The Journey from Ignorance to Knowledge Through an Attitude of Continuous Learning and Receptivity

We live in the world without fully appreciating or understanding it. This is not something new that we are experiencing, but a statement of what we may call the ‘human condition’. The Rishis of the Rig Veda faced these same issues. In the Hymn of Creation, Mandala X, Sukta 129, Verses 6 and 7 (as translated by Nolini Kanta Gupta) they expressed their yearning for knowledge and their frustration with the seemingly impenetrable nature of the manifestation of which we are part, when they say: “Who knows in truth, Who would tell us here below, From where was it born, Whence this Surging Creation? The Gods stand below this surging out abroad. Who knows then from where this took birth. That from where this creation has sprung, Does that even contain it, or does it not? He who is the overlord in the supreme infinity, Does he even know, or he too knows not.”

We can look upon the earth as contained within a huge ‘Faraday cage’. For those who are not familiar with this concept, a Faraday cage creates a field that protects what is taking place inside from being affected by electromagnetic fields of various sorts that are otherwise bombarding the contents of the cage. The ionosphere is such a field that captures, deflects and diffuses large amounts of electromagnetic energy from reach life on the earth. Certain forces are able to penetrate, and they support the existence of life on the planet. But many others are kept away from us. From our aspect inside this protected environment, we not only are shielded from influence by many cosmic forces, but the vibrational fields we create on the planet are contained, bounced back and thereby circulated within humanity, building the type of oneness of mental activity that Teillard de Chardin termed the ‘noosphere’, the environing thought field within which all thoughts move and are picked up by those who are open and receptive to them, modified and in some cases concentrated and retransmitted to create the mental world as we experience it.

To truly understand the wider purpose of the manifestation, as we look beyond at the solar system, the galaxies, the universes and their vast powers and distances and time-sequences, we need to be able to quiet the vibrational patterns that keep us tied down within this cage of consciousness and shift our awareness to a vibrational pattern that can transcend the limiting factor of the Faraday cage within which we currently reside.

If we understand that there is such a deeper purpose and that the evolution of life on earth is an expression of that deeper purpose, then we also have the opportunity to learn, to grow, to be receptive, to reflect and thereby to prepare ourselves for the deeper realisations and revelations that await us as we develop and mature into the next phase of consciousness that is in process of being manifested on the planet.

At some point we begin to experience the wonder and the complexity and we take the opportunity to widen ourselves, to recognise our ignorance and to become receptive as a child to learn and grow, to ask questions, to undertake what is known in certain fields as ‘the fool’s journey’, the journey that awakens us to the vast field within which we are living without knowledge, without control, without understanding, and to become simple, open and ready to learn.

The Mother observes: “…when one wants to understand the deep laws of life, wants to be ready to receive whatever message is sent by the Divine, if one wants to be able to penetrate the secrets of the Manifestation…. everything, no matter what, the least little circumstance in life, becomes a teacher who can teach you something, teach you how to think and act. Even… the reflections of an ignorant child can help you to understand something you didn’t understand before. Your attitude is so different. It is always an attitude which is awaiting a discovery, an opportunity for progress, a rectification of a wrong movement, a step ahead, and so it is like a magnet that attracts from all around you opportunities to make this progress. The least things can teach you how to progress. As you have the consciousness and will to progress, everything becomes an opportunity, and you project this consciousness and will to progress upon all things.”

“And not only is this useful for you, but it is useful for all those around you with whom you have a contact.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Looking from Within, Chapter 1, Looking at Life and Circumstances, pp. 12-13