June 20, 2024
Growing Spiritually Beyond the Forms of Religion
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YouTube reference: Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, The Hidden Forces of Life, Ch. 5 Occult Forces, pp. 119-120
This episode is also available as a blog post at https://sriaurobindostudies.wordpress.com/2024/06/17/growing-spiritually-beyond-the-forms-of-religion/
Video presentations, interviews and podcast episodes are all available on the YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@santoshkrinsky871
More information about Sri Aurobindo can be found at www.aurobindo.net
The US editions and links to e-book editions of Sri Aurobindo’s writings can be found at Lotus Press www.lotuspress.com
1
00:00:01,720 --> 00:00:05,080
We see a growing movement around
the world of people leaving the
2
00:00:05,080 --> 00:00:08,680
religion into which they were
born and starting down a
3
00:00:08,680 --> 00:00:14,000
spiritual path of inner growth.
A driving factor behind this
4
00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:17,800
change is the perception among
these people that the religion
5
00:00:18,080 --> 00:00:21,280
has either lost any life force
that it may have had in the
6
00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:27,160
past, or else it has become so
rigid that it acts as a means of
7
00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:29,840
control rather than as a means
of liberation.
8
00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:34,880
What has happened to religion?
If we examine the roots of
9
00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:39,240
religion, we find that it is
founded first and foremost as a
10
00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:44,280
response to a lived experience.
There is a spiritual awakening,
11
00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:49,000
a vision, a direct communication
between the divine presence and
12
00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:53,960
the human representative.
In many cases, a specific set of
13
00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:59,400
activities, teachings, routines
is developed to both try to
14
00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:03,320
communicate the experience to
others and to find a way to
15
00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:08,240
repeat the experience.
Over time, however, this rote
16
00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:12,720
repetition and formalized
worship tends to lose its energy
17
00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:17,960
and become a mass of, in many
cases, sleep inducing rituals
18
00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:22,280
and rules of conduct that tend
to bind the worshippers into a
19
00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:27,400
fixed way of seeing and acting
in life, even as times and
20
00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:31,920
circumstances change.
With Christianity, we saw a
21
00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:34,920
dramatic development in the
adoption by the Emperor
22
00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:40,600
Constantine of the Roman Empire
of Christianity as the state
23
00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:44,040
religion.
From that point forward, the
24
00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:47,760
religion became a function of
the state and was used to
25
00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:52,120
control the populace by
promising redemption and rewards
26
00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:57,400
after death for subordination to
powerful economic, political,
27
00:01:57,400 --> 00:01:59,560
and religious forces in their
lives.
28
00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:04,560
Along the way, a few individuals
were able to enter into the
29
00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:08,479
original spirit of the religion
and achieve spiritual
30
00:02:08,479 --> 00:02:12,360
enlightenment, and in their
lifetimes they were generally
31
00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:17,160
either ostracized or condemned,
while afterwards they were
32
00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:21,640
frequently made into Saints to
thereby capture those who tried
33
00:02:21,640 --> 00:02:25,880
to follow their experience and
turn them back under the control
34
00:02:25,880 --> 00:02:30,040
of the religion.
Religion, when the life force
35
00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:34,200
and spirit recedes, frequently
turns to the use of fear to
36
00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:38,960
control its adherence, and thus
we have teachings of sinful
37
00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:43,160
conduct that will cause the
individual endless suffering and
38
00:02:43,160 --> 00:02:46,640
even prevent him from achieving
heaven after his death.
39
00:02:47,640 --> 00:02:52,080
In some cases, the wielding of
fear is reinforced by physical
40
00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:56,680
acts of torture or by exclusion
of the individual from the wider
41
00:02:56,680 --> 00:03:01,080
community, a means of sustenance
and employment and acceptance
42
00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:03,680
within the circle of the society
generally.
43
00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:07,960
Much of the power of the
religion, however, is based in
44
00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:13,160
the creation of a superstitious
internal response that some call
45
00:03:13,160 --> 00:03:17,160
conscience, but which is a
systematically developed control
46
00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:22,120
mechanism inculcated through
teaching, repetition, and
47
00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:26,640
example, and perpetuated through
custom and tradition.
48
00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:32,040
At a certain point in time, as
we see taking place in today's
49
00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:35,960
world, a number of people
recognize the dryness and
50
00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:40,320
emptiness of the religious
institutions, the superstitions,
51
00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:44,200
the fixed and rigid belief
systems, and the regimented
52
00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:48,360
control mechanisms, and they
turn elsewhere to seek out new
53
00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:52,200
spiritual realizations and
direct experience.
54
00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:58,400
The mother observes Quote.
For example, there are so many
55
00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:02,680
of these entities called Kali
who are given besides quite
56
00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:06,520
terrible appearances.
So many are even placed in
57
00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:10,880
houses as the family goddess.
They are full of a terrible
58
00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:13,840
vital force.
I knew people who were so
59
00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:17,279
frightened of the Kali they had
at home that indeed they
60
00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:21,760
trembled to make the least
mistake, for when catastrophes
61
00:04:21,760 --> 00:04:24,200
came, they thought it was Kali
who sent them.
62
00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:27,640
It is a frightful thing,
thought.
63
00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:31,920
I know them, those entities, I
know them very well.
64
00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:36,680
But they are vital beings, vital
forms which, so to say, are
65
00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:40,680
given a form by human thought.
And what forms?
66
00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:44,800
And to think that men worship
such terrible and monstrous
67
00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:49,080
things.
From this point of view it is
68
00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:52,840
good that for some time men get
out of this religious atmosphere
69
00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:57,880
so full of fear and this sort of
blind, superstitious submission,
70
00:04:58,280 --> 00:05:01,840
of which the hostile forces have
taken a dreadful advantage.
71
00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:08,280
The period of denial positivism
is from this viewpoint quite
72
00:05:08,280 --> 00:05:12,240
indispensable in order to free
men from superstition.
73
00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:18,080
It is only when one comes out of
that and the abject submission
74
00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:23,080
to monstrous vital forces that
one can rise to truly spiritual
75
00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:28,320
heights and there become the
collaborator and true instrument
76
00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:33,600
of the forces of truth, the real
consciousness, the true power.
77
00:05:34,680 --> 00:05:39,120
One must leave all this far
behind before one can climb
78
00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:41,400
higher.
End Quote.
79
00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:46,960
Reference Shriyorobindo and the
Mother, The Hidden Forces of
80
00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:52,920
Life, Chapter 5, Occult Forces,
pages 119 to 120.
00:00:01,720 --> 00:00:05,080
We see a growing movement around
the world of people leaving the
2
00:00:05,080 --> 00:00:08,680
religion into which they were
born and starting down a
3
00:00:08,680 --> 00:00:14,000
spiritual path of inner growth.
A driving factor behind this
4
00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:17,800
change is the perception among
these people that the religion
5
00:00:18,080 --> 00:00:21,280
has either lost any life force
that it may have had in the
6
00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:27,160
past, or else it has become so
rigid that it acts as a means of
7
00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:29,840
control rather than as a means
of liberation.
8
00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:34,880
What has happened to religion?
If we examine the roots of
9
00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:39,240
religion, we find that it is
founded first and foremost as a
10
00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:44,280
response to a lived experience.
There is a spiritual awakening,
11
00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:49,000
a vision, a direct communication
between the divine presence and
12
00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:53,960
the human representative.
In many cases, a specific set of
13
00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:59,400
activities, teachings, routines
is developed to both try to
14
00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:03,320
communicate the experience to
others and to find a way to
15
00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:08,240
repeat the experience.
Over time, however, this rote
16
00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:12,720
repetition and formalized
worship tends to lose its energy
17
00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:17,960
and become a mass of, in many
cases, sleep inducing rituals
18
00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:22,280
and rules of conduct that tend
to bind the worshippers into a
19
00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:27,400
fixed way of seeing and acting
in life, even as times and
20
00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:31,920
circumstances change.
With Christianity, we saw a
21
00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:34,920
dramatic development in the
adoption by the Emperor
22
00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:40,600
Constantine of the Roman Empire
of Christianity as the state
23
00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:44,040
religion.
From that point forward, the
24
00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:47,760
religion became a function of
the state and was used to
25
00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:52,120
control the populace by
promising redemption and rewards
26
00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:57,400
after death for subordination to
powerful economic, political,
27
00:01:57,400 --> 00:01:59,560
and religious forces in their
lives.
28
00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:04,560
Along the way, a few individuals
were able to enter into the
29
00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:08,479
original spirit of the religion
and achieve spiritual
30
00:02:08,479 --> 00:02:12,360
enlightenment, and in their
lifetimes they were generally
31
00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:17,160
either ostracized or condemned,
while afterwards they were
32
00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:21,640
frequently made into Saints to
thereby capture those who tried
33
00:02:21,640 --> 00:02:25,880
to follow their experience and
turn them back under the control
34
00:02:25,880 --> 00:02:30,040
of the religion.
Religion, when the life force
35
00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:34,200
and spirit recedes, frequently
turns to the use of fear to
36
00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:38,960
control its adherence, and thus
we have teachings of sinful
37
00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:43,160
conduct that will cause the
individual endless suffering and
38
00:02:43,160 --> 00:02:46,640
even prevent him from achieving
heaven after his death.
39
00:02:47,640 --> 00:02:52,080
In some cases, the wielding of
fear is reinforced by physical
40
00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:56,680
acts of torture or by exclusion
of the individual from the wider
41
00:02:56,680 --> 00:03:01,080
community, a means of sustenance
and employment and acceptance
42
00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:03,680
within the circle of the society
generally.
43
00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:07,960
Much of the power of the
religion, however, is based in
44
00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:13,160
the creation of a superstitious
internal response that some call
45
00:03:13,160 --> 00:03:17,160
conscience, but which is a
systematically developed control
46
00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:22,120
mechanism inculcated through
teaching, repetition, and
47
00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:26,640
example, and perpetuated through
custom and tradition.
48
00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:32,040
At a certain point in time, as
we see taking place in today's
49
00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:35,960
world, a number of people
recognize the dryness and
50
00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:40,320
emptiness of the religious
institutions, the superstitions,
51
00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:44,200
the fixed and rigid belief
systems, and the regimented
52
00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:48,360
control mechanisms, and they
turn elsewhere to seek out new
53
00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:52,200
spiritual realizations and
direct experience.
54
00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:58,400
The mother observes Quote.
For example, there are so many
55
00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:02,680
of these entities called Kali
who are given besides quite
56
00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:06,520
terrible appearances.
So many are even placed in
57
00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:10,880
houses as the family goddess.
They are full of a terrible
58
00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:13,840
vital force.
I knew people who were so
59
00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:17,279
frightened of the Kali they had
at home that indeed they
60
00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:21,760
trembled to make the least
mistake, for when catastrophes
61
00:04:21,760 --> 00:04:24,200
came, they thought it was Kali
who sent them.
62
00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:27,640
It is a frightful thing,
thought.
63
00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:31,920
I know them, those entities, I
know them very well.
64
00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:36,680
But they are vital beings, vital
forms which, so to say, are
65
00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:40,680
given a form by human thought.
And what forms?
66
00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:44,800
And to think that men worship
such terrible and monstrous
67
00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:49,080
things.
From this point of view it is
68
00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:52,840
good that for some time men get
out of this religious atmosphere
69
00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:57,880
so full of fear and this sort of
blind, superstitious submission,
70
00:04:58,280 --> 00:05:01,840
of which the hostile forces have
taken a dreadful advantage.
71
00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:08,280
The period of denial positivism
is from this viewpoint quite
72
00:05:08,280 --> 00:05:12,240
indispensable in order to free
men from superstition.
73
00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:18,080
It is only when one comes out of
that and the abject submission
74
00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:23,080
to monstrous vital forces that
one can rise to truly spiritual
75
00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:28,320
heights and there become the
collaborator and true instrument
76
00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:33,600
of the forces of truth, the real
consciousness, the true power.
77
00:05:34,680 --> 00:05:39,120
One must leave all this far
behind before one can climb
78
00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:41,400
higher.
End Quote.
79
00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:46,960
Reference Shriyorobindo and the
Mother, The Hidden Forces of
80
00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:52,920
Life, Chapter 5, Occult Forces,
pages 119 to 120.