CONNECTING THE DOTS, REALIZING THE WHOLE: Looking for What Our  Greatest Teachers and Exemplars  Have in Common   Part 2 ~~~~~~~~   FOR INSTANCE   ~~~~~~~   The Experiential Learnings of  Two Great Seers,  Sri Aurobindo and The Mother,      This is sketchy, but ... mull this over, for a start:             What follows concerns the possible interconnections between Sri Aurobindo / The Mother with what we think of as quite other systems of thought and experience, such as: 1. Christ Jesus' "descent of the Holy Spirit" / "Living Waters that you may never thirst"   2. Dr. John Upledger [D.O.] and his lifelong healing work with [and original discovery] of the CranioSacral system and his journey of immersion into direct, consciousness-to-consciousness converse with living bodies, tissues, cells, body parts, even molecules, and even other species.   3. Rudolf Steiner, whose insights and work in many ways appear to parallel or concur with that of Sri Aurobindo [and The Mother].  Somewhere I read Steiner and Aurobindo were like mutually contemporary and in-tandem forces, one in the West and the other in the East.                In all five cases [including the person who came to be known as The Mother, who was Sri Aurobindo's arch-collaborator], their work and wisdom came straight out of their life experiences with higher consciousness or Spirit.  It seems to me that discovering the interconnections and overlaps of such giants-among-us as these -- and:  in conjunction with our own personal experience and insight with special emphasis on personal experiential -- would contribute toward our learning better how we may meet on the same, ever-larger, more inclusive page together as one evolving Humanity.           Sri Aurobindo and The Mother speak of a "descent of a force" or a consciousness from above in contradistinction to the well-known kundalini force that ascends from the root of the spine.  This is the premise of their teaching, or the beginnings of it, which has to do with this "gentle force"  that begins to descend from above.  Over time it little-by-little continues a process that is unique to the consciousness and experience of each individual, says Aurobindo.  But in essence one first begins to feel it in the head and neck as a kind of "pressure."  In other words there is a recognized, physically felt pattern of progression.           There is a fluid quality to it apparently.  Satprem, an official biographer and long-time disciple of both The Mother and Sri Aurobindo, says,            Gradually this pressure takes on a more definite form, and we actually feel a descending current, a current of force, not like an unpleasant electric current, but rather like a fluid wave.  We then realize that the "pressure" or false headache [previously described in his book] of the beginning was caused simply by our own resistance to the descent of this Force and that the obvious thing to do is not to obstruct the passage by stopping the current in the head, but to allow it to descend into all the strata of our being, from head to toe.  This current is at first rather spasmodic, irregular; a slight conscious effort is necessary to reconnect with it when it vanishes; then it becomes continuous, natural and automatic, giving the very pleasant sensation of a fresh energy, like another kind of breathing more ample than that of our lungs, enveloping us, bathing us, making us lighter, as well as filling us with solidity.  The physical feeling is quite similar to a fast walk in the wind.  We do not realize its real effect (it settles in very gradually, in small doses) until, for one reason or another -- distraction, mistake, or excess -- we have cut ourselves off from the current.  Then we suddenly find ourselves empty, shrunken, as though lack oxygen, with the very disagreeable impression of a physical diminution, like an old apple with its sunshine and juice squeezed out of it.  And we honestly wonder how we were ever able to live without that before.  This marks the first transmutation of our energies.  Instead of turning to the common source, below and around us in universal life, we draw from above.  There the energy is much clearer, much more sustained, without breaks, and above all much more dynamic.  In our daily life, in the midst of our work and in our thousand other occupations, the current of force is at first rather diluted, but as soon as we stop for a moment and concentrate, there is a massive inrush.  Everything comes to a standstill.  We become filled with it.  The very sensation of "current" disappears, as though the whole body from head to foot were charged with a mass of energy at once compact and crystalline (a solid cool block of peace, says Sri Aurobindo); and if our inner vision has begun to open, we find that everything has become bluish.  We are like an aquamarine -- and vast, so vast.  Calm, without a ripple.  And with that indescribable freshness.  Truly, the feeling of bathing in the Source.  This "descending force" in indeed the very Force of the Spirit -- Shakti.  Spiritual force is not just a word.  Ultimately it will no longer be necessary to close our eyes and withdraw from the surface to feel it; it will be there every second of our life, no matter what we are doing, whether we are eating or reading or speaking; we will witness it take on greater and greater intensity as our being becomes accustomed to it.  It is actually an immeasurable mass of energy, limited only by the smallness of our receptivity and capacity.   1.   Compare Sri Aurobindo's discoveries and insights to Christ Jesus' "Holy Spirit."           "Like a fluid wave" brought to mind Jesus comments about "Living Water, that you may never thirst."  Also, the "descent of the Holy Spirit" that comes up many different ways and times in the New Testament seems so gentle and similar.   2.   Also, compare to the work of Dr. John Upledger, who discovered the CranioSacral system -- not until 1971!  One of the Big Ideas that Sri Aurobindo and The Mother speak about is "The Divinity in Matter."  On the back cover of Satprem's book, Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, Satprem refers to a remark by Sri Aurobindo, whose experience took him to the understanding of what he described as "a divine rehabilitation of Matter."           As further explanation of the context, Satprem says,           "We have denied the Divinity in Matter,  to confine it instead in our holy places and now matter is taking its revenge -- we called it crude, and crude it is.  As long as we tolerate this imbalance, there is no hope for the earth.  We will swing endlessly from one pole to the other -- both equally false -- from material enjoyment to spiritual austerity, without ever finding true fulfillment.  We need BOTH the vigor of Matter and the fresh waters of the Spirit . . . Now the time may have come at last to unveil the Mysteries, and to rediscover the complete truth of the two poles within a THIRD POSITION, which is neither that of the materialists nor that of the spiritualists."            See Upledger's Cell Talk, pages 373-376, re:  the fluidic and subtly rhythmic CranioSacral system and consciousness.  Also Dr. Upledger's learning to communicate directly to cell and body parts and tissues, etc. and/or with what he came to call the "Inner Physician."  He has done the most truly amazing things over the course of development of his healing work -- and in the process made some astounding discoveries about the nature of consciousness and physically living systems / entities, right down to molecules [think enzymes, etc. in the body, for example].   3. I'm not the first person to wonder about the parallelisms between the wisdom and experience of Sri Aurobindo (and the Mother [Mirra Alfassa]) and of Rudolf Steiner.  This is not even a beginning, but I hope it will bait [smile] some Steiner and also some Aurobindo scholars / devotees to look into this and share some of their insights!           Both specifically talk about the ending of the Iron Age and the beginning of a "new age" and a new consciousness  [as did P. Teilhard de Chardin and others -- see Such As.. ].  Dr. Steiner spoke of this in terms of the Michaelian Age / the changing of the guard, you could say -- with the Archangel Michael -- "descending" --  as the Latest "Time Spirit" to be in charge of our evolution, a new spiral that Steiner said began in 1899.  Sri Aurobindo's initial awareness of this "descending force" that came about through his special "integral" yogic discipline took place in 1910.     ~~~~~~~~~~    * * *    ~~~~~~~~~~ I apologize this only the barest beginnings!  But I felt it important just to put this out there .. Food4Thot.  Do your own exploring, share what you find with us!   ~~~~~~~~~~    * * *    ~~~~~~~~~~