Discover the profound spiritual legacy of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, the visionary leaders behind Auroville, and how their teachings continue to shape this unique spiritual community today.
Continue readingAurocracy – A model for Auroville’s Governance
Evolution of Governance in Auroville
The evolution of governance in Auroville has witnessed the exploration and experimentation of various models over time. While Auroville’s governance structure has not followed a linear progression through these models, different elements and aspects of each model have been explored and adapted based on the community’s needs and values. Here’s a brief overview of how these governance models have been considered in Auroville’s evolution:
Phase of Meritocracy:
In the initial five years of Auroville, Mother was physically present and perhaps made merit-based selection, as can be seen through her decisions regarding Roger, Dayadand, etc. She laid importance on goodwill, expertise, experience, and competence in leadership positions. Individuals with the necessary skills and qualifications were chosen for specific roles and went about delivering results depending on best of their abilities. Otherwise, in general, the residents’ took whatever role they liked. Unless, specified by Her, specifically.
Phase of Socialism/Communism:
After Her passing to different realms, the residents were affected by the usual ailment, being human. Mistrust, misunderstanding, and mismanagement grew wild, and without the resort to Mother, Aurovilians revolted against the previous leaders. Perhaps, they were inspired by principles of equality, cooperation, and collective ownership. Elements of socialist and communist governance, such as communal living, shared resources, and a focus on community well-being, have influenced the initial phase of Auroville’s development. There were the so-called “Pour Tous meetings” (For All Meetings). Perhaps, this is when the Auroville residents “discovered” their collective ego.
Phase of Anarchy:
In those days, the resources were short, and given the temperature, tempers were even shorter. The principles of equality soon got replaced by egoality. Everyone might have felt, ‘Apun ko lagta hai, apun hi Divine hai’ and slowly anarchy might have crept in, wrapped with the meaning of self-governance and as a resistance to hierarchical authority. The emphasis on personal freedom, random-responsibility, and decision-making through shouting fests and fistfights aligned with certain narrow principles of anarchy.
Phase of Democracy:
After 1988, with the intervention of the parliament through an Act, it dawned that anarchy cannot continue for long, and as result democratic system of governance was sought. Where decisions were made through the participation of the people, and for a decade or so the residents found a new toy to toy with. The Resident’s Assembly, WC, FAMC, etc. were conceived and born during those wild days.
Phase of Oligarchy:
In the phase of democracy, as the name suggests, demography expanded. When the number of new members increased, the entrenched powerhouses were not ready to share the hard-won governance with the newer players. Perhaps, this is when the oligarchy (rule by a small group) emerged and created rules, regulations, guidelines, codes, mandates, policies, etc. to win and rule with a quorum of 5%. This meant a few could play musical chairs across multiple floors and multiple buildings in the newly built Town Hall then. Till 2021.
Phase of Technocracy:
After the arrival of a seasoned bureaucrat, in June 2021, she has slowly brought in and explored the elements of technocracy, where decision-making is based on the ‘so-called’ expertise and knowledge of technical specialists. Now, Auroville’s technocratic considerations and appointments are carried out top down, through the ever-present Secretariat, and almost never-present Governing Board. The buy-in for this model in the community is extremely low, and thus the ecosystem required to implement the incredible out-of-the-world ideas of the technocrats of Auroville are non-existent. Thus, defeating the purpose for which they’re appointed in the first place.
Phase of Participatory Democracy:
In reaction to the rigid and opaque technocracy, some residents have resorted to participatory democracy, which emphasizes active involvement and participation of ‘all’ community members in decision-making processes. This has been a significant aspect of Auroville’s underground governance model which is closed and exclusive in essence. The engagement of residents in the nomination, feedback, and selection processes, as well as the emphasis on community input, boasting a participatory approach, is carried out within the closed coterie of trusted and loyal residents.
Well, all the above need to be put in context that Auroville’s governance is an evolving experiment which is the expression of a higher consciousness working to manifest the truth of the future. By whatever means, our society innately seeks to create a harmonious and inclusive environment that fosters individual growth, collective well-being, and the realization of Auroville’s broader ideals.
Need for a new Governance model
The above-mentioned governance models have been tried at various times and none seem to be fitting Auroville’s requirements precisely. They all have pros and cons. Perhaps, what we need is not an imported model, but a conscious governance model that fits the specific needs of Auroville. In truth, none of the existing models will work for us, as we’re trying to tread unchartered waters here. We need to evolve our own governance model to suit our needs.
The proposed governance model, referred to as Aurocracy – a participatory action model, incorporates elements of various yogic disciplines (Raja, Jnana, Bhakti, Karma Yoga) and emphasizes the importance of discipline, knowledge, devotion, and action. The governance model described in the given scenario combines elements of meritocracy and collective decision-making. It includes specific processes for WG member selection and functioning. Here’s an overview of the model:
Nomination:
- Residents cannot directly nominate themselves or others for the WG membership.
- Individuals interested in membership of a working group must first work in it for a minimum of one year as a team member, and the experience cannot be from more than five years in the past.
- Nominees must commit full-commitment to the working group. No other part-time or full-time engagements for utmost attention to serve Auroville. (This will ensure efficiency and quicker decision-making)
- Residents can nominate themselves or others with at least one year of working experience as a team member of that WG, before applying for the membership. (For eg. Before applying for ATDC, the nominee should have worked in ATDC’s office in some role. This would ensure a deeper understanding of the work.)
- The Auroville Council scrutinizes the applicants and shortlists eligible candidates. (Only to ensure the above criterias are met)
Presentation and Feedback:
- Shortlisted candidates are required to make a presentation on how they will contribute to advancing Auroville’s interests in that particular WG. (Let’s say there are 20 applicants to ATDC, they may have to come up with interesting and creative ideas to prove their mettle and capability)
- Residents can attend the presentation in person or watch it online and provide qualitative feedback within a week.
- Nominees may need to incorporate the feedback or provide valid reasons for disregarding it and make a final presentation. (The ones who fail to do this will be removed from the shortlisted list.)
Random Selection:
- The final selection of working group members is made through a draw of straw method or another random selection process. (Continuing with the same example, irrespective of the impressiveness of the presentation, everyone stands a chance.)
- Typically, 5 or 7 members are selected randomly. (Again, they may not be the best ones, but it doesn’t matter. We all are one here and there is no competition. As it was a random selection, there is no resentment or disappointment. Anyone could have been the winner. A great equalizer. If the ones with the best ideas get in, they’ve their role cut out and can go implement. And, even the ones whose ideas were not great, can simply invite the co-applicants to share the ideas and implement. In fact, might include them in the project them)
Facilitation and Role/Project Assignment:
- Once the working group is selected, a facilitator can be involved to align all the new members and assign responsibilities. (This is necessary, as all the 7 members of ATDC might have various ideas and some even conflicting. In fact, the 7 members can even invite the 13 other co-applicants who didn’t make it and try to integrate their ideas too. The facilitation also will ensure that the WG has a definite comprehensive and cohesive roadmap in place before starting working together.)
Working Working Group
- The working of the WG may mainly entail taking policy decisions, resource mobilisation, work assignment and facilitation, monitoring and evaluation, etc. (For eg. ATDC may pass resolutions to award the DDP project to right team or experts, instead of holding the work inhouse)
- Working Group members are not allowed to take up any power/role/project themselves. (ATDC doing DDPs, Crown, WTHC, etc. has only resulted in delay and wastage. At the same time, the MM lake team independent of ATDC could quietly finish the test lake, almost without any noise.)
- They work closely with the Resident’s Assembly Service (RAS) to identify and select interested residents who can fulfill specific roles or projects. (It is the job of the RAS to ensure the residents enlisted in the RoR are indeed serving Auroville. It is their job to nudge the residents to take up responsibilities and contribute to the progress of Auroville. It is RAS’ responsibility to ensure the new entrants to the RoR are properly oriented towards the purpose and propose multiple possibilities to serve Auroville, motivate and align the existing / continuing Aurovilians to contribute according to the best of their abilities. And, facilitate those who wish to leave Auroville.)
This governance model aims to foster participatory action, far beyond participatory planning, emphasizing the importance of discipline, knowledge, devotion, and action. It includes elements of merit-based selection, community feedback, and randomization to ensure a fair and inclusive process. The involvement of a facilitator and collaboration with the RAS supports coordination and the distribution of responsibilities within the working groups.
Aurocracy may also prove to be a possible solution to our current logjam. The folks in the Town Hall will never agree to a number based governance model, as one can easily predict the results. On the other hand, even if the TH WG agrees to work with Aurovilians of opposing views, the appointment process has to go through the Secretariat and wait for Office Orders from GB. This is not going to be easy to accept for the Kailash folks. The above-mentioned selection process may mean that those with ideas from both sides will present, and the random selection process will ensure that there is no foul play. Whatever is the eventual composition of the team, can be considered as the divine play and work with the given team.
Remember Her words…
“At any rate, they should get together. Then I will see.”
“And yet we must find a way for all these solutions to work together.”
“We have to bear in mind that we are starting from the present state of humanity. So you must face all the difficulties; you must find the solution.”
“This fact is so obvious that a simple and ignorant peasant here is, in his heart, closer to the Divine than the intellectuals of Europe.
All those who want to become Aurovilians must know this and behave accordingly; otherwise they are unworthy of being Aurovilians.”
“We shall work for a better tomorrow.”
“Auroville is for those who want to do the Yoga of work.
To live in Auroville means to do the Yoga of work. So all Aurovilians must take up a work and do it as Yoga.”
“Enlarge your consciousness and aspire for the satisfaction of all.”
“Auroville must not lie. Everyone who aspires to be an Aurovilian must make the resolution never to tell a lie.”
“We must “be” in all sincerity.”
“But for so many years they have been here. It must be proved, it can’t be a feeling or an idea or something like that, there must be a concrete proof.
I have read this question to S.S., because we have spoken together at length, insofar as we feel that certain decisions must be made to try and improve the situation in Auroville.
They will protest at first, but we must remain firm: “This is how it is.”
We must find the people capable of doing this, with the required strength of character, and once we find them, they can be given the authority, and if the others don’t like it, they’ll have to leave!
But when a difficulty comes, you must take heart and face it courageously.
We must strive for Order, Harmony, Beauty and… collective aspiration—all the things which for the moment are not there.
We must rise above personal reactions, be exclusively attuned to the divine Will and be the docile instruments of the divine Will—we must be impersonal, without any personal reaction.
We must “be” in all sincerity.”
Benefits of the new Governance model
The new governance model – Aurocracy – proposed in the previous description has several potential advantages:
Slay the tyranny of numbers:
By implementing a system where residents cannot directly nominate themselves or others to membership positions, the model aims to address the potential negative aspects of majority rule or the tyranny of numbers. This helps ensure that membership positions are not solely determined by popularity or voting power, but rather by a combination of experience, qualifications, and commitment.
Divine anarchy to play its role:
“Men must become conscious of their psychic being and organise themselves spontaneously, without fixed rules and laws―that is the ideal.”
The nomination, presentation, selection, facilitation, and action can all become an occasion for us to become conscious of our inner psychic being and act spontaneously.
Work experience and knowledge as the base for decision-making:
Requiring individuals to have a minimum of one year of work experience in a working group before being eligible for membership positions ensures that decision-making is informed by practical knowledge and familiarity with the group’s dynamics. The model promotes a meritocratic approach. This can lead to more effective and informed decision-making processes.
Wider population willing to work in working groups:
By making work experience a prerequisite for membership positions, the governance model incentivizes a broader segment of the population to actively engage and contribute within working groups. This can result in a more diverse pool of candidates and a greater sense of ownership and commitment among residents.
Reduced Influence of Popularity or Political Campaigning:
The model’s selection process, including the involvement of the Auroville Council and random selection methods, can help minimize the influence of popularity or political campaigning. This reduces the risk of individuals being chosen based solely on charisma or campaigning skills, ensuring a fairer and more impartial selection process. The model reduces the influence of external factors, such as lobbying, special interest groups, or media influence, on the selection process.
Community Input and Feedback:
The model encourages community participation and feedback through residents’ attendance at presentations or providing feedback online. This fosters a sense of inclusivity and allows community members to have a say in the selection of members and provide valuable input for decision-making. It promotes a sense of collective ownership and involvement in the governance process.
Collaboration and Effective Teamwork:
The involvement of a facilitator and the emphasis on collaboration within the working group can lead to improved teamwork and coordination. By aligning the new members and assigning responsibilities, the model promotes efficient and effective decision-making processes, leading to better outcomes.
Balanced Power Distribution:
By not allowing working group members to take up power/role/project themselves, the model promotes a more distributed and balanced power structure. This prevents concentration of power and ensures that decision-making authority is shared among a broader group of individuals. It can mitigate the risk of dominance or favoritism and foster a sense of collective responsibility.
Efficiency, Adaptability and Focus:
By committing full-time to the working group, members can dedicate their attention and efforts solely to the group’s objectives and responsibilities. This can enhance efficiency and effectiveness in achieving desired outcomes. The model’s emphasis on aligning new members and assigning responsibilities with the help of a facilitator allows for adaptability and flexibility within the working groups. This can accommodate changing circumstances, evolving priorities, and the diverse skills and interests of the residents, resulting in more agile and responsive governance.
Enhanced Accountability:
As members are selected based on their demonstrated commitment and experience within a working group, they are more likely to be accountable to the group and its objectives. This accountability can contribute to a higher level of responsibility and dedication among members.
Long-Term Perspective:
The requirement that the one-year experience be within the past five years ensures that members have recent engagement with the working group. This helps maintain a focus on current challenges and opportunities, promoting a forward-looking and adaptive approach to governance.
Reduced Polarization and Partisanship:
The random selection method for choosing working group members can help reduce polarization and partisanship. It avoids potential divisions based on political affiliations or personal biases, contributing to a more harmonious and cooperative environment.
Continuity and Stability:
Requiring a minimum of one year of experience within a working group before seeking a membership position promotes continuity and stability in governance. members have a deeper understanding of the group’s dynamics, challenges, and goals, which can lead to more consistent decision-making and long-term planning.
Development of Leadership Skills:
By requiring individuals to work in a working group for a minimum of one year before seeking a membership position, the model allows aspiring members to develop essential skills, such as teamwork, communication, and problem-solving. This can contribute to the growth and development of future members within Auroville.
Collaboration and Networking:
The involvement of the Resident’s Assembly Service (RAS) in the role/project assignment process encourages collaboration and networking within Auroville. It creates opportunities for residents to connect with each other, share resources, and contribute their skills and expertise to various projects or roles, fostering a sense of collective progress and growth.
In summary, the new governance model – Aurocracy – offers a holistic and conscious approach to governance, tailored to suit the specific needs and aspirations of Auroville.
***
Our Masters on Governance
FROM SRI AUROBINDO
Ideal of Human Unity / Forms of Government
Or it might be something like the disguised oligarchy of an international council reposing its rule on the assent, expressed by election or otherwise, of what might be called a semi passive democracy as its first figure. For that is what the modern democracy at present is in fact; the sole democratic elements are public opinion, periodical elections and the power of the people to refuse reelection to those who have displeased it.
The Ideal of Human Unity / The Drive towards Legislative and Social Centralization & Uniformity
Certainly, democracy as it is now practised is not the last or penultimate stage; for it is often merely democratic in appearance and even at the best amounts to the rule of the majority and works by the vicious method of party government, defects the increasing perception of which enters largely into the present day dissatisfaction with parliamentary systems. Even a perfect democracy is not likely to be the last stage of social evolution, but it is still the necessary broad standing ground upon which the self consciousness of the social being can come to its own.
It does not follow that a true democracy must necessarily come into being at some time.
War and Self Determinism
Ancient liberty and democracy meant in Greece the self rule—variegated by periodical orgies of mutual throat cutting—of a smaller number of freemen of all ranks who lived by the labour of a great mass of slaves. In recent times liberty and democracy have been, and still are, a cant assertion which veils under a skilfully moderated plutocratic system the rule of an organised successful bourgeoisie over a proletariate at first submissive, afterwards increasingly dissatisfied and combined for recalcitrant self assertion.
Another illusion was that the growth of democracy would mean the growth of pacifism and the end of war…
Man refuses to learn from that history of whose lessons the wise prate to us; otherwise the story of old democracies ought to have been enough to prevent this particular illusion.
War and Self Determinism
The future does not belong to that hybrid thing, a middleclass democracy infected with the old theory of international relations, however modified by concessions to a new broader spirit of idealism.
The future destined to replace this present is evident enough in some of its main outward tendencies, in society away from plutocracy and middleclass democracy to some completeness of socialism and attempt at a broad and equal commonalty of social living, in the relations of the peoples away from aggressive nationalism and balances of power to some closer international comity.
The Idea of Human Unity / The Peril of the World State
Democracy is by no means a sure preservative of liberty: on the contrary, we see today a democratic system of government march steadily towards an organised annihilation of individual liberty as could not have been dreamed of in the old aristocratic or monarchical system… it revives now only in periods of revolution and excitement often in the form of mob tyranny or a savage reactionary or revolutionary repression…
Sri Aurobindo / Evening Talks, 1926 / Purani
I am at present speaking against democracy. That does not mean there is no truth behind it – and I know it, yet I speak against democracy because that mentality is against the Truth that is trying to come down.
FROM THE MOTHER
On Thoughts & Aphorisms 341 -343 (Karma)
Democracy was the protest of the human soul against the allied despotisms of autocrat, priest and noble; Socialism is the protest of the human soul against the despotism of a plutocratic democracy; Anarchism is likely to be the protest of the human soul against the tyranny of a bureaucratic Socialism. It is chimerical to enquire which is the better system; it would be difficult to decide which is the worse.
A turbulent and eager march from illusion to illusion and from failure to failure is the image of European progress.
Agenda 10 April 1968
If there is no representative of the supreme Consciousness (which can happen, of course), if there isn’t any, we could perhaps (this would be worth trying) replace him with the government by a small number—we would have to choose between four and eight, something like that: four, seven or eight—a small number having an INTUITIVE intelligence.
All the intermediaries have proved incompetent: theocracy, aristocracy, democracy, plutocracy—all that is a complete failure.
Agenda, August 16, 1969
In an undated note, Mother once wrote: Democracy was necessary and useful a hundred years ago, but now we must go beyond it if we want to take a step forward towards a new creation.
Agenda 27 July, 1968 (conversation)
Satprem: The Press is asking for a few texts to fill blanks in the forthcoming Bulletin.
The Mother: Take from Sri Aurobindo, not from me! Everything from Sri Aurobindo
Satprem proposes the following text:
Sri Aurobindo: Overmind is obliged to respect the freedom of the individual….
Oh, that’s a revelation! I didn’t know that.
Sri Aurobindo: …including his freedom to be perverse, stupid, recalcitrant and slow. Supermind is not merely a step higher than Overmind—it is beyond the line, that is a different consciousness and power beyond the mental limit.”
Do you imply that the Supermind will not be obliged to respect the freedom of the individual?
Sri Aurobindo: Of course I do! It will respect only the Truth of the Divine and the truth of things.
The Mother / On Auroville’s Organization
We want an organization which is the expression of a higher consciousness working to manifest the truth of the future.
Mother’s Agenda, 1966
Scores of people have come for Auroville…. Instead of working, they spend their time talking… They’ve already begun discussing what the city’s political situation will be …And one of them wrote to me yesterday, saying he couldn’t take part in something that wasn’t purely ‘democratic’… So I answered him this: Auroville must be at the service of the Truth, beyond all social, political and religious convictions… but above all…it would be better to build the city first!
Mother’s Agenda, 7 Feb, 1970
The anarchic state is the self government of each individual, and it will be the perfect government only when each one becomes conscious of the inner Divine and will obey only Him and Him alone…
Someone from Auroville wrote to me that he had come here to obey only himself and he found there were rules and laws. And he said: I won’t do it! I am free, I refuse to do it… so I wrote to him..
“One is only free when one is conscious of the Divine…”
Charter of Auroville / The Mother
But to live in Auroville, one must be a willing servitor of the Divine Consciousness.
Notes on the works of Sri Aurobindo
Life Divine:
“Sri Aurobindo’s monumental work, ‘Life Divine,’ is divided into two volumes. The first volume, titled ‘Omnipresent Reality and the Universe,’ delves into the enigma of Ultimate Reality and its relationship to our universe composed of Matter, Life, and Mind. Sri Aurobindo critically examines various theories of Reality, harmonizing partial truths into a comprehensive perspective. He expounds on the nature of Matter, Life, and Mind, drawing from ancient wisdom and modern scientific discoveries to demonstrate their connection to the Omnipresent Reality. This connection, referred to as the Supermind, is elaborated in detail.
The second volume consists of two parts. The first part, ‘The Infinite Consciousness and the Ignorance,’ delves deeper into the nature of the Ultimate Reality as the Infinite Consciousness. A new epistemological approach, the Logic of the Infinite, is introduced and applied. The discussion extends to the nature of Ignorance, its boundaries, and its relation to Knowledge, addressing the origin of Ignorance and its connection to Infinite Consciousness through the concept of Tapas. The volume concludes by analyzing Evil, Error, and Falsehood as products of Ignorance, suggesting their potential remedy and eventual eradication.
The final part, ‘The Knowledge and The Spiritual Evolution,’ leads us to the culmination of Sri Aurobindo’s reasoning, illustrating how obscured Integral Truth can become manifest. He outlines the evolution of consciousness as a self-unfolding process, from the Inconscient to Matter, and discusses the Theory of Rebirth. This theory, along with the concept of supraphysical worlds, is explained as a mechanism for spiritual evolution. The work then envisions the further ascent from Mind to Supermind and the nature of the supramental or Gnostic Being. The final chapter anticipates the realization of a Divine life on Earth and explores possibilities for building a future ideal humanity.”
The Synthesis Of Yoga:
“Sri Aurobindo’s ‘The Synthesis of Yoga’ is organized into four parts, with an introductory section. The introduction, spanning five chapters, explores the conditions required for the synthesis of Yoga. It establishes that Yoga is aligned with Life and Nature, illustrating how Yoga optimally utilizes the energies of life. The introduction briefly touches on various yoga systems, highlighting their common principles and dynamic forces. This, in turn, leads to the development of a synthesis of Yoga.
The remainder of the book focuses on defining Integral Yoga and the necessary aids for the Integral Yoga practitioner. Each of the three paths of Yoga—Work, Knowledge, and Love—are examined within the framework of Integral Yoga. The first part, ‘The Yoga of the Divine Works,’ emphasizes the principle of self-consecration and Surrender in Works, progressing through stages of sacrifice in different aspects of life. It traces the transformation of the practitioner into a Divine Worker.
The second part, ‘The Yoga of the Integral Knowledge,’ delves into knowledge and its purification, concentration, and renunciation. It integrates the Disciplines of Knowledge into a realization of both the Transcendent and the Cosmic Self, leading to a description of the Gnosis of the Supermind and Ananda. The section briefly touches on Samadhi, Hatha Yoga, and Raja Yoga.
The third part, ‘The Yoga of Divine Love,’ discusses the role of Love in the Integral Yoga. It covers the Motives of Devotion and how they are employed in the Way of Devotion. The section also delves into the nature of Divine Delight and the Divine Personality, concluding with a profound exploration of the Mystery of Love.
The fourth part, ‘The Yoga of Self-Perfection,’ offers a detailed psychological examination of the Divine Life and integral perfection. It defines methods for perfecting each aspect of the being and the instrument of the Spirit. The Supramental faculties, Supermind, Supramental Thought, and Knowledge are elaborated upon, along with the path to Supramental Time Vision.”
Essays On The Gita:
“Sri Aurobindo’s ‘Essays On The Gita’ is presented in two series, aiming to elucidate the profound concepts found within the Bhagavad Gita and the true intentions of Lord Krishna as its Divine Teacher. The first series centers on Karma Yoga, discussing the challenges faced by individuals in the battlefield of life, the significance of Sacrifice, and the concept of Avatarhood. It emphasizes the role of renunciation and the sacrifice of desire in works as a means to attain spiritual heights, ending with a chapter summarizing the ‘Gist of Karmayoga.’
The second series, in two parts, delves into the Gita’s integral theory of Reality, which forms the foundation for the Synthetic Yoga. It explores intricate concepts such as the Two Natures of the Divine, Vibhuti, Swabhava, and Swadharma. This series reveals the secret teachings of the Bhagavad Gita and concludes with an inspiring essay titled ‘The Message of the Gita.'”
The Human Cycle:
“‘The Human Cycle’ is a work examining the psychology of social development. It presents a cyclical perspective on social progress, tracing humanity’s history from the barbaric age to the present Age of Reason and envisioning a future Spiritual Age. The book discusses concepts such as Individualism, Objectivism, and Subjectivism in Social Thought, Nationalism, and contrasts Civilization with Barbarism and Culture. It emphasizes the need for suprarational spirituality to overcome the conflicts between Aesthetic and Ethical cultures. The text also analyzes the psychology of contemporary times, pointing out the end of the Curve of Reason and the necessity of spiritual transformation. It outlines the conditions for the emergence of a Spiritual Age and how humanity will transition toward it.”
The Ideal Of Human Unity:
“‘The Ideal Of Human Unity’ is a study of communal and collective life, exploring the driving force behind it and its ultimate purpose. The book argues that nature propels humanity toward larger agglomerations, ultimately aiming for a world union. It assesses past aggregates, discusses the relationship between the individual and the group, and addresses the significance of the urge for empire-building. The text suggests the possibility of a World-State in the context of growing Nationalism and Internationalism trends. It establishes the concept of Nature’s Law of Unity in Diversity and proposes a free grouping of humanity. The book concludes by envisioning a World-State as a federation of free nationalities and includes a post-script chapter to bring the text up to date.”
The Riddle Of This World:
“‘The Riddle Of This World’ compiles Sri Aurobindo’s responses to questions regarding occult truths related to Yoga. These writings shed light on topics like Supernals, Graded Worlds, Rebirth, False Lights, and more. Some letters address matters concerning Yoga, Western Metaphysics, Agnosticism, Doubt, and Faith.”
On The Veda: “‘On The Veda’ is divided into four parts. The first part, ‘The Secret of the Veda,’ explores the hidden meaning of Vedic hymns, critiques Sayana’s theory, and examines interpretations by European Scholars. It concludes that Vedic Mantras possess esoteric meanings and spiritual knowledge, revealing the inner significance of Vedic symbols.
The second part, ‘Selected Hymns,’ provides translations of specific hymns with interpretative commentaries. The third part further elucidates the doctrine of the Mystics and includes translations of additional hymns to Agni and other deities. The fourth part presents more hymns
to the God of the Mystic Fire, Thought, Gods, and the Vedic Fire. Additionally, an appendix contains an essay addressing the origins of Aryan speech, shedding light on its historical context and development.
The Problem Of Rebirth: ‘The Problem Of Rebirth’ is a concise volume comprising three sections. The first section addresses the concept of Rebirth, examining its relationship with theories of Evolution, Heredity, Karma, and Free Will, while emphasizing its significance.
The second section delves into the complex aspects of Karma, touching on the Terrestrial Law and Mind Nature. It explores the intricate web of cause and effect in the context of human existence.
The third section extends the discussion to higher dimensions of Karma and Truth, exploring the spiritual aspects of this fundamental concept. It provides a comprehensive understanding of the broader implications of Karma within the context of human experience and spiritual growth.
In summary, these works by Sri Aurobindo offer profound insights into various facets of human existence, spirituality, and the path to self-realization. Each work provides a unique perspective and guidance for individuals seeking a deeper understanding of life’s complexities and spiritual evolution.
Extract from a letter of Sri Aurobindo to the Mother
The whole earth is now under one law and answers to the
same vibrations and I am sceptical of finding any place where
the clash of the struggle will not pursue us. I must remain
in touch with the world until I have either mastered adverse
circumstances or succumbed or carried on the struggle
between the spiritual and physical so far as I am destined to
carry it on. This is how I have always seen things and still see
them. As for failure, difficulty and apparent impossibility I am
too much habituated to them to be much impressed by their
constant self-presentation except for passing moments…
One needs to have a calm heart, a settled will, entire self
abnegation and the eyes constantly fixed on the beyond to live
undiscouraged in times like these which are truly a period of
universal decomposition. For myself, I follow the Voice and
look neither to right nor to left of me. The result is not mine
and hardly at all now even the labour.
The earliest preoccupation of man in his awakened thoughts
and, as it seems, his inevitable and ultimate preoccupation, —
for it survives the longest periods of scepticism and returns
after every banishment, — is also the highest which his thought
can envisage. It manifests itself in the divination of Godhead,
the impulse towards perfection, the search after pure Truth
and unmixed Bliss, the sense of a secret immortality. The
ancient dawns of human knowledge have left us their witness
to this constant aspiration; today we see a humanity satiated
but not satisfied by victorious analysis of the externalities
of Nature preparing to return to its primeval longings. The
earliest formula of Wisdom promises to be its last, — God,
Light, Freedom, Immortality
The first step is Karmayoga, the selfless sacrifice of works,
and here the Gita’s insistence is on action. The second is
Jnanayoga, the self-realisation and knowledge of the true
nature of the self and the world, and here the insistence is
on knowledge; but the sacrifice of works continues and the
path of Works becomes one with but does not disappear into
the path of Knowledge. The last step is Bhaktiyoga, adoration
and seeking of the supreme Self as the Divine Being, and
here the insistence is on devotion; but the knowledge is not
subordinated, only raised, vitalised and fulfilled, and still the
sacrifice of works continues; the double path becomes the
triune way of knowledge, works and devotion. And the fruit of
the sacrifice, the one fruit placed before the seeker, is attained,
union with the divine Being and oneness with the supreme
divine Nature.
The spirit and ideals of our civilisation need no defence for in
their best parts and in their essence they were of eternal value.
India’s internal and individual seeking of them was earnest,
powerful, effective. But the application in the collective
life of society was subjected to serious reserves… And now
survival itself has become impossible without expansion. If
we are to live at all we must resume India’s great interrupted
endeavour; we must take up boldly and execute thoroughly
in the individual and in the society, in the spiritual and in the
mundane life, in philosophy and religion, in art and literature,
in thought, in political and economic and social formulation the
full and unlimited sense of her highest spirit and knowledge.
The integral Yoga takes up the essence and many processes of
the old Yogas — its newness is in its aim, standpoint and the
totality of its method.
It is new as compared with old Yogas…
- Because it aims not at a departure out of world and life into
Heaven or Nirvana, but at a change of life and existence, not
as something subordinate or incidental, but as a distinct and
central object. - Because the object sought after is not an individual
achievement of divine realisation for the sake of the individual,
but something to be gained for the earth consciousness here,
a cosmic, not solely a supracosmic achievement. The thing to
be gained also is a bringing in of a Power of Consciousness
— the Supramental. - Because a method has been preconised for achieving this
purpose which is as total and integral as the aim set before it,
viz., the total and integral change of the consciousness and
nature, taking up old methods but only as a part action and
present aid to others that are distinctive… Our Yoga is not a
retreading of old walks, but a spiritual adventure.
The Teaching of Sri Aurobindo
The teaching of Sri Aurobindo starts from that of the ancient
sages of India that behind the appearances of the universe
there is the Reality of a Being and Consciousness, a Self
of all things, one and eternal. All beings are united in that
One Self and Spirit but divided by a certain separativity of
consciousness, an ignorance of their true Self and Reality
in the mind, life and body. It is possible by a certain
psychological discipline to remove this veil of separative
consciousness and become aware of the true Self, the
Divinity within us and all.
Sri Aurobindo’s teaching states that this One Being and
Consciousness is involved here in Matter. Evolution is the
method by which it liberates itself; consciousness appears in
what seems to be inconscient and once having appeared is self
impelled to grow higher and higher and at the same time to
enlarge and develop towards a greater and greater perfection.
Life is the first step of this release of consciousness; mind
is the second; but the evolution does not finish with mind, it
awaits a release into something greater, a consciousness which
is spiritual and supramental. The next step of the evolution
must be towards the development of Supermind and Spirit as
the dominant power in the conscious being. For only then will
the involved Divinity in things release itself entirely and it
become possible for life to manifest perfection.
But while the former steps in evolution were taken by
Nature without a conscious will in the plant and animal life, in
man Nature becomes able to evolve by a conscious will in the
instrument. It is not, however, by the mental will in man that
this can be wholly done, for the mind goes only to a certain
point and after that can only move in a circle. A conversion
has to be made, a turning of the consciousness by which
mind has to change into the higher principle. This method
is to be found through the ancient psychological discipline
and practice of Yoga. In the past, it has been attempted by
a drawing away from the world and a disappearance into
the height of the Self or Spirit. Sri Aurobindo teaches that
a descent of the higher principle is possible which will not
merely release the spiritual Self out of the world, but release it
in the world, replace the mind’s ignorance or its very limited
knowledge by a supramental Truth-Consciousness which
will be a sufficient instrument of the inner Self and make it
possible for the human being to find himself dynamically as
well as inwardly and grow out of his still animal humanity
into a diviner race. The psychological discipline of Yoga can
be used to that end by opening all the parts of the being to a
conversion or transformation through the descent and working
of the higher still concealed supramental principle.
This, however, cannot be done at once or in a short time or
by any rapid or miraculous transformation. Many steps have
to be taken by the seeker before the supramental descent is
possible. Man lives mostly in his surface mind, life and body
but there is an inner being within him with greater possibilities
to which he has to awake — for it is only a very restricted
influence from it that he receives now and that pushes him
to a constant pursuit of a greater beauty, harmony, power and
knowledge. The first process of Yoga is therefore to open the
ranges of this inner being and to live from there outward,
governing his outward life by an inner light and force. In doing
so he discovers in himself his true soul which is not this outer
mixture of mental, vital and physical elements but something
of the Reality behind them, a spark from the one Divine Fire.
He has to learn to live in his soul and purify and orientate by
its drive towards the Truth the rest of the nature. There can
follow afterwards an opening upward and descent of a higher
principle of the Being. But even then it is not at once the full
supramental Light and Force. For there are several ranges
of consciousness between the ordinary human mind and the
supramental Truth-Consciousness. These intervening ranges
have to be opened up and their power brought down into the
mind, life and body. Only afterwards can the full power of
the Truth-Consciousness work in the nature. The process of
this self-discipline or sadhana is therefore long and difficult,
but even a little of it is so much gained because it makes the
ultimate release and perfection more possible.
There are many things belonging to older systems that are
necessary on the way — an opening of the mind to a greater
wideness and to the sense of the Self and the Infinite, an
emergence into what has been called the cosmic consciousness,
mastery over the desires and passions; an outward asceticism
is not essential, but the conquest of desire and attachment and
a control over the body and its needs, greeds and instincts
are indispensable. There is a combination of the principles of
the old systems, the way of knowledge through the mind’s
discernment between Reality and the appearance, the heart’s
way of devotion, love and surrender and the way of works
turning the will away from motives of self-interest to the
Truth and the service of a greater Reality than the ego. For
the whole being has to be trained so that it can respond and
be transformed when it is possible for that greater Light and
Force to work in the nature.
In this discipline the inspiration of the Master and, in the
difficult stages, his control and his presence are indispensable
— for it would be impossible otherwise to go through it
without much stumbling and error which would prevent
all chance of success. The Master is one who has risen to a
higher consciousness and being and he is often regarded as
its manifestation or representative. He not only helps by his
teaching and still more by his influence and example but by a
power to communicate his own experience to others.
This is Sri Aurobindo’s teaching and method of practice. It
is not his object to develop any one religion or to amalgamate
the older religions or to found any new religion — for any of
these things would lead away from his central purpose. The
one aim of his Yoga is an inner self-development by which
each one who follows it can in time discover the One Self
in all and evolve a higher consciousness than the mental, a
spiritual and supramental consciousness which will transform
and divinise human nature.
Something has been shown to you in this year of seclusion,
something about which you had your doubts and it is the truth
of the Hindu religion. …I am raising up this nation to send
forth my word. This is the Sanatana Dharma, this is the eternal
religion which you did not really know before, but which I
have now revealed to you. …What is this religion which we
call Sanatana, eternal? It is the Hindu religion only because the
Hindu nation has kept it, because in this Peninsula it grew up
in the seclusion of the sea and the Himalayas, because in this
sacred and ancient land it was given as a charge to the Aryan
race to preserve through the Ages. But it is not circumscribed
by the confines of a single country, it does not belong peculiarly
and for ever to a bounded part of the world. That which we call
the Hindu religion is really the eternal religion, because it is the
universal religion which embraces all others. If a religion is not
universal, it cannot be eternal. A narrow religion, a sectarian
religion, an exclusive religion can live only for a limited time
and a limited purpose. …It is the one religion which shows
the world what the world is, that it is the Lila of Vasudeva. It
is the one religion which shows us how we can best play our
part in that Lila, its subtlest laws and its noblest rules. It is the
one religion which does not separate life in any smallest detail
from religion, which knows what immortality is and has utterly
removed from us the reality of death.
What is needed now is a band of spiritual workers whose
tapasya will be devoted to the liberation of India for the
service of humanity.
…We need an institution in which under the guidance of highly
spiritual men workers will be trained for every field, workers
for self-defence, workers for arbitration, for sanitation, for
famine relief, for every species of work which is needed to
bring about the necessary conditions for the organisation
of Swaraj. If the country is to be free, it must first organise
itself so as to be able to maintain its freedom. The winning of
freedom is an easy task, the keeping of it is less easy. The first
needs only one tremendous effort in which all the energies
of the country must be concentrated; the second requires a
united, organised and settled strength. If these two conditions
are satisfied, nothing more is needed, for all else is detail and
will inevitably follow.
Her mission is to point back humanity to the true source of
human liberty, human equality, human brotherhood. When
man is free in spirit, all other freedom is at his command;
for the Free is the Lord who cannot be bound. When he is
liberated from delusion, he perceives the divine equality of
the world which fulfils itself through love and justice,… When
he has perceived this divine equality, he is brother to the whole
world, and in whatever position he is placed he serves all men
as his brothers by the law of love, by the law of justice. When
this perception becomes the basis of religion, of philosophy,
of social speculation and political aspiration, then will liberty,
equality and fraternity take their place in the structure of
society and the Satya Yuga return. This is the Asiatic reading
of democracy, which India must rediscover for herself before
she can give it to the world.
Spiritual Life
Sri Aurobindo began his Yoga in 1904. Even before this he had already some spiritual experiences and that before he knew anything about Yoga or even what Yoga was. For example, a vast calm descended upon him at the moment when he stepped first on Indian soil after his long absence, in fact with his first step on the Apollo Bunder in Bombay. This calm surrounded him and remained for long months afterwards. There was also a realisation of the vacant Infinite while walking on the ridge of the Takhte-Suleman in Kashmir, the living Presence of Kali in a shrine on the banks of the Narmada, the vision of the Godhead surging up from within when in danger of a carriage accident in Baroda in the first year of his stay, etc. But these were inner experiences coming of themselves and with a sudden unexpectedness, not part of a sadhana. He started Yoga by himself without a Guru, getting the rule from a friend, a disciple of Brahmananda of Ganga Mutt; it was confined at first to assiduous practice of Pranayam (at one time for six or more hours a day). There was no conflict or wavering between Yoga and politics; when he started Yoga, he carried on both without any idea of opposition between them.
He wanted however to find a Guru. He met a Naga Sannyasi, one of the heads, in the course of this search, but did not accept him as Guru, but was confirmed by him in a belief in Yoga-power when he saw him cure Barin in almost a moment of a violent and clinging hill fever by merely cutting through a glassful of water crosswise with a knife while he repeated a silent mantra. Barin drank and was cured. Sri Aurobindo also met Brahmananda and was greatly impressed by him; but he had no helper or Guru in Yoga till he met Lele in Baroda and that was only for a short time. Meditating only for three days with Lele, he followed his instructions for silencing the mind and freeing it from the constant pressure of thoughts; he entered into an absolute and complete silence of the mind
and indeed of the whole consciousness and in that silence had suddenly the enduring realisation of the indefinable Brahman, Tat, in which the whole universe seemed to be unreal and only That existed. This silence he kept for several months and it remained always within him; for when activity returned, it proceeded on the surface and within him all was calm. But at the time there was not the slightest activity of any kind even on the surface; there was only a still motionless perception spiritual and mental in its character. But this was not what Lele wanted, for he wanted the silence only in order that the inner voice of the heart might be heard without any thought interference; so he did his best to get him out of this Advaitic condition. A meeting was to be held in Bombay to hear Sri Aurobindo speak and he asked Lele how he was to speak when not even the shadow of a passing thought could arise in him. Lele told him to make Namaskar before delivering a speech to the audience and wait and speech would come to him from another source than the mind. So in fact, when he was about to address the meeting, speech came. It should be noted however that Sri Aurobindo was not at any time in trance and something in him saw all that happened and spoke and acted according to need without the necessity of any conceptual thought or personal volition. Ever since all the mental activities, speech, writing, thought, will and other kindred activities came to him from the same source above the brain-mind; he had entered into the spiritual mind and what he afterwards called the overhead consciousness. This was his first major and fundamental Yogic realisation and experience and the true beginning and foundation of his Yoga.
Sri Aurobindo himself once wrote in a letter about his practice of Yoga: “I began my Yoga in 1904 without a Guru; in 1908 I received important help from a Mahratta yogi and discovered the foundations of my sadhana; but from that time till the Mother came to India I received no spiritual help from anyone else. My sadhana before and afterwards was not founded upon books but upon personal experiences that crowded on me from within. But in the jail I had the Gita
and the Upanishads with me, practised the Yoga of the Gita and meditated with the help of the Upanishads, these were the only books from which I found guidance; the Veda which I first began to read long afterwards in Pondicherry rather confirmed what experiences I already had than was any guide to my sadhana. I sometimes turned to the Gita for light when there was a question or a difficulty and usually received help or an answer from it. It is a fact that I was hearing constantly the voice of Vivekananda speaking to me for a fortnight in the jail in my solitary meditation and felt his presence. The voice spoke only on a special and limited but very important field of spiritual experience and it ceased as soon as it had finished saying all that it had to say on that subject.”
Before coming to Pondicherry Sri Aurobindo had already realised in full two of the four great realisations on which his Yoga and his spiritual philosophy are founded. The first he had gained while meditating with the Maharashtrian Yogi, Vishnu Bhaskar Lele at Baroda in January 1908; it was the realisation of the silent spaceless and timeless Brahman gained after a complete and abiding stillness of the whole consciousness and attended at first by the overwhelming feeling and percepfion of the total unreality of the world, though this feeling disappeared after his second realisation which was that of the cosmic consciousness and of the Divine as all beings and all that is, which happened in the Alipore Jail. To the other two realisations, that of the supreme Reality with the static and dynamic Brahman as its two aspects and that of the higher planes of consciousness leading up to the Supermind, he was already on his way in his meditations in Alipore Jail. Moreover, he had accepted from Lele as the principle of his sadhana to rely wholly on the Divine and his guidance alone both for his sadhana and his outward actions.
Thus gathering the essential elements of spiritual experience that are gained by the path of divine communion and spiritual realisation followed till now in India, he passed on in his Pondicherry life in search of a more complete experience uniting and harmonising the two ends of existence, Spirit and Matter. Most ways of Yoga are paths to the Beyond leading to the Spirit and in the end, away from life; Sri Aurobindo’s rises to the Spirit to redescend with its gains, bringing the light and power and bliss of the Spirit into life to transform it. Man’s present existence in the material world is in this view or vision of things a life in the Ignorance with the Inconscient at its base, but even in its darkness and nescience there are involved the presence and possibilities of the Divine. The created world is not a mistake or a vanity and illusion to be cast aside by the soul returning to heaven or Nirvana, but the scene of a spiritual evolution by which out of this material inconscience is to be manifested progressively the Divine Consciousness in things. Mind is the highest term yet reached in the evolution, but it is not the highest of which it is capable. There is above it a Supermind or eternal Truth-Consciousness which is in its nature the self-aware and self-determining light and power of Divine Knowledge. Mind is an ignorance seeking after Truth, but this is a self-existent Knowledge harmoniously manifesting the play of its forms and forces. It is only by the descent of this Supermind that the perfection dreamed of by all that is highest in humanity can
come. It is possible by opening to a greater divine consciousness to rise to this power of light and bliss, discover one’s true self, remain in constant union with the Divine and bring down the supramental Force for the transformation of mind and life and body. To realise this possibility has been the dynamic aim of Sri Aurobindo’s Yoga.
During all his stay at Pondicherry from 1910 he remained more and more exclusively devoted to his spiritual work and his sadhana. On 15 August 1914, he started jointly with the Mother the philosophical monthly Arya through which he revealed the findings of his four years of seeking — new messages for humanity: man’s divine destiny, the path to its realisation, the progress of human society towards its divine future, the unification of the human race, the nature and evolution of poetry and its future, the inner meaning of the Veda, the Upanishads and the Gita, the spirit and significance of Indian civilisation and culture. All these have since been embodied in The Life Divine, The Synthesis of Yoga, The Human Cycle, The Ideal of Human Unity, The Future Poetry, On the Veda, The Upanishads, Essays on the Gita, The Foundations of Indian Culture. The Arya ceased publication in 1921 after six and a half years of uninterrupted appearance. Sri Aurobindo’s supreme work in poetry is the epic Savitri in 23,813 lines of blank verse, the longest poem ever written in English, regarded by an American critic as ‘probably the greatest epic in the English language… a perfect cosmic poem’. Besides Savitri, there is a large body of his poetic creation, including several dramas, all of which have since been in book form. Sri Aurobindo lived at first in retirement at Pondicherry with four or five companions. Afterwards more and yet more began to come to him to follow his spiritual path and the number became so large that a community of sadhaks had to be formed for the maintenance and collective guidance of those who had left everything behind for the sake of a higher life. This was the foundation of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram which has less been created than grown around him and the Mother as its centre. It may be pointed out in this connection that Sannyas was never accepted by Sri Aurobindo as part of his Yoga. His Ashram at Pondicherry is a glaring contradiction to this popular idea of Sannyas connected with the name of an Ashram. Members of his Ashram are not Sannyasis, they do not wear the ochre garb or practice complete asceticism but are sadhaks of a life based on spiritual realisation, the ideal being the attainment of the life divine here on this earth and in the earthly existence.
Kittu Reddy
Extract from Bande Mataram, December 1907
We call upon Nationalists, who are at all desirous of the spread of Nationalist principles and Nationalist practice all over India, to make ready at whatever inconvenience and, if they find it humanly possible, go to Surat to support the Nationalist cause. We are aware of the tremendous difficulties in our way. Surat is far distant… and yet we must go. What is a Nationalist good for if he cannot make up by his enthusiasm and energy for his other deficiencies, if he cannot make nothing of difficulties and turn the impossible into the possible. It is to sweep away difficulties and to strike the word impossible out of the Indian’s dictionary that our party has arisen.
We must go as poor men whose wealth is our love for Motherland. …as pilgrims travelling to our Mother’s temple. We have a great work to do and cannot afford to be negligent and half-hearted. Be sure that this year 1907 is a turning point of our destinies. …Let us fear to miss by absenting ourselves the chance of helping to put in one of the key stones of the house we are bulding for our Mother’s dwelling in the future, the house of her salvation, the house of Swaraj. History very seldom records the things that were decisive but took place behing the veil; it records the show in front of the curtain. Very few people know that it was I (without consulting Tilak) who gave the order that led to the breaking of the Congress and was responsible for the refusal to join the newfangled Moderate Convention which were the two decisive happenings at Surat.
There are periods in the history of the world when the unseen Power that guides its destinies seems to be filled with a consuming passion for change and a strong impatience of the old. The Great Mother, the Adya Shakti, has resolved to take the nations into her hand and shape them anew. These are periods of rapid destruction and energetic creation. …they are periods when the wisdom of the wise is confounded and the prudence of the prudent turn into a laughing stock; for it is the day of the prophet, the dreamer, the fanatic and the crusader, — the time of divine revelation when Avatars are born and miracles happen… in such a period we find ourselves at the dawn of this twentieth century the years of whose infancy have witnessed such wonderful happenings. …We are assisting now at the birth of a new Asia and the modernisation of the East.
I looked at the jail that secluded me from men and it was no longer by its high walls that I was imprisoned; no, it was Vasudeva who surrounded me. I walked under the branches of the tree in front of my cell, but it was not the tree, I knew it was Vasudeva, it was Sri Krishna who I saw standing there and holding over his shade. I looked at the bars of my cell, the very grating that did duty for a door and again I saw Vasudeva. It was Narayana who was guarding and standing sentry over me. Or I lay on the coarse blankets that were given me for a couch and felt the arms of Sri Krishna around me, the arms of my Friend and Lover. …I looked at the prisoners in the jail, the thieves, the murderers, the swindlers, and as I looked at them 1 saw Vasudeva, it was Narayana whom I found in these
darkened souls and misused bodies.
Extract from C. R. Das’s speech
My appeal to you is this, that long after the controversy will be hushed in silence, long after this turmoil, the agitation will have ceased, long after he is dead and gone, he will be looked upon as the poet of patriotism, as the prophet of nationalism and the lover of humanity. Long after he is dead and gone, his words will be echoed and re-echoed, not only in India but across the distant seas and lands. Therefore, I say that the man in his position is not only standing before the bar of this court, but before the bar of the High Court of History
The Five Dreams of Sri Aurobindo
The fifteenth of August 1947.
(This message was given by Sri Aurobindo at the request of the All India Radio, Thiruchirapalli. It was broadcast on 14th August 1947)
August 15th is my own birthday and it is naturally gratifying to me that it should have assumed this vast significance. I take this coincidence, not as a fortuitous accident, but as the sanction and seal of the Divine Force that guides my steps on the work with which I began life, the beginning of its full fruition. Indeed, on this day I can watch almost all the world-movements which I hoped to see fulfilled in my lifetime, though then they looked like impracticable dreams, arriving at fruition or on their way to achievement. In all these movements free India may well play a large part and take a leading position.
The first of these dreams was a revolutionary movement which would create a free and united India.
India today is free but she has not achieved unity. At one moment it almost seemed as if in the very act of liberation she would fall back into the chaos of separate States which preceded the British conquest. But fortunately it now seems probable that this danger will be averted and a large and powerful, though not yet a complete union will be established. Also, the wisely drastic policy of the Constituent Assembly has made it probable that the problem of the depressed classes will be solved without schism or fissure. But the old communal division into Hindus and Muslims seems now to have hardened into a permanent political division of the country. It is to be hoped that this settled fact will not be accepted as settled for ever or as anything more than a temporary expedient. For if it lasts, India may be seriously weakened, even crippled: civil strife may remain always possible, possible even a new invasion and foreign conquest. India’s internal development and prosperity may be impeded, her position among the nations weakened, her destiny impaired or even frustrated. This must not be; the partition must go. Let us hope that that may come about naturally, by an increasing recognition of the necessity not only of peace and concord but of common action, by the practice of common action and the creation of means for that purpose. In this way unity may finally come about under whatever form—the exact form may have a pragmatic but not a fundamental importance. But by whatever means, in whatever way, the division must go; unity must and will be achieved, for it is necessary for the greatness of India’s future.
Another dream was for the resurgence and liberation of the peoples of Asia and her return to her great role in the progress of human civilisation.
Asia has arisen; large parts are now quite free or are at this moment being liberated: its other still subject or partly subject parts are moving through whatever struggles towards freedom. Only a little has to be done and that will be done today or tomorrow. There India has her part to play and has begun to play it with an energy and ability which already indicate the measure of her possibilities and the place she can take in the council of the nations.
The third dream was a world-union forming the outer basis of a fairer, brighter and nobler life for all mankind.
That unification of the human world is under way; there is an imperfect initiation organised but struggling against tremendous difficulties. But the momentum is there and it must inevitably increase and conquer. Here too India has begun to play a prominent part and, if she can develop that larger statesmanship which is not limited by the present facts and immediate possibilities but looks into the future and brings it nearer, her presence may make all the difference between a slow and timid and a bold and swift development. A catastrophe may intervene and interrupt or destroy what is being done, but even then the final result is sure. For unification is a necessity of Nature, an inevitable movement. Its necessity for the nations is also clear, for without it the freedom of the small nations may be at any moment in peril and the life even of the large and powerful nations insecure. The unification is therefore to the interests of all, and only human imbecility and stupid selfishness can prevent it; but these cannot stand for ever against the necessity of Nature and the Divine Will. But an outward basis is not enough; there must grow up an international spirit and outlook, international forms and institutions must appear, perhaps such developments as dual or multilateral citizenship, willed interchange or voluntary fusion of cultures. Nationalism will have fulfilled itself and lost its militancy and would no longer find these things incompatible with self- preservation and the integrality of its outlook. A new spirit of oneness will take hold of the human race.
Another dream, the spiritual gift of India to the world has already begun.
India’s spirituality is entering Europe and America in an ever increasing measure. That movement will grow; amid the disasters of the time more and more eyes are turning towards her with hope and there is even an increasing resort not only to her teachings, but to her psychic and spiritual practice.
The final dream was a step in evolution which would raise man to a higher and larger consciousness and begin the solution of the problems which have perplexed and vexed him since he first began to think and to dream of individual perfection and a perfect society.
This is still a personal hope and an idea, an ideal which has begun to take hold both in India and in the West on forward-looking minds. The difficulties in the way are more formidable than in any other field of endeavour, but difficulties were made to be overcome and if the Supreme Will is there, they will be overcome. Here too, if this evolution is to take place, since it must proceed through a growth of the spirit and the inner consciousness, the initiative can come from India and, although the scope must be universal, the central movement may be hers.
Such is the content which I put into this date of India’s liberation; whether or how far this hope will be justified depends upon the new and free India.
The Spiritual Practices of Sri Aurobindo and Their Relevance Today
Sri Aurobindo was a yogi who developed a unique spiritual path that combined elements of yoga, Vedanta, and Tantra. This blog can delve into Sri Aurobindo’s spiritual practices, including his integral yoga, and discuss how they can be applied in contemporary times to attain spiritual growth and transformation.
Continue readingThe Evolutionary Significance of Sri Aurobindo’s Dreams
Sri Aurobindo’s dreams are not just personal experiences but have a larger evolutionary significance. This blog can explore how Sri Aurobindo’s dreams reflect the collective unconscious of humanity and offer insights into the future evolution of human consciousness.
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