The Ineptitude of Smart Criticism

Strong objections have been raised about some of the observations regarding the interview Sri Aurobindo had given to KM Munshi in 1950. Let us look at it in some detail. Let me reproduce the relevant passage from Part C in the following:

Apropos of India’s partition and the forces that worked behind it, we have the account by Munshi based on what Sri Aurobindo had told him in the course of an interview in 1950. India’s integrity and spiritual destiny always remained the concern of Sri Aurobindo. In the course of the interview, Munshi was taken aback when Sri Aurobindo surprised him with the unexpected question: “When do you expect India to be united?” He himself then said: “India will be united. I see it clearly. Pakistan has been created by falsehood, fraud and force. It must be brought under India's military ambit.” He went out of his way and spoke of the military ambit.

Today we dismiss those words as time-barred, forgetting that he had put his yogic force in them in the context of what he saw as falsehood and fraud. By forgetting them, we are entrenching ourselves more and more into falsehood and fraud. We are strengthening falsehood and fraud more and more. Has the power which Sri Aurobindo put in his words waned and disappeared? Or is it that we are putting more and more obstacles in its working? It seems there is no end to our stupidity.

Right at the outset, an objection that could be raised in this respect is about “the rhetorical ploy of accusing the reader of stupidity,” a thing which does not permit him to have his own independent judgement of historical things. But as long as it is fully understood in a rhetorical sense, that the statement is a rhetorical statement, and yet true with a certain signification, we may consider ourselves to be on quite safe grounds. It is an idiomatic device which only brings out compellingly what is intended to be brought out. That should also dismiss the notion of one being “reactionary”, one having no regard to history. There is no denying of the fact that, what has happened has happened and it has become for us a fait accompli. But that does not mean that nothing be said about it, that no reflection be made when one also speaks of the “ifs” and “buts” of the past occurrences, as to what extent the points made by history can be reexamined and reviewed to avoid pitfalls in the future, lessons learned to correct our intuitions of things in the light of the spirit of national gains and prospects. Let us also be clear that it is the stupidity of the leaders of the time that is being presented.

But one of the strangest comments is connected with the phrase “spiritual destiny” in the series of articles under the title India’s Independence and the Spiritual Destiny. Vedantic principle is invoked, irrelevantly if not amusingly, to suggest that it becomes contradictory to the universality of the Atman or the Self, that in the perspective of its omnipresence to talk of the spiritual destiny in the context of a country is to virtually become incoherent and chauvinistic. “Moreover, to speak of the spiritual destiny of secular nations is an absolute oxymoron, and many of us who have inherited a long history of religious intolerance, hatred, and war, are content to see it so remain.” If this is the lesson of history, then one should at once stay away from spirituality and forget about the Integral Yoga too. But is there anywhere at least one example which shows how spirituality has caused this havoc in society? The patent mistake here is the mixing up of religion, secularism, and spirituality, a totally wrong thing to do. We shall see it in more details as we proceed.

Is it a Fundamentalist’s Agenda?

It could also be objected in a strong way that the author of this series has an intention of drawing new geo-political borders of the subcontinent. This could be a part of his fundamentalist agenda for which he is bringing in the dubious arguments based on outdated and out of place metaphysical concepts, things such as a yogic force, which should be taken away from any rational discussion; this would surely sound pretty hollow, betraying the author’s tendency to make Integral Yoga a new religion full of Islamo-phobia. And what does the author mean by "India is free, that her freedom was god-ordained"? does it not discount “the hard work of millions of Indians that got the English to quit India”? In the end what he describes here as god-ordained, is simply the act of a nation-state who with the fall of its empire was simply too weary to continue its occupation of a foreign land in light of the resistance of its multitudes. This amounts to saying that freedom was not won but it was a result of the ruling nation getting weary or finding itself in a position of diminishing returns. What is forgotten here is the fact of millions of common men and women waking from the sleep of tamas or dullness and inertia, rising to the call of the new dawn. Awake! Arise! roared Swami Vivekananda, and living seeds started sprouting in the dead furrows of the country. What is it that makes this spirituality reactionary and retrograde? It rather nourishes a vigorous life that can run in its dynamism in a thousand creative ways. On the face of it, being unaware of the deeper causes, one would say that the French Revolution was born of a strong idea-force, and so too came the Declaration of American Independence; but here was an active spiritual force that worked in the masses, martyrs climbing up to the gallows with the vibrant chant of the Gita in their voice ready to die. Where in the history did it happen? Nowhere. Souls were kindled by a living fire, and the march of the flame was unstoppable.

Much is often made, possibly with due justification also, about the views changing in the course of time, as if one becoming wiser with the unfolding actions, measures and results. Should not this be applied to Sri Aurobindo also? Would he not have  changed his earlier opinions and statements, becoming wiser with the rolling of events? That appears to be an important question, and let us have a look at it. It is to be well understood that Sri Aurobindo's view of India and the world might have changed with world circumstances, with changing time, but never his fundamentals behind them. In fact such a possibility of his views changing with time fits in quite well with the awareness, the comprehension he had of the working of the occult forces that are at play behind the scene. His grasp of these cosmic goings-on and activities has always been there at the back his appraisals and assessments, if we have to use these descriptions. It is therefore not necessary, as someone is hectically trying, to hunt out quotations from his letters written to Nirodbaran in the 1930s, without realizing that there is a contradiction in itself. The point is, Sri Aurobindo was always alive to the dynamics of the situation. There is another aspect also that, these occult forces have to get tired and exhausted before they disappear altogether. When it was absolutely necessary he did intervene with his full concentrated yogic force, with a decisive yogic will in it,—as he did in the course of the War against Hitler when the stakes were very high, stakes concerned with the fate of this creation itself. In general he was aware of the working of the occult forces, and his statements could be contextual with regard to this complex game. Very often this is missed, and wrong conclusions drawn to justify one’s own pet ideas and theories. Smart commentators say that there is no reason we should not believe that the passing of some six decades would not have altered his view of 1950 regards the pre-nuclear subcontinent. But nobody is going to deny this fact, yet would Sri Aurobindo change what he had said, say, in his Independence Day message that the India-Pakistan Partition is an artificial creation and should go? would he ever revise that statement? One wonders, if one has some perception of such matters. The sorry thing is, these smart commentators and their cohorts confuse modus operandi with the basic realities that are there behind the yogic vision.

History itself is full of evidence that the ill-conceived Partition of the country based on religious considerations could have disappeared, and we have seen it in the earlier parts here. There were a number of occasions when this could have been a fact of life here, but every time opportunities were squandered away. Eventually the Mother said, it is the confederation of the states which is what might happen.

The Specious Hand of History

The point in this series of articles is, about the specious hand of history that gave us fractured independence, something detrimental to the spiritual destiny of the country and the destiny of the world, something that is going to cause a lot of harm, bring about delay in the realization for which independence was a necessity. Independence is not just for the sake of independence, but has a functional role to play in shaping the future by cherishing and implementing the values of the Great Spirit. If our energies get frittered away by extraneous factors, then to that degree the prospects also get affected. Sri Aurobindo had foreseen a number of possibilities and, timely, sent for instance his envoy recommending the acceptance of the Cripps Proposals in 1942. We might say that he did not put his full decisive yogic force in it and therefore his recommendations were turned down. But we could also say that there is an expectation of the national consciousness of the time opening itself to the working of a higher power, simply for the reason that the higher power does not operate in a dictatorial manner, does not dictatorially impose itself upon others, particularly upon the unwilling unprepared lot. The result was a riven country, riven in respect of several factors. It is the leadership of the time that must take the full responsibility for this blemished outcome,—and in it lay its stupidity. It could not recognize the craving of the soul of the nation, as if it had no contact with its soul, and the soul languished in turmoil and endless suffering. In the process, there is a lesson also for us to learn, if a lesson can be learned from history. How the history can be remoulded—that is another issue. But the underlying truth of the situation should be grasped and actions initiated as far as the future is concerned.

Freedom the Foundation for the Divine Work

Let us read again the letter Sri Aurobindo had written to Dilip Roy on 4 April 1950, just a few months before his withdrawal from the physical. Dilip Roy did not pursue it when he received the reply, which is perfectly understandable also when far vaster occult and yogic issues were involved in things that were happening then.

India is free and her freedom was necessary if the Divine Work was to be done. The difficulties that surround her now and may increase for a time, especially with regard to the Pakistan imbroglio, were also things that had to come and to be cleared out…  Here too there is sure to be a full clearance, though unfortunately, a considerable amount of human suffering in the process is inevitable. (Sri Aurobindo on Himself, Vol. 26, p. 172)

Perhaps this situation, of “considerable amount of human suffering”, would not have arisen had the Cripps Proposals in 1942 been accepted. In their rejection the Mother saw ‘calamity’ befalling India and she had told it so. There is no point in lamenting now at the wisdom of the ‘best leaders’ of the time, because it is the noble life-force, the wonderful essentiality, the precious self of the people that has to recognize the values in which they should live and thrive, in which they should conduct themselves; it is their perception and awareness of the authentic spirit of the country that alone can give to them the true dignity, the glory of the growing soul. Will that happen? Things don't look too bright at the moment.

To say that Sri Aurobindo would have changed his opinion with time might sound somewhat presumptuous and the best thing is to ground ourselves in time-enduring truths of the spirit. It certainly is a presumptuous statement and it should be set as aside as quickly as possible. But the grounding of our thoughts and feelings and actions in the higher and nobler values of the spirit cannot be, should not be compromised, postponed. For that to happen we have to do, what this series of articles purports in its full cognizance, another kind of tapasya, a tapasya for the nation’s participation in the higher cause. The question is: will this happen?

Nazis also Spoke of Time enduring eternal Spirit

But here comes again the smart commentator who will continue to say the following: “All we are doing here is differing in interpretations, and to speak of time enduring truths of the spirit, has not done the last century well. In fact the Nazi's spoke also of a time enduring eternal spirit of Das Vaterland. It was certainly a different view of the spirit than Sri Aurobindo, but to constrain ones rhetoric to such metaphysical musing today…” But what do we see here? Neither the understanding of the Nazi spirit nor is there the least awareness of what the Integral Yoga is. The creator of the infamous gas chambers is facilely equated with the moulder of destiny of mankind, he moulding destiny based on the realized truths of the spirit working in life. This might be dismissed as hagiographic, but it needs only a small quiet moment to appreciate and recognize the difference between the two. That quiet moment can arrive only when there is the urge to do the qualifying tapasya in the larger interest of the society. The call on us is to undertake this tapasya, put in the desired luminous effort for that to happen.

Even if we continue to harp upon the statement that Sri Aurobindo’s opinion would have changed with time, it does not still mean that he would have revised his stand about the removal of Partition that, by whatever means it be, it must go. That is the basic perspective. There are the fundamentals, and there is also the aspect that the fundamentals should not be dragged into the maze of operational perspectives.

In terms of the specifics, it is totally beyond us to maintain that Sri Aurobindo would have changed his “opinion” in any particular situation. It is too presumptuous on our part. In fact, the question is: does he really hold opinions? His actions are in the play of the universal forces and what he would have done can be understood only in the knowledge of the workings of these universal forces, in their dynamics. As we do not have access to these workings, as long as we do not comprehend the nature of the universal forces, and their dynamics, the best we can do is to go by our bests, bests discerned by our deepest and sincere-most perceptions. These perceptions will of course change from individual to individual and imposing one perception on another will amount to fanaticism. If there is religious fanaticism, there is also the rationalist fanaticism; the conflict between Reason and Faith is deep-rooted and is a fact of our present state of consciousness, our state of awareness. Actually, there are different types and grades of fanaticism, of every kind, small and too human as we are. But the Aurobindonian outlook of things is based on intuition and perception of the spiritual fundamentals. To equate therefore the Nazi spirit of the Inconscient spirituality to the Superconscient spirituality is to commit error of enormous magnitude, a capital error, inviting nothing but disaster, nothing but falsehood, an unpardonable error.

But here comes the smart commentator again with his amusing logic: “Well if you choose to deify Sri Aurobindo the above perspective would logically follow. I personally do not and yes I think both he and Mother as human beings (however exalted they were) both reasoned and formed opinions which were subject to change depending on the passing of local and world events.” This is the outcome of deifying Rationalism, but Rationalism has achieved precious very little. Again, both “reasoned and formed opinions” is his reading of what was seen and done, done always, yogically. But let us be concerned with the larger issues of national and societal organization.

The Pakistan Imbroglio

Let us come back to the “Pakistan imbroglio”. Let us quickly read again Sri Aurobindo’s Independence Day Message: “India today is free but she has not achieved unity… It is to be hoped that this settled fact [political division] will not be accepted as settled for ever… This must not be; the partition must go. Let us hope that that may come about naturally, by an increasing recognition of the necessity not only of peace and concord but of common action, by the practice of common action and the creation of means for that purpose… But by whatever means, in whatever way, the division must go; unity must and will be achieved…”

This statement of Sri Aurobindo is in the public domain; in fact the message was broadcast on the Radio. It is a pity that no political leader of the country with the weight of his personality had, at that time, approached Sri Aurobindo asking for guidance to resolve the “imbroglio”, seeking his greater clarification about “by whatever means, in whatever way, the division must go.” That was our stupidity.

But, at present, the simple question is just the following: Should we think that, after sixty years, Sri Aurobindo would have revised his stand vis-à-vis the Partition and accepted it today as a “settled fact”? The rest is immaterial, inconsequential. If we have understood and grasped any one of his spiritual principles, the answer is immediate: he would have never accepted it as a settled fact. That does not mean that we rush with a nuclear army and destroy what was created by fraud-falsehood-force. That will be foolhardy. The question is of operation, the working out of the details based on ground realities; they have to be seen in the pragmatics of things. Now that we have allowed the situation to become a terrible mess, the remedy lies greatly is silent national and subcontinental awareness of the values of life and their promotion. This is a long process and, hopefully, after paying the heavy price, things will turn out to be fair and acceptable in the growing spirit of the nation.

The haunting question to be answered is: was Partition really a way out to resolve the thousand difficulties that had afflicted us, that afflict us even today? Last sixty years have amply shown that it did not remove those ill-rooted difficulties; instead they got multiplied, multiplied to the frightening scale of nuclear holocaust. This needs to be seen in more details which we shall do in the course of this running series of articles.