Soul over Nature

Soul is that timeless part which silently witnesses and decides. Nature is that part which is engrossed in activity and movement. In the ordinary human, nature prevails over the soul; (s)he is bound by the ignorance, error, and bondage of personal and cosmic nature. Free-will here is a deception of nature, because all impulsions, actions are eventually dictated by forces of which the soul is a mere bystander or puppet.

When the soul is not self-established in its own power, it uses processes or instruments of nature to manipulate nature (alcohol or WhatsApp for stimulating oneself, anger or threat or lure to sway others) which further binds it in nature. It takes time and relentless vigilance to come alive of its own pervasively unconscious slavery.

In the divinized and sovereign human, the soul prevails over nature. This happens in three stages: standing apart from nature unidentified with her, refusing her exhortations and holding poise, and finally possessing and enjoying nature and compelling the soul's will over her.

The first condition for this reversal of power and ascendency over nature is the universalization of a fully individuated soul. This can be begun but cannot be completed from a mental level of consciousness because the mind is a part of nature; always fragile to its own divisiveness, the importunities from the vital, and inertia of the physical nature. Universalisation attempts from and through the mind have one or more of three pitfalls: ego exaggeration (hence toxic control-mania), susceptibility to illusionism (hence ascetic withdrawal), vulnerability to adverse forces of perversion (hence harrowing subjection to self-loss).

Universalized from a station above the mind, the soul then and only then has access to a Power that is not a puppet of, but the Lord of nature. Because it is that Power that created nature in the first place and concealed itself in it.

- Neelesh Marik (Kolkata, India)

Keywords: Power over nature, Bondage of nature, Limitations of the mind, Spiritual practice

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Thanks for posting a comment.

Popular posts from this blog

A Spiritual Retreat and Seekers’ Delight in the Heart of Delhi – Sri Aurobindo Ashram

During a recent visit to Delhi, a one-night stay at  TAPASYA  Guest house in Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Delhi premises was a serene experience. This visit, after a gap of many years, after I moved to Ahmedabad many years back in year 2000, was a delightful witnessing of the exponential growth in Ashram activities in a serene environment. What continues are sustaining Core Values imbibed from the holistic approach of Integral Yoga for all-round development of Individual Self and also the Ashram community as a whole. I could notice many resemblances in the way of life of Ashramites in Pondicherry Ashram and Delhi Ashram. This is probably due to the legacy of Sri Surendra Nath Jauhar "Chachaji", an ardent devotee of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, further nurtured by Sushri Tara Didi. My last visit to the Ashram was in 1996 with my father, Dr. Devaki Nandan Srivastava, as my father was also closely connected with Sri Aurobindo Society and Ashram. Though being in touch with activities o
Read more

Let Go and Call Her

When you dig and dig some more to find out why something bothers you so much, it hurts. When you discover, or at least you think you have discovered, the real reason why something bothers you so much, it hurts. When you figure out that the real reason why something bothers you so much has to do with your egoistic preference, it hurts. When you understand that your egoistic preference is nothing but your unwillingness to accept what is happening in the present, it hurts. When you accept that you are unwilling to accept the present moment because you fail to surrender to the deeper wisdom that is guiding your life’s journey through all the veils of ignorance, it hurts. When you realize that you are unable to surrender to the deeper wisdom because you lack faith and trust in the Divine’s Plan for you, it hurts. It hurts because you now see clearly the working of the ego which kept you deluded as to how much faith and trust you had in the Divine and Its Working. It hurts because this is no
Read more

Importance of "JAPA" in Spiritual journey to realise the Divine

Right from my childhood days till now, I have observed seekers on spiritual journey using "JAPA" (repetition of a mantra or a hymn) as a daily practice in most of the religions, be it Hinduism, Christianity or Buddhism or any other) across the different parts of the world during my travels to different places. It had been a curiosity in me in earlier days and now a realisation that this is perhaps a simple and proven way to connect and be in resonance with the chosen form of Divine (be it a Deity or a Sound or most cherished role model). This thought gets reinforced as we read the scriptures and stories of the transformational journey of Saints and spiritual leaders who chose "Bhakti Marg" (Sadhana through Devotion) as the path to tread in their spiritual journey and realisation of Self and its communion with Divinity in the form of the chosen Deity. Contemplation on JAPA as a Daily Practice and then self experince in doing JAPA in early mornings and late evening ho
Read more