The Power of Exchange

This is an endeavour to give voice and words to knowledge that is emerging from within. All knowledge is pre-existent within; the process by which it becomes our own realization is necessarily rooted in an experiential base. It does however require another form of engagement for realization to become one’s mode of conduct or being. It is my attempt through this monograph, to achieve clarity and allow the outer to be defined by what is emerging from within.

This monograph will seek to describe states of consciousness related to recent experiences, define the current circumstances which allow the experiential mode of learning to occur and finally will deal specifically with a knot that must be untied to allow further progress, the question of my relations with and handling of wealth.

THE ALCHEMY OF EXCHANGE

There are two main movements I am experiencing:

The vertical flow, an inner exchange between the aspiring self and the answering movement that comes to uplift, clarify, transform. There is a sense of clear guidance in what I must do.
The horizontal flow, an exchange between others and I. Most of the time the interaction or exchange is at the usual levels of intellectual or emotional engagement. Sometimes a third element enters which is larger than us. This is when the exchange becomes charged with something dynamic, transforming and takes on a power of movement that is not mine. There is an alchemist that intervenes, creating a flow of exchange between the universe and I, building bridges with the divinity in others that changes relationships.

These moments occur more frequently when I consciously aspire for the Mother’s intervention and am in a quiet state of responsiveness. The action emerging from this state always feels ‘right’. There is a sense of freedom from concern as the act was not determined by nearsighted personal gain but comes from a sense that my actions are part of a larger plan and are guided by a higher force.

As in all things one starts from a mentalised understanding and proceeds to a deeper knowledge of the true state. There is an important distinction to be made between them:

· The notion that having abrogated responsibility one has to make no further effort and can depend on the divine to ‘do’ everything, clear the obstacles as it were, is a stumbling block in making progress.

· A truer response comes from an absolute conviction that one is cared for, a faith that surrenders one’s self so implicitly into the care of the Divine, that one is no longer worried about consequences, and willing to accept the outcome as Divine Will. There is a liberating and uplifting power when there is a glad acceptance of consequences not to one’s liking, or even inimical to one’s well-being in the immediate circumstances, because one has accepted that the only reason for one’s existence is to be at the service of a higher cause.

However, personal effort has to continue in rejecting false movements and opening oneself to positive influences

NISHKAMA KARMA: THE POISE FOR DYNAMIC AND CREATIVE ACTION

The current dissatisfaction is that it is not enough to be in this state of detached action sometimes; there is an imperative need to make this the constant poise from which to act. Even as I grow in knowledge, I know there are progressive states of detached action. I have experienced the difference between:

A detached state in which one can quietly function, in a concerted effort to act selflessly, controlling emotion and refusing to let mental constructs and conditioning to dictate one’s actions.
A dynamic state of communion in which guidance is precise in the smallest detail. This is a state of grace that colours all with its lightness and bliss. All actions then flow unblemished by smallness of vision, uplifted on a crest of joyous energy, underpinned with courage and blessed with the will to persevere in the execution.

THE PURPOSE OF ACTION

It is clear there is a larger purpose to Life and my own life is consecrated to the realization of this larger principle. There is a new creation in process and to participate in this process, I want to be able to function from this state of constant communion, so that my egoistic nature may not impede and distort that which seeks to manifest. There is a force that is organizing and preparing us and the environment for great change. It is this work of preparation and organization that draws me. I feel called upon to dedicate myself to the specific task of preparation.

I am quite clear that there is the hand of the Divine, crafting the circumstances of my life, bringing me to experiences that I need, progressively teaching and guiding me as I grow in ability, allowing me to assimilate, execute and prepare myself for the next phase. There is a deep aspiration and prayer from every part of the being to be taken up, moulded and put to the work for which I am here, in this life. The power of sincere prayer brings, in answer, circumstances and guidance on what I must do next.

TWO PATHS: MATERIAL AND SPIRITUAL

For me as for many others on the path of Yoga, there are periods of conflict between engaging in the world and wanting to leave it all for a quiet life of contemplation. The misunderstanding that material matters are anti-spiritual has fortunately been resolved as knowledge emerges, under the impetus of a seeking that aspires to meet the Divine in every way He chooses to show himself. It is implicit in the prayer that my will be taken up and all that the Divine wills, be the paths that I am taken along.

There is a clear indication to engage fully with material life and experience the powerful alchemy of transformation when the spiritual quest lifts us out of our absorption with material gain and material forces are brought to the service of the Divine.

“It is always the same thing in all that we have recently read: one must be careful not to have one foot on one side and the other foot on the other, not to bestride two different boats each following its own course, this is what Sri Aurobindo said: one must not lead a “double life”. One must give up one or the other – one can’t follow both.

This does not mean, however, that one is obliged to get out of the conditions of one’s life: it is the inner attitude that must be totally changed, one may do what one is in the habit of doing, but do it with quite a different attitude. I don’t say it is necessary to give up everything in life and go away into solitude, to an ashram, necessarily to do yoga. Now, it is true that if one does yoga in the world and in worldly circumstances, it is more difficult, but it is also more complete. Because every minute one must face problems, which do not present themselves to someone who has left everything and gone into solitude; for such a one these problems are reduced to a minimum – while in life one meets all sorts of difficulties.”[1]

The conflict has for now been put to rest.

MONEY: THE TRUE RELATIONSHIP WITH WEALTH

Work has always been the arena where much of my learning takes place. There is a clear interchange between the work I do and my learning process; one informs and transforms the other. I am now drawn to studying more deeply my relationship with those who I work with and the forces that we are dealing with. There is a specific project I am engaged with that is informing my enquiry. The project was not predetermined, it has emerged over the years and for the time being seems to be the arena in which my inner progress and sadhana are being accomplished. It has taken the form of a commune, living and working together. The group structure takes the form of a Trust, called the Satya-Jyoti Trust.

Since the framework of our group is based on a non-profit trust, there is confusion about the place of wealth in our endeavours.

· Feeling that money is tainted and we should not concern ourselves with the dynamics of the market place.

· Taking pleasure in the lack of responsibility to account for output or sales.

· Realizing that without money we can’t continue our work, we swing into a feverish activity to earn something. This leads to frayed nerves, irritation and tempers fly. The underlying sense is one of not wanting to engage with wealth creation based on profit making, because they create emotional distress. We have to deal with all those activities of business that seem to be in conflict with our aspiration to give up attachments.

I feel the need to engage myself in aspects of economic growth in a commune environment, first to experience, through practice, an understanding of wealth and its place in the Yoga and secondly to understand the power that works behind the exchange of wealth.

I have used the approach of a worksheet and formulated questions that address issues I have dealt with myself. The answers are compilations from the Mother’s and Sri Aurobindos’ writings that resonate with me today.

A UNIVERSAL FORCE:

First an understanding of what wealth really is, beyond paper notes and coins.

Money is

· “the visible sign of a universal force,” 2

· “In its origin and its true action is belongs to the Divine.” 3

· “an altogether impersonal force: money has no colour, no taste, no psychological consciousness. It is a force.” 4

OWNERSHIP:

“To reconquer it for the Divine to whom it belongs and to use it divinely for the divine life is the supramental way for the Sadhaka.” 5

I was comforted that there was no injunction to give up wealth; the call to action to “reconquer” it suited me just fine. It sanctioned the fact that one was engaged in business activities, whose primary function is the creation of wealth. I could continue to work for the money it brought in and not feel that this was taking me away from the path of Yoga.

This was short-lived comfort, I found that I was going from one extreme to another, sometimes spending lavishly on comfort and luxury, because I felt I worked hard enough for it and other times being miserly in order to conform to a need for austerity. Between the spendthrift and the miser, I was confused and in both conditions completely in bondage.

There persisted a worry, related to a possible lack of money, in the future. This is reinforced constantly in the society we live in. I was badgered by others to ‘invest’ wisely, to put away for old age. It meant I had to engage with managing my wealth and not leaving it sitting in a bank account. It made me uncomfortable, as what I really wanted was freedom from all responsibities, related to managing wealth.

I started dealing with my own anxiety by turning to the Mother and in consciously aspiring for her help. I realized that I had not in reality understood the meaning of Sri Aurobindo’s words. The first condition was to actively give up ownership of wealth and inculcate a detachment in my attitude.

I found the best way to truly giving up ownership was by offering it entirely to the Divine. This is easier said than done. Offering a portion of one’s wealth is easy, but to give it ALL up means to give up all concern for one’s well-being. To be absolutely unconcerned with the possibility of having nothing left requires that absolute dependency on the Divine to look after one. There has to be an abiding and active faith and trust that one is truly looked after.

FROM POSSESOR TO TRUSTEE:

“All wealth belongs to the Divine and those who hold it are trustees, not possessors. It is with them today, tomorrow it may be elsewhere. All depends on the way they discharge their trust while it is with them, in what spirit, with what consciousness in their use of it, to what purpose.”6

Even as I understood these words intellectually, I was not at all sure what it meant to act in the right spirit, and consciousness. In order to act as a trustee, there must be no sense of personal ownership, and paradoxically one is required to spend it with care, with an awareness of the purpose to which its is being put. I am called upon to think about this every day, in every decision one makes in terms of the Trust. Some of these questions I have not yet found the right response to. These are part of another questionnaire I am developing for the group and I to engage with.

CREATION OF WEALTH: POWER OF EXCHANGE

“First of all, from the financial point of view, the principle on which our action is based is the following: money is not meant to make money. This idea that money must make money is a falsehood and perversion.

Money is meant to increase the wealth, the prosperity and the productiveness of a group, a country or, better, of the whole earth. Money is a means, a force, a power, and not an end in itself. And like all forces and all powers, it is by movement and circulation that it grows and increases its power, not by accumulation and stagnation.

What we are attempting here is to prove to the world, by giving it a concrete example, that by inner psychological realization and outer organization a world can be created where most of the causes of human misery will be abolished.”7

The broad outline and concept is clear, it is in every day action that we face our challenges of execution. While the inner being is receptive and changing, the outer being clings to its old ways, its worries are embedded in the cells of the body. To change outwardly, the inner psychological realization must be complimented by outer organizational realities where we battle with ourselves to change all the outer forms.

HOW TO SPEND ACCORDING TO DIVINE WILL

“… one must first know what the divine Will is. But there is a surer way – to surrender money for the divine work, if one is not sure oneself. “Divinely” means at the service of the Divine – it means not to use money for one’s own satisfaction but to place it at the Divine’s service.”

To begin with, I had to move past the concept of spending money in philanthropic ways. The few attempts in this direction were quickly dissipated by the unease I felt in doing ‘good works’. There was a mirror always showing me the smug self-satisfied person, behind which the ego reinforced its hold.

There was however a growing understanding of the true nature of wealth as a power both in its negative hold and its positive influence.

MONEY: A CORRUPTING INFLUENCE

The corrupting influence, where does it come from? Is it just that human nature itself is unregenerate, greedy and selfish or is there another reason too?

Sri Aurobindo provides a clue: money has a “certain distorting influence stamped on it by its long seizure and perversion by the Asura.”8

All actions vibrate and carry certain energy into the environment. The stronger these are, the larger the ripple effect. One of the images that spring to mind is the story ‘Lord of the rings’ – the corrupting influence of the ring is clearly depicted here.

How is one to escape the effect of this corruption? This influence is so strong that this is perhaps why we seek a cure in complete withdrawal and asceticism. By withdrawing from all interaction with money we try to avoid its negative pull, but remain still under its influence. This influence extends to all modes of acquisition not only money.

“These things are interdependent (Sri Aurobindo says here) power, money and sex. I believe the three are interdependent and that all three have to be conquered to be sure of having any one – when you want to conquer one you must have the other two. Unless one has mastered these three things desire for power, desire for money and desire for sex, one cannot possess any of them firmly and surely. What gives so great an importance to money in the world as it is today, is not so much money itself, for apart from a few fools who heap up money and are happy because they can heap it up and count it, generally money is desired and acquired for the satisfaction it brings. And this is almost reciprocal: each of these three things not only has it own value in the world of desires, but leans upon the other two. I have related to you that vision, that big black serpent which kept watch over the riches of the world, terrestrial wealth – he demanded mastery of the sex impulse. Because according to certain theories, the very need of power has its end in this satisfaction, and if one mastered that, if one abolished that from human consciousness, much of the need for power and desire for money would disappear automatically. Evidently these are the three great obstacles in the terrestrial human life and unless they are conquered, there is scarcely a chance for humanity to change.”9

It is very important to experience the change that occurs when self-control and self-discipline begin to have an effect. As I look back over the years, I realize how the shackles have slowly loosened as one has grown more detached from the pull of all three influences.

WHY I TOOK UP THIS ISSUE?

It started with the question of how we would generate funds to keep Satya-Jyoti going. From all I have learned thus far, it seems that the path will open up before us.

· First I know that if this work is important the money will come. For now we have much else that needs to be done internally and externally in allowing the true purpose of this endeavour to emerge.

· Second, that business itself will become the means of inner growth and that dealing with the means of generating an income is in itself a test along the way. Making money is not the motive therefore this activity will occur when we are truly ready.

A WORK OF NEW CREATION

The work connected with the Satya-Jyoti Trust now brings every day new challenges, some of which I present here in a brief form. Each of these are aspects I must work upon.

Relationship with people:

I often want to give up and not have to deal with the conflicts that arise between us. I get tired, dispirited and frustrated.

I have tried to deal with conflict in many ways but realize that in truth there is only one way, to widen and deepen my consciousness so that I am in touch with the divine within and in others. When I engage, not with the outer personality, but see each one as a soul on its journey, just as I am, then the problems disappear. It is not that the other person begins to collaborate, but that I am no longer frustrated because the true work is not the outer accomplishment. Even if the outcome in the outer execution is not yet perfect, we are together to create a space and commune where we can all progress in our inner psychological growth.

Giving up preferences:

My progress lies in giving up all preferences – of ideas, liking for a particular type of work being the two current challenges.

Creating a learning/teaching environment:

The first beginning has been made with a training centre for young girls from neighbouring villages, to learn a craft, sewing skills, learning to work in a group.

There are complex social and economic issues that we are being brought face to face with. We have to work on the structure, syllabi, training methods and most of all work on ourselves as facilitators. The issues we grapple with are the hammer blows that chip away the resistance to change. The guide within is the teacher, the Guide who leads, when in silence we allow Her to mould us in the forms of her desire.

- Jyoti Saikia

REFERENCES

1 Mother: commentary on The Mother chapter 4.1951.The Mother

2 Sri Aurobindo: the Mother chapter 4 pg 11

3 Sri Aurobindo: The Mother chapter 4.

4 Mother: comments on chapter 4, The mother pg 78

5 Sri Aurobindo: The Mother chapter 4

6 Sri Aurobindo: The Mother chapter 4 pg 12.

7 Mother: Conversations with Mother vol 13 pg 158

8 Sri Aurobindo The Mother chapter 4

9 Mother: commentary on The Mother chapter 4 questions and answers

Readings: Bibliography

Sri Aurobindo: The Mother, Sri Aurobindo Ashram. Pondicherry

Sri Aurobindo: The Chariot of Jagannatha, Sri Aurobindo Ashram. Pondicherry

Mother: Notes on the Way, Sri Aurobindo Ashram. Pondicherry

Mother: Some answers from the Mother, vol.16, VAK trust, Pondicherry

M.P. Pandit: Spiritual Communion, Dipti Publications Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry

[1] The Mother, commentary on: ‘The Mother’ (by Sri Aurobindo), chapter 4, in Collected Works of The Mother: 1951, Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry