A video produced by Auroville about the vision and work of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, made entirely using computer motion graphics. It presents the evolutionary crisis, the two denials, and the synthesis of Consciousness and Power. For those who already know something about Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, the video offers a contemporary way to present their teachings. For the new generation who may not know these two visionaries, the narrative style of the video with universal symbols makes their vision and worldview easily accessible.
Sri Aurobindo
Sri Aurobindo (August 15, 1872 – December 5, 1950) was an Indian nationalist, freedom fighter, philosopher, yogi, guru and poet.He joined the Indian movement for liberation from British rule and became one of its most important leaders for a time, before developing his own vision of human progress and spiritual evolution.Sri Aurobindo synthesized Eastern and Western philosophy, religion, literature and psychology in scriptures.Aurobindo was the first Indian to create a large literary corpus in English.His works include philosophy; poetry; translations of and commentaries on the Vedas, Upanishads and the Gita; Plays; literary, social, political and historical criticism; devotional works; spiritual magazines and three volumes of letters.His main philosophical writings are The Life Divine and The Synthesis of Yoga,
Evolutionary Philosophy
Sri Aurobindo states that humanity is not the last step in the evolutionary scale, but can evolve spiritually beyond its present limitations into a state of spiritual and supra-mental existence. He called this evolutionary existence a “Divine life on earth,” characterized by a spiritualized, supramental, truth-consciousness-oriented humanity.
Process Of Creation And Evolution
He speaks of two central movements in the creative process: an involution of consciousness from an original omnipresent Reality, which manifests a universe of forms, including matter; and an evolution of those material forms in creation upwards toward life, mind, and spirit, reconnecting with their spiritual source.It is also a process of evolution.
Involution
The process by which the Energy of creation emerged from a timeless, spaceless, unspeakable, unchanging Reality, Sri Aurobindo refers to involution.In the process, Reality expanded into His/Existence (Sat), Consciousness, which awakened a Force – (Chit); and Bliss (Ananda) – self-enjoyment of existence and awareness.Through the action of a fourth dimension, Supermind (i.e., Truth Consciousness), the Power (Chit) of Sat-Chit-Ananda was divided into Knowledge and Will, and eventually formed as an invisible Energy that would become the source of creation.Through its own deliberate self-absorption of consciousness, the universe would begin as an unconscious material existence from that energy.
Evolution
The process of existence that arises from the Unconscious is called evolution. Initially, it gradually emerges in the stages of matter, life, and spirit. First matter evolves from simple to complex forms, then life arises in matter and evolves from simple to complex forms, finally the mind emerges in life and evolves from rudimentary to higher forms of thinking and reasoning. As each new principle emerges, the previous stages remain, but are integrated into the higher principle. Humanity represents the stage of development of the mind in complex material life forms. The higher development of the mind in the mass of humanity is not yet a safe possession. Reason and intellect still do not dominate the lives of most people; instead, the mind tends to be focused on the purposes of the principle of life, which is focused on self-preservation, self-affirmation, and satisfaction of personal needs and desires. But evolution does not end with the establishment of reason and intellect; beyond the mind are higher levels of a spiritual and supra-mental consciousness that must also emerge in the nature of things. This higher evolution is described as a dual movement; inwards, away from surface consciousness and into depth, culminating in the realization of the psychic being (the personal evolving soul); and then upwards to higher levels of spiritual mind, higher mind, enlightened mind, intuitive mind, and away from surface consciousness and into depth, culminating in the realization of the psychic being (the personal evolving soul); and then upwards to higher levels of spiritual mind, higher mind, enlightened mind, intuitive mind, and away from surface consciousness and into depth, culminating in the realization of the psychic being (the personal evolving soul); and then upwards to higher levels of spiritual mind, higher mind, enlightened mind, intuitive mind, and Overmind), culminating in the final stage of supramentalization. While these higher levels of consciousness have been reached in certain individuals, they should eventually emerge more universally as general stages in evolution. When they emerge, there will be the embodiment of a new species on earth that will be reunited in consciousness with Sakhadananda.
Triple Transformation of the Individual
Sri Aurobindo’s argues that man is born as an ignorant, divided, conflicting being; a product of the original ignorance (i.e., unconsciousness), inherent in the Matter from which it evolved. As a result, he does not know the nature of Reality, including its source and purpose; his own nature, including the sharing and integration of his being; what purpose he serves and what, among other things, is his individual and spiritual potential. In addition, man experiences life through division and conflict, including his relationship with others, and his divided view of mind and life. To overcome these limitations, man must begin a process of self-discovery in which he exposes his divine nature. To this end, he undertakes a three-step process, which he calls the Triple Transformation. (1) psychic transformation— The first of the three stages is a movement within, away from the surface of life, to the depths, culminating in the discovery of its psychic being (the evolving soul). From that experience he sees the unity and unity of creation and the harmony of all the opposites experienced in life. (2) Spiritual transformation – As a result of making the psychic change, his mind expands and experiences knowledge not through the hard churning of thoughts, but through light, intuition, and revelation of knowledge, culminating in his supramental perception. Light enters from the heights and begins to transmute different parts of its being. (3) Supramental transformation—After making the psychic and spiritual change, he makes the supramental and most radical change. It is, in fact, a complete transformation of the mind, heart, emotions, and physical body. Most of his books and publications can be downloaded for free at: http://www.demoeder.nl/.. and https://auroville.org/contents/3533
For full reference, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Aurobindo Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Sri Aurobindo’s closest spiritual collaborator, Mirra Richard (b. Alfassa), became known as The Mother, simply because Sri Aurobindo started calling her by this name.When asked why he called her the Mother, Sri Aurobindo wrote an essay called The Mother to shed light on the person of Mirra.