“See the truth and receive it!”
The Gospel of Philip says: “As long as the root of wickedness is hidden, it is strong. But when it is recognised, it is dissolved. When it is revealed it perishes. […] The axe […] will not merely cut – what is cut sprouts again […] The root of evil […] will be plucked out if we recognize it. But if we are ignorant of it, it takes root in us and produces its fruit in our heart.” [1]
For the promised unfolding of consciousness within us, we need – like Jesus, the Christ – an ascending and descending (“Descended into the kingdom of death, risen on the third day …”). This is the central Christian mystery of salvation. Jesus’ resurrection (anastasis) must be preceded by Jesus’ descent (katabasis) into the kingdom of death. However, we first need an intimate connection to the world of light, the inhalation of pure ethers of light. Charged with this light force, we then can descend to the deepest depths, “submerge”, “go to the bottom”.
In this spotlight of spiritual radiance, we are shown a part of the “junk” in our “cellar”. Not all at once. That would completely confuse us, we could never bear it. Only a small part is revealed so that we can process it based on our previous light experiences.
Processing means accepting what is. Feeling remorse for what has happened and what we have recorded in the subconscious, shows itself as an expression of the “original wound”. To a certain extent, we are facing our dark double, our adversary, our shadow. However, this shadow can transform itself through the simple act of observing it. Without wanting to make it disappear, it can transform itself into an enormous light potential, a potential of wisdom.
In a Rosicrucian ritual it says: “See the truth and accept it! Truth overcomes. Through truth the paths of the gods open. Through truth the Comforter comes to us. Through truth, wisdom sinks into us.”
After each descent into the depths of the subconscious, we rise again, strengthened by the Spirit-Light. This new strength and insight will then again lead us to the “lower pole”, to further and deeper layers of the “primordial wound”, the primordial separation from the Light. With heightened consciousness, these are no longer only the individual wounds, but also the collective patterns, the collective shadows, the millions of old wounds of the vulnerable and pain-filled earth.
The secret of the root, the primordial base
Satprem impressively describes the essential secret of the Indian wisdom teacher Sri Aurobindo: The closer you get to the summit, the more you touch the ground. Consciousness expands in both directions.
“The demarcation line of the superconscious gives way upwards and that of the subconscious gives way back downwards. Everything is illuminated and expanded, but equally everything focuses and concentrates on a sharp and dark point that becomes increasingly critical and urgent, as if one had been circling the same problem for years and years – over one’s whole life – without ever really touching it. And suddenly there it is, trapped at the bottom of the pit, writhing under the light – all the evil in the world in one point!
The hour of mystery approaches […] Indeed, it is a golden law, an unfathomable intentionality, that draws us both up and down, into the deepest grounds of the subconscious and unconscious to the leaping point, the Gordian knot of life and death, shadow and light, where mystery awaits us.” [2]
Also, Mira Alfassa (the “Mother”), companion of Sri Aurobindo, reports on her exploration of this “darkest point”:
“At the craggiest bottom of the subconscious, where it is most rigid, narrow and oppressive, I trod upon an almighty spring which flung me out at a stroke into an immensity without form or boundary, where the seeds of a new world vibrate.” [3]
Satprem sums up the mystery of life in the following words:
“The shadow and the light, the good and the evil prepare the way for a divine birth in matter: The day and the night both nurse the divine child.”
Here lies the key to transformation. Spirit-power flows – through us – into the deepest depths of matter. The Spirit brings about – through us – consciousness in matter. By allowing the birth of the divine child to happen, we – as human beings – are enabled to live and realise a dream. We then become the “evergreen” world ash tree and – standing upright in the middle of the cosmos – can work in the world, in the middle of matter, in a wholesome and beneficial way, and give protection and security to all creatures around us.
[1] The Gospel of Philip, par. 83, in: The Nag Hammadi Library in English, Leiden 1977
[2] Satprem, Sri Aurobindo or: The Adventure of Consciousness, Gladenbach 1991
[3] Taken from: Satprem op. cit.
