April 19, 01
Integrality of Life
Knowledge gathers by observation and experience. It becomes
practically useful knowledge when a process of a thing is known, e.g. climbing
a tree, drawing water from a well, speaking the first few words, art of writing,
etc. At this stage, we see our practically useful knowledge is in proportion
to our experience as the topography of a locality. A time comes when this partial knowledge
becomes perfect knowledge or complete knowledge when the field of observation
can be organised into a subject or a branch of science. At this time, the field
reveals the laws governing it, not before.
· Random knowledge,
however great the volume, will not allow itself to be reduced to laws.
· For the laws of a
field to be extracted as the essence of the field, the observation must be
complete or exhaustive.
· When a field
exists in more than one plane, the laws cannot be perfectly known until the
observation is exhausted in all the planes of existence.
· Life exists in
the mental, vital, physical fields and their respective subtle planes. The
spiritual plane cannot be fully excluded if one desires mastery, but as far as
physical work is concerned, the direct involvement of the spiritual plane may
be excluded, if it is represented by the work values that are spiritual.
· Shakespeare in
his works brought out this truth forcefully. In all literature, this aspect can
be seen, even in tales for children. There are basic aspects of life which
no level of fiction can overlook. Its refinement in terms of events and
character and especially as Life Response depends upon the greatness of the
writer.
Shakespearean critics have
invariably dismissed as errors of a great mind ALL points of his
works that reveal his greatness. Where the mastermind travels beyond the finite
functioning of the human mind, the human mind is generous enough to label it as
an error. The Laws of Life Response cannot be seen unless and until life is
seen functioning at those points. The greatness of life and its integrality
lies in the fact that those great touches are there in ALL acts, small or
great, however crudely they reveal themselves. The crudeness is in our
perception, not in their revelation. From this point of view, a few conclusions
are drawn.
As Sri Aurobindo has detailed in The Life Divine the
theory of creation and its process, all these laws are pronounced there
abundantly. Over thirty years they have been ‘documented’ after a fashion
enough to confirm the understanding. As this is a minor version of the Master’s
philosophy, it may not evoke a great response from His disciples. For the
layman, it has a two-fold advantage of mastering one’s own life and being
introduced to His philosophy. A painstaking analysis of events of life, coupled
with a study of historical events and events in literature that reveal these
laws will be of great interest to the general reader. Obviously there is no use
for detailing the laws which may offer a good theoretical knowledge which may
not go beyond the first reading.