WHY SRI AUROBINDO

SRI AUROBINDO- THE HOPE OF MAN

(The Rishi of Modern Era)

(Online Talk delivered by Dr. Ajit Sabnis, on 27th April, 2019 Using Facebook Live Hosted by Sri Aurobindo Foundation for Indian Culture)

LINK TO VIDEO:

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2891093857633548&id=100001988857242?sfnsn=wiwspmo&extid=UFFtps7zMlu6V3Re&d=n&vh=e

For nearly three thousand years plus, India had been leading the human civilization with all her exuberance and rich culture. Her contribution in several fields including medicine, engineering, mathematics, science, chemistry, human relations, management, administration, philosophy, dance, drama, music, poetry, astronomy, astrology was unmatched. She withstood several invasions, looting of wealth without losing her identity. Many civilizations appeared, roared and disappeared.

Fast forward - by mid 16^th century, scenario started changing and science started making its presence felt due to the inbuilt quest of human nature in understanding the truth behind everything. In the first chapter of his magnum-opus Life Divine, Sri Aurobindo observes that the earliest preoccupation of man in his awakened thoughts, which is also the highest, is his impulse towards perfection in search of God, Light, Freedom and Immortality. Philosophers and Scientists kept before us those truths which were never heard before. For example, Earth orbiting the Sun and not the other way. By the end of 18^th century, influence of British on India was substantial and continued till 20^th century.

19^th century also saw birth of great men like Mahatma Gandhi (1893-1948); Tagore (1861-1941); Aurobindo Ghosh (1872-1950); Bala Gangadhar Tilak (1856-1920); Vivekanada (1863-1902) and many others, whose contribtions to Indian Independence were immense. And in the west, Einstein (1879-1955); Rutherford (1871-1937); the Mother (1878-1973).

Sri Aurobindo is an enigma to some and ‘Personality Infinite’ to some. He is the very expression of that divine consciousness force, all pervasive, all encompassing. Whenever, we pronounce Sri Aurobindo, it is always the dual power, the double poled avatar of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother as one. It is impossible understanding Sri Aurobindo with our ordinary mind. He himself once has said - “his life has not been on the surface for men to see”. They are beyond all the boundaries of ordinary human consciousness. The way we understand Sri Aurobindo, directly depends on the state of consciousness we are in. Together, in continuity, they stayed amongst us for almost a century. To be precise, 101 years, 3 months and 2 days.   

You study him as a student, as a teacher, as an administrator, as a guide, as a poet, as a revolutionist, as a patriot, as a columnist, as a writer, as a critic, as a dramatist or as a Philosopher! He stands above, high on the pedestal of this creation, beyond the reach of any intellectual capability. His sheer grace of prose, soothing to the heart. His poetry embedded with his yogic consciousness. As a philologist, he surpasses everyone and his psycho-spiritual analysis in the backdrop of consciousness makes even the modern scientists wonder.

Sri Aurobindo did not come here to establish any religion or cult or creed. Nor he came here to amalgamate older religions to establish a new one. He came here to establish the Supreme law. He came here to establish the Supreme truth. He appeared on planet earth and stayed amidst us to tell us about our destiny that- human being is not the last rung in the evolutionary process but to go beyond. He came here to reveal us that running away from earthly life is not the solution but by staying here and transforming our ordinary human consciousness into Divine consciousness, our nature into divine nature and establishing the divine life upon earth-is the actual aim of human life. This is also the aim of Integral yoga. Sri Aurobindo came here when the whole humanity is groping in darkness to unlock the evolutionary crisis.

Sri Aurobindo laid before us the pathway for our spiritual journey in the realms of Consciousness, the journey from ignorance to knowledge, darkness to light, and lower nature to divine nature; the journey of transformation, the journey from matter to spirit, the journey of our spiritual ascent. It is the journey endeavoring the aim of life. He touched upon every sphere of our existence instilling a quiet confidence in us that nothing spiritual can fail.

He is the most complete synthesis achieved up to the present between the genius of the east and the west. The last of the great rishis holding the bow of creative inspiration. Sri Aurobindo is the only thinker in the modern era, to evolve a complete philosophical system from first principle and building up the whole scheme of reality based our ancient wisdom without distortion. In that sense, He stands on par with the three great Acharyas - Shankara, Ramanuja and Madhva. With his unparalleled logic that is based on his spiritual experience, he takes a leap, much ahead of others. He shows with greatest accuracy that with formal logic and reason, which can be applied only to science and Maths, the nature of the Absolute cannot be understood. It can be understood only by applying higher logic, which he calls as the ‘Logic of the Infinite’.

It is impossible to answer ‘Why Sri Aurobindo’ in one single sweep. However, let us try understanding him, looking at some of the distinctive features of his contributions to the humanity.

PHASE 1:

Sri Aurobindo’s life started unfolding at the age of 5 with his entry into Loreto Convent School, Darjeeling under the shadow of Himalayan splendor. Everything around this school was English as his father did not want his children to get exposed to anything that is Indian. He started lisping English at the age of 5. By the time he was 7, he was at Manchester along with his brothers under the care of Mr. and Mrs. Drewet. As he was young, Mr. and Mrs. Drewet taught him Latin, English, French, Maths, History and Science at home. At this age, he started reading Keats, Shelly, Shakespeare and even bible.

He then moves to London in 1884, joins St. Paul school and gets trained in Greek as a special case due to his excellent command over latin. In the next five years at St. Paul, he learns German, Spanish, Italian and reads extensively from the classical to modern European literature. His academic record too was excellent and won many prizes and scholarships. He then moves to Kings college at Cambridge, excels in whatever he does including classical tripos but manages to get himself disqualified by missing horse ride exam. The code encrypted in a seed called ‘Aurobindo’ was compelling him to look at his motherland. He also was a member of secret society called Lotus and Dagger during this period. It is during this time when he met Sir Sayaji Rao Gaikwad, maharaja of Baroda, who offered him a job of Rs. 200/- month and asked him to come to Baroda. This was the first phase of his life. An Intellectual with extraordinary humility, brilliant academic career and a patriot we saw in Aurobindo.

PHASE 2:

            Second phase began from the time he stepped onto Indian soil in 1893, at the age of 21, at Appollo Bunder. A vast calm descended on him paving way for the auspicious beginning of his spiritual life. He then stays with Maharaja of Baroda for next 13 years in various capacities and finally as acting principal. Apart from his work, his primary preoccupation was nothing but books and books and books. Divine will was creating foundation for his active participation in Indian politics. He mastered Sanskrit, Hindi, Bengali and Gujarati and read most of the ancient texts in their original language. Maharaja used his services used to call him for drafting special notifications and government documents.     

            The next place awaiting his arrival was the Bengal National College, Calcutta, as Principal and the period was 1906 and resigned in 1907 for his active involvement in Indian Politics. During this period, he edited Bandemataram, Declared Yugantar, wrote revolutionary articles as part of Bhavani Mandir, which acted as catalysts in attracting the Indian youth, attended several sessions of national congress, made several suggestions with regards to national education. By now, British government had declared him as one of the most dangerous man to recon with. Behind this fiery political career, there was an inner spiritual urge to do something higher. Looks like everything started falling in place as divine ordained.

            He met Maharashtrian Yogi, Vishnu Bhaskar Lele in Jan, 1908, got the first yogic initiation to silence the mind. Subsequent to this he was arrested in May 1908 in a plot against the British viceroy and was sent to solitary confinement in Alipore jail. C. R. Das who spoke for Sri Aurobindo got him acquitted in May, 1909. This solitary confinement helped him practicing intense meditation, achieving another important spiritual milestone in his adventurous yogic journey, having realized the cosmic consciousness. He also read of Bhagavadgita, Upanishads.

            While narrating his spiritual experience, he wrote; “…Then he placed the Gita in my hands. His strength entered into me and I was able to do the sadhana of the Gita. He made me realize the central truth of Sanatana dharma. I looked at the jail that secluded me from men and it was Vasudeva who surrounded me. I looked at the bars of my cell and the guards at the gate, I saw Vasudeva. It was Sri Krishna everywhere.”  Second step of spiritualisation in triple transformation- All in one and one all.

C R DAS while defending Sri Aurobindo:

“Long after the controversy will be hushed in silence, long after the turmoil, the agitation will have ceased, long after he is dead and gone, he will be looked upon as the poet of patriotism, the prophet of nationalism and the lover of humanity. Long after he is dead and gone, his words shall be echoed and re-echoed, not only in India, but across the seas and the lands. Therefore, I say that the man in position is not only standing before you but standing before the high court of history….” Prophetic words…Judge Beachcroft acquitted Sri Aurobindo. Beachcroft was with Sri Aurobindo was with him in Cambridge and stood second to Aurobindo in Greek.

            After his release from Alipore jail, he addressed several public meetings across the country. But his address at Uttarapara, known as Uttarpara speech, on 30^th May 1909, is the address where he first opened up his spiritual experiences at Alipore jail and made known publically that he has a different role to play from now onwards. The period between his release and his journey to Chandranagore can be considered as a cusp between his political and spiritual endeavours. He emphasised a new role of India, it’s inevitable resurgence, Sanatana dharma, re-discovery of Indian soul for the sake of humanity, in his last few articles in Karmayogin.  There was an inner call and the time had come for him to reach Pondy via Chandranagore. He reached Pondy on 4^th April 1910. Third phase of his life began for the sake of humanity.

THIRD PHASE: SPIRITUAL JOURNEY

            It is not possible to take a look at Sri Aurobindo’s spiritual journey the way we did so far. Hence, it would be appropriate for us to take a look at some of the distinctive features of Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy.

1]      PSYCHO-SPIRITUAL ANALYSIS OF MAN:

            Sri Aurobindo observes that Men do not know themselves and have not learned to distinguish the different parts of the being; for these are usually lumped together by them as mind. Human Beings are very complex and comprise of three integrated systems namely;

Surface System; 1^st system: This system comprises of our surface or exterior consciousness and here he recognizes three levels of our outer Being as The Physical, The Vital and the Mental Beings.

·      Physical Being here is our gross existence and is an expression of pure consciousness made up of physical energy and material substance. This forms greater part of our waking self. We should become aware of this consciousness. Sri Aurobindo further distinguishes this into Material Physical, Physical-Vital and Mental-Physical. This Mental-Physical for example is responsible for all those mechanically repetitive body actions- The process of breathing, reflex action etc. Sometimes this is also called Mechanical Mind.

·      The Vital Being: The Vital being consists mainly of desires, impulses, and emotions of possession and enjoyment. It is often narrow and limited and subject to dualities such as pleasure and pain. It is mostly concerned with self-affirmation, life-enlargement, and the claims of the ego and power and excitement. The Vital can be a good instrument but it is a bad master. The vital is not to be killed or destroyed, but purified and transformed by the psychic and spiritual control.

·      The Mental Being: Mental being or the Surface mental Consciousness refers to that part of human being which deals with the cognitive functions and processes, and all the mental movements that are part of the individual’s intelligence.

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Subliminal System; 2^nd system:

Comprise of our Inner Being and Inmost Being. The innermost being can be equated to psychic being but, SA refers to Central being comprising two forms. One form remains as a mute witness and does not take part in the evolutionary process (Jivatman). The second form takes part in the evolutionary process ie it remains with the individual birth after birth, accumulates experience and becomes Psychic being (Antaratman). At this stage, we also should remember that, the Psychic Being itself has two appearances. In the front, it is the Desire soul and at the back it is the True soul.

This Psychic Being in turn projects itself as an individualized consciousness in different planes and become three purushas or the three true inner beings.

Inner Being Also Has Three Levels

1. The Subtle Physical        2. The Inner Vital     3. The Inner Mental

The Subliminal comprising of the Inner Being, taken in its entirety of inner mind, inner life, inner physical with the Soul or Psychic Entity supporting them, extends itself into an Enveloping Consciousness through which it receives the shock of currents and wave circuits pouring upon us from the universal mind, universal vital and universal subtler matter forces.

Vertical System; 3^rd system:

The third system Comprises of a series of ascending and descending grades of consciousness from the Inconscient to the level of Truth consciousness. The gap between ordinary mind and the supermind is very huge.

Sri Aurobindo establishes link between these two planes by intermediary planes of consciousness. Ordinary Mind, Higher Mind, Illumined Mind, intuitive Mind, Overmind, Supermind and then triune aspect of existence-Sat, Chit and Ananda.

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2]      CONCEPT OF EVOLUTION:

            Sri Aurobindo observes Involution precedes the Evolutionary process.  The Divine descends from Pure existence (SAT) through the play of Consciousness force (CHIT ) and Bliss ( ANANDA ) and the creative medium of Supermind into Cosmic Being.

…..We ascend from matter though developing life, soul & mind and the medium of supermind towards the Devine Being.  The lid that separates the two hemispheres is the golden lid of overmental consciousness.

Hiranmayena Paatrena……………

By rendering of this lid, the descent of higher principles into lower nature and the ascent of lower principles into the higher, the mind can recover its divine light in the super mind. Creation represented as:

Upper Hemisphere                                       Lower Hemisphere

                    Existence                      ………………………            Matter

                    Conscious force           ………………………             Life

                    Bliss                                ………………….……            Psyche

                    Supermind                    ……………………....…         Mind

In this process, Sri Aurobindo elaborately deals with SUPERMIND as the creative medium in the process of creation. Evolutionary process for him is: “Self-progressive manifestation of the divine in all forms of matter and life”.

Man, is a Transitory being. He is not the last rung in the evolutionary process. The man was worked out from a monkey, there shall be a superman worked out of present mental being.

3]      FIVE DREAMS OF SRI AUROBINDO (5-PROPHECIES)

His spiritual force intervened all the odds and his dynamic spiritual power continued to work for India’s liberation. As sanction and seal of the Divine force India got liberated on 15th August,1947 – 75th Birthday of Sri Aurobindo. In his message on this day, Sri Aurobindo spoke about his 5 dreams.

·      First Dream: A revolutionary movement which would create a free and united India.

·      Second Dream: The resurgence and liberation of the people of Asia and Her return to Her great role in the progress of human civilization.

·      Third Dream: A world union forming the outer basis of a fairer, brighter and nobler life for all mankind.

·      Fourth Dream: Spiritual gift of India to the world.

·      Fifth Dream: A step forward in evolution which would raise Man to a higher and larger consciousness and to dream of individual perfection and a perfect society. – Divine Life upon earth.

4]      INTEGRAL ADVAITISM OF SRI AUROBINDO.

            Advaitism is normally associated with the doctrine of Shankara which establishes the oneness of Brahman or the Absolute by denying the reality of the World. Sri Aurobindo differs from this concept. He accepts the Oneness of Brahman without denying the reality of the World. To Him, the world is as real as the Brahman.

            If we consider Brahman as the Real, then everything that comes out Him has to be real. If this is not true, then the evolutionary process that is taking place since last 2000 crores of years has no meaning. The Ten Avtars, appearance of better and better forms from single celled amoeba to the trillion-celled human being has no validity. This cannot be the aim of the evolutionary process. The entire evolutionary process has been extremely systematic. First there was chemical evolution followed by biological evolution and then evolution of forms and consciousness. This is too big to think that the world is unreal.

            If Brahman is accepted as a reality then the world created by him cannot be invalid or a Non-reality. The two opposites or contradictions can be reconciled only by pure reason and Knowledge by identity. Pure reason does not come to any conclusion based on sense perception but goes beyond and behind. Once the whole truth is understood in its entirety we realize that Finite and Infinite are not opposites but are the two facets of the same existence. Finite is a veiled form of Infinite; Ignorance is a veiled form of Knowledge and so on. This is a possibility when we rise above our ordinary mental consciousness into the realm of Super mind.

5]      INTEGRAL EDUCATION

            Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education, an integral part of Sri Aurobindo Ashram, serves as a field for experiment and research in education. For years Sri Aurobindo considered the formation of a new system of education as one of the best means of preparing the future humanity to manifest upon earth a divine consciousness and a divine life. To give a concrete shape to his vision, the Mother opened a school for children on December 2, 1943. As an international centre of education, it aspires to represent the cultures of different regions of the world with the ideal that every nation should make a unique contribution to a cultural synthesis, promoting mutual understanding and human unity.

6]        HUMAN DESTINY

          Evolution in existence takes place in two processes. One is the evolution of the cosmos and the second one, evolution of the individual or the Soul evolution. Cosmic Evolution follows the principle of Involution, and evolution. Individual evolution is possible through the cycles of Birth and Rebirth. The Process involved here is the triple transformation of Psychisisation, Spiritualisation and the Supramentalisation. Our Psychic being takes part in the evolutionary process birth after birth based on the experiences till it reaches its ultimate destination. Similarly, in case of cosmos, the evolution appears with better and better forms appearing on earth. Critical Mass principle is applicable here also.

            “We speak of the evolution of Life in Matter, the evolution of Mind in Matter; but evolution is a word which merely states the phenomenon without explaining it. For there seems to be no reason why Life should evolve out of material elements or Mind out of living form, unless we accept the Vedantic solution that Life is already involved in Matter and Mind in Life because in essence Matter is a form of veiled Life, Life a form of veiled Consciousness. And then there seems to be little objection to a further step in the series and the admission that mental consciousness may itself be only a form and a veil of higher states which are beyond Mind”

            Let me recall Sri Aurobindo- two lines of his epic poem Savitri: “The unfelt Self within who is our guide, the unknown God above who is our Goal”. These two lines substantially clarify as to who is our guide, our starting point and the end point. The unknown God above is the destiny; the unfelt self is our Guide and deep within-the starting point.

            This leads to us next question who is my unfelt self? Or, in general terms, who am I? Understanding of this true self of our being is the first step in our journey. Let us do so!

CONCLUSION:

"To THEE who hast been the material envelope of our Master,
to THEE our infinite gratitude. Before THEE who hast done so much for us,
who hast worked, struggled, suffered, hoped, endured so much,
before THEE who hast willed all, attempted all, prepared, achieved all for us,
before THEE we bow down and implore that we may never forget,
even for a moment, all we owe to THEE.

HARVESTING HUMAN GROWTH: CONSCIOUSNESS PERSPECTIVE

HARVESTING HUMAN GROWTH: CONSCIOUSNESS PERSPECTIVE

Ø Role of Consciousness in Human Growth is one of the important subjects that has generated tremendous amount of interest among academicians, scientists, psychologists, neurologists in pursuit of truth behind consciousness.

Ø The word consciousness is understood and spelt differently by materialists and spiritualists. To a materialist, this is just an awareness of our surroundings perceived through our sense organs. The information thus gathered by various sense organs is picked up, integrated and interpreted together with past experiences by the brain resulting in awareness. Thus our awareness has its fulcrum in the functioning of the brain. Thus, for a materialist typically, consciousness is a byproduct of brain.

Ø To a materialist, it is spelt with capital ‘C’ and is the all-pervasive Consciousness Force without which nothing in the universe exists. It is the alpha, the omega and the only truth. It is the Absolute Reality. It is this Consciousness Force that is responsible for all creation in the universe. At the moment it is concealed and veiled by the layers of ignorance.

Ø Appearance of a human being and his growth must have some meaning, some definite purpose in the evolutionary process. We are at cross roads and do not even know whether we are spiritual beings with human experience or human beings with spiritual experience! There should not be any doubt that we are spiritual beings undergoing human experiences in the evolution of consciousness.

Ø  The supreme Consciousness descending from its summit into the matter and emerging out of matter giving rise to life principle and further, mind principle evolving out of life principle is possible only if all these sublime principles are already involved in the previous statuses.

Ø This evolution of consciousness is a slow and steady process. History has shown and science has acknowledged that the growth in Consciousness has always resulted in refined species expressing refined characteristics. Light, knowledge, bliss, dynamism, creativity, beauty, freedom, innovation etc. are the attributes of divine consciousness and these get expressed as we grow in consciousness.

Ø We talked about human beings with a purpose! If so what is the purpose? What is our destiny? Sri Aurobindo records in ‘Savitri’ - The unfelt Self within who is the guide, the unknown Self above who is the goal. Between these two extremes is our journey, the human evolution, the aim of life, the adventure of consciousness and the true human growth. If we need to take up this journey, human growth has to be harvested in the field of Consciousness by unwrapping layers of our ignorance.

Ø This Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient Consciousness appears in every creation and every manifestation. The degree to which it is expressed depends on the location point on the evolutionary scale. Thus, plants are more conscious than stones and animals more than plants. Humans with their discretionary power are more conscious than animals. But then, Man certainly is not the last rung in the evolutionary process. He has a long way to go. However, we see the glimpses of this Consciousness growth in some evolved souls. For example, our Vedic seers had this growth through intense self-purification and concentration. Their experiences reveal to us the secret knowledge of Consciousness growth.

Firstly, the individual turns his entire attention within, focus and concentrate and meditate grows deeper and deeper. He then becomes aware of something that is higher than him, the True Self, the divine spark. This process of turning within and making our true self guide us, is the first step of triple transformation – Pscychisisation.

As we grow deeper and deeper, our consciousness also grow wider and wider. This is the second direction in which Consciousness grows and an individual starts identifying the divine spark in all around him. This leads to the realisation of One in All and All in One - Spiritualisation

As we grow in our consciousness deeper and wider, there shall be vertical growth in the form of ascending aspiration and descending growth giving rise to a realisation that All as One – Supramentalisation.

Ø Do you remember the game ‘Passing the Parcel’ we used to play when we were children? The parcel was a box wrapped with many layers of coloured papers. Children stop passing the parcel when the music stops. Then the boy/girl unwraps one layer of the parcel to find some small gift. When all the layers are unwrapped, the original box with some invaluable gift at the core appears. This is exactly what happens when we unwrap our ignorance layer by layer.

Four Stages of Human Growth:

We have seen above that human growth in the perspective of Consciousness is nothing but the human evolution. There are four stages of human growth we observe.

Ø At macrocosmic level, there was first the Physical Evolution where the formation of the universe took place. Followed by the Chemical Evolution where the gasses, the chemicals, the minerals, the Oxygen etc. filled the universe making it fit for sustaining life. This was followed by Biological Evolution where life evolved out of matter. The last stage here is also the Spiritual Evolution where in the matter participates in the transformation of earth.

Ø At individual level, the first stage of human growth is Physical evolution where in the body that was fit enough to act as foundation to receive the superstructure of Consciousness. In this stage, the human growth is very slow like travelling in a bullock cart.

This was followed by the second stage Emotional or Vital Evolution where the life is governed and dominated by our instinct, desires, hunger, shelter, survival etc. In this stage, the evolution or the human growth progresses faster and can be compared to an automobile instead of bullock cart.

The third stage of human growth is the Mental Evolution, a progress with much higher intensity than the previous two stages. Here the growth is dominated by reason, logic, rationale, learning through science, philosophy, laws, ideals, social organisation etc. Even here we see growth in Consciousness first appears in mundane life sustaining activities and later grows into ethics, compassion, sympathy, empathy and host of other values. The more we grow in our consciousness, the more sensitive we become of our environment. Explaining the growth in mental Consciousness, following are the lines from Sri Aurobindo’s Savitri.

A thought was sown in the unsounded Void,

A sense was born within the darkness’ depths,

A memory quivered in the heart of Time

As if a soul long dead were moved to live:

Next stage in the human growth is the Spiritual Evolution where, the flowering of higher grades of mind takes place. Starting from ordinary mind to higher mind to illumined mind to intuitive mind to overmind, the last in the hierarchy of minds. The human growth here begins with religion, mysticism and yoga. The growth in religion is a stage where consciousness appears as conservative, rational, and systematic and rituals become platform for concentration and meditation. In the next stage, rising above religion, the goal and destiny becomes clearer. All pervasive Consciousness is accepted and rituals do not really matter. In case of Yoga, the growth results in a more specific well laid path for a rapid self-directed evolution towards our final spiritual destiny. Aspiration from below is answered by the grace from above. As we grow in our consciousness, the progress accelerates from bullock cart to automobile to jet.

Factors of Growth:

1]        Becoming Conscious-quintessentially, it means become aware of within and without factors- Parts of our being, our faculties, senses, deep self, etc. In essence, it is gaining mastery over our self. We can manage others only if we have learnt to manage ourselves. Growth of consciousness should also be of outside our body-The surroundings, with scientific temperament, logic and rational thinking. Biggest drawback with human beings is that we try to understand the infinite with finite logic. These two are different dimensions.

2]        Aim of once life. Quality of our aim reflects quality of our character. This also is the ideal we follow. For every human being, the ‘ideal’ concept will change depending on so many internal and external factors. For example, ideal of a religious organisation may be non-violence. This may not be the ideal of military organisation. Ideals have to rise above our ordinary consciousness-our mundane and material interests.     

3]        Concentration or Focus. Concentration is the art of focusing all our energies at one focal point. It may be a task or an ideal or an activity. This minimizes wastage of energy and maximizes self-actualization. As Sri Aurobindo puts it, everything in the universe ultimately resolves into some form of energy. Mental energy, if not focused, will diffuse and shall not be effective. This increase in power of concentration will also come to our rescue in case of multi-tasking. Frequent switching off and switching on are required while we multi-task our activities.

4]        Progress. Here, progress means continuous journey towards our inner and external perfection. In general parlance, it means ‘Continuous improvement’. Outer progress indicates continuous growth in our Skills, professionalism, efficiency, productivity in work and action. Inner progress indicates growth in psychological, spiritual, moral, artistic, cultural realms of our personality. Developing our faculties, integration of our personality, all fall in this sphere.

Here main emphasis shall be on values. Courage, compassion, unbiased thinking, justice, enthusiasm, loyalty, visualization, imagination etc. should become part of our development.

5]        Freedom and Empowerment. This means, freedom to think, to be creative, to be innovative, to take decisions, to learn from experiences, to express without any inhibitions, etc. These are the expressions of our outer freedom. Freedom from inner bondages like negative thoughts, superstitions, greed, selfish motto, jealousy, biased opinions, depression, restlessness, and mechanical thinking etc. also are called for.

6]       Inner and outer wellness. True wellness is an expression of balanced growth. In outside world, productivity, wealth creation, meeting targets, short term goals become predominant. But this can induce stresses in an individual affecting the physical health and performance. Hence there is a need for inner balance.

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Acknowledgement: The above is the gist of talk delivered at Sri Aurobindo Complex, JP Nagar, Bangalore, under SPECTRUM. The tittle and inspiration from Mr. MS Srinivasan, Sri Aurobindo Society, Pondicherry. 

HUMAN SPECIES

                                                           

Human species, not a privileged species.....

Just remembered these wonderful lines by Dr. Strauss: 

"Man is not a privileged inhabitant of the universe, but merely a passing species that will leave only a few faint traces of its passage when it becomes extinct". 

Nature now appears to have proven him right. We probably have to witness several more such evolutionary crises in future, if we do not protect and care our planet. 

As Sri Aurobindo puts it, present human being is only a transitional entity in the evolutionary process and cannot be its ultimate goal. The advent of a new and superior species will arrive on the scene eventually. The way man was worked out of a monkey, there shall be a better human species worked out of present man. 

Many a times I wonder whether today's crisis is a self-cleansing process by (our) nature and a small step towards creating the critical mass that is required for the future.

It is proved beyond that 'survival of the fittest' of Darvin was never, and is not relevant any more....