27 09 2004 The Aim of Life

(Text of the Audio-Video presentation)

Throughout the history of awakened thought, there has been a persistent questioning as to what is the aim of human life. We all hope to discover the answers to the all-important questions: What am I meant to do? What role do I have to play in the vast and mysterious universe? What is the best and highest goal that I should aim to realize? Free from dogmas and fixed beliefs, an intellectual enquiry into the ultimate search for the aim of life must be carried out in the spirit of sincere exploration… unfettered by narrow or exclusive assumptions. Answers have been derived from morality, religion or spiritual experiences and are accessible to our rational understanding. The inquiring mind needs to reflect on these answers and arrive at its own conclusions. This is a journey of free exploration into theme of the aim of life… A journey that will take us through many important texts, in the spirit of collecting, at random, some flowers from a beautiful garden. In the course of history, there have emerged four main theories of the aim of life, in accordance with four different conceptions of the truth of existence.

(Super: The Supra Cosmic View)

In the Supra Cosmic View the supreme Reality is alone entirely real and human existence has no real meaning. The world is an illusion from which we have to awaken. The recommended path is that of renunciation and rejection of physical life and matter.

(Super: The Cosmic Terrestrial View)

The Cosmic Terrestrial View is the exact opposite. It considers cosmic and physical existence as the only reality. Earth is the temporary field; but there is no other permanent field. Humanity and its welfare and progress is the largest field and man is the highest possible form of existence.

(Super: The Supra Terrestrial View)

The Supra Terrestrial View believes in the immortality of the human spirit in which earth is the place of trial, from which man has to painfully disentangle himself so that he may gain immortal life elsewhere. The emphasis is on the development of the ethical and spiritual being as a means of ascending to heaven or supra terrestrial planes.

(Super: The Integral View)

The Integral View is that there is the Divine Reality which manifests itself as the universe in a system of planes or worlds. Earth life is the scene of the evolutionary unfolding of the Divine Reality. There is an all-seeing purpose in the terrestrial creation. A divine plan is working itself out through contradictions and perplexities. All that is intermediate between Spirit and Matter has also to be perfected and brought into unity in complete integration. To discover the Divine Reality and to work for its full manifestation in physical life is the Integral Aim of Life. All life must be transformed by the highest divine light and power.

(Super: The Journey begins…)

10,000 B. C.–5,000 B. C.: ISHA UPANISHAD–the SEARCH for SUPREME UNITY

During the age of the Upanishads in India, robust seekers perfected a discovery, which in its importance to the future of human knowledge dwarfs the thought of Newton and Galileo. They discovered, down to its ultimate process, the method of yoga. They realised the existence of a supreme unity and immutable stability that they described as It – (Tat) Sometimes they described it negatively, “Not this, not this” – (Neti, Neti) They also realised that reality in itself is consciousness. Perhaps the most important realisation they claimed is that there is present in each individual the same reality that is identically present in the universe. This realisation is enshrined in 3 great declarations of the Upanishads: “I am He” “Thou art That” “All this is the Brahman; this Self is the Brahman” The Upanishads contain the highest discoveries of the Vedas. Of the more than 200 Upanishads, the Isha Upanishad has a special place. It is one of the shortest Upanishads, but its 18 verses contain the quintessence of the entire quest expressed in all the Upanishads. The aim of life proposed by the Isha Upanishad is an integral aim. Reality is at once static and dynamic. It is beyond both motionlessness and movement. Having realised this, one achieves the highest state of knowledge in which one is still enabled to do works in this world. The Upanishadic seers maintained that the senses do not give us true knowledge. Knowledge of multiplicity gained by sense experience is Ignorance. While reason can grasp the essential truth of reality, it cannot give a concrete experience of that truth. They developed a method of arriving at knowledge which can be verified through experience. Only that which is known by identity and Oneness is Knowledge. The Isha Upanishad considers true synthesis of knowledge to be that which combines the knowledge of One and the Many. To arrive at this knowledge is the right aim of life.

563 B. C. to 483 B. C.: BUDDHA - the SEARCH for UTTER TRANSCENDENCE

The Upanishads describe Reality as Being (Sat). But they also speak of Non-being (Asat), as the Ultimate from which Being appeared. Non-Being permits Being as inactivity permits activity. Buddha rejected the authority of the Upanishads but maintained Nihil or Zero as final and ultimate. The possibility of having an entirely motionless personality and a void calm within, while outwardly manifesting the eternal verities–Love, Truth and Righteousness–was perhaps the real gist of the Buddha’s message. He showed that a perfect man could combine in himself both inactivity and activity and that the absolute freedom of Nirvana could be reached without losing hold on existence and the universe. The awareness of suffering and death in this world is what sent the young Siddhartha on his quest. What, he asked, is the cause of suffering? He found it to be desire. In order to eliminate desire from our consciousness, he proposed an eight-fold path through which one could be liberated into a state free from all affliction… a state of unshakeable and perfectly unassailable peace. Having reached this state, is there any aim of life to be further pursued? The life of the Buddha shows clearly that the state of Nirvana and the state of activity need not be opposed to each other. Action does not necessarily have its origin in desire. True action proceeds from Silence or inactivity through compassion. At the deepest, or highest, state of Silence, we find the Buddhahood. Thus was it possible for the Buddha to attain the state of Nirvana and yet act in the world, impersonal in his inner consciousness, in his action, the most powerful personality we know of, as having lived and produced results on earth.

469 B. C. to 399 B. C.: SOCRATES–the SEARCH for FULL PERFECTION

Socrates taught that the great problem of any human being lies in the question of how to live his life. Although humankind’s common aim is a “good life”, there is no common agreement on what is a good life or how to attain it. Socrates’ answer to this question lies in the Greek term arête which means the full perfection of man’s innate qualities. Socrates’ concept of excellent and perfect human life is an integral one, encompassing development of physical, vital and intellectual potentialities. He speaks of himself as a seeker of Truth or as a lover of wisdom – a philosopher. His simple lifestyle originated in his attitude of complete indifference to physical enjoyment and his reluctance to use his talent for material gains. Socrates and his followers, Plato and Aristotle, established a rational and intellectual approach towards life… an approach that extensively influenced the course of Western history. Socrates regarded the right use of the intellect as a great help to enlighten man in his search for the highest good in life. Socrates always exposed those, who, without knowledge, claimed to have found the truth. In his eyes, ignorance disguised as knowledge is mere arrogance and the epitome of falsehood. Even when it became evident that he would be sentenced to death for his criticism, he did not surrender to his accusers. He said that an apology might have saved his life, but would have destroyed his soul, for it would have meant surrendering wisdom to ignorance. Socrates’ calm acceptance of the verdict increased his fame as a wise man and he came to be regarded as the perfect example of a truly philosophical life. He personifies a turning point in Western history, where mystical contemplation began to give way to logical reasoning. Socrates’ concept of virtue as knowledge, has become a distinctive trait of the Western ideal of man.

356 B. C. to 323 B. C.: ALEXANDER–the SEARCH for RELENTLESS ADVENTURE

Who really was the man known as Alexander the Great? In only 13 years, he earned enough fame to fuel legends down through the ages… 13 years of unrelenting drive, of amazing deeds! Here was a young man, who at the age of just 20 years, was able to inspire large troops of men to follow him on a 2,800 mile journey from Macedonia into Asia in a whirlwind of conquests that looked like a race against time. Perhaps he knew that fate would not grant him years enough to conquer the whole world, as he could have attempted. Alexander is a striking example of how life-force can make a man seek acquisition, possession, enjoyment, relationships, battle and conquest. It is not easy for a human being driven by extraordinary executive power and force of accomplishment, to become intellectualised. Alexander was primarily interested in adventure and had limitless ambition It seems his aim of life was determined by the pressure of his ambitions rather than by any rational systems of thought or any ethical discipline. Besieged cities would often open their gates to him, confident in his reputation for generosity. Yet, he could suddenly turn ferocious and resort to excessive cruelty. He was driven by the vision of a united eastern Mediterranean world and, above all, of a fertile cross-breeding of many cultures under the umbrella of Greek civilization. A study of Alexander the Great is instructive in several ways. Firstly it shows what life-force can achieve under favourable circumstances, yet what failures attend unbridled adventure. Secondly, it shows that human personality has far richer potential than is normally suspected. Thirdly, it helps us understand ourselves better, for if we introspect, we may discover within us, the same life-force as Alexander’s. Somewhere within our being, we have basic instincts and impulses, a universe of pressing desires, deep-seated attractions and repulsions, longings and ambitions. Life-force may be exhilarating, but to attain superior human realization, it needs to be transformed and put in its proper place, along with the other energies that meet in man.

4 B. C. to 30 A. D.: JESUS CHRIST–the SEARCH for the KINGDOM of God

Jesus has been described as the “Son of God”. The coming of the Christ was considered the fulfilment of God’s promise to humankind, as foretold by the Prophets of the Old Testament. It is also viewed as the beginning of a new era in the relation between God and man. Jesus’ public life was very short – a mere 3 years. So it is all the more amazing that he was able to set in motion what represents one of the major turns in human history. He travelled through Palestine with his 12 apostles and delivered his message, often through parables. It is indeed moving to read about Jesus as described in the Gospels. What tenderness and sweetness he lavished on his fellow human beings, calling forth the best in them, pleading with them to understand the marvel of God’s love and to respond to it. Amongst the many inspiring sermons that Christ gave, the Sermon on the Mount is perhaps the most remarkable. Here we can find the essential themes of the Christian message, such as the equality of all men before God and the essential unity or brotherhood of humankind. According to Jesus, the aim of life is to discover the Kingdom of God within oneself, and thus become worthy of being accepted into the kingdom of heaven after this life. What makes the Sermon on the Mount such an inspiring part of the religious literature of all time, is the underlying message, that God is not a distant and indifferent ruler, but rather, that He is truly like a father, who cares for everyone and everything, that his love is all-encompassing and can be experienced in the intimacy of every human heart. Suddenly, God becomes much closer to man. Such a message goes beyond the boundaries of any creed or religion; it is a universal message. The Sermon on the Mount provides Christ’s followers with a law of discipline for growing out of the lower into the higher life. It sowed the seeds of love, sweetness and humanity. Its influence can be seen in the ideals of modern society – humanitarianism and aspirations of liberty, equality and fraternity.

570 A. D. to 632 A. D.: PROPHET MUHAMMAD–SUBMISSION to the WILL of God

The Koran is a transcript of the messages revealed to the Prophet Muhammad by the Angel Gabriel. These revelations were supernaturally received, in states of trance, intermittently over a considerable number of years. The quintessence of Muhammad’s teaching, is that there is one God, who transcends the world, and that the aim of life is to commit oneself to Him and to submit to His will. The oneness and transcendence of God is stated again and again throughout the Koran. According to the Koran, God is the creator of time and space, far beyond the grasp of the minds of men. He is supreme overall–nowhere and yet, everywhere. It is a far, far cry from the gods of pagan Arabia, who were carved in stone and worshipped, until the voice of the Prophet swept across the land. The life of the devout Muslim is entirely God-cantered. Muhammad has taught him, that at every instance of his life, he should be aware that he has his being in God; that the will of God moves him, that he comes from God and to God he will return. The belief in a final Day of Judgment is inextricably linked with the belief in a life after death, in which the individual being is punished or rewarded for the life he has led. According to the Koran, the life led in accordance with the will of the Supreme is rewarded by Heaven.

End of 7th and beginning of 8th Century A. D.: SHANKARA–The SEARCH for BRAHMAN or REALITY

“Brahman alone is real, the universe is unreal; The individual soul is none other than Brahman.” This is the call of the centuries that has held the soul of India in its spell. The innate power of this experience, the stamp of utter finality and the overwhelming conviction of argument and analysis with which it has been presented, have not only dominated the mind of India for over a thousand years, but have moulded an important aspect of the temperament of the race. The individual who embodied it and gave it such powerful expression, was the deeply revered and remarkable Sri Shankaracharya, who combined in himself, the soul of an ardent spiritual seeker with a powerful and keen intellect, capable of the most subtle and incisive reasoning. The presence of these 2 elements is strongly reflected in his presentation of this experience in the form of a philosophy and of a practice or way of life. Shankara had a short life span of barely 32 years; even as a young boy, he studied the Vedas and Upanishads with avidity and delight. An ascetic from birth, Shankara had a passion for Truth – a sole passion, in which all others were drowned. He was a giant of a man, both in learning and in the pursuit of Truth. He roamed across the country on foot to rejuvenate spiritual seeking and right intellectual understanding. At that time, Buddhism was still powerful and Jainism was at its zenith. Vedic rites were falling into disrepute and sterile ritualism. The way of devotion to God, connected with Puranic Hinduism, was becoming popular in the form of festivals and temple worship. Shankara took the people back to the mystic and experiential truth of the Upanishads: Brahman is real: the world is a lie.

1452 to 1519 A. D.: LEONARDO DA VINCI–The SEARCH for EXCELLENCE

Leonardo da Vinci, known as the true Renaissance Man, or Universal Man succeeded in overcoming the age-old distinction between the contemplative and active life, between science and craft, through a unique synthesis of scientific investigation and artistic expression. He has been called the first modern engineer for his works in which he combined physical experimentation, mathematics and reason. He anticipated and made elaborate, detailed and accurate drawings of many of the 20th century’s landmark inventions. He broke entirely from the mediaeval tradition and started a quantitative and experimental approach to a new science of matter. The Renaissance, or rebirth, marked the resurgence of ancient Greek and Roman culture, the decline of the Middle Ages and laid the foundation for modern times. Leonardo transcended all traditional boundaries between science and art and in the process, raised both fields to new heights. Leonardo’s constant search for precision in cognition and for perfection in expression, often took him beyond the scope of the original task, and he sometimes got lost in experimenting with details and distracted by exploring new possibilities. Sometimes, when his thirst for knowledge was satisfied, he lost interest in his subject and would drop it in favor of new frontiers. There was some conflict in him between his spiritual aspirations and the imperfections of the material world. But when he was able to overcome this seeming contradiction and synthesize his vast talents, the results were so stupendous, they remain timeless inspirations in the search for an integral aim of life. Perhaps Will Durant, the philosopher and historian best summed up the impact of Leonardo’s remarkable life – “Who amongst us commands the variety of knowledge and skills required to judge so multiple a man? Leonardo was the fullest man of the Renaissance, perhaps of all time. Nothing in Renaissance philosophy soared above Leonardo’s conception of natural law. Contemplating on his achievements, we marvel at the distance man has come from his origins and renew our faith in the possibilities of mankind.”

1486 to 1534 A. D.: SRI CHAITANYA–The SEARCH for the ECSTASY of DIVINE LOVE

It is said that love for God comes to people in many ways. Some seek Him passionately and pursue the unseen Beloved. Others may not even think of God but may come upon Him in the midst of the world and be seized by Him for His own. This was the case in the life of a most remarkable figure in mediaeval India - Sri Chaitanya. According to the Indian theory of Avatarhood, incarnation of Divine consciousness in a physical body becomes necessary at times during the evolutionary process. In the case of Sri Chaitanya, spiritual and psychic bhakti was established in his emotional-vital part, thus preparing him to turn towards the Divine. Known as Nimai, he was 22 years old when he went on a pilgrimage to perform the shraddha ceremony of his father in Gaya. He visited a nearby temple to see the sacred footprints of Lord Vishnu. He was so overcome with emotion he fell to his knees in adoration. On his way back, he was blessed with the vision of Krishna. Tears flowed from his eyes and he went completely mad with love for Krishna. He decided to renounce the world and devote his life to Samkirtana - dancing and chanting praises and spreading the message of Divine love.

His influence was so contagious, that his mere presence charged people and they would dance on the streets with unique devotional fervour. Guru Keshav Bharti initiated him with a mantra and named him Sri Krishna Chaitanya –“He who awakens Sri Krishna in the hearts of all…” His contemporaries saw Krishna, the avatar of Divine love in Sri Chaitanya and revered him as God incarnate. He spent years travelling across the country, sowing the seeds of Bhakti - chanting and dancing through holy forests, lost in the bliss of Divine love. It is believed that he eventually disappeared physically and merged with the deity of the temple of Jagannath for no trace of his body was ever found.

1596 to 1651 A. D.: RENE DESCARTES–The SEARCH for TRUTH through REASON

Pursuit of truth is easily acknowledged to be an ideal for every thinking being. Some believe that truth is what our physical senses perceive; others believe that truth is what our reasoning mind conceives as real; still others believe that truth can be known by neither the senses nor the reasoning intellect; according to them, truth is given to us by God’s revelation. Truth by revelation became a preponderant concept in the West during the Middle Ages. With the advent of the Renaissance, ancient Greek knowledge spread once again throughout Europe and a new age of reason began to dawn. There was serious questioning whether something should be accepted as true simply on the basis of faith, because it was a revelation or unquestioned dogma. It was in this psychological climate, that a brilliant star arose in the firmament of thought - Rene Descartes, who crystallised the concept of discovering the truth by means of pure reason. His dominant message was that truth must be pursued as the very aim of intellectual life. What is particularly significant in Descartes is the method of doubt which he came to perfect. It was a responsible method, deeply conceived, and committed to the pursuit of truth right up to its possible end. At the same time, he did not assume that this process of doubting would ever end at all – even to the extent of doubting the existence of God and the human soul. It was only in respect to the statement “I am thinking” that he saw clearly it was impossible to doubt it. The act of doubting revealed its own presupposition; namely, the process of thinking and the thinker. “Cogito, ergo sum - I think, therefore I am.” Most valuable in Descartes, is his incisive spirit of inquiry and boldness in pursuing the truth that enables us to prove the existence of God. He insisted that reason is an inborn light within us. It is with this light that we must pursue the path of discovering the truth.

1863 to 1902 A. D.: SWAMI VIVEKANANDA–The SEARCH for God

Described as “a very lion among men” the man who would eventually come to be known the world over as Swami Vivekananda lived for only 39 years. Named Narendra Nath, he had remarkable intellect and was greatly drawn to science and logic while still in his teens. He was sceptical at that time, yet he had great yearning in his heart to touch something absolutely perfect. His burning quest was to seek the answer to the question: “Have you seen God?” No one gave him a satisfactory answer. One day, some friends took him to see Sri Ramakrishna. Narendra Nath asked the master, “Sir, have you seen God?” The reply was immediate: “Yes, I have seen God. I see him as I see you here, only much more clearly. God can be seen. One can talk to him. If you cry sincerely for God, you can surely see Him.” That answer impressed Narendra. His visits to Sri Ramakrishna were marked by overwhelming inner experiences, but he would accept only those that he felt stood up to testing. He would not believe anything merely through blind devotion. He needed direct vision to allay his doubts. Sri Ramakrishna later admitted he was glad that Narendra was a rebel. “Without intellectual questioning and struggle, no one can arrive at full illumination.” It was only after a series of powerful, undeniable experiences that Narendra accepted Sri Ramakrishna as his master. After a fierce inner struggle to integrate his intellect, his fiery spirit and his inherent spirituality, he crystallised his two-fold mission - the quest for God and service to mankind, into progressive action. In 1893 he attended the first World Parliament of Religions in Chicago. He was 30 years old and an unaccredited delegate among the many religious leaders from numerous faiths from all over the world. Yet, his magnetic presence brought people cheering to their feet as he began his first address: “Brothers and sisters of America…” The New York Herald wrote: “He is undoubtedly the greatest figure in the Parliament of Religions.” During Swami Vivekananda’s lifetime, people across the world sought to harmonize the diverse claims of science and spirituality. His own burning quest to join together knowledge, devotion and action into a more comprehensive vision was indeed unique.

1879 to 1955 A. D.: ALBERT EINSTEIN - The Search for a NEW WORLD VISION

Albert Einstein, perhaps the 20th Century’s most famous scientist, devoted his entire lifetime to exploring the relative relationship between energy, matter, light, space and time. His work joined light to time and time to space, energy to matter, matter to space and space to gravitation. These theories need to be integrated, but after 50 years of intensive work, scientists still do not know how. Einstein opened new doors to the frontiers of knowledge that only a handful of people have walked through. But the effects of his discoveries are part of the world we all live in. He is the man who changed the way we see the world. The universe is no longer seen as a machine, made up of a multitude of objects, but has to be pictured as one mysterious, dynamic space-time continuum whose parts are essentially interrelated and can be understood only as a pattern of a cosmic process. An increasing number of scientists are aware that mystical thought provides a consistent and relevant philosophical background to theories of contemporary science – a conception of the world in which the scientific discoveries of men and women can be in perfect harmony with their spiritual aims. As Einstein himself said, “You will hardly find one among the profounder sort of scientific minds without a religious feeling.” Einstein called his religion “cosmic religion” and spoke with a sense of awe about “the mobility and marvellous order which are revealed in nature and in the world of thought.” He venerated the founders of the major religions, especially Jesus and Buddha. He found elements of cosmic religion in the Psalms and Proverbs of the Bible and particularly in Buddhism. His was a naturalistic theology, in which one searches for God by study of the Universe. He claimed that, “The most beautiful experience one may enjoy is a sense of mystery.”

1889 to 1964 A. D.: JAWAHARLAL NEHRU–The SEARCH for A LIVING PHILOSOPHY

Among the great leaders of India’s rebirth, Jawaharlal Nehru stands out prominently. Nehru’s true vocation lay in politics. He followed Mahatma Gandhi’s call to non-violent agitation against the British Raj. He turned his back on the legal profession, simplified his lifestyle, and gave himself wholly to the movement for independence. He wrote in his autobiography, “I gave up all other associations and contacts, old friends, books, even newspapers except in so far as they dealt with the work in hand.” Nehru was in many ways, the antithesis of Gandhi. He accepted Gandhi’s non-violence, not as a religious principle, but because he regarded non-violence as a useful political weapon and the right policy for India under the prevailing conditions. He deprecated the inordinate value the Mahatma attached to austerity and asceticism and questioned his idealization of poverty. After independence, Nehru took upon himself the stupendous task of awakening in his country, the spirit of progress, which had been stultified by a long and oppressive colonial rule. His vision focused on the future; he sought to create a world of free nations, all equal partners in the march towards progress. He made common cause with all subject peoples seeking independence from their colonial rulers. True to his vision, he refused to take sides in a world divided between two opposing camps and played a leading role in building the movement for non-alignment. Nehru was impatient with all forms of religion, philosophy, metaphysics, mysticism and spirituality that are primarily concerned with the existence of other worlds, beyond this one. He had little sympathy with people who were absorbed with finding answers to the riddle of the universe, as it led them away from the individual and social problems of the day. Nehru’s interest in this world and the cornerstone of his philosophy, was a deep conviction in man’s ability to progress. He declared, “A living philosophy must answer the problems of today.”

1872 to 1970 A. D.: BERTRAND RUSSELL–The SEARCH for FREEDOM of the MIND

As mankind drew nearer the 20th century, we find an atmosphere that called for total freedom of the mind and spirit. The achievements of modern science, that confirmed the validity of the methods of free enquiry and verification through experience, provided the needed leverage for securing a freedom undreamt of, when religion reigned supreme. But when all assumptions are withdrawn, is there any solid ground on which one can pose the question: “What is the aim of life?” One possible answer can be found in Bertrand Russell’s essay, “A Free Man’s Worship” Bertrand Russell is considered one of the most eminent modern mathematicians. He presented a new mathematical model, which became the basis of a new way of thinking and proved that all mathematical axioms can be traced back to logical principles. By showing that logic could be the key of philosophical thought, he demonstrated a close relationship between philosophy and science. Bertrand Russell was puzzled by religious dogmas from a young age. He was not convinced by the reasons given to prove the existence of God. He felt that it was only by liberating himself from the influence of religion could he find possible ways of living with unresolved questions about both life and the world. It is sometimes held that if one discards the belief in moral order of the universe, or in governance of the world by God, one is led to deny the basis for any aim in life, except transient happiness. Bertrand Russell however showed that there was another alternative; it is still possible to take an attitude of worship towards life, very similar to that of the mystic. Even if the world is not rooted in some absolute and omniscient reality, even if the world is not governed by some inexorable moral laws, even then it is possible to develop a noble attitude towards life. His view of life was so refreshing, that despite all the uncertainties, We are led to a new way of responding to life and its activities. One may not agree with the ultimate propositions of Bertrand Russell, but it is undeniable, that the view of life he presents is worth considering. In the union of love, he saw the mystic vision of heaven that saints and poets have imagined. This is what he sought, and at last, found.

THE MOTHER–the SEARCH for an INTEGRAL AIM of LIFE

According to Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, humankind is not at the end of a civilization, but of an evolutionary cycle. Are we going to find the passage to the next species… or will we perish? Man tries to excel. This is the secret of his growth, his progress, his evolution. A stage comes, when he is no longer satisfied with what he is. His field of enquiry widens and his search becomes intense. He questions his faith in things that he has been told and has believed in, and asks what is true and what is untrue. Is truth just an absence of falsehood… or is it an independent, dynamic reality? The Ascent to Truth is a play by the Mother which provides an insight into various aims of life and their limitations. Towards the end of the play, she indicates the secret of an integral aim of life and of the new world. Many people begin a search for the Truth, but few reach their destination. To reach the destination, the spirit of enquiry must continue in spite of alluring temptations on the way. These temptations are not merely of worldly pleasures, but also the highest ideals, all of which need to be experienced and transcended. It is only when one is ready to give oneself entirely to the ultimate truth, is there a possibility of finding it. The Ascent to Truth–the Drama of Life has been depicted as a journey, a process of contemplation directed towards understanding the true aim of life. It underlines theme of complete surrender to the Divine as the key to the meaning and fulfilment of human life on earth. According to the Mother, the aim of life is integral and it consists of knowing the supreme Divine Reality and working for its full manifestation in physical life. The highest achievement is possible only if one aspires constantly and knocks the doors of the highest and even of higher than the highest, if one is prepared to plunge in complete self-sacrifice into the unknown, one can discover the golden light by the power of which a new world can be created, in which the enigma of life becomes revealed and life becomes fulfilled. This is the peak of the ascent of truth and the drama of life promises the attainment of this peak.

(Super): Nothing is prescribed here. All are invited to explore freely, but comprehensively. Join the exploration and you are free to determine what you should do for the highest and the best.