{"id":153,"date":"2013-07-13T01:26:15","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:26:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=153"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:26:15","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:26:15","slug":"08-supermind-in-the-evolution-vol-16-the-supramental-manifestation-volume-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/01-sabcl\/16-the-supramental-manifestation-volume-16\/08-supermind-in-the-evolution-vol-16-the-supramental-manifestation-volume-16","title":{"rendered":"-08_Supermind in The Evolution.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n

\n
\nSupermind
\nin the Evolution<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\n <\/b> <\/b><\/span>   <\/b><\/span>         
\n<\/span>A<\/b> <\/span>
\nNEW humanity would then be a race of
\nmental beings on the earth and in the earthly body but delivered from its
\npresent conditions in the reign of the cosmic Ignorance so far as to be
\npossessed of a perfected mind, a mind of light which could even be a subordinate
\naction of the supermind or Truth-Consciousness and in any case capable of the
\nfull possibilities of mind acting as a recipient of that truth and at least a
\nsecondary action of it in thought and life. It could even be a part of what
\ncould be described as a divine life upon earth and at least the beginnings of an
\nevolution in the Knowledge and no longer entirely or predominantly in the
\nIgnorance. How far this would go, whether it would eventually embrace the whole
\nof humanity or only an advanced portion of it, would depend upon the intention
\nin the evolution itself, on the intention in whatever cosmic or transcendent
\nWill is guiding the movements of the universe. We have supposed not only the
\ndescent of the supermind upon the earth but its embodiment in a supramental race
\nwith all its natural consequences and a new total action in which the new
\nhumanity would find its complete development and its assured place in the new
\norder.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

 
\n But
\nit is clear that all this could only come as a result of the evolution which is
\nalready taking place upon earth extending far beyond its present bounds and
\npassing into a radically new movement governed by a new principle in which mind
\nand man would be subordinate elements and no longer mind the utmost achievement
\nor man the head or leader. The evolution we see around us at present is not of
\nthat kind and, it might be said, shows few signs of such a possibility, so few
\nthat the reason, at present our only sure guide, has no right to hazard belief
\nin it. Earth, the earth we see, with its life deeply immersed and founded in
\ninconscience and ignorance, is not built for such a development or capable of
\nholding such an advent; its materiality and limitations condemn it to be
\npermanently the field of a far inferior order. It<\/p>\n

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 may
\nbe said too that for such an order there must be a place somewhere and even if
\nsupermind is not a mere unwarranted speculation and is a concrete reality, there
\nis no need and no place for its embodying itself here. Mind as marking the full
\nplay of the knowledge possible to the ignorance must have its field somewhere
\nand to keep the earth as its natural field would best serve the economy of
\ncosmic Nature. A materialistic philosophy would admit of no possibility of a
\ndivine life in Matter; but even a philosophy admitting a soul or spirit or a
\nspiritual terminus of the evolutionary movement here could very well deny the
\ncapacity of earth for a divine life: a divine existence could only be achieved
\nby a departure from earth and the body. Even if cosmic existence is not an
\nillusion or Maya, a divine or a completely spiritual being is likely to be
\npossible only in another less material world or only in the pure spirit. At any
\nrate, to the normal human reason the odds seem to be heavily against any early
\nmaterialisation on earth of anything divine.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

         
\nAgain,
\nif too strong a stress is laid on the present or apparent character of the
\nevolution here as it is presented to us by physical science, it might be urged
\nthat there is no warrant for expecting any emergence of a principle higher than
\nhuman mind or of any such thing as super-human beings in a world of Matter.
\nConsciousness is itself dependent upon Matter and material agencies for its
\nbirth and its operations and an infallible Truth-consciousness, such as we
\nsuppose supermind to be, would be a contradiction of these conditions and must
\nbe dismissed as a chimera. Fundamentally, physical science regards evolution as
\na development of forms and vital activities; the development of a larger and
\nmore capable consciousness is a subordinate result of the development of life
\nand form and not a major or essential characteristic or circumstance and it
\ncannot go beyond limits determined by the material origin of mind and life. Mind
\nhas shown itself capable of many extraordinary achievements, but independence of
\nthe material organ or of physical conditions or a capability for any such thing
\nas a power of direct and absolute knowledge not acquired by material means would
\nbe beyond the conditions imposed by Nature. At a certain point therefore the
\nevolution of consciousness can go no further. Even if a something<\/p>\n

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\n\u2013 61<\/p>\n

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\n
\n<\/div>\n

definite
\nand independent which we call a soul exists, it is limited by its natural
\nconditions here where Matter is the basis, physical life the condition, mind the
\nhighest possible instrument; there is no possibility of an action of
\nconsciousness apart from the<\/span> body
\nor surpassing this physical, vital or mental Nature. This fixes the<\/span> limits
\nof our evolution here.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

         
\nIt
\nmight be suggested also that until something clearly recognisable like supermind
\nmanifests itself with some definiteness and fullness or until it descends and
\ntakes possession of our earth-consciousness, we cannot be certain that it
\nexists; till then mind holds the place as a general arbiter or field of
\nreference for all knowledge and mind is incapable of any certain or absolute
\nknowledge; it has to doubt all, to test all and yet to achieve all, but cannot
\nbe secure in its knowledge or its achievement. That, incidentally, establishes
\nthe necessity of such a principle as the supermind or Truth-Consciousness in any
\nintelligible universe, for without it there is no issue, no goal for either life
\nor knowledge. Consciousness cannot achieve its own entire meaning, its own
\nsupreme result without it; it will end in an inconsequence or a fiasco. To
\nbecome aware of its own truth and all truth is the very aim of its existence and
\nit cannot do so, so long as it has to tend towards truth, towards knowledge in
\nignorance and through the ignorance: it must develop or it must reach a power of
\nitself whose very nature is to know, to see, to possess in its own power. This
\nis what we call supermind and, once it is admitted, all the rest becomes
\nintelligible. But till then we are in doubt and it may be contended that even if
\nsupermind is admitted as a reality, there can be no certainty of its advent and
\nreign: till then all effort towards it may end in failure. It is not enough that
\nthe supermind should be actually there above us, its descent a possibility or a
\nfuture intention in Nature. We have no certainty of the reality of this descent
\nuntil it becomes an objectivised fact in our earthly being. Light has often
\ntried to descend upon the earth, but the Light remains unfulfilled and
\nincomplete; man may reject the Light, the world is still full of darkness and
\nthe advent seems to be little more than a chance; this doubt is to some extent
\njustified by the actualities of the past and still existing possibilities of’
\nthe future. Its power to stand would disappear only if super-<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage
\n\u2013 62<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

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\n
\n<\/div>\n

mind
\nis once admitted as a consequent part of the order of the universe. If the
\nevolution tends from Matter to Supermind, it must also tend to bring down
\nSupermind into Matter and the consequences are inevitable.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

         
\nThe
\nwhole trouble of this incertitude arises from the fact that we do not look
\nstraight at the whole truth of the world as it is and draw from it the right
\nconclusion as to what the world must be and cannot fail to be. This world is, no
\ndoubt, based osten<\/span>sibly upon
\nMatter, but its summit is Spirit and the ascent towards Spirit must be the aim
\nand justification of its existence and the pointer to its meaning and purpose.
\nBut the natural conclusion to be drawn from the supremacy and summit existence
\nof Spirit is clouded by a false or imperfect idea of spirituality which has been
\nconstructed by intellect in its ignorance and even by its too hasty and
\none-sided grasp at knowledge. The Spirit has been thought of not as something
\nall-pervading and the secret essence of our being, but as something only looking
\ndown on us from the heights and drawing us only towards the heights and away
\nfrom the rest of existence. So we get the idea of our cosmic and individual
\nbeing as a great illusion, and departure from it and extinction in our
\nconsciousness of both individual and cosmos as the only hope, the sole release.
\nOr we build up the idea of the earth as a world of ignorance, suffering and
\ntrial and our only future an escape into heavens beyond; there is no divine
\nprospect for us here, no fulfilment possible even with the utmost evolution on
\nearth in the body, no victorious transformation, no supreme object to be worked
\nout in terrestrial existence. But if supermind exists, if it descends, if it
\nbecomes the ruling principle, all that seems impossible to mind becomes not only
\npossible but inevitable. If we look closely, we shall see that there is a
\nstraining of mind and life on
\ntheir heights toward their own perfection, towards some divine fulfilment,
\ntowards their own absolute. That and not only something beyond and elsewhere is
\nthe true sign, the meaning of this constant evolution and the labour of
\ncontinual birth and rebirth and the spiral ascent of Nature. But it is only by
\nthe descent of supermind<\/span> and the
\nfulfilment of mind and life by their self-exceeding<\/span>
\n<\/i>that this secret intention in things, this hidden meaning of<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage
\n\u2013 63<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

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\n
\n<\/div>\n

Spirit
\nand Nature can become utterly overt and in its totality realisable. This is the
\nevolutionary aspect and significance of supermind, but in truth it is an eternal
\nprinciple existing covertly even in the material universe, the secret supporter
\nof all creation, it is that which makes the emergence of consciousness possible
\nand certain in an apparently inconscient world and compels a climb in Nature
\ntowards a supreme spiritual Reality. It is, in fact, an already and always
\nexistent plane of being, the nexus of Spirit and Matter, holding in its truth
\nand reality and making certain the whole meaning and aim of the universe.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

         
\nIf
\nwe disregard our present ideas of evolution, all changes, \u2013 if we can regard,
\nconsciousness and not life and form as the fundamental and essential
\nevolutionary principle and its emergence and full development of its
\npossibilities as the object of the evolutionary urge. The inconscience of Matter
\ncannot be an insuperable obstacle; for in this inconscience can be detected an
\ninvolved consciousness which has to evolve; life and mind are steps and
\ninstruments of that evolution; the purposeful drive and workings of the
\ninconscient material Energy are precisely such as we can attribute to the
\npresence of an involved consciousness automatic, not using thought like the mind
\nbut guided by something like an inherent material instinct practically
\ninfallible in all its steps, not yet cognitive but miraculously creative. The
\nentirely and inherently enlightened Truth-Consciousness we attribute to
\nSupermind would be the same reality appearing at an ultimate stage of the
\nevolution, finally evolved and no longer wholly involved as in Matter or partly
\nand imperfectly evolved and therefore capable of imperfection and error as in
\nlife and mind, now possessed of its own natural fullness and perfection,
\nluminously automatic, infallible. All the objections to a complete
\nevolutionary possibility then fall away; it would, on the contrary, be the
\ninevitable consequence contained not only in Nature as a whole but even in
\nmaterial Nature.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

 
\n In
\nthis vision of things the universe will reveal itself in its unity and totality
\nas a manifestation of a single Being, Nature as its power of manifestation,
\nevolution as its process of gradual self-revelation here in Matter. We would see
\nthe divine series of the worlds as a ladder of ascent from Matter to supreme
\nSpirit;<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

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\n\u2013 64<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

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\n
\n<\/div>\n

there
\nwould reveal itself the possibility, the prospect of a supreme manifestation by
\nthe conscious and no longer a veiled and enigmatic descent of the Spirit and its
\npowers in their fullness even into this lowest world of Matter. The riddle of
\nthe universe need be no longer a riddle; the dubious mystery of things would put
\noff its enigma, its constant ambiguity, the tangled writings would became
\nlegible and intelligible. In this revelation, supermind would take its natural
\nplace and no longer be a matter of doubt or questioning to an intelligence
\nbewildered by the complexity of the world; it would appear as the inevitable
\nconsequence of the nature<\/span> of
\nmind, life and Matter, the fulfilment of their meaning, their inherent principle
\nand tendencies, the necessary perfection of their imperfection, the summit to
\nwhich all are climbing<\/span>,<\/span> the consummation of divine existence, consciousness and bliss to which
\nit is leading, the last result of the birth of things and supreme goal of this
\nprogressive manifestation which we see here in life.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

         
\nThe
\nfull emergence of supermind may be accomplished by a sovereign manifestation, a
\ndescent into earth-consciousness and a rapid assumption of its powers and
\ndisclosing of its forms and the creation of a supramental race and a supramental
\nlife: this must indeed be the full result of its action in Nature. But this has
\nnot been the habit of evolutionary Nature in the past upon earth and it may well
\nbe that this supramental evolution also will fix its own periods, though it
\ncannot be at all a similar development to that of which earth has hitherto been
\nthe witness. But once it has begun, all must unavoidably and perfectly manifest
\nend all parts of Nature must tend towards a greatest possible luminousness and
\nperfection. It is this certainty that authorises us to believe that mind and
\nhumanity also will tend towards the realisation that will be far beyond our
\npresent dreams of perfection. A mind of light will replace the present confusion
\nand trouble of this earthly ignorance; it is likely that even those parts of
\nhumanity which cannot reach it will yet be aware of its possibility and
\nconsciously tend towards it; not only so, but the life of humanity will be
\nenlightened, uplifted, governed, harmonised by this luminous principle and even
\nthe body become something much less powerless, obscure and animal in its
\npropensities<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage
\n\u2013 65<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

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\n
\n<\/div>\n

and
\ncapable instead of a new and harmonised perfection. It is this possibility that
\nwe have to look at and that would mean a new humanity uplifted into Light,
\ncapable of a spiritualised being and action, open to governance by some light of
\nthe Truth. Consciousness, capable even on the mental level and in its <\/i>own
\norder of something that might be called the beginning of a divinised life.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage
\n\u2013 66<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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