The Unsymbolic Inhabitants Of The Antipodes Of The mind Exist On Their Own behalf.
Intimations of the Divine: Luminous Visions from Huxley to the Upanishads.
"The unsymbolic inhabitants of the antipodes of the mind exist on their own behalf, and like the given facts of the external world are coloured. Indeed, they are much more intensely coloured than the external data." So Aldous Huxley describes in his book "The Doors of Perception" the visions of landscapes and objects with vivid and splendid colours that he experienced under the effect of mescaline.
These hallucinations belong for Huxley to a separate dimension that he calls "the antipodes of the mind", unexplored realms where perception acquires an intensity and purity impossible in waking life. As Huxley notes, "their colour shines with a splendour that seems preternatural to us, because it is in fact completely natural, completely natural in the sense of being completely unsophisticated by language".
Huxley's descriptions immediately evoke the representations of supreme reality present in Vedantic mysticism. Vedantic texts like the Upanishads use images of dazzling light, precious stones, multicoloured flowers and luminous trees to evoke the beauty of Brahman, the universal ground.
But this is not an exclusive feature of Vedanta. In all the religious and spiritual traditions of the world, we find depictions of paradisiacal worlds made of dazzling lights, pristine landscapes, precious trees and multicoloured flowers. In the Jewish-Christian tradition, the prophets describe visions of God's throne as surrounded by flashes and crystalline reflections. In Islamic mysticism, the face of the Beloved appears as a blinding brilliance.
Even in the Upanishads, the sacred texts of Hinduism, Brahman is described as "more radiant than the sun and moon." In Mahayana Buddhism, Amitabha's Pure Land is an enchanted realm of lakes, lotus flowers and jewel trees. In the mythological geography of Hinduism, there is Uttarakuru, a kind of earthly paradise located in the Himalayan mountains.
The Vedantic perspective offers a profound interpretive key. According to Vedanta, the true nature of the human being (Atman) is identical to Brahman, the Absolute that transcends and includes the entire universe. As the Chandogya Upanishad states: "As the entire ocean is the dwelling place of water, so this whole universe is the dwelling place of Brahman." Normally obscured by metaphysical ignorance (avidya), this awareness emerges in flashes of reminiscences that echo a divine Kingdom.
Huxley, from a different angle, comes to similar reflections. He believes that the visions induced by psychedelic substances evoke in the unconscious the memory of what he calls "the antipodes of the mind," where perception becomes more intense. As Huxley writes, "Shining objects can remind our unconscious of what it enjoys in the antipodes of the mind, and these dark hints of life in the Other World are so fascinating that we pay less attention to this world and so become able to consciously experience something of what unconsciously is always with us".
In other words, the beauty of these visions actually speaks to us of deep archetypes present in the human soul, which recall our belonging to a spiritual dwelling veiled by ignorance but never completely forgotten.
Both psychedelic drugs and meditative practices can temporarily lift a corner of the veil. But true enlightenment requires sadhana, that is, constant spiritual effort and discipline according to the teachings of Vedanta.
As Huxley argues, in art too we can find works that have the power to evoke the vision thanks to the use of precious materials, the intensity of colour or the representation of scenes that transport the mind "out of everyday places".
Ultimately, Huxley memorably reminds us of the innate human thirst for beauty and Mystery. All religious traditions aim, in different languages, to give expression to the ineffable splendour of the ultimate Reality. And the human soul always carries within it the longing for that original Light from which it comes.
We conclude with the wonderful words taken from "Savitri" by Sri Aurobindo:
"Such is Her secret, impossible enterprise:
To take the boundless in the net of birth,
To pour the Spirit into the physical mould,
To lend speech and thought to the Ineffable."
This phrase is taken from Canto IV of Book I of Savitri, entitled “The Secret of Knowledge”. In this canto, the poet describes the role and mission of the Mother Goddess, the creative power of the Eternal, who manifests herself in the world as Savitri. The phrase expresses the paradox and mystery of her divine work, which consists of transforming matter into spirit, the finite into infinite, and time into eternity.
Her secret, impossible enterprise: refers to the fact that the Mother Goddess has agreed to incarnate herself in the material world, where ignorance, darkness and death reign, to bring the light, love and life of the Eternal. This enterprise is secret because it is hidden from the eyes of men and gods, who do not understand its meaning and purpose. It is impossible because it seems to contradict the laws of nature and destiny, which seem to oppose the divine plan.
To take the boundless in the net of birth: means that the Mother Goddess has assumed a human body, limited and mortal, while she herself is the essence of the infinite and the immortal. The net of birth is the set of constraints and conditions that characterize earthly existence, such as birth, growth, decline and death.
To pour the Spirit into the physical mould: means that the Mother Goddess has infused her body and that of all living beings with the spirit of the Eternal, his supreme consciousness and his infinite beatitude. The physical form is the densest and most opaque manifestation of reality, the one that seems furthest and most different from the spirit.
To lend speech and thought to the Ineffable: means that the Mother Goddess has communicated with men and gods using human language and rational thought, while she is beyond any word and any thought. The Ineffable is that which cannot be expressed or understood by ordinary means of mind and language.
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