Path and Goal
Part 2
In the spiritual field, the experiences are quite the same. A spiritual seeker with the heightening of consciousness can reach truths of different levels. The higher he can ascend, the greater the truth that he can discover. And, it is only when he can get to the summit where the Truth is eternally self-existent that he can experience the ultimate Truth, the Supreme Reality. As is obvious, any two seekers reaching this summit even in different ways cannot but describe it in the same way, because it is the level of the ultimate Truth, which cannot appear differently. If it does, and so long as it does at any level, it cannot be the ultimate truth, which cannot but be the One. The very presence of divisions, varied interpretations, and compartmentalization of any sort, proves the existence of fragmentation of the truth, which amounts to falsehood, however refined or subtle that may be, and cannot be the absolute truth.
To experience the partial truths, and to pause or discontinue at the intermediate levels, are the common occurrences in the journey through all the spiritual paths. For, the journey in the spiritual world, as confirmed by all spiritual experiences, is like climbing endless flights of steps with countless landings at different planes, which offer perfect resting places for unsuspecting seekers. All such planes have their own truths, which often appear as incontrovertible, conclusive, and final. Many such planes have their own splendors, powers, knowledge, and delight, which so easily can impress and deceive an inexperienced, undiscerning seeker. Often the next flight of steps ahead remains hidden behind the grandeur and glare of that plane. It is therefore not at all impossible, at certain stages perhaps inevitable, to lose one’s way in the maze of such dazzling lights and rest in contentment at those intermediate levels which can so easily be mistaken as the zenith of one’s quest for the spiritual truth.
There is also another side to such spiritual ventures. The way is always long, difficult, and even dangerous. There are also dark planes with dreadful and hostile Powers, ready to ambush at every turn. The experiences of such planes are often terrible, disgusting, unnerving, and discouraging. With no assurance of any help, no sign of the faintest delivering light it is not easy to endure on this arduous path against formidable oppositions. This is another reason for discontinuing the journey on the spiritual paths at the intermediate levels.
Whatever might have been the reasons for the interruption, all the achievements at the individual level have their own places, their own values. The importance of all such spiritual endeavors can never be overemphasized. The collective wisdom of such experiences has acted as the guiding light for human progress so far and all that is still noble and good and pure in present-day humanity can largely be attributed to each such spiritual journey regardless of the height that was achieved individually. Each attempt had its own significance, which can never be denied or even diluted.
It can therefore be safely concluded that the experiences in the spiritual field can be at different levels representing various aspects of the truth. All the seeking through different paths, therefore, cannot and do not end in finding the same truth. This is evidently so and the presence of so many religions, spiritual disciplines, schools of yoga, varied views on God and the ultimate truth, philosophies, metaphysical arguments, and all the numerous comments and interpretations on such matters at the individual levels, surely testify to this.
Although one cannot deny that there are indeed different levels of consciousness that become perceptible to an occult vision of things, a very fundamental question that needs to be explained is how did such planes come into being and also their relation to the truth. Why does the truth get distorted at the lower levels and appear in purer forms at the higher planes?
To deal with such questions adequately, a very lengthy analysis will be necessary. There is much scope for debates and arguments on metaphysical problems and unless this subject is treated comprehensively in totality, including the mystery behind the creation of this universe, many questions are likely to remain unexplained. This topic needs to be analyzed in detail. Here, only a brief discussion is offered.
As advocated by the sages of ancient India, behind the appearance of this universe there is the Reality of a Being and Consciousness, a self of all things, one and eternal. This Reality or the Supreme Divine has created the entire universe through a multiple-level manifestation. All beings are united in this Reality or Self but in the manifested forms below they are divided by a certain separateness of consciousness. Starting from the level of the highest Truth, the consciousness-Force of the Divine has plunged through various stages of manifestation into ignorance. At the lowest level, completing the manifestation, there appeared the physical or material world of definite forms with distinct individual identities. What was ‘One’ at the source became many. This is also the level of complete ignorance. For separated furthermost from its source, there is no apparent sign of the manifesting divine consciousness, which has become totally hidden in the material substance or matter.
During its downward journey toward ignorance, the Divine Consciousness has created innumerable occult planes or worlds. The lower the level of manifestation, the further the consciousness is separated from its origin, and the more fragmented the Truth which, as already seen, becomes most obscure at the physical level.
But all such intermediate levels represent different aspects of the origin of Truth-Consciousness. They have been created for some specific cosmic tasks, have their own laws, and, depending on how low or high they are positioned in relation to the lowest material world, they have their own obscure or illuminating truths because, indeed, they are all fragmentations of the same Truth at the Source above.
During the inner journey, a spiritual seeker comes across these occult worlds and his realizations depend upon the level of consciousness that he can finally reach through the path that he has chosen. Often in order to reach a greater height the old paths have to be abandoned, which is not always easy. Perhaps more difficult it is to realize that there are indeed higher truths to be discovered, countless more steps to be climbed before one can finally reach the level of the Truth-Consciousness. Difficult because it is so easy to be content with the splendors of the lesser truths which have brought into man’s life all that is necessary to satisfy his ego and intellect: philosophies, metaphysical debates, moral standards, ethical codes, altruism and philanthropy, religions, even popular spiritualisms. But however great and noble and grand all these may appear; they can only satisfy the gross needs of the animal man or the intellectual demands of a more cultured man. The highest aspiration of man for spiritual knowledge, power, beauty, harmony, and bliss can be fulfilled only when the truths of the much higher planes are fully manifested on Earth.
The time for such a manifestation, as Sri Aurobindo, the modern Indian mystic and yogi, has announced, is now and not in a distant age. Only after the manifestation of this higher consciousness, what Sri Aurobindo has called the Supermind or Truth-consciousness, will man be able to exceed his present limitations and be ready for a life free from ignorance and egoistic self-assertion. A life of truth, harmony, peace, and delight, is what Sri Aurobindo has envisaged for man in the next cycle of human evolution. And however remote it may appear at our present stage, on such a possibility alone rests the future hope of the entire humanity.
END