Sachchidananda 'The Life Divine' Book I,Ch.9, 10, 11, 12 - Track 802

Once I have spoken to you of the statement made by Indra to Agastya, in which Indra describes the Supreme Reality and there Indra says that it is neither today nor tomorrow that is to say it is spaceless and timeless. Nannoonam asti na shwah. It is neither today nor tomorrow. Nanoonam asti, it is not here, not now. Nashwah, it is spaceless and timeless. Kastadvedati, who can know it? Who knows it? Yad adhbhutam, it is wonderful. It is neither today nor tomorrow. Who knows it? It is wonderful, why wonderful because the second statement says anyasya chittam abhi sancharenyam. It is movable. It is itself timeless and spaceless. Immovable and yet it is movable abhi sancharenyam, it is that in which movement takes place. It is one without the second, there is only one reality and yet it is anyasya chittam. It has a movement in another’s consciousness, anyasya chittam. Utadhitam, when you try to reflect upon it, vinashyati it disappears. It is elusive. It is so wonderful that when you try to understand it you can’t understand it.

Infact everything in this world is of that nature. The trunk of the elephant has got quite different kinds of legs, pillar like legs. How can the same elephant which has got the trunk, so mobile, has got almost immobile like legs. It is the same elephant. Where does that pliability, flexibility of the trunk disappears when it comes to the feet, to the legs. The hugeness of the elephant and the smallness of its eyes, what a great contrast in the same, same elephant where the big become small and small becomes big. Where does the smallness ends and where the bigness begins. In this way if you look at anything in the world – where does my arm begin in this body, where exactly does it begin, where exactly is the dividing point − there is none and yet it is different. At the point of beginning you can’t decide this is the beginning afterwards you can say this is distinguishable from the whole body. At the point of beginning it doesn’t begin, such is the wonder of the world. It is the same which is different such is the nature of the Reality, therefore how does a pure existent and the force, where does the force begin from the pure Existent? Is it different from the pure Existent, if it is different then there is a very big question. The pure Existent is infinite, this also is another concept that we had discussed that pure existent is infinite. Infinite includes everything, there is nothing outside it. If therefore there is a force, it can’t be outside the pure existent that is why in our Indian thoughts which admits pure Existent and the Force as not different from each other speaks of it in two terms. It is one with the pure Existent, it is inherent in the pure Existent. It is one because there is only one Reality, therefore all that is there must be that yet that reality is not a monotone, a monotone is that which has only one colour, devoid of potency devoid of any colour, therefore it has a different switches inherent in it. The force which is one with the pure Existent and the force which is different from the pure Existent in a certain sense is one but also inherent in it.

The Veda describes ultimate Reality in the language of a bull that is the great vision which has been described in the Veda. The Reality is imaged as a bull, but bull that is prishni, prishni means multicoloured. That bull is one but that bull itself is multicoloured. This is the wonder of it being one it is capable of multicolour. It’s a multicoloured bird for example a huge bird which is multicoloured. In religious terms, all that I have spoken is philosophical terms, but in religious terms we have a concept of Shiva and Kali. Shiva is the pure Existent, Kali is the Force. Now Shiva and Kali are not two different things. It is not as if Shiva is one and Kali is another. Shiva and Kali are one and the same and Kali is inherent in Shiva, so at the root of the whole universe lies this miracle, this wonder, a reality which is one, which has within itself, which is itself and which has within itself, you have to use two terms at the same time and that is the wonder of it, which is one with the force and which has force inherent in it. You have seen the image of ardhanareshwara this is only an image where does half the body of Shiva which is male and becomes female. Where does it transform itself into a female, the other half ardhanareshwara is half is ishwara, the other is nari. It is same one same Shiva. Sri Aurobindo says that this concept is so rational that it is impossible to reject it. Now the question is how do you say it is rational. This concept of wonder, that concept which is paradoxical, how can you say that that concept is rational? The answer is, it would be irrational to say that pure existent being one and there being no other than the one, the force is something else. It will be irrational if you first say that reality is one pure existent, infinite and there is nothing else than that having said it if you say now that force is other than that, it would be irrational, therefore it will be rational to say that all that is there that is force, even that force is that pure existent and still if you see the difference in it, it will be rational to say that that reality is not monotone. The very nature of the reality need not be monotone. It will wrong to say it must be monotone, incapable of multicolours, a pure existent which is incompetent. A pure existent which is supreme and then to say it is incompetent, it would be irrational to suppose so, therefore however difficult it might seem to your perception and it is difficult that is why it is said it is wonderful. There is no hiding the fact that there is a mystery and that there is a paradox and yet you are obliged to state it.