Page 255 - Complete Works of Dr. KCV Volume 1

We know of instances in mystical experience and history of this type of direct initiation by Masters who were endowed with this power of transmission. In our own times this was said to have been utilized by ` and Sri Rama-krishna. Sri Aurobindo had always held that Divine grace must descend into one, in order that the individual may grow in the light of that grace. There have been some cases where this seems to have taken place. But there is also a large difference between one kind of force and another. This leads us to inspect the results of each case of initiation. What is the kind of consciousness or level of being introduced by the descent of grace, or influx or transmission? If it is merely leading up to a change or conversion that leads to a break away from social and other ties and grants renunciation (vairagya) of all worldly hopes and ends and goals, it is one type. If it leads to clinging to the Object which had made this renunciation of all other things, except itself, possible, it is a more positive awareness of a sense of values and discrimination. But if it is a quickening of the process of self-awareness and evolution, and a widening of the frontiers of understanding, it is a third way. If it leads to the abolition of all flickering of thought - of all thoughts - and a settled experience of peace and calm which are beyond the limits of our understanding and capacity, it is a deeper level of awareness. What we seek is this Ultimate Peace by itself without waiting on, or instrumented by, renunciation, intellectual discrimination, or sense of quickened activity and intelligence and a sense of push towards the goal of humanity or man. Sri Aurobindo states that the descent of cit s'akti is the sine quo non of evolution, and the Divine Mother will descend and transform the individual, once the individual surrenders integrally to the Divine Mother or Master.
Samadhi conditions, or trance states, are also said to be bestowed on worthy disciples by certain yogis, and in fact trance is considered to be absolutely necessary on the path of Kundalini-yoga. Sometimes trance conditions are sought as if they are ends in themselves, and men use drugs, emotional movements, constant repetitions of names, dramatizations, dances and rites in order to get at that oblivious condition. These are encouraged by certain schools of devotion, but the strain that they put on the human organism is great and turns out to be injurious to the system. Austerity, penance, fasting, and other privations do produce certain conditions which help visions and dreams, but these are mistaken for realities. Indeed it was the fear of these