The Luminous Quest

Krishnamurti, in a discussion with physicist David Bohm, confided that it was not he who meditated, but the universe itself within him. He then spoke of the idea that the universe itself was in meditation! “Learning” would then be the ability to allow the universe to penetrate into our consciousness, so that it directly reveals the truths that are impenetrable to thought. The junction between the individual and the universe would be realized in a total state of vulnerability or surrender, culminating in an unconditional openness, like a window where they can meet without hiatus, to provoke a prodigious creative alchemy.

Life expresses itself through us for the mere joy of expression. To Be is our ultimate gift. Our human nature, our physical, vital-emotional and mental vehicles are not sufficiently developed to express fully or adequately the richness of life. To unfold our potential is thus our legitimate quest. We are born in ignorance, and begin our quest not-knowing, through experience our potential unfolds and as a result our consciousness widens and deepens until finally our eyes open to the Infinite. On this path of Being and Nature, one truth hides another, revolutionizing our perception at every step. As Krishnamurti pertinently tells us, “Nature hides Being.” Being holds all the eternal truths in its core, and it is Nature’s role to unfold them gradually within the individual so that in turn he or she can realize them. Nature prepares the ground, she gives us the overall script, but it is our true purpose in life to creatively fill in the pages. In a few words, the sacred quest is the joy of discovering the ever-unfolding infinite into new forms of being and expressions.

We may decide to reject Nature and its unfoldings (as in Buddhism) to withdraw into the timeless Being, but this withdrawal into Being, which no longer participates in the modes of Nature, leaves a part of ourselves in a Nirvanic slumber! Our awakening eventually declines into mere passivity, the dyamnics of learning or exploring cease as we merge into the undifferentiated unity. It is a state of ultimate peace in Oneness without “someone” to experience it. However, if we do not eliminate Nature, which is manifestation and creation, our search continues its dynamic course within Her guidance, so much so that the individual undergoes successive transformations. Animal-man (essentially dominated by instinct, desire, impulse, greed, the pursuit of pleasure, envy, craving, jealousy, anger) does not perceive the world as a man-animal, who, while part of himself is still under the sway of selfish desires, has nonetheless reason, intelligence and deliberate thought which predominate. Our perception is limited by a matter of proportion. The pure man, liberated from his animality as well as his reasoning mind, is guided by intuition and love, aspiring to a new vision, a new world, to a spiritual life. A new quest takes place in the joy of exploration, which becomes sacred when it senses the Divine presence in the play of manifestation.

God, Nature, and the Individual are three aspects of the Divine, the same reality that conceives the world and ourself. An enigma in which both the individual and the world reflect each other as in a mirror: the world is none other than a reflection of what we are within. You change a thought and the world is changed!

“There are few days in summer when you can gather the hay, prepare your house, and put everything in order to welcome your guest, for you will discover that the Beloved is actually yourself—noble, glorified, made perfect.” J. Krishnamurti

It is extraordinary that this quest, which began outwardly, ends in the discovery of the Divine within. But it is a nobler, glorified, and perfected self, which requires a long preparation and purification of our nature. The search, which was at first an outer observation of the world, turned towards a self-analysis to attain self-knowledge, but both prove to be limited, because fundamentally, this dual knowledge always keeps us sitting on the surface of our being or at most in a superficial depth. Integral self-knowledge does not separate the knowledge of one’s own existence from the universal life and its transcendent origin. The inner quest which plunges far deeper than our surface self, takes a new form: the participation of our being in the transformation of our entire nature.

The quest takes on another dimension; it now unfolds on the wheel of Creative Transformation. In order to commune with and receive the divine reality, our whole nature, physical, vital and mental must be purified, then transformed. Without this prior transformation, the wholeness of life cannot transpire within any of these vehicles or centres of being. The twisted path of the ego becomes the luminous path of the sacred quest.

The key to this transformation is “creative discontentment” advocated by Krishnamurti. Our quest, in order not to stagnate, must not end in a satisfactory conclusion or just be limited to a spiritual experience, no matter how final it seems. Dying to what we know, to our ideas and accomplishments, does not imply the end of the quest, but rather it is intensified and undergoes, through non-attachment, a regeneration, a renewal that allows creation to inspire and unfold within us. Stopping at our achievements is to cut short the vital momentum of universal creative movement and lose both inspiration and aspiration. The universe is in Becoming, as is all that it comprises. We resist this becoming because of the inertia within, we fear change and seek comfort and stability in a belief system. This is why the Buddhist state of Nirvana is so appealing to many spiritual seekers. Yet, the end of craving (Nir-vanas: extinction of desire) is merely the beginning of a true and authentic quest, ¾ the positive phase of the realization of our being, within the infinite realm of the Real. Liberation from the darkness of the ego is the promise of the sunlit path where our transformed being walks blissfully in the immeasurable infinite reality.

“To seek or not to seek?” The question could be posed differently: “Who seeks?” God, Nature, or the individual? God is the timeless Absolute and therefore has no need to seek, for He is complete in His indivisible and infinite Being. But between the Divine and its Manifestation lies the enigma of creation. The Divine is the source of Nature and the Individual, on the other hand, is not complete: he or she is the expression of a Becoming within the conditions of time and space. In this sense, the universal and the individual seek each other mutually to complete each other. In fact, more or less unknowingly, they seek the Being hidden within the temporality of the forms that Nature has created.

Nature elaborates universal life, the wholeness of life, and the Individual is its scout. It actualizes cosmic energies, the raw material, and the individual gives them concrete form. The universal is found within the individual when he or she becomes transparent and realizes his or her potential. It is a true dynamic relationship between the individual and the universal, where both form and transform each other in the light of the hidden truths springing forth from their divine source. Both seek each other mutually and need each other’s complicity to be fulfilled. The world is the reflection of the individual, and it is our incorruptibility, our perfected self, which brings beauty, order and harmony.

“There is completeness, fullness, only when the mind and heart are in a constant movement of wholeness, of quest.” J. Krishnamurti

The universe unfolds itself within the individual and the goal of the individual life is to realize the potential that lies within. The universe is an organic whole that breathes through every pore of our liberated individuality. The mystery of being is revealed in the movement of its blossoming. It is by living that we manifest life, by loving that we discover love. The wholeness of life is a dynamic, ever-regenerating process. Nature has given us a heart, a mind, and senses so that we may contact universal life in thousands of different ways with joy, love, and intelligence. Understanding the laws of manifestation and living harmoniously with all that exists constitutes the completeness of being. The luminous quest is to discover the riches that are hidden deep within the Infinite Being.

“To seek” is therefore not only our duty to fulfil our potential, but, above all, to realize the divine truths in order to transform the Earth itself. A divine Earth where love, harmony, and pure intelligence would reign is what Sri Aurobindo envisions through the transformation of the mental being into a spiritual being, perfected by the advent of the supramental being. This divine Becoming is the sacred quest of Being within Nature. Once our spiritual conquest is completed and the ego dissolved, the divinization of Matter is the final challenge that Being within Nature has given us: a spiritual life in an illuminated Matter… It seems that God seeks Himself through us, which explains this endless search that we have undertaken since the dawn of time.

“The ascent toward the Divine Life is the human journey, the Work of works, the acceptable sacrifice. It is the only true task of man in the world, and the justification of his existence; (…).” Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine.

“God, having become completely Nature, Nature seeks to progressively become God.” Sri Aurobindo

“Nature hides Being”: it is up to us, to every single individual, to be freed from the ego, so that Nature can release her potential, reveal Being, the hidden God, and unfold creation…