The concept of Shakti or Conscious Force is pivoted to Sri Aurobindo's philosophy. And the manifestation of Shakti as the Divine Mother is the core of Sri Aurobindo's Yoga.
I. Metaphysical Level
On the metaphysical level, Sri Aurobindo's philosophy is a rechotic Advaita, similar to the Vedic philosophy. It propounds that -
'The world is a manifestation of the real and therefore is itself real. The reality is the unfinite and eternal Divine, infinite and eternal Being, Consciousness-Force and Bliss. This Divine by his power has created the world or rather manifested it in his own infinite Being.' (SABCL 22, p.44)
'An absolute, eternal and infinite Self-existence, Self-awareness, Self-delight of being that secretly supports and pervades the universe even while it is also beyond it, is, then, the first truth of spiritual experience', writes Sri Aurobindo (SABCL 18, p. 325).
'But this truth of being has at once an impersonal and personal aspect; it is not only Existence, it is the one Being absolute, eternal and infinite. As there are three fundamental aspects in which we meet this Reality, -- Self, Consciousness Being or Spirit and God, the Divine Being, or to use the Indian terms, the absolute and omnipresent Reality, Brahman, manifest to us as Atman, Purusha, Ishwara, -- so too its power of Consciousness appears to us in three aspects; it is the self-force of that consciousness conceptively creative of all things, Maya; it is Prakriti, Nature or Force made dynamically executive, working out all things under the witnessing eye of the Conscious Being, the Self Spirit; it is the conscious Power of the Divine Being, Shakti, which is both conceptively creative and dynamically executive of all the divine workings. These three aspects and their powers base and comprise the whole of existence and all Nature and, taken together as a single whole, they reconcile the apparent disparateness and incompatibility of the supracosmic transcendence, the cosmic universality and the separativeness of our individual existence; the Absolute, cosmic Nature and ourselves are linked in oneness by this triune aspect of the one Reality.'
The spiritual seeker finds in this triple duality - of Brahman-Maya, Purusha-Prakriti and Ishwara-Shakti -
'a separation between two terms of existence that seem to be the opposites and their opposition to be the very root of the riddle of the universe.' (The Synthesis of Yoga - 1965, p. 106)
A proper understanding and a deeper experience of these dualities would be the sure basis for reconciling the discords and disharmony of life.
[Brahman-Maya]
The spiritual seeker may have an over powering experience of the Brahman, the Self, the Spirit-Substance. The experience has a fourfold character:
'He is sure of an inexpressible Self-existence which is the essence of himself and all things; he is intimately aware of an essential Consciousness of which thinking mind and life-sense and body-sense are only partial and diminished figures, a Consciousness with an illimitable Force in it of which all energies are the outcome, but which is yet not explained or accounted for by the sum or power or nature of all these energies together, he feels, he lives in an inalienable self-existent Bliss which is not this lesser transient joy or happiness or pleasure. A changeless imperishable infinity, a timeless eternity, a self-awareness which is not this receptive and reactive or tentacular mental consciousness, but is behind and above it and present too below it, even in what we call Inconscience, a oneness in which there is no possibility of any other existence, are the fourfold character of this settled experience.' (The Syntheses of Yoga, p. 106-107)
As a result of the overpowering and overwhelming experience of the Brahman, the seeker finds himself and the world
'a contradiction of the Divine, an incomprehensible mystery-play, masque or travesty of the Infinite - and so it irresistibly seems to his experience at times, on one side the luminous verity of Brahman, on the other a dark illusion of Maya.' (Ibid, 108)
Hence, for him, Brahman alone exists and the world is illusion.
[Purusha-Prakriti]
On the line of approach of Purush-Prakriti duality, the seeker has the experience of a different kind of separation.
'On one side, he becomes aware of a witness recipient observing experiencing Consciousness which does not appear to act but for which all these activities inside and outside us seem to be undertaken and continue. On the other side he is aware at the same time of an executive Force or an energy of Process which is seen to constitute, drive and guide all conceivable activities and to create a myriad forms visible to us and invisible and use them as stable supports for its incessant flux of action and creation.' (Ibid, p. 108-109)
In this experience, the seeker may revel, for he finds that the separation between Purusha and Prakriti is liberative
'for it releases him from the bondage of identification with the inadequate workings of Nature in Ignorance.' (Ibid, p.110)
[Ishwara-Shakti]
In the third Duality, i.e. Ishwara-Shakti, the seeker is aware on the one hand -
'... of an infinite and self-existent Godhead in being who contains all things in an ineffable potentiality of existence, a Self of all selves, a Soul of all souls, a spiritual Substance of all substances, an impersonal inexpressible Existence, but at the same time an illimitable Person who is here self-represented in numberless personality, a Master of Knowledge, a Master of Forces, a Lord of love and bliss and beauty, a single Origin of the worlds, a self-manifester and self-creator, a Cosmic Spirit, a universal Mind, a universal Life, the conscious and living reality supporting the appearance which we sense as unconscious inanimate Matter. On the other side, he becomes aware of the same Godhead in effectuating consciousness and power put forth as a self-aware Force that contains and carries all within her and is charged to manifest it in universal Time and Space.' (Ibid, p. 110-111)
In this experience, there is an over-riding experience of
'the Ishwari Shakti, divine Conscious-Force and World-Mother' who 'becomes a mediatrix between the eternal One and the manifested Many. On one side, by the play of the energies which she brings from the One, she manifests the multiple Divine in the universe, involving and evolving its endless appearances out of her revealing substance; on the other, by the reascending current of the same energies she leads back all towards That from which they have issued so that the soul in its evolutionary manifestation may more and more return towards the Divinity there or here put on its divine character. There is not in her, although she devises a cosmic mechanism, the character of an inconscient mechanical Executrix which we find in the first physiognomy of Prakriti, the Nature-Force; neither is these that sense of an Unreality, creatrix of illusions or semi-illusions, which is attached to our first view of Maya. It is at once clear to the experiencing soul that here is a conscious Power of one substance and nature with the Supreme from whom she came.' (Ibid, p. 111)
What we can analyse in this triple duality is that in the first one - the Brahman-Maya - the world is regarded as an illusion. In the second one - the Purusha-Prakriti - the outer-world is alienated and rejected. It is only in the third duality - Ishwara-Shakti - that the world and the individual are seen not only as real but aspects of the Divine. And these - the individual and the world - are going through an evolutionary process.
'Basically, it is this Shakti, the Consciousness-Force of the Divine who is secret in matter, begins to emerge in Life, finds something more of itself in Mind and finds its true self in a spiritual consciousness and finally a supramental Consciousness through which we become aware of the Reality, enter into it and unite ourselves with it. This is what we call evolution of which is an evolution of Consciousness and an evolution of the Spirit in things and only outwardly an evolution of species.' (SABCL, 22, p.44)
And Sri Aurobindo's central focus being on the total and integral transformation of man and earth, he bases himself on the dual principle of Ishwara-Shakti. He does not however take them as separate principles, but combined and bi-une in the manifestation. For Sri Aurobindo the world-creation
'is no more an illusion, a fortuitous mechanism, a play that need not have happened, a flu without consequence; it is an intimate dynamism of the conscious and living Eternal.' (The Synthesis of Yoga, p. '65, p.114)
II. Integral Yoga: Pro-Tantric
In his metaphysical approach Sri Aurobindo leans more towards Vedanta, while, in his path of Integral Yoga, he embraces more the approach of the Tantra. To mark out the difference between the two approaches, we could say:
'The Vedantic discipline is in a sense comparatively simple and easy. For it takes one straight path to the heights by rejecting all with its formula of not this, not that, neti, neti, its methods is to fix the consciousness in the head, at the centre of knowledge, and from there to move to the higher levels with the Purusha-consciousness as the mainstay. Tantra has to clung to Mother-Nature, that is, it has not sought to reject and deny the existence of the vital and physical movements. Its aim has been to establish on a sound basis these so-called lower but stronger movements, by controlling them and purifying them into their true elements. The ordinary man, every man in fact, has to live with his body and vital being, with the physical life and the vital force as his main supports. Since these things exist, they must have a purpose. They alone can delve into the mystery of the ordinary life who have been living the ordinary life. That is why this line of discipline is described as the line of the natural man; this is the Natural Path, the Way of Sagajiya. ThFis Path has had greater attractions for the common ally of men than for the learned mean of intellect with their education and culture. It is among the lowest classes that it has found most votaries; there its influence has spread, there it has been best known.' (Nolini Kanta Gupta, Vol.7, pp.116-117)
III. The Mother in Integral Yoga
Sri Aurobindo, while taking up the basic stand of the Tantrics, has sought to integrate the common man with the supramental man. And in this integration - which can be done by an uplifting and transforming of the lower nature of man and at the same time by bringing down the Truth-force the Supramental that can achieve the trans-substantiation of the physical - the Divine Shakti is the key-player. Sri Aurobindo brought down the primal Divine Shakti, the Consciousness-Force Aditi in the name and form of the Divine Mother who by her children is called variously. Some call her Douce Mère, others call her Mother, while yet others call her simply Ma.
About her Sri Aurobindo writes:
'The One whom we adore as the Mother is the divine Conscious Force that dominates all existence... The Mother is the consciousness and force of the Supreme and from above all she creates...
The Supreme is manifest in her forever as the everlasting Sachchidananda, manifested through her in the worlds as the one and dual consciousness of Ishwara-Shakti and the dual principle of Purusha-Prakriti... All is her play with the Supreme; all is her manifestation of the mysteries of the Eternal, the miracles of the Infinite. All is she, for all are parcel and portion of the divine Conscious-force...' (The Mother, p.26-27)
We may wonder why Sri Aurobindo re-established the importance of the Mother. In the words of David Frawley:
'According to Hinduism the deepest relationship that we can have with God is that of the Mother. No human relationship is closer than that of the mother and child. It best mirrors our relationship with God.
In the modern world wherein we are recognizing the equality of the sexes we can no longer reject the feminine aspect of Divinity. The rejection of the feminine aspect of the Divine - which is loving kindness, tolerance and caring nurturance - and the promotion of the stern male-only father-sky God, has led to the religious animosity and holy wars which have devastated humanity over the last two thousand years.
What religion has aggressively promoted a belief in the Divine Mother? What form of religious fundamentalism or exclusivism has ever been made in the name of the Goddess? Who could ever kill people in the name of a God named Mother? What Mother would ever allow her children to be killed or hurt, no matter how much they may have fallen? What Mother would condemn her own children as sinners? Who could say "believe in the Divine Mother or you must be killed or go to an eternal hell?" Not surprisingly Hinduism, the world's major religion that has honored the Goddess, has seldom promoted religious hostility, and has never created such ideas as eternal damnation.
The female is the form side of the Divine. Woman represents the Divine embodied. Her worship requires the creation of appropriate forms in which to reverse her. We must once again create images of the Divine Mother to allow her healing grace, which is essential for world peace, to descend. Without acknowledging the forms of the Divine Mother our religions must be imbalanced and lead to various excesses in human behavior.'
Thus Sri Aurobindo's reinstallation of The Mother as the center of Integral Yoga is of crucial consequences. By this act, His yoga is suddenly lifted up from the individual effort to that of the effort of the Divine herself. It is She alone who can deliver the goods of Integral Yoga.
In her working with her disciples, children, sadhaks, she comes to us initially in one of her four aspects, i.e. Maheshwari, Mahakali, Mahalakshi and Mahasaraswati. These are her four aspects of Wisdom, Power, Harmony and Perfection in work. These aspects also represent the endeavours of the different parts of human being: the Mind, the Vital, the Psychic and the Physical. The four aspects envelop our total being and all our activities, individual and collective.
One of the main objectives of Integral Yoga being the integral realization of the Divine, it is the Mother alone who can unveil the different facets of the Sachchidananda, for she is herself the Consciousness-Force of the Supreme. Another object of Integral yoga being a total transformation of man and mankind, it is the Mother alone who can bring in this change, bring in immortality, light and freedom because she is herself the Supramental Mahashakti, the Consciousness and Force of the Supreme which alone can succeed in this task of taking mankind to a higher stage of evolution - that of the Supermind.
We may feel, seeing the present circumstances of the world around us, that this ideal of Sri Aurobindo is more an utopia, an impossible ideal. But, the truth is, as explains Nolini Kanta Gupta:
'Throughout the ages whenever there has been a new creation on earth, or manifestation of a new consciousness in earthly atmosphere, it was always preceded by a stage of destruction and dissolution of the old. The dance of Shiva has its two aspects - the bliss of creation and also the joy of destruction - läsya and tändava - both have been equally necessary up till now - complimentary to each other. Destruction means destruction of the unnecessary, unfit, all that refuses to accept the new advent, obstructs it, tries to deny it - all that is out of harmony with the inevitable new future. Earthly evolution is a march of progression - if you fail to keep up with that speed you have to move out of the way, rather you are removed to make room for the next coming stage. If you are in the older creation or at least are in love with it, attached to it, the destruction becomes painful even fearful and repulsive to you. But if you aspire for the new, are willing to participate in the dawning future, already belong to it, you feel the necessity of this destruction and welcome it to hasten the work and even rejoice in it. You enjoy the joy of destruction -- at least Shiva does, the Divine Force does, it seems...' (NKG: vol.6, p.256-57)
We may remember here what Sri Aurobindo wrote in the Hour of God:
'...the hour is often terrible, a fire and a whirlwind and a tempest, a treading of the winepress of the wrath of God; but he who can stand up in it on the truth of his purpose is he who shall stand; even though he fall, he shall rise again; even though he seem to pass on the wings of the wind, he shall return. Nor let worldly prudence whisper too closely in thy ear; for it is the hour of the unexpected.' (NKG: Vol.6, p.258)
But if we can stand up and boldly surrender to this Divine Shakti, the Divine Mother, we shall 'pass on the wings of the wind'. The more people take refuge in her consciousness - that is liberative and transformative, the better for the world. For the Mother is indeed that Supreme Consciousness where -
'There in a body made of spirit stuff
The hearth-stone of the everlasting Fire,
Action translates the movements of the soul,
Thought steps infallible and absolute
And life is a continual worship's rite,
A sacrifice of rapture to the One."
(Savitri, BXCIV, p.743)
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