semester

Transformation of Mind with Sri Aurobindo.
This entry was posted on January 16, 2010, in Uncategorized and tagged ascent, consciousness, descent, higher mind, integral, light, sri aurobindo. Bookmark the permalink. 6 Comments
Sri Aurobindo had a fascinating and mystical description for where humanity was headed. He describes an evolution of consciousness, whereby a higher reality, or Light-Consciousness, was the next major evolutionary transformation. The old, rational mind, searching for “truth,” would become the Higher Mind, a being-in-truth. Humanity would become an over-flowing of Being, expressing higher realities while still living in this dimension of existence. I put together a few excerpts from a very detailed page. If you know of similar ideas, please share them. My intention is to have an on-going dialogue and exploration on how so many different perspectives are converging. If you’d like, this can be used as an insight meditation. Keep an open mind and enjoy the ride!

Towards greater light:
Our first decisive step out of our human Intelligence, our normal mentality, is an ascent into a higher Mind, a mind no longer of mingled light and obscurity or half-light, but a large clarity of the Spirit. Its basic substance is a unitarian sense of being with a powerful multiple dynamisation capable of the formation of a multitude of aspects of knowledge, ways of action, forms and significances of becoming, of all of which there is a spontaneous inherent knowledge. It is therefore a power that has proceeded from the overmind, — but with the supermind as its ulterior origin, — as all these greater powers have proceeded: but its special character, its activity of consciousness are dominated by Thought; it is a luminous thought-mind, a mind of Spirit-born conceptual knowledge. it is indeed, the spiritual parent of our conceptive mental ideation, and it is natural that this leading power of our mentality should, when it goes beyond itself, pass into its immediate source.
The old, searching Mind
“…There is no need of a seeking and self-critical ratiocination, no logical motion step by step towards a conclusion, no mechanism of expressed or implied deductions and inferences, no building or deliberate concatenation of idea with idea in order to arrive at an ordered sum or outcome of knowledge: for this limping action of our reason is a movement of Ignorance searching for knowledge, obliged to safeguard its steps against error, to erect a selective mental structure for its temporary shelter and to base it on foundations already laid and carefully laid but never firm, because it is not supported on a soil of native awareness but imposed on an original soil of nescience.
“a play of the searchlight of intelligence, probing into the little known or unknown.”
Spontaneous Illumination
This higher consciousness is a knowledge formulating itself on a basis of self existent all-awareness… manifesting some part of its integrality. It can freely express itself in a single idea, but most characteristic movement is a mass ideation, a system of totality of truth-seeing at a single view; the relations of idea with idea, of truth with truth are not established by logic but pre-exist and emerge already self-seen in the integral whole.
Resistance and Obstacles to this Emerging Consciousness:
The Cognitive Mind itself:
“…all ideas are forces and have a formative or self-effective faulty greater or less according to the conditions, even reducible to nil in practice when they have to deal with inconscient Matter… There is thus already-formed a power of resistance which opposes or minimizes the effects of the descending Light, a resistance which may amount to a refusal, a rejection of Light.”
Why does Nature Resist Transformation?
“This power of persistence, recurrence, resistance of established things in Nature is always the great obstacle which the evolutionary Force has to meet, which it has indeed itself created in order to prevent too rapid transmutation even when that transmutation is its own eventual intention in things.”
Overcoming Resistance to Transformation:

“In order to allow…the higher Light an adequate entry and force of working, it is necessary to acquire a power for quietude of the nature, to compose, to tranquilize, impress a controlled passivity or even an entire silence of mind and heart, life and body.”
“A previously established psychic control is very desirable as that creates a general responsiveness and inhibits the revolt of the lower parts against the Light, or their consent to the claims of Ignorance.
“A preliminary spiritual transformation will also reduce the hold of the Ignorance; but neither of these influences altogether eliminates the obstruction or limitation. The power of the spiritual Higher Mind and its idea-force, modified and diminished as it must be by its entrance into our mentality, is not sufficient to sweep out all these obstacles and create the gnostic being, but it can make a first change, a modification that will capacitate a higher ascent and a more powerful descent and further prepare an Integration of the being in a greater Force of consciousness and knowledge PARDAH NASHIN BY SROJINI NAIDU; The poem purdah nashin was written by Mrs sarojini naidu .she wrote this poem for the Muslim ladies who always cover their faces with veil. she comment on their way of living. she don not want to hurt their religion .As she always support Muslim league and respect their religion an tradition . she was a little upset about the fact that the Muslim women have to cover their faces every time.she praised the honest thought of their religion of protecting their women by the meant of veil cover their face which will not allowed other men to see their faces, they might believe that there women are secure in that way. but what is life if there is no freedom. if they think purdah is the correct way to protect their women then they are killing the freedom of one individual. there is no air their women can breathe freely ,there is always the net which comes before them .they cannot open their naked eyes to reality, everything is organized and decorated by their authority(men). they might  be protected and they might be decorated by the shiny and blinging jeweleries to make them a complete lady but their soul cannot shine like them.their life they are brought up by the men their fatand brother and when they grow up and got married the other men of the house , his husband will take over their father and brother place.they are always in the hand of men. they are always under the her male domination, their beauty ,their talent are always hidden just like the purdah. so, the poem is about the freedom of soul of Muslim women.she want to encourage the Muslim women talent and for their freedom of their individuality which lost in the purdah nashin…
Nissim Ezekiel’s Night of the Scorpion: Summary & Analysis
September 30, 2013
Nissim Ezekiel’s Night of the Scorpion is a strong yet simple statement on the power of self-effacing love. Full to the brim with Indianness, it captures a well-detached black and white snapshot of Indian village life with all its superstitious simplicity. The poet dramatizes a battle of ideas fought at night in lamplight between good and evil; between darkness and light; between rationalism and blind faith. And out of this confusion, there arises an unexpected winner – the selfless love of a mother.
The poem opens with the poet’s reminiscence of a childhood experience. One night his mother was stung by a scorpion. Ten hours of steady rain had driven the scorpion to hiding beneath a sack of rice. After inflicting unbearable pain upon the mother with a flash of its diabolic tail, the scorpion risked the rain again.
The peasant-folk of the village came like swarms of flies and expressed their sympathy. They believed that with every movement the scorpion made, the poison would move in mother’s blood. So, with lighted candles and lanterns they began to search for him, but in vain.
To console the mother they opened the bundle of their superstitions. They told mother that the suffering and pain will burn away the sins of her previous birth. “May the suffering decrease the misfortunes of your next birth too”, they said.
Mother twisted and groaned in mortifying pain. Her husband, who was sceptic and rationalist, tried every curse and blessing; powder, herb and hybrid. As a last resort he even poured a little paraffin on the bitten part and put a match to it.
The painful night was long and the holy man came and played his part. He performed his rites and tried to tame the poison with an incantation. After twenty hours the poison lost its sting.
The ironic twist in the poem comes when in the end the mother who suffered in silence opens her mouth. She says, “Thank God the scorpion picked on me and spared my children.”
Night of the Scorpion creates a profound impact on the reader with an interplay of images relating to good and evil, light and darkness. Then the effect is heightened once again with the chanting of the people and its magical, incantatory effect. The beauty of the poem lies in that the mother’s comment lands the reader quite abruptly on simple, humane grounds with an ironic punch. It may even remind the reader of the simplistic prayer of Leo Tolstoy’s three hermits: “Three are ye, three are we, have mercy upon us.”
Indian Background: Ezekiel is known to be a detached observer of the Indian scenario and this stance often has the power of a double-edged sword that cuts both ways. On the one side Night of the Scorpion presents an Indian village through the eyes of an outsider and finds the deep-rooted strains of superstition and blind faith which may seem foolish to the western eye. But on the other, the poem never fails to highlight the positive side of Indian village life. The poet does not turn a blind eye to the fellow-feeling, sympathy and cooperation shown by the villagers. And in a poem that deals with the all-conquering power of love, the reader too should be well aware of it.
Clash of Ideas: There is a contrast between the world of irrationality represented by the villagers and the world of rationalism represented by the father who tries all rational means to save his wife from suffering. Religion too plays its role with the holy man saying his prayers. But all three become futile. Or do they? One cannot totally ignore the underlying current of love and fellow-feeling in their endeavours.
Theme: Images of the dark forces of evil abound in Night of the Scorpion; the diabolic tail of the scorpion, giant scorpion shadows on the sun-baked walls and the night itself point to evil. In fact, the poem is about the pertinent question as to what can conquer evil. Where superstition, rationalism and religion proved futile, the self-effacing love of a mother had its say. Once again it is “Amor vincit omnia.” Love conquers all, and that is all you need to know.
THE NIGHT OF THE SCORPION
Introduction:
This is a poignant poem by one of the India’s foremost modern day poets, Nissim Ezekiel. Using imagery relating to the senses of sight, smell, touch and hearing, the poet depicts the selfless love of a mother who is stung by a scorpion. She nearly dies and yet is thankful that the scorpion had spared her children. The poem can also be seen as a comment on a culture where superstitions still play a significant role.
Detailed Summary:
The poet recalls very vividly (clearly) the night when his mother was stung by a scorpion. Ten hours of incessant rain had forced the scorpion to seek refuge in the poet’s house (rain water must have flooded its hiding place in the open) It sought refuge under a bag of rice and stung the poet’s mother when she went into that room. The viciously wicked creature poured its poison into her in a flash of its devilish tail and ventured out into the rain. On hearing of the unfortunate incident, the peasants rushed to the poet’s house with lighted candles and lanterns. They uttered the name of God countless times and prayed to God to immobilise the evil creature. Against the light of the lanterns, the shadows of the crowd cast on the mud walls looked like huge scorpions. The peasants looked for the scorpion everywhere where but it in vain. Being unsuccessful in their attempt to capture the scorpion they clicked their tongues. They were superstitious people and made several observations. They said that with every movement of the scorpion, its poison would also spread/course in the mother’s blood. Hence, it was imperative (essential) that the creature should not move at all and remain still. Some peasants said that her pain that night would burn away all her sins of her previous birth. They wished that her present agony should reduce her suffering in the next birth. They hoped that in this illusionary world where evil outweighs good deeds, her pain would diminish the quantum of evil. Some tried to console the mother with the remark that the scorpions poison would purify/cleanse her body of all desires and her soul of sinful ambition. They sat around the mother on the floor. Their faces were calm and peaceful. They believed that the mother’s agony was for her good.
More and more neighbours arrived with lanterns and candles. The presence of the insects and the rain added to the chaos. There seemed to be no end to the mother’s pain. The rain continued unabated. All this while the poor suffering mother was groaning and writhing in pain as she lay on a mat.
The poet’s father acted differently because he did not believe in prayers, religion and was a man of reason and logic. He was distraught at the sight of his wife’s agony and even cast aside his beliefs to somehow reduce her suffering. In his concern for his wife he tried out herbal medicines, magic and prayers to diminish her pain. The child watched helplessly as his father even poured some paraffin on the bitten toe and set fire to it. The flame burned brightly making the mother’s pain acute. The poet remained a mute spectator as he watched the holy priest perform his rituals and used spells to curb the poison. But all efforts to diminish the mother’s pain proved futile. Her pain subsided after twenty hours. Forgetting all her torment, the self sacrificing mother uttered words of thanks-giving to God in making the scorpion choose her as a victim, not her children. Thus the poem which begins with pain and anxiety ends on a grateful and optimistic tone. PHILOSOPHY
In the poem, the poet takes the readers on a virtual tour of an "Indian" mind and gives us an insight of his thoughts, ideas ,emotions and anger and chooses to express himself in the way an average Indian speaks. Ironically, the language is foreign but thoughts are patriotic. Ezekiel speaks in the voice of a typical orthodox Indian of the Independence era - one who fumbles with English but goes on smoothly with his thoughts which are genuine and restless but entangled in the flagella of a foreign language. Ezekiel's subject is a staunch follower of Gandhi and believes in peace  violence. He is concerned over issues of world peace, agitating behaviour of our neighbouring countries, violence and student unrest movements. He wants to restore harmony and fraternity in the annational scene. He is disturbed by the infiltration of foreign culture into our own Indian society and is extremely critical of alcoholism. Despite his concern over national issues, he believes tha. he will see a better tomorrow. He has faith that the government policies will be able to bring positive changes in the society. He proclaims the impending arrival of "Ram Rajya"- an Indian concept oUtopian world. The poet touches upon serious topics but keeps the humour alive by the way of the language used. He uses Indianized version of English to give the poem a native touch. Frequent usage of of "Hindi" words are observed. In many instances literal translations from hindi are seen. Certain grammatical errors like usage of present continuous instead of simple present, incorrect usage of adverbs, exaggeration and repetitions are common. The element of humour is brought out by the fact that the subject boasts of his English speaking skills by quoting Shakespeare when he can barely manage to speak correct English. The poet mocks the typical Indian mindset of showing off whatever little knowledge they seem to possess.
An Introduction- Kamala Das
Summary-
“An Introduction” is perhaps the most famous of the poems written by Kamala Das in a self-reflective and confessional tone from her maiden publication Summer in Calcutta(1965). The poem is a strong remark on Patriarchal Society prevalent today and brings to light the miseries, bondage, pain suffered by the fairer sex in such times.
The poet says that she is not interested in politics but claims that she can name all the people who have been in power right from the time of Nehru. By saying that she can repeat them as fluently as days of week, or names of the month, she indirectly states the fact that politics in the country is a game of few chosen elite who ironically rule a democracy. The fact that she remembers them so well depicts that these people have been in power for repetitive cycles.
Next, she describes herself saying that she is an Indian, born in Malabar and very brown in colour. She speaks in three languages, writes in two and dreams in one, articulating the thought that Dreams have their own universal language. Kamala Das echoes that the medium of writing is not as significant as is the comfort level that one requires. People asked her not to write in English since isn’t her mother tongue. Moreover, the fact that English was a colonial language prevalent as medium of communication during British times drew even more criticism every time she had an encounter with a critic, friends, or visiting cousins. She emphasizes that the language she speaks becomes her own, all its imperfections and queerness become her own. It is half-English, half-Hindi, which seems rather amusing but the point is that it is honest. Its imperfections only make it more human, rendering it close to what we call Naturality. It is the language of her expression and emotion as it voices her joys, sorrows and hopes. It is as integral to her as cawing is to the crows and roaring to the lions. Though imperfect, It is not a deaf, blind speech like that of trees in storm or the clouds of rain. Neither does it echo the "incoherent mutterings of the funeral pyre." It possesses a coherence of its own: an emotional coherence.
She moves on telling her own story. She was a child, and later people told her that she had grown up for her body had started showing signs of puberty. But she didn’t seem to understand this interpretation because at the heart she was still but a child. When she asked for love from her soulmate not knowing what else to ask, he took the sixteen-year-old to his bedroom. The expression is a strong criticism of child marriage which pushes children into such a predicament while they are still very childish at heart. Though he didn’t beat her, she felt beaten and her body seemed crushed under her own weight. This is a very emphatic expression of how unprepared the body of a sixteen-year-old is for the assault it gets subjected to. She shrank pitifully, ashamed of her feminity.
She tries to overcome such humiliation by being tomboyish. And thereafter when she opts for male clothing to hide her femininity, the guardians enforce typical female attire, with warnings to fit into the socially determined attributes of a woman, to become a wife and a mother and get confined to the domestic routine. She is threatened to remain within the four walls of her female space lest she should make herself a psychic or a maniac. They even ask her to hold her tears when rejected in love. She calls them categorizers since they tend to categorise every person on the basis of points that are purely whimsical.
She explains her encounter with a man. She attributes him with not a proper noun, but a common noun-"every man" to reflect his universality—the fact that in such a patriarchal society, this is a nature inherent to every male by the sheer fact that he belongs to the stronger sex. He defined himself by the "I", the supreme male ego. He is tightly compartmentalized as "the sword in its sheath'. It portrays the power politics of the patriarchal society that we thrive in that is all about control. It is this "I" that stays long away without any restrictions, is free to laugh at his own will, succumbs to a woman only out of lust and later feels ashamed of his own weakness that lets himself lose to a woman. Towards the end of the poem, a role-reversal occurs as this "I" gradually transitions to the poetess herself. She pronounces how this "I" is also sinner and saint", beloved and betrayed. As the role-reversal occurs, the woman too becomes the "I" reaching the pinnacle of self-assertion.
Another set of summary;
 An Introduction, a poem included in Kamala Das's first volume of poetry, Summer in Calcutta(1965), begins with a statement that shows her frank distaste for politics, especially in politIndia ruled by a chosen elite. The poet asserts her right to speak three languages, and defends her choice to write in two--her mother-tongue, Malayalam, and English. She doesn't like to be advised in  this matter by any guardian or relations. Her choice is her own: authentic and born of passion. The poet looks upon her decision to write in English as natural and humane. From the issue of the politics of language the poem then passes on to the subject of sexual politics in a patriarchy-dominated society where a girl attaining puberty is told about her biological changes by some domineering parental figure. As the girl seeks fulfilment of her adolescent passion, a young lover is forced upon her to traumatize and coerce the female-body since the same is the site for patriarchy to display its power and authority. When thereafter, she opts for male clothing to hide her femininity, the guardians enforce typical female attire, with warnings to fit into the socially determined attributes of a woman, to become a wife and a mother and get cofined to the domestic routine. She is threatened to remain within the four walls of her female space lest she should make herself a psychic or a maniac. But the poet is an individual woman trying to voice a universal womanhood and trying to share her experiences, good or bad, with all other women. Love and sexuality are a strong component in her search for female identity and the identity consists of polarities. The poem ends with repetitions of the 1st person sigular I to suggest vindication of the body and the self.
THE OLD PLAYHOUSE
Description of old play house by kamala das Kamala Das : The Old Playhouse- A critical appreciationKamala Das is once again occupied with herself. Her quest for a fulfilling relationship brings a loi of pain and disenchantment. She complains against her men's incapability to offer anything but lust. These volumes reflect the poet's growing interest in the spiritual and tKamala Das in her poem 'The Old Play House' looks into the nature of lust and disillusionment. In this context, she explores the male personality as well as her own anguished self. It is the mythical longings. psychology of her inner self, which gets its focus in her poems. Love is the slice of life for Kamala Das. She seems to be obsessed with the idea that feminine self is a mere toy in the unfeeling hands of the male. Her ego-self has declared man nothing more than a beast. She wants integrity between her physical as well as her inner self. She did not come to her husband's house to lye only beneath his 'boneless-self to feed his 'monstrous ego'. She says : "...It was not together knowledge of yet another man that 1 came to you but to learn what I was and by learning to learn to grow,  but every lesson your gave was about yourself .........."]. This is the despair of her lovely-married self. She yearns for receiving love. But her husband does not lend her fondling hands, instead he exploits her tender physical self and destroys her mind. She says : "... You embalmed/My poor lust with your bittersweet juices,/you called me wife" Kamla Das' protest is not merely against the  superficiality of married-self but against the essential nature of Hindu domestic life, which tames, the 'swallow' and permits free exhibition of the male ego in all its manifestations. A sad mood of protest against man's inhumanity is a common feature of her poems in which frustration keeps running on. As Parthasarthy opines :"The despair is infectious. Few of her poems have, in fact, escaped it". The old play house and several other poems are addressed to 'you', to the husband. He wants to encompass her action, movement and activity of which her young self is desirous. The poetic self does not like this just as her young self does not like him or his ways. His 'monstrous ego' comes under fire, since it has totally reduced her and disappointed her. As a result, her mind becomes an old-play*house with all its lights put-out. She says :"You called me wife,/It was taught to break saccharine into your tea and/To offer at the right moment the vitamins cowering./Beneath your monstrous ego, I ate the magic loaf/And became a dwarf'.As a young wife Kamala Das does all the house hold Chores. The dominated husband tries to take her like a bird and makes her an object of his sexual torture. The expressions like '1 ate the magic loaf and 'became a dwarf show that her young self is being crushed. In case of Kamla Das, the journey of married life becomes too difficult. Her sorrow-stricken spirit realizes this torture in her poem. She says :"... Other journeys are all so easy but not inward one ...".Not only her husband wants to torture her but society also wants to make her stand among the 'Categorizers'. Her feminine self became disgusted v/hen she started moving about in society wearing a male dress. She feels devoid of her feminine self. She says : "Dress in Saree, be girl, Be wife they said, Be embroiderer, be cook, Be a quarreler with servants, Fit in, oh,Belong ... Do not set On walls or peep in through Our lace-draped windows. Be Amy, or be Kamla or,  Better /Still, be Madhavikutty. It is time to choose a name, a role ...". She asserts her feminine identity. Her young self refuses to be called by such names as - Amy, Kamla, Madhavikutty or as a cook, embroiderer. She does not want to be recognized as 'Fit in'. Her poetry shows that Kami a Das has to make her identity. She has to create a place for herself in a public world, in her home and even in her own bedroom. But every time she finds face of repulsion and horror. A husband is always considered such a sheltering tree that a woman can not afford to live without him. She says : "A husband is like a sheltering tree, without the tree you are dangerously unprotected ... equally logically and vulnerable and so you have to keep the tree alive and flourishing, even if you have to water it with deceit arid lives. This is too followed, equally logically ...".A Clash between artistic self and personal self is at work here. "... Kamla Das is pre-eminently a poet of love and pain, one stalking the other through a new neurotic world. There is an all pervasive sense of hurt throughout love, the lazy animal hungers of the flesh. Hurt and humiliation ...". "The Old Play House" also voices her protest against the male domination and the resultant humiliation. . Kamala Das is exclusively concerned with the personal experience of love in her poetry. "For her ideal love is the fulfilment of the levels of body and mind. It is the experience beyond sex through sex. The tragic failure to get love in terms of sexual-spiritual fulfilment from the husband leads her to search for it elsewhere. Each relationship only intensifies her disappointment faced with the sense of absolute frustration and loneliness" Though she seeks the perfection of masculine being in every lover, it ends in failure because of the impossibility of realizing this ideal in human form. The experience of frustration sets the psyche in the attitude of rebellion.