Preparing for the Miraculous

246 eleven talksthe descent of God into that divine birth of the human beinginto which we mortal creatures must climb; it is the attractingdivine example given by God to man in the very typeand form and perfected model of our human existence.” 29The “something essential in the history of the earth andits races” can only be done by the Avatar if he takes uponhim the burden of humanity. Hence the superhuman tapasyaand suffering for which some Avatars are exemplary, andwhich is so often misinterpreted (as we have seen before).For if the Avatar is God, how can he suffer? The double natureof the Avatar, at the same time consciously divine andfully human, is indeed a great mystery, as great as the mysteryof the manifestation. It is, as Sri Aurobindo wrote inThe Riddle of this World, a suprarational fact our mind cannotgrasp and which therefore has led to endless speculationand controversy in East and West. Sri Aurobindo’s testimonyto this point is quite clear and deeply moving.“When the Divine descends, he takes upon himself theburden of humanity in order to exceed it – he becomes humanin order to show humanity how to become Divine.Anyone who wants to change earth-nature must first acceptit in order to change it.” 30 “I have borne any attackwhich human beings have borne, otherwise I would be unableto assure anybody ‘This too can be conquered.‘ At leastI would have no right to say so. ... The Divine when he takeson the burden of terrestrial nature, takes it fully, sincerelyand without any conjuring tricks or pretence.” 31 “No, it isnot with the Empyrean that I am busy: I wish it were. It israther with the opposite of things; it is in the Abyss that I29 Sri Aurobindo: Essays on the Gita, pp. 157, passim.30 Sri Aurobindo: On Himself, p. 153.31 Id., p. 154.