Age when a bridge is built that connects this Aquarian era to Sri Krishna’s Age of Taurus. We pass over the hard crusts that have become solid barriers between people over the past 6000 years and we connect with those ancient truths of the Eternal Dharma – now enhanced and extended to embrace the entire globe. Therefore updating is required because a NEW LANGUAGE arises which is universal and not limited to one country or one people. This is the need of the hour, and the appearance of Vishnu’s last Avatar does just that: he opens the way to the establishment of the foundations for that new language upon which we can build a new and better world. The addition of the 10^th occurred on 26/11. It became the iconic date that signalled the release in 2008 of that Power over India – the very same date as the Indian Constitution. The voice of the people, as empowered by that special Constitution, is heard. 26/11 is the seal of Mahakala. It is the incorporation of the final integer in the Descent, the immanent One. In terms of cosmic time reckonings of thousands of years, this integral Descent had not occurred earlier. Our times hold this unique distinction – and bear the formidable burden that such a special occurrence carries with it.
The Age of Aquarius is distinguished by its universal character. It is the Earth that is blessed to host this transformation of all her inhabitants, everywhere. We see this happening before our eyes. These facts make a mockery of doomsday prophecies concerning 2012 and speculations regarding ‘end time’. The universal zodiac of 12 of our civilsiation, rather than the Mayan time-reckoning, offers humanity a reliable key to the Vision, the true pre-Vision – that of the evolution of the human species which carries the world to the next stage: the Age of the supramental Truth-Consciousness.
When the time comes for that Golden Child to mature, nothing can hold it back, nothing can reverse the process because of the Time-Spirit’s forward-moving, irresistible impulsion. The Water-Carrier’s chant of Aquarius indeed rings in our ears: ‘The New Era has dawned!’

***

THE MAGICAL CAROUSEL
Chapter 11

The Universal Transformation

Val and Pom-pom are flung into the middle of the smoke, suspended in a fixed position while around them the furious tornado whizzes ever higher. Being in the centre the children can see that what looked like smoke from a distance, at closer view proves to be a great gust of wind. Whipping around at tremendous speed, it forms a vast array of iridescent colours and vibrations creating the most beautiful musical sounds. And what is more, myriads of objects swirl around them on all sides, in fact, everything that goes to make up cities and civilisations: entire buildings, motor vehicles, everything down to the smallest objects. It looks as though the ferocious tornado had destroyed the entire land it passed through. From where has this force arisen and where is it taking them?
The children move ever higher, always suspended in the belly of the tornado. After a very long journey the vibrations diminish and the colours slowly begin to fade until Val and Pom-pom find that there is almost no tornado left. They are then pulled down and down, spiralling rapidly together with all the objects, almost as if they were passing through an imaginary funnel. And before they can catch their breath they are sucked into a very huge container of some sort, together with the tornado, now just a vast current of energy.
When everything collected by the cyclone is amassed in this great vat a lid covers the opening and Val and Pom-pom find themselves floating in an etheric element, suspended like two little stars trying to figure a way out of such an incredible place.
Suddenly a very frightening noise and uproar begins, making the whole vat resound and almost shattering them by the vibrations that penetrate their little bodies. It appears to come from all the ruins of the buildings, houses, etc. that inhabit the container along with them. Soon it develops into a whining, pitiful drone and then the children understand they are listening to the anguished cries of all humanity that had been swept away by the destructive current.
What can they do? How can they help these people? And in fact, where are they – for no one can be seen?
Becoming accustomed to the dim light inside they can soon make out that all the objects in the tornado are piled one on top of the other, forming a huge mound which rises to the very lid of the gigantic container. Both agree they must escape from this place, mainly because they are becoming desperate over the anguished cries they can do nothing about. They manage to float over to the mound and clinging to it they pull themselves higher and higher until they reach the great lid, where they see a symbol and the number 11.
Val finds the proper key and with Pom-pom’s help they manage to turn the lock. With great efforts for such tiny people they push the cover to one side.
The scene they come into is entirely new and unexpected, the most unusual surroundings they have yet encountered. Val and Pom-pom have penetrated a huge vault of space, apparently a kind of cosmic hippodrome, the walls of which are existent yet non-existent. They are formed of an etheric substance that makes them visible yet transparent.
In this cosmic hall an endless number of people are collected, all of the same substance as the hall itself. Their etheric, subtle bodies remind the children of tales of spirits they have been told. The people are singing a hymn of some sort to the accompaniment of strange electric sounds produced by invisible instruments; they are greatly moved by what they are singing.
At the end of the hymn a man appears and takes a seat on a platform in the centre of the group. He too is of the same etheric substance but is made different from the rest by a most intense light that shines from within him, illuminating his fine features. It could be said that all these bodies were actually made up of light itself and no other material. He addresses the crowd:
‘Another era begins and the foundations of a new race are laid. On this day, January 21^st, the cosmic broom has returned to Aquariusland, bringing with it all that it swept away on its revolutionary journey.’
He points to the enormous vat that Val and Pom-pom had emerged from and the multitude bursts into resounding cheers and applause.
‘All the foundations must be shaken, everything old must be uprooted, for there is no possibility of renovation unless a total change is brought about. This will cause pain, dismay and panic throughout the land in the beginning. But I say unto you, brothers and sisters who have gathered here in spirit, the new era has emerged and a glorious future awaits a humanity that is not afraid to accept the totally new conditions offered to them.’
At these words wild cheers resound in the cosmic vault, producing a very peculiar amplified effect. The Speaker motions for silence and then continues while everyone attentively listens to his message. When he finishes he calls to Val and Pom-pom who didn’t realise their presence was known.
‘And here we have two new arrivals, Val and Pom-pom, who will also contribute to bringing about a new society, and have come here to join the brotherhood and work for the universal cause!’ He summons them to approach and then asks for the globes they received in Capricornland. Holding them up for everyone to see, he says:
‘Look closely, for this is a very special moment. These symbols contain the past and future in the minus and plus. By passage through this land the past shall be eliminated, the dead memories that condition all the future. Away with the past! Leave open the doors to the future and all that it shall bring!’
He snaps the minuses representing the past from each globe and flings them away as the crowd cheers and cheers. Thus only the pluses remain inside the circles. He hands them back to the children and asks them to follow as he descends from the platform and leads them through the respectful multitude.
Everyone begins to disperse, going off in different directions. Val and Pom-pom are told they will gather in groups to carry on with the work they have come to do. The Speaker takes the children through different workshops and they are shown the jobs that are being done. In each place various cosmic currents are assembled with very special and complicated devices, and then stored in jugs and left to age. When the time is ripe these currents are poured into the ether and travel through space, affecting the specific sector of existence they were concocted for. One workshop assembles currents that affect religions, another politics, another acts mainly on educational systems. And still others for revolutionising medicine, art and music. Even weather and atmospheric conditions are affected when these are useful for bringing about upheavals necessary for the evolution of humanity. The recipes for the currents are created by the Speaker himself, and he also shows the children his private laboratory where his inventions for the good of all humanity come into being.
The etheric spirits working on the currents in perfect accord are from every possible race. They seem to have an understanding that only through friendship and brotherhood can they carry out such an undertaking.
Finally they arrive at a different and unique looking place, where a sign reads: WATER CARRIER.
‘This is the last stop for all the jugs, for he is in charge of the pouring,’ the Speaker explains.
‘What kind of water does he pour?’ the children ask.
‘The symbolic water of life, the waters that nourish mankind. He pours the etheric waves, the cosmic currents that have been prepared, and is the only one allowed to do so. It must be done by someone completely detached, who has not handled the elements at all. He never touches what he pours and thus makes his contribution to the work of Aquariusland. He is the Sacred Server.
‘My friends, before your stay among us comes to an end, come with me and learn the manner in which you can assist in the work. Learn of certain qualities you possess and how to make use of them for the good of all mankind.’
He then leads them to a special chamber where several etheric spirits, guided by the Speaker, instruct the children as to the development of higher modes of communication and perception. When they have finished, Val and Pom-pom are informed that the end of their stay has arrived and they must be sent out of Aquariusland. By means of the peculiar devices used to prepare the currents for their different jugs,Val and Pom-pom are given a treatment of magnetic waves that thoroughly shakes them up, shattering their very core.
After this application they begin to spin, at first slightly, then more and more until they are moving in the same whirling manner as the tornado. The etheric people guide them into a gigantic funnel through which they begin to descend, carried along by the currents. They flow into a jug and remain suspended in the etheric waves. When the rime is ripe Val and Pom-pom feel the jug being lifted and after a slight journey it is tilted and then again the furious spin begins. Outside a resounding voice is heard, that of the Water Carrier. His chant echoes through the cosmos and spurs them on to the fulfilment of their worldly mission:

‘Flow, waters of the spirit, flow through
the ether to our brothers of the universe,
awaken the hearts of mankind, for the
NEW ERA has dawned!’

_____________

Related links:
* PNB booksite: The Magical Carousel & Commentaries; (Two volumes) cloth, slipcase, illustrated, 153 & 152 pps., 1979; ISBN: 0945747306
* The Magical Carousel, the Zodiac and the Evolutionary Process by Robert E. Wilkinson
* The Zodiac & the Perception of Unity - an Introduction to the 12 Signs of the Zodiac by Lori Tompkins, with excerpts from The Magical Carousel, summarizing the 12 signs of the zodiac (as a spherical evolutionary process).