Number and the Supramental Matrix

The Mother's inscription for Volume 4 (1963) of her
Agenda of the Supramental Action Upon Earth
(Note: The Mother's Symbol contains the POINT at the Center)

In late September I was shown an intriguing comment made by Sri Aurobindo a day after his 63rd birthday in 1935:

'Now I have got the hang of the whole hanged thing ‒ like a very Einstein I have got the mathematical formula of the whole affair (unintelligible as in his case to anybody but myself) and am working it out figure by figure.' ‒ Works Of Sri Aurobindo, CWSA, Letters On Himself And The Ashram, Remarks On The Current State Of The Sadhana, 1931-1947

Few in the Integral Yoga community have demonstrated any interest in this 'mathematical formula' that Sri Aurobindo was working out, which the Mother admitted in 1965, was still yet to be fully worked out.¹ I once brought up the matter of this mathematical formula, and the significance of numbers in regards to the Supramental Action on Earth in an online group of people who considered themselves authorities on matters of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother's yoga (Auroconf), and they proceeded to make fun of Ms. Norelli-Bachelet's use of number, especially the number 9, in her cosmology. It became clear that they abhorred the idea that Ms. Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet had carried the Supramental Realization further than Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, and the idea that there is actually a precise mathematical formula that is in essence a Supramental Law or established Matrix, barring or allowing comprehension of the Supramental Action or Consciousness-Force on the Earth. Such a reaction is understandable, but such ridicule and incredulity doesn't change the actual looming necessity to comprehend how number and math IS essential to the unfolding or expansion of the Supramental Seed. The ridicule emphasizes or underscores the difficulties encountered when new knowledge is introduced to an inflexible MIND SET.

Earlier in September, I had picked up Volume 4 of The Mother's Agenda, and opened to an entry which reminded me of the hypocrisy encountered by those who profess to honor the yoga Sri Aurobindo and the Mother and yet continue to insist, despite all evidence presented, that NUMBER has nothing to do with the Supramental Manifestation. This hypocrisy is the foundation of the whole Matrimandir debacle, wherein the sacred measure (sacred mathematics) of the Mother's Temple vision were cast aside by the builders of the temple in Auroville, and wherein, ever since the 1970s all attempts to illuminate seekers as to the real purpose of the Mother's use of number power in her design have been met with total incomprehension and derision by most in the Integral Yoga community. This incomprehension and derision is compounded by the fact that Ms. Norelli-Bachelet proposes that the 'mathematical formula' Sri Aurobindo was working out, as contained in the 9-6-3 (and hidden One) structure of his symbol ‒ the Lotus, would involve his own rebirth on 'Immortality Day' (26 November) in the year 1963. And so it is extra interesting to me that the 1963 Agenda starts off with the Mother's Hour of God inscription, accompanied by her 12 petaled symbol, with the central point of the circle (the ONE) clearly marked. Most Integral yogis reproduce the Mother's Symbol without the central point, making it, in more ways than one, a POINTLESS CIRCLE.

I have come to understand over the past 12 years of study, that just as the Point is the Seed of the 360° Circle, it is also the Seed of the Supramental Manifestation and Realization. The Point contains ALL, including the most basic building blocks of number which inform the entire matrix of our existence and evolution. The Mother recognized the aliveness and concreteness of number, and both she and Sri Aurobindo recognized the need for a mathematical formula that would help to connect the Point of Being to the dynamic sphere of Becoming. My feeling is the resistance to Ms. Norelli-Bachelet's full disclosure of this very simple mathematical (and cosmological) formula, connecting microcosm to macrocosm (Individual to the Whole) as discussed in her many books, comes from the Mind's tendency towards divergence and complexity. The Mother wrote on 27 Nomember 1965, 'The first effect of the return to the Origin is simplification ...'.

Most people who I know who do not care to take on the study of Ms. Norelli-Bachelet's Supramental Gnosis, consider the connection between mathematics and spiritual realization to be esoteric ... as if this connection is too complicated and far removed from anything that might actually be useful in their lives. My hope for humanity as we head towards the Winter Solstice of 2012, is that we progress past the collective Death Wish that has played out in countless mis-interpretations of the end of the Mayan Calendar and the Apocalypse, and gain an appreciation for the POINT of our existence and of how that POINT, via the power of number, informs and animates the Whole. Our number system, 12-month Zodiac and all geometries are contained in the POINT, in the Origin of our being, like the Oak Tree is contained in the Acorn. Via the work and lives of Sri Aurobindo, the Mother and Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet, the design of the Seed is no longer hidden, and it is possible for Individuals to become Seers, conscious of the unfolding of the Seed of the Supramental Manifestation. As far as I am concerned, this IS the real meaning of 'Apocalypse' (uncovering of the hidden Light or Truth); and as long as the mathematical design or formula of the Soul remains to be considered 'esoteric', rather than newly revealed 'fundamental' knowledge, we will be stuck in a divisive consciousness that cannot recognize our common CORE (Point) and our common COURSE (360° Evolutionary Journey).

Here is the entry in The Mother's Agenda that 'seeded' this post: [bold emphasis added]

***

11 May 1963

(Satprem draws the Tantric diagram he has been instructed to do 72 times a day for three times 72 days. It is a square divided into 9 smaller squares which contain figures and one Sanskrit letter. The first thing Mother does is to add up all the figures.)

Did you add them up? No? Whatever way you do it, it adds up to 72.... 9 is the figure of birth.

It should be done 72 times for 72 days, and three times over.

And 72, that means 7 + 2, or 9.

And this [the Sanskrit letter] is HRIM.

It's one of the three essential sounds. I don't remember now, but each of them represents one aspect of the Mother.

Sujata told me it's Mahalakshmi.

I was hesitating between Mahalakshmi and Mahasaraswati.

(Mother remains concentrated)

It is clearly taken as a symbol of the gestation of the new birth, the second birth, the divine birth. That's certain.

He said 72 days?

Three times 72 days.... A little more than eight months, that is.

That's it.

It's ... ([laughing!] I've just asked him!²) it's the work of gestation for the birth of the divine consciousness.

And 7 (7 and 2) is interesting. 7 is the realization; 2 is dual: a dual realization. If you put both together, you get the figure of gestation.

You see, Mahalakshmi is the Divine Mother's aspect of love, the perfection of manifested love, which must come before this supreme Love (which is beyond the Manifestation and the Nonmanifestation) can be expressed – the supreme Love referred to in Savitri when the Supreme sends Savitri to the earth:

For ever love, O beautiful slave of God! (XI.I.702)

It's to prepare the earth to receive the Supreme's manifestation, the manifestation of His Victory.

Seen in that way, it becomes clear – comprehensible, and comprehensive, too: it has a content.

(Mother suddenly points to a piece of paper on the table beside her, on which the figure 8 is written)

Did you notice this figure?... There's a line in Savitri (I can't quote exactly): "Wherever Nature is, He (the Supreme) too is there, for, in truth, He and She are one."³ I was asked to find an illustration for this line, and I found the 8.

The drawing starts here (Mother draws the first half of the 8): it's the Supreme leaning forward. Then, Nature in its base, Nature in sleep (the base of the 8). And here (the top of the 8), I put two little drawings (as if to symbolize an eye, a nose and a mouth) to evoke the summit of consciousness. So the Supreme is leaning forward like this and Nature rises like this (Mother draws the second half of the 8). All this (the top of the 8) is golden, then it becomes prismatic (the middle of the 8), and deep blue here (the base of the 8), in the most material part of the creation, and the blue becomes lighter and lighter (going upward again), and finally golden. Perpetually.

Eight is the symbol of infinity for mathematicians (oo). 

 Exactly. It's very interesting.

(Then Mother considers one by one the various figures of the Tantric diagram) 

4 is the figure of the Manifestation (the square is the figure of the Manifestation). So here you have the manifestation of the Infinite: 4 + 8 = 12.

6 is the figure of the creation.

12 is the perfection of the creation: perfect creation.

30 is ... The 3 is Sachchidananda and the 30 its external expression (because 10 means something expressed). So 30 is the manifestation of Sachchidananda.

Thus we have first 6, then 12 (a perfection of manifestation), then 30, the manifestation of Sachchidananda, and 48, the manifestation of the Infinite. You see, it's beginning to come alive!

Afterwards comes 42: it's the dual manifestation, that is to say, the Supreme and Nature.

Then 18 ... The 10 (unless it's 12 ... 12 is two times 6; also 10 plus 2, but that has another meaning), but the 10 in itself is something established (the 11 is something beginning, while the 10 is something established). So if you have 18, it means that the Infinite is established.

Then 36, which is 3 times 12: it's the union of 30 (Sachchidananda) and 6, the creation.

The 12 is the figure of the Mahashakti. It's the essential creation, the creation in its essence – the creative Power. And perfection, too: the perfection in the execution. The 12 is a very important figure (24 is two times 12, and 36, three times).

48 is four times 12. It's an extremely important figure. Extremely important.

And finally, we have 9 here: gestation. Gestation in Matter – not on the heights: here, physically.

(Mother begins drawing herself the diagram with the figures and the Sanskrit mantra.)

Let's see if I remember my Sanskrit....

My eyes are no good, I've lost all my power of expression because of that (Mother takes her magnifying glass to draw). Before, I used to do these letters so easily, and now I can't see any more....

Here.

Now, it has life, you understand. It has life. And it's the correct drawing, I mean it should be a square (not a rectangle as you did), a square divided into nine smaller squares. It is the image of the realization (not realization – gestation), the birth of Mahalakshmi's consciousness in Matter, that is to say, the form of divine love in Matter. 

(Mother pores over the diagram for a long time. It should be noted that the figures of the diagram must be read and written in a particular order to have their full power.) 

 Oh, there's a music!

(Mother starts humming the music or the vibration which has come to her and corresponds to the diagram and the birth of Mahalakshmi's consciousness in Matter.)

Another point is unclear: after 30, do you go here or there?

After 30 it's 48, then 42.... 

 (The Mother starts humming again) 

There, mon petit. Now I would advise you to take a comfortable chair, a table on which you can write comfortably, put it before you and get on with it!

It's a pity we can't note the music down. 

(The Mother hums again) 

There.

But it's full of meaning, it vibrates with meaning!

I am not positive, but when he gave you this diagram, had he had in himself the conscious meaning, he would have passed it on to you.... I have a feeling he is more like a scholar. He has perhaps more of an impression than an understanding.

But where does the significance of figures come from? 

The deeper significance of figures ... There are countless traditions, countless scriptures ... which I took great care not to follow. But the deeper significance of figures came to me in Tlemcen, when I was in the Overmind. I don't remember the names Théon used to give to those various worlds, but it was a world that corresponded to the highest and most luminous regions of Sri Aurobindo's Overmind. It was above, just above the gods' region. And it was something in accord with the Overmind creation – the earth under the gods' influence. That was where figures took on a living meaning for me – not a mental speculation: a living meaning. That was where Madame Théon recognized me, because of the formation of twelve pearls she saw above my head; and she told me, "You are that because you have this. Only that can have this!" (Mother laughs) It hadn't even remotely occurred to me, thank God!

But figures are alive for me. They have a concrete reality. 

And this (the diagram) is meant to prepare for the "second birth" mentioned in the Vedas, the spiritual birth. Through it one becomes a complete being, consciously complete.

Of course, it's the beginning of realization. But for many people it's the ultimate term.

<sup>_______________________________

Footnotes
1</sup> 21 July 1965, The Mother's Agenda: ‘I feel as if the tail of the solution had been caught.[[We cannot help thinking of Sri Aurobindo's "mathematical formula": "Now," he wrote on 16 August 1935, "I have got the hang of the whole hanged thing - like a very Einstein I have got the mathematical formula of the whole affair (unintelligible as in his case to anybody but myself) and am working it out figure by figure." Mother uses almost the same words. ]] Now, naturally, we must work it out.’ 
² Sri Aurobindo  
³ As long as Nature lasts, he too is there;
For this is sure that he and she are one. (L.IV.72)
_______________________________________

ADDITIONAL NOTE: I shared this Agenda entry with Thea (Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet) on 3 September in an email titled '72 - gestation for the birth of the divine consciousness' and she replied: 

How curious, I never saw this. I wonder if it is a newer edition and they have added things.

I also marvel at how much progress has been made in these matters. You can hardly compare the new cosmology with all this, and yet it came essentially from the Mother. It is still separative, each number disconnected from the other, not a comprehensive flow. But that is the way it was until the Third came along to 'put each thing in its place.' It is really interesting how the force she put out passed through my consciousness to come up with the new cosmology. One is fashioned for a particular work.

Number also came alive for me, just as the Mother says about her experience in Tlemcen. This happened in September 1972 - I wrote it all, to her. (Tenth Day of Victory - 1). That changed everything. Number has never been 'lifeless' since then.

How fascinating. Thea

---

I feel a very strong need for someone who knows.

Yes, I too have quite often thought that someone
should come here who....

...who knows.

Who knows something.

That's what I was expecting from Sri Aurobindo.

But he himself was searching.
Had he continued, he probably would have found it....
But obviously it wasn't possible.

For he never said he didn't know.*

He never said he didn't know.

He always told me, 'Each thing in its own time.'

But if he knew, he will be able to tell me.
So it means it isn't time yet.

 13 February 1962, The Mother's Agenda, Volume 3
 __________________________________

* Satprem references Sri Aurobindo's 16 August 1935 mention the mathematical formula he was working out. 
_______________________________________

Related Links: 
* The Mother on the Supramental Action and the Number 9 
* Sri Aurobindo and the Lotus 
* Is the True Significance of Immortality Day Lost on Followers of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother?
* 2012, the Earth's Evolution and the New World