Bleaching the Flame of Love

“Psychic love can have a warmth and a flame as intense and more intense than the vital …  it is a white flame, not a red one; but white heat is not inferior to the red variety in its ardour,” said Sri Aurobindo in one of his letters to a disciple while talking about friendship between man and woman.* Essentially what he has said in the letter is that in such friendships the intrusion of the lower vital (the sexual instinct) is natural and frequent, but at the same time it is not inevitable. The love between man and woman can be mental or psychic rather than vital. In keeping with the general approach in integral yoga, one might say that the mental can prevent the vital love from degenerating to the level of lower vital; the higher mental can station the love at the level of the higher vital; and that the love can be eventually transformed into psychic love.

What is the difference between the intensity of vital love, which has a red flame, and psychic love, which has a white flame? The intensity of the red flame is associated with attachment and its sequelae: seeking possession, permanence, exclusivity, and reciprocity. During the process of transformation, as the higher mental comes to dominate the relationship, the attachment and its sequelae tend to disappear, but not without weakening of the intensity. But as further transformation hands over the relationship to psychic love, the intensity returns, but now the flame has been bleached clean; it is white instead of the red that it was when love was dominated by the higher vital. The white flame of psychic love may have the same or even greater intensity and warmth, but it is free from attachment. Total transformation of love leads to total bifurcation of intensity and attachment. Along with the attachment, disappear also possessiveness, exclusivity and expectations; and the desire for seeking permanence in impermanence.   

- Dr Ramesh Bijlani (Sri Aurobindo Ashram-Delhi branch, India)


*Sri Aurobindo, ‘Letters on Yoga-IV’, CWSA Vol.31, pp.307-308.

Comments

  1. Thakur Prasad18 January 2024 at 12:44

    Dear Dr.Bijlani-ji,
    The word love is perhaps the most abused and least understood word in the world of man, the Yogi's or spiritual Masters' life, even animals' life excluding. From the perspective of reality and the Nature's purpose, it would be nice if you throw some good light on the need of creating man and woman, for that matter. Bleaching is less apt, purifying sounds more convincing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous18 January 2024 at 16:08

    Nice explanation ofone of thw way of purification process of Love from Lower Vital ( driven by sensory stimulants ) to Mental level ( thinking and emotional self) ... change of colour from Red to White... as White color represents Purity ...Bleaching process looks faster ... alternative ways could be smoother but can take more time and persistence ... Pranav Srivastava ( Ahmedabad)

    ReplyDelete

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