... field of formation; the individual is the diviner of truth, the form-maker, the creator. In the crowd the individual loses his inner direction and becomes a cell of the mass body moved by the collective will or idea or the mass impulse. He has to stand apart, affirm his separate reality in the whole, his own mind emerging from the common mentality, his own life distinguishing itself in the common life ...
... collective reason and will which should find more and more its right expression and right working if it is given a conscious and effective means of organised self-expression and execution. And this collective will and intelligence, since it is according to the original idea that of all in a perfect equality, might naturally be trusted to seek out and work out its own good where the ruling individual and ...
... people. A nation is a society of free and equal individuals whom history has put together in significantly closer economic and social ties as compared to other similar groups, and who through their collective will constitute an independant soveriegn state. Today we have an assembly of nations and failing nations can be pressurized into making such changes into their workings which tend towards a greater ...
... consisted precisely in sacrificing one's own taste and inclination for the sake of that which the society exacts and sanctions. Against this tyranny of the group, this absolute rule of the collective will, the" human mind rose in revolt and the result was Individualism. For whatever may be the truth and necessity Page 25 of the Collective, the Individual is no less true and ...
... be the collectivity's, execution the individual's. But where was that vague thing, the collectivity, and how could it express itself not only as a self-conscious, but an organised and efficient collective will and self-directing energy? The State, there was the secret. Let the State be perfect, dominant, all-pervading, all-seeing, all-effecting; so only could the collective ego be concentrated, find... for the individual ego must be lost in that of the State or become part of it and all condition of covert or overt war must be abrogated in obedience to the collective good as determined by the collective will. But in relation to other States, to other collective egos the general condition, the effective law is still that of war, of strife between sharply divided egoisms each seeking to fulfil itself ...
... those in power. Its phrase is: "... they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers." The taking down of Jesus from "the tree" and burying him in a tomb represented a collective will. Joseph has no prominence here and the collective will is the opposite of friendly to Jesus: not the slightest shade of Joseph's pro-Jesus feeling is felt in it. We must fade him out totally from the statement in Acts. The ...
... man constantly wills, he must in the end be able to do; for the consciousness in the race eventually finds the means. It is not in the individual that this omnipotence expresses itself, but the collective Will of mankind that works out with the individual as a means. And yet when we look more deeply, it is not any conscious Will of the collectivity, but a superconscious Might that uses the individual ...
... interesting problem. Some men think that all that comes to them from out-side is the divine Will, and they accept it as such. Yes, unfortunately. But all that they do is to accept the collective will or that of the strongest. Should not one offer all one's willed actions to the Divine? That is, first do the willed actions and then offer them? Perhaps you could first silence your will ...
... brought about, as it is now proposed to bring it about, by persuading or forcing the individual to immolate his personal will and aspirations and his precious and hard-won individuality to the collective will, aims and egoism of the society, driving him like a victim of ancient sacrifice to slay his soul on the altar of that huge and shapeless idol. For that would be only the sacrifice of the smaller ...
... Satyayuga there was neither the desire nor the need of modern devices; the organised arrangement of men's actions, duties and institutions by an external compulsion representing the community's collective will began in the Bronze Age with the institution of government in Kingship. The Vishnu Purana tells us, conformably with this idea, that Vishnu in the Satya incarnates as Yajna, that is to say as the ...
... individual for his own sake, whether he is right or wrong; we follow him only so long as he is faithful to the principles of Nationalism and is ready to fight its battles in accordance with the collective will of the party. The question was first raised last year in Bengal when at a meeting of the Nationalists in Calcutta it was decided to suggest to the country the name of Mr. Tilak as President ...
... Integral Yoga, elaborated by Sri Aurobindo and set on a manifold practical basis, promises the emergence of a new state of consciousness by which every one of our persisting problems, individual and collective, will be radically solved. The reasonableness of such a promise must strike us as soon as we look at the panorama modern biology opens up with its theory of evolution. From insensitive matter ...
... increasingly a sense of the unreality—the fundamental unreality—of illnesses. That's what I say here [in the Talk]: it's merely a disequilibrium. It's the habit of leaving it to a sort of impersonal collective will of the most material Nature, which organizes things IN THEIR APPEARANCE. That's the sort of work being done at present, these last few days—constantly, constantly. The only moment when it's ...
... consciousness although that consciousness would still be one in its basis, in its constitution, in its all-revealing and all-uniting order." 2 Thus all problems of living, individual and collective, will then be definitively solved. And we conclude that three movements are necessary for remedying the ills of human life. Firstly, each individual has to awake to his now secret spiritual individuality ...
... thinking, the problem of collective life was relegated to ethics and religion and later on to sociology., They tried to bring high idealism and religious attitude in the conduct of collective life, but there was no question of working out collective ignorance. But they did not succeed in solving the basic problems of collective life which arise out of individual and collective egoism. Unfortunately,... problems of collective life is not much in evidence even among leaders. The problem of the collective life of man brings us to the interpretation of history. History is not the record of man's collective life under the mechanical stress of economic, environmental or political forces, though these play their part in it. History is the gradual revelation of the Soul of the collective being of... aspect of the Reality and the perfection of man's collective life has, therefore, a place in his scheme of integral human perfection. The divinity in the individual when realised in the collectivity and made dynamic would lead it to collective perfection. It is the universal aspect of the Omnipresent Reality which is behind the drive for collective expression in Nature. Life is the field for the working ...
... ) I have been asked if we are doing a collective yoga and what are the conditions of a collective yoga. First, I could tell you that to do a collective yoga, there has to be a collectivity! ... And I could speak to you about the different conditions required to be a collectivity. But last night ( smiling ), I had a symbolic vision of our collectivity. This vision took place early in the night... imperatively that now, just as I wanted to tell you what kind of collectivity we wish to realize according to the ideal described by Sri Aurobindo in the last chapter of The Life Divine —a gnostic, supramental collectivity, the only kind that can do Sri Aurobindo's integral yoga and be realized physically in a progressive collective body becoming more and more divine—the recollection of this vision... coordinated nor centralized nor unified around the central and unique truth and consciousness and will. So this brings us back ... precisely to this question of a collective yoga and of a collectivity capable of realizing it. What should this collectivity be? It is certainly not an arbitrary construction of the type built by men, where everything is put pell-mell, without any order, without reality, and ...
... the individual and the individual acts on it by manifesting it. Disciple : Suppose the collective entity is dissolved from life? Sri Aurobindo : When the physical form of the collectivity is dissolved here the collective being withdraws into the origin. Disciple : Can a collective being, after such a dissolution take another form – a group – for manifesting itself? Sri... speak of it as collective or nations being or entity. It is not in evolution. It is not subject to the law of Karma. Disciple : Can it be said that the law governing it is suprarational? Sri Aurobindo : Yes, each collective being is a projection of the Cosmic Spirit for a particular purpose. You can speak of it as a particular Shakti. Disciple : How does the collective being or Shakti... cannot be considered useless, though it uses no medicine. Disciple : Some disciples here believe that there is a collective Karma for which either the group, the society or the nation has to bear the consequences like the individual. Sri Aurobindo : The collective being is non-evolutionary. It is hard to believe in the reincarnation of races. Disciple : Somebody seems to have ...
... Sweet Mother, what is the effect and value of collective prayer? We have already spoken about this, about collective prayers, the use that has been made of them. I believe that it has even been published in the Bulletin . Besides, there are different kinds of collective prayer, just as there are different kinds of collectivities. There is the anonymous mass, the crowd, formed by chance... meditations these groups can have a considerable effect on Page 369 world events or on their own inner development and collective progress. These groups are necessarily far superior to others, but they don't have the blind strength of the mobs, the collective action of the crowd. They replace this vehemence, this intensity by the strength of a deliberate and conscious organisation. At... this is always mentioned in all occult traditions as an extremely powerful means of action. If the collective unit could attain the same cohesion as the individual unit, it would multiply the strength and action of the individual. Usually, if several individuals are brought together, the collective quality of the group is much lower than the individual value of each person taken separately, but with ...
... I have been asked if we are doing a collective yoga and what the conditions for the collective yoga are. I might tell you first of all that to do a collective yoga we must be a collectivity (!) and then speak to you about the different conditions required for being a collectivity. But last night ( smiling ) I had a symbolic vision of our collectivity. I had this vision in the early part of... y that now when I wanted to tell you exactly what kind of a collectivity we want to realise in accordance with the ideal Sri Aurobindo has given in the last chapter of The Life Divine —a supramental, gnostic collectivity, the only one which can practise Sri Aurobindo's integral yoga and be physically realised in a progressive collective body that grows more and more divine—the memory of this vision... nor centralised nor unified around the single central truth and consciousness and will. And we come back, then, to... precisely this question of a collective yoga and the collectivity which will be able to realise it. And what should this collectivity be? It is certainly not an arbitrary structure like those made by men, in which they put everything pell-mell, without order or reality, and the ...
... put into progressive practice for his own march towards spiritual perfection. But there was at the same time a collective aspect to it. Thus the second line along which the Mother worked was to make the collectivity as real and living as the individual aspect and besides make this collective reality of the Ashram embrace even those sadhaks who for whatever reason could not permanently stay at Pondicherry... serious attempt was made at some sort of a collective organisation. By January 1922, the Ashram - although not yet known as an 'Ashram' - was very much of a reality in its inner spiritual orientation. Yet, in this pre-1926 period, the community of sadhaks had been - in the words of the Mother - no more than "a collection of individuals ... without a collective organisation... One could say it had a general... the necessity for a collective individuality, to help the sadhaks to shed their superficial angularities and egoistic separativities, and to tune themselves to the music of interdependence governed by the ś ruti of the Divine Will." (Sri Aurobindo, 1972 edition, p. 562) But the question may be asked: What was the necessity for the fostering of this sense of 'collective individuality' in the ...
... the then state of affairs in "our collectivity" meaning, it goes without saying, the Sri Aurobindo Ashram at Pondicherry. She began her discourse with these words: "I have been asked if we are doing a collective yoga and what the conditions for the collective yoga are. "I might tell you first of all that to do a collective yoga we must be a collectivity, and then speak to you about the... the different conditions required for being a collectivity. But last night (smiling) I had a symbolic vision of our collectivity." (Questions and Answers 1957-58, p. 137) The Mother mentioned that she had this vision in the early part of the night, and then remarked: "it made me wake up with a rather unpleasant impression." All Ashramites are requested to go through the whole discourse of the... Aurobindo Ashram - Its Role, Responsibility and Future Destiny The Deficiencies If we in the Ashram would like to fulfil the God-given task of building a collective life in which spiritually perfect individuals would dwell in a spiritually perfect community, many of the Ashramites, or even the majority of them, would have to sincerely try to grow into a more ...
... personality of the collective being has not emerged there. In fact every European country has a well-developed and distinct personality of its own; each wants to secure a separate fulfilment, each is self-sufficient and distinct from the rest. There is a mutual give-and-take among them, often they Page 243 move together for a common cause; but the collective existence of each... France, Italy or Germany. The geographical boundary of each stands distinctly like the contour of an individual human body. The collective existence of Europe, awake and alive, belongs separately to each of the European countries and nations and in no way represents the collective being of all Europe. On the other hand, if we look at India we find that the whole of India possesses a well-defined and... example, can be mentioned for comparison. Britain is a homogeneous country or nation. Its collective being has a separate living individuality. As in Great Britain there are Scotland, Wales and England, so in India the separate states like Bengal, Maharashtra and the Punjab are the different limbs of the collective being of India. But the thing is that just as Asia is far larger than Europe, the states ...
... about that again. But collective meditations have been practised in all ages for different reasons, in different ways and with different motives. What may be called a collective meditation is a group of people who gather together for a definite purpose; for example, in all ages it has been a practice to gather for prayers. Naturally in the Churches, it is a sort of collective meditation but even outside... As an exception, Mother gave this talk on a Thursday evening, before the collective meditation. Before the meditation this evening I am going to say a few words to you, because several people have asked me the difference between a collective meditation and an individual meditation. Individual meditation—I have already explained to you many times the different... or less know what has taken place, well, I hope that individually each person is doing his best to benefit by the occasion; but collectively we can do something, that is, try to unify a ground, Page 39 to produce a particularly fertile soil to obtain collectively the maximum receptivity and to have as little wastage as possible of time and energies. So now, you have been told in a general ...
... compels the rest to progress; the instinct of the collectivity is to stand still in its established order. Progress, growth, realisation of wider being give his greatest sense of happiness to the individual; status, secure ease to the collectivity. And so it must be as long as the latter is more a physical and economic entity than a self-conscious collective soul. It is therefore quite improbable that... has to be immolated? Theoretically, it is the subordination of the individual to the good of all that is demanded; practically, it is his subordination to a collective egoism, political, military, economic, which seeks to satisfy certain collective aims and ambitions shaped and imposed on the great mass of the individuals by a smaller or larger number of ruling persons who are supposed in some way to... individuals to attempt that which the State has not the wisdom or courage to attempt, getting that done which a collective conservatism and imbecility would either leave undone or actively suppress and oppose. It is this energy of the individual which is the really effective agent of collective progress. The State sometimes comes in to aid it and then, if its aid does not mean undue control, it serves ...
... by birth or by circumstance or even by deliberate choice. While describing the nature of collectivities formed by mental man solely basing himself on the resources of his unregenerate ego-bound mental-vital consciousness, Sri Aurobindo writes: "In our present human existence there is a physical collectivity held together by the common physical life-fact and all that arises from it, community of... throughout man's history of cultural development, even up to the stage when he has grown into a highly individualised mental being or even entered the path of spiritual progress. And how are collectivities formed? Men seek to be grouped, linked, united around a common ideal, a common action, a common realisation, but in a completely artificial way. The individual, to satisfy his communal urge, partially... of interests, a common civilisation and culture, a common social law, an aggregate mentality, an economic association, the ideals, emotions, endeavours of the collective ego with the strand of individualities and connections running through the whole and helping to keep it together. Or, where there is a difference in these things, opposition, conflict, a practical accommodation or an organised compromise ...
... first meditation ( collective meditation at the Ashram playground ), he told me, 'The stuff is not good!' ( Mother laughs ) I didn't press the matter. All this together constitutes one collective entity, and the individual is lost in it. If I had to deal with this person or that person individually, it would be different. But all together, taking them all together as a collective entity, well,... it's not brilliant. × Mother is referring to the Ashram as a collectivity. ...
... The Yoga of Sri Aurobindo - Part 9 Meditation Collective meditation, of which the most external form is collective prayer, has been practised from ancient times for different reasons, in different ways, and with different purposes. Groups of persons, whether belonging to the same Church or not, come together to express a common feeling; in certain cases,... as we can by making an effort towards collective receptivity. Of course, the Force is not only acting in the Ashram, it acts in the whole world and everywhere; wherever there is receptivity it is working; the Ashram has not the exclusive monopoly or receptivity in the world. But as we are all here, knowing more or less what has happened, we can collectively, —individually I hope everyone is doing... adoration, thankfulness. In other cases,—there are many historical examples of this—people gather together for a common invocation, to ask something from the Divine in the hope that a prayer done collectively will have more effect than an individual prayer. Thus, in Europe prophets announced that in the year one thousand of grace there would be the end of the world; everywhere crowds assembled to implore ...
... meant for the welfare of collective living and therefore individuals are expected to restrain or forego their personal impulses, their so-called liberties in order to live together in harmony. Discipline is meant exactly to control one's personal idiosyncracies, place them under the yoke of the common collective law. All laws or rules that make for a harmonious collective living, that is, social or... meet and learn to live with harmoniously. A collective life whether in a nation or in the family or in any other group formation demands a control over the selfish impulses and egoistic urges. That is the discipline, that is to say, the necessity of submitting the law of one's ego-self to the law of collective selves, needed for the realisation of a collective ideal. When you play a game you have to obey... and movements in accordance with a more general and wider plan of living. The extent of this obedience depends upon the ideal that a particular collectivity pursues and the value of the obedience depends on the ideal thus pursued. And the largest collectivity is of course the human race, the humanity as a whole. The submission of the personal law to the law of humanity in general is also a discipline ...
... meant for the welfare of collective living and therefore individuals are expected to restrain or forego their personal impulses, their so-called liberties in order to live together in harmony. Discipline is meant exactly to control one's personal idiosyncracies, place them under the yoke of the common collective law. All laws or rules that make for a harmonious collective living, that is, Page... meet and learn to live with harmoniously. A collective life whether in a nation or in the family or in any other group formation demands a control over the selfish impulses and egoistic urges. That is the discipline, that is to say, the necessity of submitting the law of one's ego-self to the law of collective selves, needed for the realisation of a collective ideal. When you playa game you have to obey... with a more Page 282 general and wider plan of living. The extent of this obedience depends upon the ideal that a particular collectivity pursues and the value of the obedience depends on the ideal thus pursued. And the largest collectivity is of course the human race, the humanity as a whole. The submission of the personal law to the law of humanity in general is also a discipline ...
... Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol. 4 Meditation COLLECTIVE meditation, of which the most external form is collective prayer, has been practised since ancient times for different reasons, in different ways, and with different purposes. Groups of persons, whether belonging to the same Church or not, come together to express a common feeling;... making an effort towards collective receptivity. Of course, the Force is not only acting in the Ashram, it is acting in the whole world and everywhere; Page 118 wherever there is receptivity it is working; the Ashram does not have exclusive monopoly or receptivity in the world. But as we are all here, knowing more or less what has happened, we can collectively, – individually I hope... adoration, thankfulness. In other cases, there are many historical examples of this – people gather together for a common invocation, to ask something from the Divine in the hope that a prayer done collectively will have more effect than an individual prayer. Thus, in Europe prophets announced that in the year one thousand of grace there would be the end of the world; everywhere crowds assembled to implore ...
... the value of the individuals constituting this odd assemblage, one could say that there was a general value, but a very nebulous one, with no collective reality. This lasted a very long time—very long. And it is only quite recently that the need for a collective reality began to appear—which is not necessarily limited to the Ashram but embraces all who have declared themselves—I don't mean materially... gnostic community.... He has said, of course, that, for this, the individuals constituting this collectivity should themselves have this supramental consciousness; but even without attaining an individual perfection—even while very far from it—there was at the same time an inner effort to create this "collective individuality", so to speak. The need for a real union, a deeper bond has been felt and the... individually, instead of being for only an individual progress, will spread, so to say, or have very important collective results. But I said nothing because for months I wanted to prepare the individual consciousness to admit, I might say, even perhaps to recognise, this necessity for a collective individuality. This is what must be explained now. There is no other reason for this kind of apparent fall ...
... A collective spiritual life - the goal of our Ashram - is meant to express the spiritual and not merely the physical, vital, or even the mental being of man; it has, therefore, to found and maintain itself on greater values than the mental, vital, physical values of the ordinary human groupings. If it is not so founded, our Ashram will be merely the normal human collectivity with a cosmetic... Nature of Human Relationships: Cherished Goal We should not forget that, being spurred by some misplaced zeal to establish a semblance of all-round 'harmony' in our Ashram collectivity, if we attempt to adopt some arbitrary short-cut measures and try to build our group-life on the insecure foundation of ego-prompted sympathy and solidarity, what we will at best achieve will be... vital and physical nature-self, is needed for the new life to Page 51 appear; only such a transformation of the general mind, life, body nature can bring into being a new worthwhile collective existence." (The Life Divine, p. 1061) In our absorption into and preoccupation with variegated activities of our burgeoning Ashram life we should not be oblivious of the basic fact that ...
... of the race, the collective soul, and that collective soul is an emanation of the Supermind, of the Truth-Consciousness. It is not something abstract. It is based on the Truth-Consciousness of the Divine, and therefore it is a personification or a personal aspect of a collective Divine Consciousness. It is necessary for the whole of humanity, and whatever contribution the collectivity has made is a ... And I was trying to tell you that those systems of philosophy of social life that consider the collectivity as the ultimate truth or reality stop half way and therefore give a false lead to mankind. There is nothing divine in the collectivity. Collectivity has a truth which is in the Divine, but a collectivity can be as selfish, as egoistic, as full of faults as an individual. Perhaps more, because its... people and bring difficulties to others who have nothing to do with it. The imperfections of the collective life have far-reaching bearing on vast masses of mankind; and therefore, it is necessary in collective life to see that we do not put the collectivity in place of the Divine, because collectivity, though a manifestation of the Universal Divine, is not divine in its operation and because it is ...
... nct, on the other, are found to be so balanced that the individual and the collectivity sub-serve each other, — not irreductibly and ideally, — but in some rough measure for the immediate purposes. As one begins to ascend higher and higher, the demands of self-assertion begin to collide with the demands of the collectivity, and in human life, this collision is sought to be resolved by erecting moral... spiritual and supramental. In that component of our complex nature, it is claimed, is the integrating power; in it the truths of the individual and the collectivity coalesce; there we discover, we are told, that the individual and the collectivity are not what they appear to be in the lower or infra rational parts of our being. Individual is not, it is discovered, fundamentally egoistic in nature;... formulations of ethical and spiritual norms. They are all presented as universal doctrines intended to be prescribed uniformly for all people, but if we take human individual and human collectivity to be evolutionary in character, and if we take elements of the complexity of human nature in an ascending order rising from the infra-rational to the rational and from the rational to the supr ...
... always have been and always will be one, Him worship; break all other idols." When we come to Sri Aurobindo, we have a radical turning and even a new departure towards collective realisation, collective liberation and collective perfection. In this new departure, there is a new synthesis based on a new discovery. This synthesis takes into account not only all the orthodox Vedantins of different schools... vital or mental levels. But the question as to how larger humanity can be prepared and how spiritual solutions can be presented at the collective level has also been engaging the tradition, and we have in the renascent India a clearer diagnosis of the contemporary collective crisis and also a radical solution which can be applied, if so willed, on a very vast scale for the deliverance of humanity. ... knowledge that we can get its right clues, and discover its power of renewal and its capacity to initiate discoveries of newer knowledge and newer solutions to the problems of individuals and of the collectivity. By declaring that the Vedas are limitless, — anantāh vedāh, -- the Vedic tradition has liberated itself from the bondage of the written word contained in any particular book and kept itself ...
... AUROBINDO (laughing): I meant by islets, living in collective groups. NIRODBARAN: I also said the same thing to him. SATYENDRA: Like individual isolation, it will be a collective isolation. That is still my difficulty—why should there be any collective group? One can exercise one's influence individually as well. SRI AUROBINDO: Yes, but collective influence will be of a different kind—so that it... it may exercise its influence on the whole world. Individual isolation is for those who want Mukti. But this will be an ideal collective group along with the change of the outer mould to serve as an ideal life to others. NIRODBARAN: Will there be missions to other countries? SRI AUROBINDO: Good Lord, missions for preaching? No! Groups will develop and will have different expressions according ...
... error. A forced and imposed unanimity of mind, life, action raised to their highest tension under the drive of something which is thought to be greater, the collective soul, the collective life, is the formula found. But this obscure collective being is not the soul or self of the community; it is a life-force that rises from the subconscient and, if denied the light of guidance by the reason, can be... lity of the individual, a full development of the collective being, the perfectibility of society and, more pragmatically restricted, the perfect or best possible relations of individual with individual and society, and of community with community. An exclusive or dominant emphasis is laid sometimes on the individual, sometimes on the collectivity or society, sometimes on a right and balanced relation... and the collective human whole. In recent times the Whole stress has passed to the life of the race, to a search for the perfect society, and latterly to a concentration on Page 20 the right organization and scientific mechanization of the life of mankind as whole; the individual now tends more to be regarded only as a member of the collectivity, a unit ...
... Mother. The creation of a new world, a new humanity, a new society expressing and embodying the new consciousness is the work she has undertaken. By the very nature of things, it is a collective ideal that calls for a collective effort so that it may be realised in the terms of an integral human perfection. The Ashram founded and built by the Mother was the first step towards the accomplishment of this... this goal. The project of Auroville is the next step, more exterior, which seeks to widen the base of this attempt to establish harmony between soul and body, spirit and nature, heaven and earth, in collective life of mankind . When the Mother re-read this Text in 1972, she added the words: "more exterior' in the last sentence. ...
... subordination of the individual to collectivity became more and more prominent. During the last thousand years, various invasions, battles and the subjugation of the country under the heavy hand of foreign rulers crippled not only the ideal of individual perfection but even that of collective perfection. The weakening of the ideal of the individual and the collective perfection became severest under... perfection and the ideal of collective perfection. This conflict has presented itself throughout the history both of India and the rest of the world from time to time and different answers have been given at different epochs according to the needs and circumstances and possibilities of circumstances. In early times, the individual was subordinated to the collectivity; in due course of time, the individual... In India, the balance between the ideal of the perfection of the individual and the perfection of the collectivity was sought to be achieved by means of a profound sociological and psychological understanding of human development. A great stress was laid on the needs of the welfare of the collectivity, and the individual was required to subordinate himself through the system of duties towards the members ...
... reality, a divine reality that has to come to its own—that is to say, its own soul. For there is a collective soul, as well as an individual soul. It is the presiding deity, the norm of consciousness and being that works out the growth and evolution of a collectivity that has found a common life. This collectivity is also enlarging itself in wider and wider commonalty. As we see actually today the nation... worked for human evolution, that was his life mission. He thus formulates the stages of human evolution: "Family, nationality, humanity are Vishnu's three strides from an isolated to a collective unity. The first has been fulfilled, we yet strive for the perfection of the second, towards the third we are reaching out our hands and the pioneer work is already attempted". But the supreme secret... the few pioneers, a select group of forerunners that form the foundation of a new creation. A first snowball perhaps, but it moves and gathers others on the way and builds up larger and larger collectivities. At all crises of evolutionary cycles such beings inevitably appear, they are thrown up by Nature or they come down from above and incarnate; especially it is so when Nature proposes to take a ...
... tensions exist, hot war can at any time become a concrete actuality. We must, therefore, go to the root of the matter and define peace in positive terms. Fundamentally, peace is a collective phenomenon, and it connotes a collective state of harmony, which can provide a stable base for activities of growth, development, friendliness, comradeship and brotherhood. It is true that there is a view that tensions... ideals are held in common and are shared in common. We look forward not to the goal of individual salvation, but to the goal of salvation that is collective and which is even physical. It is in pursuit of that goal that we seek peace as a positive, collective and global ideal, and perceive, at the same time, that the means of achieving this goal are to be sought in progressive and increasing perfection... increasingly and progressively the light and power and wisdom derived from the cultivation of higher faculties and to create individual and collective life, in its inner and outer aspects in such a way that the law of the individual development and of collective development harmonise with each other. The purely physical life, devoid of mental interests and pursuits is the opposite of culture; it ...
... his growth from the collectivity and from his relationship with the collectivity. To achieve the perfect synchronisation of the individual will with the Collective or General Will is the highest good of the individual. A complete obedience to the Social Will is the highest freedom of the individual. To become a perfect instrument of the rational common will of the collectivity is the destiny of the... Page 51 up of feudalism. Fundamental to any system called capitalist are the relations between the private owners of non-personal means of production (land, mines, industrial plants, etc., collectively known as capital) and free but capital-less workers, who sell their labour services to employers. Under capitalism, decisions concerning production are made by private profit. Labourers are free... where the powers of the majority are Page 53 exercised within a framework of constitutional restraints designed to guarantee the minority in the enjoyment of certain individual or collective rights, such as freedom of speech and religion. This is known as the liberal or the constitutional democracy. (4) Finally, the word democratic is often used to characterise any political or ...
... organisation. However the crucial point arises here—how is the collective life, the group existence to be made soul-conscious? One can understand the injunction upon individuals to seek and find their souls; but how can a society be expected to act from its soul and according to the impulsions of its soul ? And then, has a collectivity at all a soul ? What is usually spoken of as the Page 141 ... Towards a New Ideology INDIA must evolve her own political and social ideology; she must discover and establish in this domain also, as in all others that concern her collective life, her own genius and rule. This is what Swaraj really means and demands. Russia has her Sovietic Communism, Germany, for the present at least, her Nazidom, Italy her totalitarian Fascism... precisely from this poisonous source, viz., it views man as a bundle of rights and its problem of social organisation is the problem of safeguarding and, if possible, even of increasing individual and collective rights. Thus came into being the competitive society—a society necessarily red in tooth and claw like Nature. Vivekananda pointed .out that one should rather think of one's duties, how best ...
... organisation. However the crucial point arises here-how is the collective life, the group existence to be made soul-conscious? One can understand the injunction upon individuals to seek and find their souls; but how can a society be expected to act from its soul and according to the impulsions of its soul? And then, has a collectivity at all a soul? What is usually spoken of as the Page 258 ... Towards a New Ideology INDIA must evolve her own political and social ideology; she must discover and establish in this domain also, as in all others that concern her collective life, her own genius and rule. This is what Swaraj really means and demands. Russia has her Sovietic Communism, Germany, for the present at least, her Nazidom, Italy her totalitarian Fascism... precisely from this poisonous source, viz., it views man as a bundle of rights and its problem of social organisation is the problem of safeguarding and, if possible, even of increasing individual and collective rights. Thus came into being the competitive society-a society necessarily red in tooth and claw like Nature. Vivekananda pointed out that one should rather think of one's duties, how best ...
... nation, every large and distinguishable human collectivity, is a super-organism, with a common or communal body, mind and soul. This super-organism, like the individual, passes through a cycle of birth, growth, youth, ripeness and decline. If the decline lasts long, it generally ends in death. But there resides, in the vast subtleties of the collective being of a people, a power of self-renewal with... psychology and is more tenacious than the outer form. If it is great and intense and the body is strong enough and the surface mind plastic and adaptive without being loose or unstable, then the collective being can keep unimpaired through vicissitudes, even rise phoenix-like out of an apparent perishing and one cycle will evolve into another and many cycles run their courses before the final collapse... is the whole universe. The Cosmic Self or "Virat", as the Rishis called it, acting through its particularised representative, the soul, is the true source and support of the inner life-idea of the collective Page 16 being, as it is of the individual. And if the source and support is not sufficiently contacted in consciousness through the soul, the eternal is never brought with dominant ...
... propagated by Vivekananda had such a worldwide appeal. But because it stressed more of an individual than collective spiritual ideal through social and humanitarian services, it failed to bring about a change of our social economic and political life. Sri Aurobindo saw that nothing good for collective life emerged out of the neo-spiritual ideals of Ramkrishria and Vivekananda and that' there was a downward... years without being able to effect the least change of life for the better. The egoistic way of life became crueler and cruder and worse and worse both individual Page 76 ly and collectively. This is what brought in so much clash and conflicts between individuals and individuals and between nations and nations ending in two global wars without being able to remedy in the least the... peace, bliss, unity and harmony and established in the full glory of the Sat-Chit-Ananda. This may and must take time. But we must be prepared to give it a fair chance by our individual and collective collaboration for the common goal. If another 2 to 3 hundred years lapse before the manifestation of this gnostic or supramental consciousness, we have nothing to worry. Mind and mental principle ...
... the inner consciousness of humanity was always to find a greater and larger unit for the collective life of mankind. That unit today has to be a federation of free peoples and nations. In the place of nations, several such commonwealths must now form the broad systems of the body politic of human collectivity. That must give the pattern of its texture, the outline of its configuration—the shape of... and growth can occur. The family furnished such a nucleus in the early epochs of humanity. But with the growth of human life there came a time when, for a better and more efficient organization in collective life, larger units were needed. The original unit had to be enlarged in order to meet the demands of a wider and more complex growth. Also it is to be noted that the living body is not merely a ... cells in spheres or regions or systems according to differing functions. And as we rise in the scale of evolution the grouping becomes more and more complex, well-defined and hierarchical. Human collectivity also shows a similar development in organization. The original, the primitive unit—the family—was first taken up into a larger Page —84 unit, the clan; the clan, in its turn, gave ...
... rest of the mind and life of the people, but as a part of and in its relation to the organic totality of the social existence. A people, a great human collectivity, is in fact an organic living being with a collective or rather—for the word collective is too mechanical to be true to the inner reality—a common or communal soul, mind and body. The life of the society like the physical life of the individual... Brahma, the people was a life body of Brahman in the samaṣṭi , the collectivity, it was the collective Narayana, as the individual was Brahman in the vyaṣṭi , the separate Jiva, the individual Narayana; the king was the living representative of the Divine and the other orders of the community the natural powers of the collective self, prakṛtayaḥ . The agreed conventions, institutes, customs, co... anything more than a vision on a shining cloud constantly run after in a circle and constantly deceiving the hope and escaping the embrace. That will be when man in the collectivity begins to live more deeply and to govern his collective life neither primarily by the needs, instincts, intuitions welling up out of the vital self, nor secondarily by the constructions of the reasoning mind, but first, foremost ...
... Mother, is religion a necessity in the life of the ordinary man? In the life of societies it is a necessity, for it serves as a corrective to collective egoism which, without this control, could take on excessive proportions. The level of collective consciousness is always lower than the individual level. It is very noticeable, for example, that when men gather in a group or collect in great... great numbers, the level of consciousness falls a great deal. The consciousness of crowds is much lower than individual consciousness, and the collective consciousness of society is certainly lower than the consciousness of the individuals constituting it. There it is a necessity. In ordinary life, an individual, whether he knows it or not, always has a religion but the object of his religion is sometimes... the most brutal daily existence from minute to minute, and this is what gives the energy and possibility of living. Of course, one could say that it is the same thing for individuals as for collectivities, that their value is exactly proportionate to the value of their ideal, their religion, that is, of the thing they make the summit of their existence. Of course, when we speak of religion, if ...
... Sri Aurobindo Ashram - Its Role, Responsibility and Future Destiny The Ideal Group-life: Its Character All the past attempts of man to build an ideal collective life have invariably foundered on the rocks of ego-consciousness Page 25 of the constitutive individuals. Egos in different persons in a group are bound to differ in their separate... of the personality by its extinction in the mass or subjugation to the mass." (The Life Divine, p. 1027) What is then the solution? The solution is that the individuals constituting any collectivity should move away from their surface existence which is at present the field of unbridled play of ego and try to dwell more and more in their inner consciousness. In Sri Aurobindo's words: ... (Ibid.) A veritable community of spiritual seekers, as our Page 26 Ashram yearns to grow into, must reverse the ordinary principle of group-building and base its action in the collective life upon an inner experience and inclusion of others in our own being. An inner sense of oneness should be the binding element in the group-existence. To quote Sri Aurobindo again: "The spiritual ...
... Mother. The creation of a new world, a new humanity, a new society, expressing and embodying the new consciousness, is the work undertaken by her. In the nature of things, it is a collective ideal calling for a collective effort to realize it in terms of an integral human perfection. "The Ashram, founded and built up by the Mother, has been the first step towards the fulfilment of this goal. The project... project of Auroville is the next step, 'more exterior,' seeking to widen the base of this endeavor to establish harmony between soul and body, spirit and nature, heaven and earth in the collective life of humanity." Page 215 ( original manuscript ) (First version) The task of giving a concrete form to Sri Aurobindo's vision has been given to the Mother. (Second version) The ...
... must regard every nation, every large and distinguishable human collectivity, as a super-organism with a common body and mind. This super-organism, like the individual, passes through a cycle of birth, growth, adolescence, ripeness and decline. The decline generally ends in death. But there resides in the vast subtleties of the collective being of a people a power of self-renewal with the help of its... psychology and is more tenacious than the outer form. If it is great and intense and the body is strong enough and the surface-mind plastic and adaptive without being loose or unstable, then the collective being can keep unimpaired through vicissitudes, even rise phoenix like out of an apparent perishing and one cycle will evolve into another and many cycles run their courses before the final collapse... whole universe. The cosmic Self or Virat, as the Rishis called it, acting through its particularised representative, the soul-principle, is the true source and support of the inner life-idea of the collective being, as it is of the individual. And if this source and support is not sufficiently contacted in consciousness, the eternal is never brought with dominant effect into the temporal and ultimately ...
... Sri Aurobindo Ashram - Its Role, Responsibility and Future Destiny Problems Peculiar to Our Collectivity Problems are sometimes accentuated in our Ashram community because our aim is to practise a 'collective yoga'; and this implies that individual sadhaks will not only have to contend against the difficulties of their own personal nature but fight many problems... problems as representatives of the whole group. Because of the fact of inner solidarity with all, each member of the collectivity is at all times exposed to the influences coming from all others and if he is not vigilant and strong enough to detect and nullify any adverse influence trying to overpower him, he will surely be lowered down in his consciousness, and willy-nilly he will start copying others... cannot escape the notice of any one who would keep his eyes open. And this risk arises because of the situation of many heterogeneous elements coming close together in the short space of our Ashram collectivity. Sri Aurobindo has alluded to this difficulty in a significant passage of The Life Divine: "It might be that, in such a concentration of effort, all the difficulties of the change would ...
... individual to Page 466 collectivity became more and more prominent. During the last thousand years, various invasions, battles and the subjugation of the country under the heavy hand of foreign rulers crippled not only the ideal of individual perfection but even that of collective perfection. The weakening of the ideal of the individual and the collective perfection became severest under... perfection and the ideal of collective perfection. This conflict has presented itself throughout the history both of India and the rest of the world from time to time and different answers have been given at different epochs according to the needs and circumstances and possibilities of circumstances. In early times, the individual was subordinated to the collectivity; in due course of time, the ... In India, the balance between the ideal of the perfection of the individual and the perfection of the collectivity was sought to be achieved by means of a profound sociological and psychological understanding of human development. A great stress was laid on the needs of the welfare of the collectivity, and the individual was required to subordinate himself through the system of duties towards the members ...
... ideal of individual freedom and separate self-fulfilment. This new idea demands of the nation that it shall subordinate, if not merge and sacrifice, its free separateness to the life of a larger collectivity, whether that of an imperialistic group or a continental or cultural unity, as in the idea of a united Europe, or the total united life of the human race. The principle of subjectivism entering... , the motive-power and the character of our living, does not at first appear to make any difference in its factors. Subjectivism and objectivism start from the same data, the individual and the collectivity, the complex nature of each with its various powers of the mind, life and body and the search for the law of their self-fulfilment and harmony. But objectivism proceeding by the analytical reason... reason and will isolated as a ruling authority from his other parts or by the reason and will of other individuals or of the group, and they have to be imposed on the group itself either by its own collective reason and will embodied in some machinery of control which the mind considers as something apart from the life of the group or by the reason and will of some other group external to it or of which ...
... the inner consciousness of humanity was always to find a greater and larger unit for the collective life of mankind. That unit today has to be a federation of free peoples and nations. In the place of nations, several such commonwealths must now form the broad systems of the body politic of human collectivity. That must give the pattern of its texture, the outline of its configuration—the shape of... family furnished such a nucleus in the early epochs of humanity. But with the growth of human life there came Page 30 a time when, for a better and more efficient organization in collective life, larger units were needed. The original unit had to be enlarged in order to meet the demands of a wider and more complex growth. Also it is to be noted that the living body is not merely a ... cells in spheres or regions or systems according to differing functions. And as we rise in the scale of evolution the grouping becomes more and more complex, well-defined and hierarchical. Human collectivity also shows a similar development in organization. The original, the primitive unit—the family—was first taken up into a larger unit, the clan; the clan, in its turn, gave place to the tribe and ...
... ts, on the other, are found to be so balanced that the individual and the collectivity sub-serve page - 76 each other, —not irreducibly and ideally, —but in some rough measure for immediate purposes. As one ascends higher and higher, the demands of self-assertion begin to collide with the demands of the collectivity, and in human life, this collision is sought to be resolved by erecting moral... higher formulations of ethical and spiritual norms. 44 They are all presented as universal doctrines intended to be prescribed uniformly for all people, but if we take human individual and human collectivity to be evolutionary in character and if we take elements of the complexity of human nature in an ascending order rising from infra-rational to the rational and from the rational to the supra-rational... From this point of view, there are four main standards of human conduct that make an ascending scale. The first is personal need, preference and desire; the second is the law and good of the collectivity; the third is an ideal ethic; the last page - 77 is the highest and divine ideal and the divine law of the nature. (i) Standard of conduct which is prescribed by psychological and ...
... divine being. This is the message for the individual. The Veda also presents a collective ideal and enjoins upon all who want to listen to this message that they should strive to march together, to commune among themselves in harmony and arrive at a common mind and common understanding. Collective unity and collective harmony form, according to the Veda, the goal that humanity must endeavour to achieve... effort to follow these two ideals of individual and collective perfection. Consequently, a concept that grew up and upheld the march of Indian culture was that of Dharma which is mistranslated as religidn. For Dharma really means the law of ascent, and it has three applications: perennial and for all; temporal for nations and smaller collectivities; and variable for each individual. Perennial law... Dharma, since it is unchanging and it exercises relentless pressure of immortal reality. But there is also Page 51 the law of the ascent determined by the aspiration of nationalities, collectivities and individuals. This law is temporal and variable. It varies according to the stages of free growth of aspiration. In Sanskrit it is called Rashtra Dharma and Swadharma. A subtle and complex ...
... here Sri Aurobindo has spoken of "the formation of ego-individuality". Ego-individuality means...? There are individual egos and collective egos. For example, the national ego is a collective ego. A group may have a collective ego. The human race has a collective ego. It is bigger or smaller. The individual ego is the ego of a particular person; it is the smallest kind of ego. Oh, there is of course... one widens his ego very much, one begins to grow less narrow-minded. Naturally, with yoga one can overcome all this consciously. Does the collective ego depend on the individual ego of the individuals who form the collectivity? Yes. Usually collective egos are inferior in quality to individual egos. Instead of being a multiplication or even an addition, it becomes a diminution, usually. Psy ...
... individual and the collective—the private and the public sector in modem jargon—is not of today. It is as old as Sophocles, as old as Valmiki. Antigone upheld the honour of the individual against the law of the State and sacrificed Page 40 herself for that ideal. Sri Rama on the contrary sacrificed his personal individual claims to the demand of his people, the collective godhead. ... Pasternak's tragedy runs on the same line. Progress and welfare of the group, of humanity at large is an imperative necessity and the collective personality does move in that direction. But it moves over the sufferings, over the corpses of individuals composing the collectivity. The individuals, in one sense, are indeed the foci, the conscious centres that direct and impel the onward march, but they have... deviation in the straight path, or rather, obstacles in the forward march. And the advancing time-spirit or world-spirit has to push them and cast away. There is also the other side of the shield. Collectivity, like the individual, may also be a help as well as a bar. It means the enlargement and diffusion of the individual's gain, a sharing in wide com- Page 41 monalty, an element ...
... freely. Both are equally true and necessary, and our eifort should be directed along both the lines. Collective progress and individual progress are interdependent. Before the individual can take a leap forward, it is necessary that something of an antecedent progress be achieved in the collective life. A way has therefore to be found whereby the twofold progress can go on simultaneously. ... to improve human conditions there have always been two tendencies, which although apparently contrary to each other should rather be complementary and together work out the progress. One seeks a collective reorganisation, something that would lead towards an effective unity of mankind: the other declares that all * Reproduced with a few alterations from the Bulletin of Physical Education... world organisation, to be real and to be able to live, must be based upon mutual respect and understanding between nation and nation as well as between individual and individual. It is only in the collective order and organisation, in a collaboration based upon mutual goodwill that lies the possibility of man being lifted out of the painful chaos where he is now. It is with this aim and in this spirit ...
... acts through the aeons to reveal progressively not only in the unity of the cosmos, not only in the collectivity of living and thinking creatures, but in the soul of each individual something of its divine Mystery and the hidden truth of the Infinite. Therefore there is in the cosmos, in the collectivity, in the individual, a rooted instinct or belief in its own perfectibility, a constant drive towards... spiritual power and presence within it which is one with all and in sympathy with each thing and creature and with all the collective personalities and powers of the divine Page 205 existence, and yet it transcends them and is not bound by the egoism of any creature or collectivity or limited by the ignorant controls of their lower nature. This is the high realisation in front of all our seeking... absolutism of our reason, we shall better be able to put in their right place in regard to each other the successive standards that govern the different stages in the growth of the individual and the collective march of mankind. At the most general of them we may cast a passing glance. For we have to see how they stand in relation to that other standardless spiritual and supramental mode of working for ...
... things. To be individualised in a collectivity, one must be absolutely conscious of oneself. And of which self?—the Self which is above all intermixture, that is, what I call the Truth of your being. And as long as you are not conscious of the Truth of your being, you are moved by all kinds of things, without taking any note of it at all. Collective thought, collective suggestions are a formidable influence... individual mastery over desire suffice or is a general, collective mastery necessary? Ah! There we are…. Is it possible to attain a total personal transformation without there being at least a correspondence in the collectivity?… This does not seem possible to me. There is such an interdependence between the individual and the collectivity that, unless one does what the ascetics have preached, that... being so long as the collectivity has not reached at least a certain degree of transformation? I don’t think so. Human nature remains what it is—one can attain a great change of consciousness, that yes, one can purify one’s consciousness, but the total conquest, the material transformation depends definitely to a large extent, on a certain degree of progress in the collectivity. Buddha said with reason ...
... Indianness, and that is its insistence on rta, the law of life and the law of development of individual and of the collectivity, a law which is, in a sense, eternal or the sandtana, and which is yet so supple that for each stage of life, each epoch of time, each nation, each collectivity and each individual it provides its own specific rhythms that govern their specific and unique development of life... dharma, kula dharma" , and even swddharma. The profundity and depth of the concept of dharma, which is not religion, but which is a complex principle of guidance that can lead individuals and collectivities from lower levels to higher levels, and which in reaching culminations widens itself into freedom to the infinity of the spirit. Another element that the Vedic quest provided to the Indian... needs for all and the totality. Finally, a further great element of Indianness was Page 9 the highest aspirations that insisted on reaching social, political, economic and collective perfection that can be measured in terms of togetherness of people, upliftment of all, and widest embrace of the universal brotherhood. We still hear the last hymn of the Rigveda, samgacchadwam ...
... corresponding in the collectivity?... It seems to me that it is not possible.... Is it possible to bring about a total transformation of one's being so long as the collectivity has not attained some degree at least of transformation? I do not believe it... The total conquest, matter's transformation, depends certainly a great deal upon a certain degree of progress in the collectivity." 1 Repeatedly... spiritual might to achieve a complete transformation of her body. Surely, she would not have thus striven if, knowing that the collectivity with whom she was in contact was poor in response, she had not felt that she could succeed in her work in spite of this collectivity's insufficient co-operation. If anything leaps out of Pranab's talk about her on 5 December 1973, it is her dauntless unremitting... not depend on the collectivity doing the same: "one single body" can do it and the others do not have to repeat its experience: they will simply be given the results. What we may conclude is: the Avatar of the Supermind and the disciples go on interdependently for quite a period of time but ultimately the Avatar breaks loose in a considerable measure from the drag of the collectivity and accomplishes ...
... divine being. This is the message for the individual. The Veda also presents a collective ideal and enjoins upon all who want to listen to this message that they should strive to march together, to commune among themselves in harmony and arrive at a common mind and common understanding. Collective unity and collective harmony form, according to the Veda, the goal that humanity must endeavour to achieve... effort to follow these two ideals of individual and collective perfection. Consequently, a concept that grew up and upheld the march of Indian culture was that of Dharma which is mistranslated as religion. For Dharma really means the law of ascent, and it has three applications: perennial and for all; temporal for nations and smaller collectivities; and variable for each individual. Perennial law... Sanskrit, Sanatana Dharma, since it is unchanging and it exercises relentless pressure of immortal reality. But there is also the law of the ascent determined by the aspiration of nationalities, collectivities and individuals. This law is temporal and variable. It varies according to the stages of free growth of aspiration. In Sanskrit it is called Rashtra Dharma and Swadharma. A subtle and complex ...
... individual and the collectivity, the drift of history at the present juncture, and the possibilities of the future in the light of the nature of the human situation in its horizontal and vertical possibilities. Page 114 III Human history may, in a sense, be perceived as a multilayered and complex struggle to harmonise the claims of the individual and those of the collectivity. The development... the conflict between the individual and the collectivity needs to be understood. Human history may be considered as a long story of the sway of the developing consciousness between three preoccupations of human idealism, — the complete single development of the human being himself, the perfectibility of the individual, a full development of the collective being, the perfectibility of the society,... community with community. Hence, we find in history that sometimes an exclusive or dominant emphasis is laid on the individual, sometimes on the collectivity and society, sometimes on a right and balanced relations between the individual and the collective human whole. According to one ideal, freedom and growth of perfection of the individual is to be held up as a true objective of our existence. This ...
... prepare or find the way by which the individual and the collective man can transcend the ego and live in its true self, no longer bound to ignorance, incapacity, disharmony and sorrow. It is by the pursuit of the eternal and not by living bound in the slow collective evolution of Nature that we can best assure even that evolutionary, collective, altruistic aim our modern thought and idealism have set... individual, but also from something higher than the collective ego. Altruism, philanthropy, the service of mankind are in themselves mental or moral ideals, not laws of the spiritual life. If into the spiritual aim there enters the impulse to deny the personal self or to serve humanity or the world at large, it comes not from the ego nor from the collective sense of the race, but from something more occult... largeness. For human thought falls apart towards two opposite extremes: one, mundane and pragmatic, regards the fulfilment and satisfaction of the mental, vital and physical ego-sense individual or collective as the object of life and looks no farther, while the other, spiritual, philosophic or religious, regards the conquest of the ego in the interests of the soul, spirit or whatever be the ultimate ...
... "O Lord, may my Mother get completely cured tonight." Surely had we been devoted to You, a collective prayer and aspiration would have arisen, instead of the sneezing, yawning and coughing. How nicely we receive You! You appear on the steps, and we begin this noise. My dear Mother, may a collective and concentrated will be created, a will consecrated to the Divine for the manifestation of the ...
... a divine reality that has to come to its own"—that is to say, its own soul. For there is a collective soul, as well as an individual soul. It is the presiding deity, the norm of consciousness and being that works out the growth and evolution of a collectivity that has found a common life. This collectivity is also enlarging itself in wider and wider commonalty. As we see actually today the nation... integrated collective groupings than the nation are developing; they may ere long become familiar realities. Such . formations moving towards and effectuating the one indivisible humanity open out the possibility towards a superhumanity which will have to base itself on a new principle of organisation ; for that must be a new mode of consciousness. Even the family, the first unit of collective formation... self-evident. The sum and substance of all he says is that man is growing and has to grow in consciousness till he reaches the complete and perfect consciousness, not only in his individual but in his collective, that is to say, social life. In fact, the growth of consciousness is the supreme secret of life, the master key to earthly evolution. Sri Aurobindo believes in evolution. Creation, according ...
... Society, the individual and the collective-the private and the public sector in modern jargon – is not of today. It is as old as Sophocles, as old as Valmiki. Antigone upheld the honour of the individual against the law of the State and sacrificed herself for that ideal. Sri Rama on the contrary sacrificed his personal individual claims to the demand of his people, the collective godhead. Pasternak's tragedy... tragedy runs on the same line. Progress and welfare of the group, of humanity at large is an imperative necessity and the collective personality does move in that direction. But it moves over the sufferings, over the corpses of individuals composing the collectivity. The individuals, in one sense, are indeed the foci, the conscious centres that direct and impel the onward march, but they have something... deviation in the straight path, or rather, obstacles in the forward march. And the advancing time-spirit or world-spirit has to push them and cast away. There is also the other side of the shield. Collectivity, like the individual, may also be a help as well as a bar. It means the enlargement and diffusion of the individual's gain, a sharing in wide' commonalty, an element or asset of human progress; ...
... profiteering the individual may be, still, one must remember that it is always the individual who is adventurous and inventive, it is he who discovers, creates new things and beautiful things. A collective or global enterprise makes for massiveness and quantity, but it means also uniformity, often a dead uniformity: for variety, for originality, as well as for the aesthetic tone and the human touch... community, and also the stupendous inequality and maldistribution of wealth and opportunity. But it brings in its own poison. It is a great illusion, as has been pointed out by many, that a collective and impersonal body cannot be profiteers and war-mongers. A nation as a whole can very well be moved by greed and violence and Sieglust (passion for conquest)—Nazism has another name, it is also... man's inner nature that is to be handled, dealt with and changed; outer systems and forms have only a secondary importance. NATIONALISM Again, Nationalism is also not the summum bonum of collective living. The nation has emerged out of the family and the tribe as a greater unit of the human aggregate. But this does not mean that it is the last word on the subject, that larger units are not ...
... Destiny A Utopian Dream? We have put forward in the preceding Section the idea that in order to fulfil its destiny, the destiny of erecting an ideal collective life wherein will live perfect spiritual individuals, a significant number of Ashramites should seriously endeavour to grow within and live from within, know their real selves and build up their... be objected that it puts off the consummation of an ideal human grouping to a remote future; for it presupposes that no machinery invented by man's reason can perfect either the individual or the collective man. And who will deny that the inner change needed in human nature to achieve this goal of dual perfection is something too difficult to be ever achieved except by a microscopic minority? ... of man has indeed reached a critical point when a serious attempt can be made to effectuate a radical change of present human nature and with it to usher in unity, mutuality and harmony in man's collective living. Let us listen to him: "...if an evolution of being is the law, then what we are seeking for is not only possible but part of the eventual necessity of things. It is our spiritual destiny ...
... the collective mind of the community, race, nation or body of nations that profess it and the collective mind of all humanity, the latter attaining especial importance in these days when all parts of the world are in some sort of touch with each other. The conditions which act on it are the various physical and other influences which have acted or are now acting on the individual and collective mind ...
... in the collective effort. If one of us makes a progress, he does it for the earth; if one bit of evil is annihilated in one individual consciousness, it produces a corresponding effect in the terrestrial consciousness; if one individual cures a single ill in his nature, the whole world gets the benefit, In fact, unless all is cured, nothing is perfectly cured. This is the secret of collective sadhana... step. Take the political field for instance; it is the same story. It is a political sickness, a sickness of the group consciousness in each group or nation, and as in the individual so also in the collectivity the consciousness is centred in the ego and tries only to serve and fulfil its own limited interest at the cost of others. The problem is how to govern one's own self and at the same time help others ...
... between things, harmony between people, harmony of circumstances and above all harmony of all aspiration directed towards the Supreme Truth. A harmonious collective aspiration can change the course of circumstances. Collective harmony is the work undertaken by the Divine Consciousness; It alone has the power to realise it. There is a deep and true consciousness in which all can ...
... our ultimate and only hope for perfection of Man as well as Collective or Communal Man - a spirituality that would take up into itself all his manifold urges and faculties and "reveal to these ill-accorded forces their divine sense and the conditions of their godhead, reconcile them all to each other... ." 24 Man and Collective Man: the Individual and Society - must a firm reconciliation... richer life in a collectivity, for man is a social and communal being too. But a reconciliation between the two divergent desires hasn't been easy. Man has only too often played wolf to man, and humanity has purblindly see-sawed in the past between sanguinary war and uneasy peace. History has taught us nothing, sociology hasn't been of much use. Our thought and action in collective life has been "shallow... The organised State is neither the best mind of the nation nor is it even the sum of the communal energies.... It is a collective egoism much inferior to the best of which the community is capable. What that egoism is in its relation Page 482 to other collective egoisms we know... the State is an entity which, with the greatest amount of power, is the least hampered by internal scruples ...
... a means and a framework for a better, richer, more happy and puissant individual and collective life. But hitherto the experience of mankind has not favoured the view that huge aggregations, closely united and strictly organised, are favourable to a rich and puissant human life. It would seem rather that collective life is more at ease with itself, more genial, varied, fruitful when it can concentrate... widespread material well-being. Therefore this earlier form of collective life tended to disappear and give place to the organisation of nations, kingdoms and empires. And here we notice, first, that it is the groupments of smaller nations which have had the most intense life and not the huge States and colossal empires. Collective life diffusing itself in too vast spaces seems to lose intensity... transitions. Nothing is more obscure to humanity or less seized by its understanding, whether in the power that moves it or the sense of the aim towards which it moves, than its own communal and collective life. Sociology does not help us, for it only gives us the general story of the past and the external conditions under which communities have survived. History teaches us nothing; it is a confused ...
... profiteering the individual may be, still, one must remember that it is always the individual who is adventurous and inventive, it is he who discovers, creates new things and beautiful things. A collective or global enterprise makes for massiveness and quantity, but it means also uniformity, often a dead uniformity: for variety, for originality, as well as for the aesthetic tone and the human ... community, and also the stupendous inequality and maldistribution of wealth and opportunity. But it brings in its own poison. It is a great illusion, as has been pointed out by many, that a collective and impersonal body cannot be profiteers and war-mongers. A nation as a whole can very well be moved by greed and violence and Sieglust (passion for conquest) – Nazism has another name, it... nature that is to be handled, dealt with and changed; outer systems and forms have only a secondary importance. NATIONALISM Again, Nationalism is also not the summum bonum of collective living. The nation has emerged out of the family and the tribe as a greater unit of the human aggregate. But this does not mean that it is the last word on the subject, that larger units are not ...
... life itself has to be conducted and lived according to the demands of that view. It is this that humanity is one, that mankind as a whole is a single organism. Even like an individual being, the collective being too is a unit, a close knit living unit. As the individual has different parts and limbs, organs and systems, so is humanity composed of nations and races, cultures and religions. And as the... one life is not sufficient for the purpose, as some seers declare, several lives are at the disposal of the individual to achieve it. In what sense can the same or something similar be said of the collective or group life? There is the view, an old-world view, of eternal recurrence. That is to say, creation is ever the same; it goes through a cycle of changes, but the cycles repeat ad infinitum... measuring it by its centuries but by its millenniums, not by its apparent habits and outward forms but by inner forces and attitudes, we shall discover that it is the story of the unfoldment of a collective fulfilment, of an ascension in grades of consciousness towards an ever higher and vaster truth and reality. Viewed as a progressive growth of consciousness and transformation of nature, man's ...
... Indianness, and that is its insistence on rta, the law of life and the law of development of individual and of the collectivity, a law which is, in a sense, eternal or the sanatana, and which is yet so supple that for each stage of life, each epoch of time, each nation, each collectivity and each individual it provides its own specific rhythms that govern Page 450 their specific and unique... dharma, kula dharma", and even swadharma. The profundity and depth of the concept of dharma, which is not religion, but which is a complex principle of guidance that can lead individuals and collectivities from lower levels to higher levels, and which in reaching culminations widens itself into freedom to the infinity of the spirit. Another element that the Vedic quest provided to the Indian... uniqueness, limitations and needs for all and the totality. Finally, a further great element of Indianness was the highest aspirations that insisted on reaching social, political, economic and collective perfection that can be measured in terms of togetherness of people, upliftment of all, and widest embrace of the universal brotherhood. We still hear the last hymn of the Rigveda, samgacchadwam ...
... economy in collective life. Economic organization and scientific advance are in themselves great helps in the task of bringing about the descent of the Supermind. But man's psychology dominated by desire and ambition is the great obstacle. I know cases in which people who have spiritual aspiration and hunger are unable even to make an effort for it. The Page 81 collective atmosphere... here a culture that is efficient, but in which man is not free. He labours from morning to night to earn his bread, to dress and to have a house. The life collective is like a machine that grinds the individual in order to maintain collective prosperity and political status. We are so careful about economic waste that we do not mind wasting the human material. We count in terms of production—which... in infinite space, infinite movement in eternal time : an infinite existence and an infinite movement of energy. This existence and this movement is far more than the human individual or human collectivity. Man begins with the ego as the centre of the universe and thinks that the aim of the universal existence and movement is related to him. This is not true. Existence is for itself and not particularly ...
... the individual perfection in the general nature of the collectivity. But the individual, being a part of the collectivity, and not an isolated unit, cannot completely identify himself with the Divine until the rampant impurities of the collective nature have been to a certain extent eliminated. It is this dual work of individual and collective transformation that has been the mission and labour of... for and attained, and not one that has ever been achieved in the spiritual history of humanity. It will come as the ultimate victory in a double war waged within man and without, individually and collectively. If we bear the above salient points well in mind, we shall be able to follow the general trend of the Mother's aspiration and achievements and discover in them the same essential elements... the universal action. This perception of the Mother of the interdependence of all actions is an index to the line her spiritual career has consistently taken—it is the dual line of individual and collective aspiration and conquest. It must have been a basic realisation other consciousness, ¹ Prayers and Meditations of the Mother, November 2, 1912. ² Ibid. Page 344 ...
... his movements with the fellow-players'? The same is true of all collective work. The independence of each is qualified by the interdependence of all. Each one has to accept a certain degree of restriction and even subordination. The closer the collaboration, the better the efficiency. Now, a new class is eminently a collective undertaking. Yet much freedom is left to the teacher, not only in... students, more dignity, self-mastery and punctuality from the teachers, a feeling of closeness and unity, and better relations between teachers and students. The necessity of a co-ordinated collective action of the teachers makes it indispensable that one of the class-teachers should be in charge of the organization of the class and responsible for its unity. Let us call him the First Teacher... independence. Freedom for the child is all right, they will say, but what about the freedom of the teacher? Will there not be a great rigidity and fixity in the system? First, when text-books, collective class-teaching and home-work are replaced with work-sheets prepared by the teacher and with individual work by the students under his guidance and control, the teacher's freedom of action is not ...
... gs not very common in the old world; and yet, at the same time, it is a clarion that calls for and prepares strife and battle. If the conception of Right has sanctified the individual or a unit collectivity, it has also, pari passu, developed a fissiparous tendency in human organization. Society based on or living by the principle of Rights becomes naturally and inevitably a competitive society.... obligations. Fulfil your duties conscientiously; the rights will take care of themselves; it is such an attitude that can give man the right poise, the right impetus, the right outlook in regard to collective living. If, instead of each one's demanding what he considers as his dues and and consequently scrambling and battling for them, and most often not getting them or getting at a ruinous price—such... s. Consciousness at its origin and in its primitive formulation is dominated by the principle of inertia, tamas; Page 137 in that state things have mostly an undifferen-tiated collective existence, they helplessly move about acted upon by forces outside themselves. Growth and evolution bring about differentiation, specialisation, organization. And this means consciousness of oneself ...
... not very common in the old world; and yet at the same time it is a clarion that calls for and prepares strife and battle. If the conception of Right has s anctified the individual or a unit collectivity, it has also pari passu d eveloped a fissiparous tendency in human organisation. Society based on or living by the principle of Right becomes naturally and inevitably a competitive... Page 59 duties conscientiously, the rights will take care of themselves; it is such an attitude that can give man the right poise, the right impetus, the right outlook with regard to a collective living. If instead of each one demanding what one considers as one's dues and consequently scrambling and battling for them, and most often not getting them or getting at a ruinous price – what made... ascending consciousness. Consciousness at Its origin and in its primitive formulation is dominated by the principle of inertia (tamas); in that state things have mostly an undifferentiated collective existence, they helplessly move about acted upon by forces outside them. A rise in growth and evolution brings about differentiation, specialisation, organisation. And this means consciousness of ...
... limit ourselves to the human collectivity at present) has to attain svarajya, self-rule, a perfectly homogeneous integral spiritual whole in himself: then all such individuals should achieve integrality with one another. Each lives in and through every other and all together live in everyone. The whole forms an indissoluble integral and unitary life. This collective integration means all individuals... when not only individuals but groups and collectivities find and establish their own selves – each its svarajya, and all combined in a yet larger and greater organisation: combined and unified they act in a unified and homogeneous living as individuals do in the world aggregate. Although the individual is the basic reality, aggregations and collectivities also are realities, even spiritual realities... I IT IS Integration. I am using a much used, much abused word but it happens to be the word. We have reached a status of consciousness within as distinct units, individual or collective: our effort should now be to co-ordinate, to harmonise the different and differing units or separate elements into a well-knit single whole. That means, the ego-centres that are still left and active ...
... whether the thing can happen and will happen individually before it happens collectively. But no individual realisation even can be complete or approach perfection, unless and until it is in harmony with a group consciousness representing a new world. There is always an interdependence between the individual and the collective so much so that an individual realisation is bound to be restricted and diminished... are still individuals who carry in them this need of the eternal and the absolute. It is only little by little, very gradually, through cycles of enlightenment and obscurity that something like a collective consciousness in humanity awakes to the need of such a higher existence. And today this necessity seems evidently very general, cutting across all turmoils and stupidities of mankind: that shows... follow a certain curve of progress in order that a new world and a new consciousness may appear in it. So the future realisation does depend, partially at least, upon you, individually and collectively. Have you ever tried to conceive what the new consciousness may mean, what the new race and the new world would look like? It is evident that the advent of man upon the earth has changed ...
... mind about the respective places freedom and discipline should occupy in the ordering of our Ashram community. It is necessary to remember at the very outset that any attempt at a large-scale collective spiritual life is always liable to be vitiated by the imperfections of the individual seekers, also by the intrusion of the unregenerate mental, vital and physical consciousness into the higher truth... must bring about either the efficient stability of a termite civilisation or a drying up of the springs of life and a swift or slow decadence. It is through the growth of consciousness that the collective soul and its life can become aware of itself and develop; the free play of mind and life is essential for the growth of consciousness: for mind and life are the soul's only instrumentation until... its members are concerned. But what about the others, however few they be in number, who have not developed any capacity for self-discipline and hence become a destabilising factor for the whole collectivity? There should no doubt be in the Ashram for all its members total freedom to grow in consciousness and realise their spiritual destiny in their own way. But that does not mean that there should ...
... a divine reality that has to come to its own – that is to say, its own soul. For there is a collective soul, as well as an individual soul. It is the presiding deity, the norm of consciousness and being that works out the growth and evolution of a collectivity that has found a common life. This collectivity is also enlarging itself in wider and wider commonalty. As we see actually today the nation... integrated collective groupings than the nation are developing; they may ere long become familiar realities. Such formations moving towards and effectuating the one indivisible humanity open out the possibility towards a superhumanity which will have to base itself on a new principle of organisation; for that must be a new mode of consciousness. Even the family, the first unit of collective formation... self-evident. The sum and substance of all he says is that man is growing and has to grow in consciousness till he reaches the complete and perfect consciousness, not only in his individual but in his collective, that is to say, social life. In fact, the growth of consciousness is the supreme secret of life, the master key to earthly evolution. Sri Aurobindo believes in evolution. Creation, according ...
... The Yoga of Sri Aurobindo - Part 6 INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE SOUL The individual has a soul. Likewise a collection of individuals, a group too has a soul. When persons habitually meet together for a certain purpose, they form a set or society and gradually tend to develop a common consciousness which is the beginning of a soul. At school, they who read... consciousness of its own; it may be said to be the unit individual consciousness. Many such cells combine to form the organism, the individual (who in this way may be viewed as a composite or collective being). Many individuals form the family—-each family with its group consciousness (whence the idea of kuladharma, the genius of the family or the tradition and stamp of a Royal House). Many ...
... Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol. 3 Individual and Collective Soul THE individual has a soul. Likewise a collection of individuals, a group too has a soul. When persons habitually meet together for a certain purpose, they form a set or society and gradually tend to develop a common consciousness which is the beginning of a soul. At school... has a consciousness of its own; it may be said to be the unit individual consciousness. Many such cells combine to form the organism, the individual (who in this way may be viewed as a composite or collective being). Many individuals form the family – each family with its group consciousness (whence the idea of kuladharma, the genius of the family or the tradition and stamp of a Royal House). Many families ...
... Mother. The creation of a new world, a new humanity, a new society expressing and embodying the new consciousness is the work she has undertaken. By the very nature of things, it is a collective ideal that calls for a collective effort so that it may be realised in the terms of an integral human perfection. The Ashram founded and built by the Mother was the first step towards the accomplishment of... harmony between soul and body, spirit and nature, heaven and earth, in the collective life of mankind. 1969 * Page 15 Q: What is the difference between the Ashram and Auroville? The Ashram will retain its true role of pioneer, inspirer and guide. Auroville is the attempt towards collective realisation. June 1968 * Q: What is the fundamental difference... not need to work with their hands, that is what I meant. "There will be no taxes as such, but each one will contribute to the collective welfare in work, kind or money." So that is clear: there will be no taxes, but each one will have to contribute to the collective welfare by his work, in kind or in money. Those who have nothing but money will give money. But to tell the truth, 'work' can be inner ...
... Education and the Aim of human life I The Purpose of Education The aim of education is always twofold: there is a collective aspect and there is an individual aspect. From the collectivity point of view, education is expected to turn the individual into a good citizen, i.e., into a person who has harmonious relations with the other members of the... individual as a subordinate unit. Some doctrines go so far as to deny to the individual any legitimate right and aspiration except what the collectivity sees and decides. Even when such an extreme position is rejected, it is certain that nowadays the collective aim in education has overshadowed the individual, so that the problem of education becomes almost exclusively: how to fit the individual to ...
... are a few of them ) It has been found necessary to change some of the forms and methods hitherto used to help by external means, the individual and collective sadhana. This has to be done especially in regard to the consecration of food, the collective meditation and the individual contact of the sadhak with the Mother. The existing forms were originally arranged in order to make possible a spiritual ...
... the individual perfection in the general nature of the collectivity. But the individual, being a part of the collectivity, and not an isolated unit, cannot completely identify himself with the Divine until the rampant impurities of the collective nature have been to a certain extent eliminated. It is this dual work of individual and collective transformation that has been the mission and labour of... and attained, and not one that has ever been achieved in the spiritual history of humanity. It will come as the ultimate victory in a double war waged within man and without, individually and collectively. If we bear the above salient points well in mind, we shall be able to follow the general trend of the Mother's aspiration and achievements and discover in them the same essential elements... universal action. This perception of the Mother of the interdependence of all actions is an index to the line her spiritual career has consistently taken—it is the dual line of individual and collective aspiration and conquest. It must have been a basic realisation of her consciousness, early in her life, that existence is one and indivisible, and that our individual perfection and fulfillment ...
... tends to grow into deification of the State. As a result, we are not working consciously for the development of collective consciousness that takes care of the liberties of the individual, nor are we developing the ethos in which the individual and Page 9 the collectivity are prepared to sacrifice their egoisms for their harmonious and inter-dependent relationships. The only way by... "dharma". Dharma is not any religious creed or dogma and system of rituals but a deeper law of the harmonious and interdependent growth of the deepest aspirations of the collectivity and of the individuals that constitute the collectivity. Dharma can be regarded as an ordered system of moral and spiritual values. Values that we seek in the moral and spiritual domain are those of sincerity, faithfulness... development of the individual to grow into his/her highest possibilities, - physical, vital, mental, aesthetic, ethical and spiritual. True democracy demands self-determination by the individual and the collectivity at the highest levels of consciousness. This demand is consistently and systematically ignored or obstructed, and therefore, democracy is being increasingly collapsing in plutocracy, - the rule ...
... to ask? The other day you spoke of that golden Pressure becoming stronger and stronger... Yes, yes. ...perhaps bringing a possibility of catastrophes, you said. Are you thinking of a collective danger? America is doing horrible things. They have mined Haiphong. 1 Nobody had ever dared do that so far. Yes, there's a strong impression that that whole abscess should burst open—that... power of decision of any kind, but at the same time ( Mother slowly lowers her fist ), through that individuality such a tremendous Action is taking place! And totally unexpected, you know. Both collective and individual actions, which seem absolutely miraculous because they are like this ( same gesture )—all-powerful. And the two extremes are there AT THE SAME TIME. I've never had such a feeling... void. Yes, void. Complete void. But then, at the same time (almost the same time, sometimes even exactly at the same time), you perceive a Power acting so formidably through that void! And on a collective scale, you know: winning victories, destroying certain things—fabulous! Fabulous. ( silence ) And the same for the body. It's as if every minute the body could die, and every minute it's m ...
... being, a formation out of the Divine Consciousness and in direct contact with it, a power and aspect of Mahashakti. A nation is not merely the sum total of the individuals that compose it, but a collective personality of which the individuals are as it were cells, like the cells of a living and conscious organism.The psychic being or soul of a nation is indeed conscious; it knows its raison d'etre... and come in contact with the nation's soul in and through his own soul. When one becomes conscious of his psychic being then only one is in a condition to be conscious of the psychic being of the collective person of his nation or the nation with which he has inner affinity. There are periods in the life cycle of a nation, critical moments, when it is in deadly peril, when its very existence... their souls, it may be asked. Well, what happens to the soul of the individual when Page 58 the body falls away? The soul returns to the soul-world. Like the individual Psyche the collective Psyche too goes and retires into the womb of peace and light with all its treasures, its beauty and glory gathered in, like a bird that goes to sleep within its folded wings. What the Greek culture ...
... had been added or taken away in the atmosphere. Have you noticed? Yes, absolutely. Page 36 So I am searching for the key to that. It's collective. It's independent of beings. It's independent of beings and it's collective, and it acts on everyone and on circumstances. Where does it come from? That has to be seen. It must be found. It's very strange. I've asked myself the ...
... images", 33 ascribed such experiences to the collective unconscious. Another striking resemblance between Sri Aurobindo's description of the subliminal and Jung's view of the collective unconscious lies in tracing the source of predictive, veridical and deeply symbolic dreams. According to Sri Aurobindo such dreams, which Jung ascribed to the collective unconscious, come from the subliminal, which... contents, the personal unconscious differs from the collective unconscious in two chief respects. First, the former differs from person to person in the nature of its contents; the latter is the same in all individuals the world over. Secondly, the personal unconscious comes into existence subsequent to the formation of the conscious mind, whereas the collective unconscious antecedes the appearance of the... attributed the repressed memories to the personal unconscious, and regarded the instincts as belonging to the collective unconscious. (c) The major difference between Freud and Jung regarding the unconscious lies in the distinction made by Jung between the personal and the collective unconscious, and the far greater importance given to the latter. (d) Freud and Jung differed also in their ...
... society takes very long to change, the process is both individual and collective. She referred to Sri Aurobindo's concept of Collective Evolution and said that because Nature itself is evolving, we are also evolving collectively. She remarked that while individuals can make individual contributions, there is also need for the collectivity to make its own contribution. She said that there is something like... the human being was oriented towards collectivity, in the post-industrial era, there is greater and greater emphasis on egoism and competition based upon narrow concerns of individuality. She said that the problems of today are problems of the dichotomy between individual and the collectivity. How to reconcile the growth of the individual and growth of collectivity is the central problem, she added.... gnostic society where the needs of the individuals and needs of collectivity can be perfectly synchronized. Page 116 PKSP stated that unless the present human consciousness undergoes a change, we cannot bring about any real change in the society. He felt that there is a need of total revolution, both individual and collective. He asked whether such a total change is possible. KJ ...
... being, a formation out of the Divine Consciousness and in direct contact with it, a power and aspect of Mahashakti. A nation is not merely the sum total of the individuals that compose it, but a collective personality of which the individuals are as it were cells, like the cells of a living and conscious organism. The psychic being or soul of a nation is indeed conscious; it knows its raison d'être... and come in contact with the nation's soul in and through his own soul. When one becomes conscious of his psychic being then only one is in a condition to be conscious of the psychic being of the collective person of his nation or the nation with which he has inner affinity. There are periods in the life cycle of a nation, critical moments, when it is in deadly peril, when its very existence is ... What I has happened to their souls, it may be asked. Well, what happens to the soul of the individual when the body falls away? The soul returns to the soul-world. Like the individual Psyche the collective Psyche too goes and retires into the womb of peace and light with all its treasures, its beauty and glory gathered in, like a bird that goes to sleep within its folded : wings. What the Greek culture ...
... whether the thing can happen and will happen individually before it happens collectively. But no individual realisation even can be complete or approach perfection, unless and until it is in harmony with a group consciousness representing a new world. There is always an interdependence between the individual and the collective so much so that an individual realisation is bound to be restricted and diminished... are still individuals who carry in them this need of the eternal and the absolute. It is only little by little, very gradually, through cycles of enlightenment and obscurity that something like a collective consciousness in humanity awakes to the need of such a higher existence. And today this necessity seems evidently very general, cutting across all turmoils and stupidities of mankind: that shows... to follow a certain curve of progress in order that a new world and a new consciousness may appear in it. So the future realisation does depend, partially at least, upon you, individually and collectively. Have you ever tried to conceive what the new consciousness might mean, what the new race and the new world would look like? It is evident that the advent of man upon the earth has changed the ...
... society were chiefly concerned with the development of mankind in die mass. It is a collective growth, a general uplifting that is attempted: the individual has no special independent value of his own. The clan, the tribe, the kula, the order, the caste, or the State, when it came to be formed, were the various collective frames of reference for ascertaining the function and the value of the individual... movement for the establishment and maintenance of the individual's right. The Reformation characteristically sought to make room for individual judgement and free choice in a field where authority -the collective authority of the Church -was all in all and the individual was almost a nonentity. Page 273 In India the spiritual life, it is true, was more or less the individual's free venture ...
... of created harmony. But from the collective point of view, the point of view of collective influence, it's the other way around; in other words, that's what is taken to be the "cause" of disorders: instead of being the effect, it's the cause—which is absurd. And then, from the point of view of the transformation of the cells and the organism, this collective influence is a state like a bath in... usually, I resume my work after taking my bath—so didn't have lunch. Well, the so-called lunch has long gone to the winds. ( silence ) For three things one should be on one's guard. One is the collective suggestion of "disease"—"disease" is something that doubtless exists, in the sense that there are obviously adverse forces at work trying to disorganize and delay the work; but, for the individual ...
... abolished or disaggregated, though some spirit or power of it might form again in other individuals: but the individual is not a mere cell of the collective existence; he would not cease to exist if separated or expelled from the collective mass. For the collectivity, the community is not even the whole of humanity and it is not the world: the individual can exist and find himself elsewhere in humanity or... error. A forced and imposed unanimity of mind, life, action raised to their highest tension under the drive of something which is thought to be greater, the collective soul, the collective life, is the formula found. But this obscure collective being is not the soul or self of the community; it is a life-force that rises from the subconscient and, if denied the light of guidance by the reason, can be... his universalised individuality into the action of the universe. As he does not live for a separate ego, so too he does not live for the purpose of any collective ego; he lives in and for the Divine in himself, in and for the Divine in the collectivity, in and for the Divine in all beings. This universality in action, organised by the all-seeing Will in the sense of the realised oneness of all, is the ...
... discipline. Vedic discipline was not something personal and individual. It was essentially collective, i.e., for the community as a whole. That is why we often hear an aspirant of the Vedas calling his friends to assemble in spiritual practice and bring down the divine force with a collective effort. The collective life flourished in those days with the help of companions and helpers in sadhana. The gods ...
... driven by the Idea or Truth within him to unify himself with others of his species, to join himself to them or agglutinate them to him, to create human groups, aggregates and collectivities. And if there is an aggregate or collectivity which it is possible for him to realise but is not yet realised, we may be sure that that too in the end he will create. This will in him is not always or often quite conscient... preceded it. There is here no vital necessity; mankind as a whole can get on well enough without international unity, so far as mere living goes; it will not be at all a perfect, rational or ideal collective living of the race,—but after all where is there yet any element in human life or society which is perfect, rational or ideal? As yet at least none; still we get on somehow with life, because the... As a national ego formed which identified itself with the geographical body of the nation and developed in it the psychological instinct of national unity and the need of its satisfaction, so a collective human ego will develop in the international body and will evolve in it the psychological instinct of human unity and the need of its satisfaction. That will be the guarantee of duration. And that ...
... n of the state but a cultivated awareness of the collectivity and a voluntary subordination of the individual to the needs and decisions of the collectivity as an integral part of the process of the individual and collective perfection. Or, in other words, when we speak of democratic socialism, we should mean a state of existence where collectivity respects the freedom of the individual in his pursuit... and where the individual freely sacrifices his narrow interests and his egoism in the interests of the development of the collectivity. Page 17 Development ought to aim at the growth of this kind of inter-relationship between the individual and the collectivity. But even this is not enough. Development needs the promotion of science and technology. Fortunately, science and technology... to recognize the dangers of the one and the difficulties of the other, and to conceive or design appropriate lines of action. In doing so, care should be taken to recognize the needs and truths of collective life of mankind. Uniformity, if led to its logical extreme, would impose not only the rule of one language, but also the overpowering dominion of one aspect of culture. Unity, on the other hand, ...
... and control these movements by external means; to some extent it is necessary and so the central authority has been given that much strength and capacity. But the Ashram was made to be a conscious collective centre where these things must change from within, not under external compulsion, and that is why the Ashram was not given an authority strong enough to dominate or control its members. Here, the... very elements in the Ashram atmosphere as well as outside it. That is the only solution and the only remedy—to cure the ills individually, personally in ones own consciousness. Then only a conscious collective consciousness can grow and develop in the Ashram with all these living and conscious units or cells and thereby change its own condition as well as the condition of India and also the condition of ...
... species of trees and fixed their genus. It has mapped them out collectively & known the whole mass as the forest. But it is not yet free. It has not escaped from the ensorcelled gyre of the Almighty Magician. It knows every detail of its prison, nothing more. It has discovered the vyashti & the samashti; it has arrived only at a collective & not at a real unity. It has discovered the relations of unit... The intuitive reason can do much for us, can indicate to us the higher truth. The intellectual reason can only arrive, as we have seen, at a collective unity; it is still bound by its data. The intuitive reason first suggests to us a unity which is not collective but essential, the Brahman of the Veda [........] It is intuitive reason that [........] infinity. We [........] its non-existence to the observing... less is the transience, the greater the permanence. The family outlasts the individual, the class endures when the single family has perished, the kind survives the disappearance of the class, the collective whole endures & outlives all the revolutions of its component parts. Therefore a final law and morality is found, the sacrifice & consummation of the less in the greater, of the few for the many ...
... " It is true that the spiritual tendency has been to look more beyond life than towards life. It is true also that the spiritual change has been individual and not collective; its result has been successful in the man, but unsuccessful or only indirectly operative in the human mass. The spiritual evolution of Nature is still in process and incomplete,—one might almost... Nature has fully confirmed this intensive evolution and formation through the individual that anything radical of an expanding or dynamically diffusive character can be expected or any attempt at collective spiritual life,—such attempts have been made, but mostly as a field of protection for the growth of the individual's spirituality,—acquire a successful permanence. For till then the individual must... of entirely changing his mind and life into conformity with the truth of the spirit which he is achieving or has achieved in his inner being and knowledge. Any premature attempt at a large-scale collective spiritual life is exposed to vitiation by some incompleteness of the spiritual knowledge on its dynamic side, by the imperfections of the individual seekers and by the invasion of the ordinary mind ...
... The Yoga of Sri Aurobindo - Part 6 THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE COLLECTIVE An integral sadhana cannot be confined to the individual alone; an element of collectivity must enter into it. An individual is not an isolated being in any way. There are, of course, schools of Yoga and philosophy that seek to isolate the individual, consider him as an entity hemmed in ...
... Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol. 3 The Individual and the Collective AN integral sadhana cannot. be confined to the individual alone; an element of collectivity must enter into it. An individual is not an isolated being in any way. There are, of course, schools of Yoga and philosophy that seek to isolate the individual, consider him as ...
... should be suitable for collective singing, that it should have an effective orchestration. But these are, for all their importance, purely technical points. And woe betide the nation which appoints a committee of technicians to decide its anthem! Orchestral skill has certainly to be brought into play and a popular song which ultimately fails to be made suitable for collective singing will never get... entity that has concretely emerged in human consciousness. The sense of the Supreme Divine may be very strong in individuals, it may even be an effective force in certain human collectivities or nations, but not every collectivity or nation possesses it, whereas the sense of a Britannia, a belle France, a Cathleen ni Houlihan, a Bharat Mata is most vivid. Millions have lived and died for the national... get accepted. But such a song exists only in the imagination: the very fact that a song has been popular implies that it has possibilities of collective and orchestral treatment. The right kind of treatment may not be easy to come by; yet to say that there is a fundamental defect in the popular song, rendering the right kind impossible, is to indulge in extreme partisanship for a rival ditty and in gross ...
... consciousness working to manifest the truth of the future. Until this group consciousness appears, and until we can work collectively in the true and right way, what should we do? A hierarchical organisation grouped around the most enlightened centre and submitting to a collective discipline. Must we use organisational methods which have proved effective but which are based on human logic and... Mother. The creation of a new world, a new humanity, a new society expressing and embodying the new consciousness is the work she has undertaken. By the very nature of things, it is a collective ideal that calls for a collective effort so that it may be realised in the terms of an integral human perfection. The Ashram founded and built by the Mother was the first step towards the accomplishment of this... truth. February 1968 What is the difference between the Ashram and Auroville? The Ashram will retain its true role of pioneer, inspirer and guide. Auroville is the attempt towards collective realisation. June 1968 It is true that to live in Auroville a great progress of consciousness has to be made. But the moment has come when this progress is possible. With all my ...
... which its will of being, its type of nature and mentality, its attempt of experience is carried forward, migrates, one might almost say, into new-born collective bodies, in other ages or cycles? Mankind itself has this separate collective soul and collective existence. And on that community the community of karma is founded; the action and development of the whole produces consequence of karma and experience... may be to our seizing, there is a group-soul which is the support and foundation—some would call it the result—of this communal variety. That gives us a ground for a group karma. For the group or collective soul renews and prolongs itself and in man at least develops its nature and experience from generation to generation. And who knows whether, when one form of it is disintegrated, community or nation ...
... is now the nation. Tomorrow or the day after it may be all mankind. But even then the question will remain poised between man and humanity, between the self-liberating Person and the engrossing collectivity. If we consult only the available facts of history and sociology, we must suppose that our race began with the all-engrossing group to which the individual was entirely subservient and that ... institutions but living by natural instinct or free knowledge, he held the right law of his living in himself and needed neither to prey on his fellows nor to be restrained by the iron yoke of the collectivity. We may say, if we will, that here poetic or idealistic imagination played upon a deep-seated race-memory; early civilised man read his growing ideal of a free, unorganised, happy association into... from giving it the noblest and richest possible expression or to realise by it other results which the more strictly organised States have attained or are attaining. And in consequence we find the collective or State idea breaking down the old English tradition and it is possible that before long the great experiment will have come to an end in a lamentable admission of failure by the adoption of that ...
... account of the individuals who with their difficulties and weaknesses must form the living cells of the group. In my opinion, it is impossible to give an arbitrary form to any being, individual or collective; its form can only be the outer expression which perfectly reflects the quality of its constituent elements. Because this vital law of formation is not observed, these groups follow one upon another... arbitrarily in its formation. In short, let us become the living cells of the organism we want to bring forth, and let us not forget that on the value of its cells will depend the value of the collective being and its action, its usefulness in the work of universal harmony. Page 63 ...
... But it is quite obvious that if politics is taken in its true spirit, that is, as the organisation of human masses and all the details of government and regulation of the collective life, and relations with other collectivities—that is, with other nations, other countries—it must necessarily enter into the supramental transformation, for so long as national life and the relations between nations remain... political and financial ones. There are certain general, global ideas from the economic and social point of view which are accessible to human thought: certain liberations, a certain widening, a certain collective organisation, which do not seem absolutely senseless and unrealisable; but as soon as you touch on the other two questions, which are however of capital importance, especially the political question... will, their effort, to gather their energies together and shorten the time for the realisation. There remains for them the possibility of working this miracle—individually and to a small extent collectively—of conquering space, duration, the time needed for this realisation; of replacing time by intensity of effort and going fast enough and far enough in the realisation to liberate themselves from ...
... 1928 [1] It has been found necessary to change some of the forms and methods hitherto used to help by external means the individual and collective sadhana. This has to be done especially in regard to the consecration of food, the collective meditation and the individual contact of the sadhaka with the Mother. The existing forms were originally arranged in order to make possible a spiritual ...
... all. A nation by choosing a particular line of action, in asserting its absolute freedom, may go against other nations, or against the general good. Such freedom has to be curbed and controlled. Collective life – if one does not propose to live the life of the solitary – the animal or the saint – is nothing if not such a system of controls. "The whole of politics is an interference with personal liberty... for good; instead the rule of collaboration and co-operation has to be adopted (even between past enemies and rivals). In mutual aid and self-limitation lie also the growth and fulfilment of each collective individuality. That is the great Law of Sacrifice enunciated ages ago by Sri Krishna in the Gita-"By increasing each other all will attain the Summum Bonum." Page 83 ...
... and control these movements by external means: to some extent it is necessary and so the Central Authority has been given that strength and capacity. But the Ashram was made to be a conscious collective centre where these things should and must change from within, not under external compulsion, and that is why the Ashram was not given an authority strong enough to dominate or control them. Here... very elements in Ashram-atmosphere as well as outside: that is the only solution and the only remedy – to cure the ills individually, personally in one's own consciousness. Then only a conscious collective consciousness can grow and develop in the Ashram with all these living and conscious units or cells and thereby change its own condition as well as the condition of India and also the condition of ...
... all. A nation by choosing a particular line of action, in asserting its absolute freedom, may go against other nations, or against the general good. Such freedom has to be curbed and controlled. Collective life—if one does not propose to live the life of the solitary—the animal or the saint—is nothing if not such a system of controls. " The whole of politics is an interference with personal liberty... for good; instead the rule of collaboration and co-operation has to be adopted (even between past enemies and rivals). In mutual aid and self-limitation lie also the growth and fulfilment of each collective individuality. That is the great Law of Sacrifice enunciated ages ago by Sri Krishna in the Gita—"By increasing each other all will attain the Summum Bonum." Page 29 ...
... Each element, let us say each individual element (even though it is not exactly like that), is in its place according to whether the Grace acts on the individual or on the collectivity. When the Grace acts on the collectivity, each thing, each element, each principle, is put in its place as the result of a karmic logic in the universal movement. This is what gives us the impression of disorder and ...
... first. How big this camel may be can be gauged still more if in addition to looking at the common or collective unconscious m relation to space we look at it in relation to time. Jung has an eloquent passage: "If it were permissible to personify the unconscious, we might call it a collective human being combining the characteristics of both sexes, transcending youth and age, birth and death, and... superficial potencies or impotencies in metal and stone, even as behind those in insect and animal and man. We may suggest that on Jung's own notion of the collective unconscious a universal subliminal may be posited. According to him, the collective unconscious holds the precipitate of all meaningful experience from the beginning of life's and mind's appearance. But in his eyes the appearance of life... the epiphenomenalist. There is not scientific evidence for saying that the collective unconscious has any corresponding neural events in the individual body. Even the individual unconscious on its intuitive and inspirational side has not been shown by anything to be bound up with brain-tracks: its continuity with the collective goes all against such a bondage. The fact that even that part of the individual ...
... suffering, misery and pain appear as ultimate truths at least for the individual, and for the ordinary life of the common multitude; this manner of complete self-immolation of the individual serves a collective end, like the self-sacrifice of an army or a multitude of soldiers in a war. But in Sri Aurobindo's view, even for the individual, for any individual, this consummation in self-sacrifice is not the... too this is merely an episode in one or more Page 287 of his lives. Through this self-sacrifice, every individual goes on developing himself along with the development of the collectivity, and this is done not by losing or abolishing oneself. No one is rejected or lost, like the dried-up leaves or flowers. For the individual too there are levels of progression. There is not merely... speaking of the gradual unfolding and realisation of a spiritual consciousness. It is a constant one-pointed upward movement, the being and consciousness of earth gradually moving higher and higher as a collective entity through a new creation that is growing more and more pure and integral. In this way this consciousness has been overpassing the limits of earth and the material universe and moves into a different ...
... degradation. The basic ego-sense lies in the individual; but it has its formations in the collectivity also at all the different degrees and levels of consciousness. We have spoken of the mounting frames of reference, and accordingly there is a family ego, a national ego and even there is a humanity ego. The collective ego is as strong as the individual ego. It is only in the transcendent consciousness... humanity always loomed large behind. In fact it was that that gave a greater and truer value and significance to the national frame. The national is but a ladder to humanity, it is a unit in the human collectivity. It serves as a channel for Page 3 international and global welfare, but there is yet a still larger frame, the frame of the spirit, the transcendent consciousness... and transmuted into the living sap that mounts high up the plant towards its very top, to the light and energy above. In the scheme and pattern of human existence in the hierarchy that is collective life, Sri Aurobindo sought to express the play of the supreme Truth, express materially that which works always in secret and behind the veil. The Supreme Reality is not merely the supreme awareness ...
... only protection. Can this effort to cultivate this initial virtue be a collective one? Certainly it can. And this is what used to be attempted long ago in the schools of initiation. Even now, in more or less secret societies or very small groups, the collectivity seeks to be sufficiently united and to make a collective effort sufficiently complete for the result to be a group result instead of... of an individual one. But naturally, that complicates the problem terribly.... Each time they meet, they try to create a collective entity; but for a virtue to be collectively realised, a tremendous effort is required. However, it is not impossible. ( Silence ) I have been asked another question which is a little more subtle, but it seems to me it has quite a special interest.... Somebody ...
... traits in the collective life of a community, society, race or nation. Needless to say, the traits in question are those that convey refined and ennobling thoughts, ideas and inspirations and their evidence in the conduct and actions of the people concerned. With this scope of Culture in view, as said earlier, we can broadly identify two streams of it: individual and collective. Often an example... be an ocean of despair. Over the Page 288 millennia past a second Harishchandra might not have emerged (who knows, there might have been a few unknown and unsung), but at the collective plane the example had played an invaluable role in inspiring faith in man, in man's capacity to stick to truth despite adversity and great suffering. Or take the example of Sir Philip Sidney... "Thy need is greater than mine." Nobody (or could there be some?) who had read or heard of the episode could have remained unaffected by it. Thus we have numerous proofs to establish the fact that a collective refinement emanates from the individual refinement while the quality of the individual model's consciousness remains as inexplicable as the phenomenon of consciousness itself. Why were such models ...
... reflected in a horizontal growth too. There is a solidarity among the individuals forming the collective 'humanity so that the progress of one means the progress of others in the same direction, at least a chance and possibility opened for an advance. On the other hand, it may be noted that unless the collectivity rises to a certain level the individual too cannot go very far from it. A higher lift in the... the individual is taught to remain in the world and with the society, maintain his individuality and independence and gradually enlarge them in and through the natural fetters and bondages that a collective life and efficient organisation demands and inevitably imposes. The East, on the contrary, asks the individual never to protest and assert his individuality, which is in their view only another... the individual presupposes a corresponding or some minimum lift in others. There cannot or should not be too great a rift between the individual and the collective. As I said, the East usually ignores this correspondence and posits an exclusive either-or relation between the two terms. The individual, according to it, can reach its true individuality Page 172 by only dissolving ...
... important elements which give a distinctive character to the above terms and mark them out as the most creative concepts in spiritual philosophy. The first is the evolutionary and the second the collective element. Manifestation is, according to Sri Aurobindo, the very purpose and goal of evolution. All creation is, in a sense, the manifestation of that which lay latent and unmanifest in the Absolute... on. The second element is, that Manifestation, according to Sri Aurobindo, will not be a spiritual victory of an individual or a few exceptional individuals, but a signal triumph of the collective man over the forces of ignorance. For, the crux of the problem of Manifestation is the transfiguration of the physical being of man which is Page 50 half embedded in the Subconscient... the pioneers in this spiritual work of transformation and manifestation, but what they will achieve will be the pledge and prophecy of what humanity in general is called upon to accomplish. This collective aspect of the message of Manifestation foreshadows the splendour of a more or less universal perfection in humanity. This Manifestation of Spirit in Matter, of God in man, will be an unhampered ...
... word of her is always the most important thing, whether individually practised or collectively done. The Mother's music as an attendant circumstance to meditation, or by itself, for appreciation and enjoyment is also a very fine thing Readings from the Mother, selected for different occasions, individual or collective, are so inspiring and uplifting. Papers written on the Mother will need to reflect ...
... significant figures. The new society would be a field of unending education and of perpetual youth. The new society would live, not in the ego, but in the spirit, not as the collective ego but as the collective soul. Page 56 ...
... 7 themselves in spiritual sadhana and reach in time the sought-after realisation. Nor even that a group is formed with these aspiring individuals but the sole purpose and utility of this collectivity remains confined to the task of providing all help and opportunity to the constitutive individuals in their effort at attaining to their separate individual realisation and perfection. No, we... we aim at something more; in our Yoga we seek to bring about a radical change in earthly manifestation which will make possible, nay inevitable, the emergence of spiritually perfect collectivities whose constituents will be spiritually perfect individuals. For, Sri Aurobindo tells us, the Eternal affirms Himself equally in the single form and in the group-existence; the individual and the... development of the individual [is not] the sole object of the Divine in the world..." (The Synthesis of Yoga, p. 182); "the Divine manifests himself always in the double form of the separative and collective being, vya ṣṭ i, sama ṣṭ i." (Ibid.) To fulfil with equal importance this double requirement of a truly divine manifestation the Sri Aurobindo Ashram has been created, "not for the renunciation ...
... individually and collectively; for the Eternal affirms Himself equally in the single form and in the group-existence, whether family, clan and nation or groupings dependent on less physical principles or the supreme group of all, our collective humanity. Man also may seek his own individual good from any or all of these spheres of activity, or identify himself in them with the collectivity and live for... individual realisation with the collective aim. For as it is the right relation of the soul with the Supreme, while it is in the universe, neither to assert egoistically its separate being nor to blot itself out in the Indefinable, but to realise its unity with the Divine and the world and unite them in the individual, so the right relation of the individual with the collectivity is neither to pursue egoistically... to this richer and all-embracing Yoga. But the spiritual life, like the mental, may thus make use of this outward existence for the benefit of the individual with a perfect indifference to any collective uplifting of the merely symbolic world which it uses. Since the Eternal is for ever the same in all things and all things the same to the Eternal, since the exact mode of action and the result are ...
... n without some measure of correspondence in the collectivity?.. It doesn't seem possible to me. Human nature remains unchanged—one can greatly change the consciousness (for sure, one can purify one's consciousness), but the total conquest, the material transformation, certainly depends to a great extent on some degree of progress in the collectivity. 11 What would Einstein do, all alone in the... her last years in an agonizing state of asphyxiation. She saw, She knew; how She entreated them, exhorted them! The individual progress is, in a way, restrained or checked by the collective state. Between the collectivity and the individual, there exists an interdependence from which it is impossible to free oneself totally, even if one tries. And even he who, in his yoga, would attempt to free himself... heading there. The problem is the same for all, whether this caterpillar or another. We must try to unify the terrain, she told them, to create a particularly fertile soil to obtain the maximum collective receptivity. 4 Yes, just as young trees aspire, aspire for rainfall, and when they are there, huddled together tightly, the cloud will come there, and it will not drop its rain anywhere else—plants ...
... supporting consciousness supreme in power and effectivity. The individuals here have to meet all kinds of difficulties so that a way out of them may be discovered both in the individual nature and in collective achievement. We have here in the Ashram varieties of races and religions, all social types, samples of humanity as it were, each representing a particular facet of human nature, a particular... sins, in a way; but in a truer sense he carries the burden of all. It is one single burden that lies equally upon everybody everywhere. Thus the burden of the universal movement is shared by all collectively in equal measure. 1 This is true of mankind 1 Sri Aurobindo says, "Even if our personal deliverance is complete, still there is the suffering of others, the world-travail, which the great ...
... supreme in power and effectivity. The individuals here have to meet all kinds of difficulties so Page 269 that a way out of them may be discovered both in the individual nature and in collective achievement. . We have here in the Ashram varieties of races and religions, all social types, samples of humanity as it were, each representing a particular facet of human nature, a particular... sins, in a way; but in a truer sense he carries the burden of all. It is one single burden that lies equally upon everybody everywhere. Thus the burden of the universal movement is shared by all collectively in equal measure. l This is true of mankind in general; but it becomes dynamically true here among us where there is a conscious effort on the part of individuals to uplift and change the human ...
... the best of its originality and usefulness. The work in a new class falls under three heads: A. Collective teaching B. Individual Work C. Team Work. A. Collective Teaching In order to find out what part of the class-work can or should be done collectively, i.e., by the teacher addressing the whole class, let us first see more in detail what is the aim ... outside and we freely use the Montessori and other similar methods, though we do not follow strictly any one of them. The classes are small (not more than10-15 children) and there is a blending of collective teaching with individual attention: we make a large use of educational games and other devices that we owe to the ingenuity of our teacher. It has been found preferable to have two teachers... Aurobindo against this very conception of teaching. It has also been subjected to attacks by a number of modern educationists. According to them the traditional means of teaching through lectures and collective explanations, Page 114 followed by class-work and/or home-work, suffers from two main defects: 1. The teacher addresses the whole class. In spite of all efforts at a uniform ...
... reflected in a horizontal growth too. There is a solidarity among the individuals forming the collective humanity so that the progress of one means the progress of others in the same direction, at least a chance and possibility opened for an advance. On the other hand, it may be noted that unless the collectivity rises to a certain level the individual too cannot go very far from it. A higher lift in the... the individual is taught to remain in the world and with the society, maintain his individuality and independence and gradually enlarge them in and through the natural fetters and bondages that a collective life and efficient organisation demands and inevitably imposes. The East, on the contrary, asks the individual never to protest and assert his individuality, which is in their view only another name... the individual presupposes a corresponding or some minimum lift in others. There cannot or should not be too great a rift between the individual and the collective: As I said, the East usually ignores this correspondence and posits an exclusive either-or relation between the two terms. The individual, according to it, can reach its true individuality Page 230 by only dissolving ...
... important elements which give a distinctive character to the above terms and mark them out as the most creative concepts in spiritual philosophy. The first is the evolutionary and the second the collective element. Manifestation is, according to Sri Aurobindo, the very purpose and goal of evolution. All creation is, in a sense the manifestation of that which lay latent and unmanifest in the Absolute... consummation. The second element is, that Manifestation, according to Sri Aurobindo, will not be a spiritual victory of an individual or a few exceptional individuals, but a signal triumph of the collective man over the forces of ignorance. For, the crux of the problem of Manifestation is the transfiguration of the physical being of man which is half embedded in the Subconscient and the Inconscient—a... the pioneers in this spiritual work of transformation and manifestation, but what they will achieve will be the pledge and prophecy of what humanity in general is called upon to accomplish. This collective aspect of the message of Manifestation foreshadows the splendour of a more or less universal perfection in humanity. This Manifestation of Spirit in Matter, of God in man, will be an unhampered ...
... working to manifest the truth of the future. Q : Until this group consciousness appears, and until we can work collectively in the true and right way, what should we do? A hierarchical organisation grouped around the most enlightened centre and obeying a collective discipline. Q : Must we use organisational methods which have proved effective but which are based on human logic... the whole would follow automatically. 6.2.1969 * At Auroville nothing belongs to anyone in particular. All is collective property. To be utilised with my blessings for the welfare of all. 14.5.1970* * Q : In Auroville "all is collective property". Does this mean that everything can be used by everyone? Or should things be given only to those who treat them well?... aloof, and that is quite possible in her park, surrounded by a road, with someone to stop people from coming in; one can stay very quiet—but if I am there, that is the end of it! There would be collective meditations, etc. That is to say that if I get a sign, first the physical sign, then the inner command to go out, I shall drive there and spend an hour, in the afternoon—I can do that now and then ...
... things. To be individualised in a collectivity, one must be absolutely conscious of oneself. And of which self?—the Self which is above all intermixture, that is, what I call the Truth of your being. And as long as you are not conscious of the Truth of your being, you are moved by all kinds of things, without taking any note of it at all. Collective thought, collective suggestions are a formidable influence... influence which act constantly on individual thought. And what is extraordinary is that one does not notice it. One believes that one thinks "like that", but in truth it is the collectivity which thinks "like that". The mass is always inferior to the individual. Take individuals with similar qualities, of similar categories, well, when they are alone these individuals are at least two degrees better ...
... destructive purposes. All this is naturally due to ignorance on the part of the human beings who are now entrusted with the governance of their countries. These are being swayed by personal or collective ambitions, desires and impulses to see their countries greatness, power, strength remain unimpaired even at the cost and expenses of other countries. This mentality dominated by the ignorant, crude... economic and political fields. It was expected by the founders of the U. N. O. the five Great World Powers, U. S., U. S. S. R., France, England and China that the foundation of the U. N. by their collective efforts will bring an era of peace and prosperity throughout the World. But human Page 24 nature dies hard even death does not end our egoistic and hence ignorant beings. The ...
... scientists have attended to corpuscular forces of matter and to individual actions for the living world. But, besides the properties resulting from the collective play of parts, science needs to investigate properties belonging to the collectivity as such. We cannot fully explain phenomena without taking into account the specific attributes of natural unities larger than those we habitually study. ...
... worthless, unsuccessful? They, in fact, blaze the way for those who are following behind. With their self dedication, or whatever little fruit they have got from Sadhana they advance the course of the collective Sadhana. Everyone contributes in some way. Some more, some perhaps less. It is not right to despise or belittle anybody. In the victory over Lanka you cannot play down the contribution even of an... success and prosperity. Not one of them is in a bad condition. I would say that this is the result of all that the tradition of sadhana carries on the course of Yoga. This is why our Yoga is called collective Yoga. And this is why all those who came before us, or are with us today or will come in the future, all their combined successes and failures, qualities and shortcomings have traced the path and ...
... that trance depended on the ratio between two aspects (the proportion between two aspects): that of the individual transformation (that is, the transformation of this body), and that of the general, collective and impersonal work. If a certain balance is kept, that state ( of prolonged trance ) may be dispensed with, but then the same work which would have been done in a few weeks or a few months (I... But it's not only a question of patience; it's a question of proportion: there must be a certain balance between the two, between the pressure from outside of the external work (not "external," the collective work), and the pressure on the body for its transformation. If wisdom is still there, that is, if the instrument is constantly and infallibly capable of doing exactly what is expected of it (to put... BEING DONE (I am conscious of it), you understand ( laughing ), only it may stretch over hundreds of years! That's what Sri Aurobindo said: a state of consciousness has to be established in which the collective life of the cells can be preserved for as long as desired; that means the Lord's Will must be sufficiently active to keep the balance between all those elements for as long as necessary for all of ...
... even now, it is quite likely that a number of individuals, known or unknown, have had similar experiences. The only difference is that at present, instead of an individual possibility, there is a collective possibility—that is precisely Sri Aurobindo's and Mothers work: to establish, as a terrestrial fact and a possibility for everyone, the supramental consciousness or 'Grace-Light' as Swami Ramalingam... only difference between Ramalingam's supramental yoga and yours or Sri Aurobindo's is that his was concerned with an individual supramentalization, whereas you and Sri Aurobindo also worked for a collective supramentalization. "T. is convinced of this and also declares that Ramalingam had attained the complete supramentalization of the body.... We didn't say that! "...In his opinion... confirms it. "I tend to regard his whole stand as rather fantastic; it shows me that T. has failed to understand Sri Aurobindo's vision, work and yoga at their true value. I believe that not only the collective supramentalization , but the individual supramentalization have never been attempted previously, not to speak of realization. Even the full knowledge of the Supramental through an ascent into the ...
... MOTHER ON THE ASHRAM AND AUROVILLE What is the difference between the Ashram and Auroville? The Ashram will keep its role as pioneer, inspirer and guide. Auroville will be an experiment in collective realisation. (June 1968) Yes. 10 July 1968 ...
... contributed to the study of the nature of personality and to the understanding of the action of human groups by positing the " Collective Unconscious." By an extensive study and analysis of myths, legends, customs. and early cultural history of many races he arrives the Collective Unconscious" as the psychological substratum which explains the behaviour of the individual and of the Page 121 ... The late Dr . Ananda Coomaraswamy also has made very extensive study of comparative myths. The positing of the " Collective Unconscious " means that Jung abandons, by implication, at least, the naturalistic stand in psychology; for, one could ask, where does the " Collective Unconscious " abide ? Is it in the material or non-material medium? Is it of the vital or mental stuff ? So far as... as the study of human personality is concerned Jung admits that the roots of personality are veiled in mystery. The term "Collective Unconscious" reminds the Indian Student of the terms "Collective Consciousness", and " Cosmic Consciousness" already used in our Ancient Sacred "books. This Cosmic Consciousness and even a supra cosmic-transcendent-Consciousness mentioned in Indian books, are Superconscient ...
... Ashram collective life there is no true unity. For a long time I have been feeling it. Once I told the Mother that our ideal was unity in diversity. There was plenty of diversity in the Ashram. But the Mother had not yet succeeded in bringing unity in it. She remained silent and said nothing. I understand that unity can come in two ways. One, the ordinary way, when collectivity faces... leadership. I do not believe in collective leadership. The term itself seems be a misnomer. I believe that it has been borrowed from modern western thoughts, which arose out of a fear of giving birth to dictators or autocrats. Whatever group or committee we make, the final decision has to be taken by one man. Then where is the scope of collective leadership? The leader may have advisors... The other way is, when men transcend themselves, have at least the psychic realisation and their consciousness is tuned with a Higher Truth, they rise above ego and desire, and true unity in collectivity takes place. Once the Mother told me that if She were to pick from the Ashram population those who come only for the Truth, She would get only a handful of them. Most of the people had ...
... material modes of being. To put things more clearly, you are born in a certain society or religion, in a particular country, and this society has a collective conception of its own and this nation has a collective conception of its own, this religion has a collective “construction” of its own which is usually very fixed. You are born into it. Naturally, when you are very young, you are altogether unaware of... hardly perceptible to the ordinary consciousness; they become perceptible only to those who have already reflected much, observed much, deeply studied their own being—they are what could be called collective suggestions. When a being is born upon earth, he is inevitably born in a certain country and a certain environment. Due to his physical parents he is born in a set of social, cultural, national... you that there could be something to know there, and still less something you must get rid of. And it is quite remarkable that when for some reason or other you do become aware of the hold of this collective suggestion, you realise at the same time that a very assiduous and prolonged labour is necessary in order to get rid of it. But the problem does not end there. You live surrounded by people. These ...
... individual mastery over desire suffice or is a general, collective mastery necessary? Ah! There we are.... Is it possible to attain a total personal transformation without there being at least a correspondence in the collectivity?... This does not seem possible to me. There is such an interdependence between the individual and the collectivity that, unless one does what the ascetics have preached... being so long as the collectivity has not reached at least a certain degree of transformation? I don't think so. Human nature remains what it is—one can attain a great change of consciousness, that yes, one can purify one's consciousness, but the total conquest, the material transformation depends definitely to a large extent, on a certain degree of progress in the collectivity. Buddha said with reason ...
... decades. Geniuses? If one wishes, although the term refers to the notion of exceptional individuals—Plato, Leonardo da Vinci, Mozart, Napoleon, Einstein—in whom the collective unconscious culminates, without the individual members of the collective being able to equal them. In this case, on the other hand, the men of a new kind will be the prototypes of the humanity to come". This is the first of... reality which they attempt to circumscribe. The soul of the scientist is not less spiritual than the soul of the seer. The same necessity leads both, a necessity which is not so much individual, as collective, terrestrial, cosmic. Otherwise, it would be futile to speak of the unity of beings and, even more, of the uniqueness of Being. 1 Jean Guitton, Grichka and Igor Bogdanov, Dieu et la... is a phase and rhythm of Time which, as the goal of our advancement, guides it without fail? In other words, what one might call an absolute future pre-exists in what we do on the individual and collective plane, and engenders our actions from moment to moment. If men have been able to instill in us the sense of a state in which we shall one day be physically inaccessible to death, if they have ...
... depth: and mankind meant the princes and the great ones. In the individual, in the scheme of his culture and education, the senses were neglected, left to go their own way as they pleased; and in the collective field, the toiling masses in the same way lived and moved as best as they could under the economics of laissez-faire. So Monsieur Thibon concludes: "Salvation has never come from below. To look... true destiny. It is through this infiltration of the higher into the lower and the integration of the lower into the higher that mankind will reach the goal of its evolution, both individually and collectively. But the process, Monsieur Thibon rightly asserts, must begin with the individual and within the individual. Man must "turn within, feel alive within himself", re-establish his living contact... off. Man must learn to subordinate having to being. Each individual must be himself, a free and spontaneous expression. Upon such individual , upon individuals grouped naturally in smaller collectivities and not upon unformed or ill-formed wholesale masses can a perfect human society be raised and will be raised. Monsieur Thibon insists – and very rightly – upon the variety and diversity of individual ...
... the cells have an autonomous existence or whether they must remain aggregated in the way they are, obeying a collective consciousness. 2 I do not mean the body consciousness, which is an entity; I mean: does the cell, as an individuality, have the will to remain in its present collectivity? Just as an individual willingly collaborates with a society, with an aggregate, does the individual cell have... cells that make up the body have the will to preserve that aggregate or if... Are they conscious only of themselves? Not at all, they are conscious of a collective work to be done. And they communicate among themselves to organize that collective work. Yes, I understand that very well; in other words, the heart cells tend to form a heart again, the liver cells to form a liver again, and so on.... own "life code," and communicates with the other cells for a particular work by sending out messages. What I meant was: if you take a cell, does that cell have a will to remain in its present collectivity, that is to say, the body? They conducted an experiment and took a piece from the heart membrane. The cells they took from the body started to come together, and... "Then they start to move ...
... prepared. The confusion existing at present upon earth is nothing in comparison to what could take place. Imagine that every powerful will has the power to transform matter as it likes! If the sense of collective oneness did not grow in proportion to the development of power, the resulting conflict would be yet more acute and chaotic than our material conflicts. Page 147 ...
... Edition-II All Belongs to the Divine It is your attitude that must change — because nothing is personal, all belongs to the Divine and is meant for collective use if necessary. And as a concrete illustration of this, I must ask you to leave your present quarters and to go to a new house where you are given some lodging. I advise you to take this decision ...
... darkened denials of this ultimate certitude, and even with these as a necessary earthly starting-point. And as it will regard man the individual, it will regard too man the collectivity as a soul-form of the Infinite, a collective soul myriadly embodied upon earth for a divine fulfilment in its manifold relations and its multitudinous activities. Therefore it will hold sacred all the different parts ...
... for "truth of being", some idea or ideal of its perfection or practice or efficiency, right way of being or living, and attempt to let that grow in the individual and govern his nature, grow in the collective life and govern its formations. Or it would place the development and organisation of the mental life of man as the primary consideration and life and society as a convenience for this true aim of... avoided either by the multiplication of different cultures—different peoples acting upon each other but escaping the tendency to replication and standardisation which is the tendency of the human collective mind or by a free progressiveness of the human intelligence making constantly new ideas, new ideals, still the movement would eventually be in a circle or an ellipsis which could be a constant d ...
... bombing, flood, earthquake, have all the souls chosen to die together at that moment? The immense majority of men have a collective destiny. For them the question does not arise at all. One who has an individualised psychic being can survive even in the midst of collective catastrophes, if that is his soul's choice. After death, once separated from his physical being, from his vital and mental ...
... blending of the principles of freedom and discipline, cannot be realised in a day in all the members of the Ashram. So if at times we happen to see some imperfections troubling the atmosphere of our collective life here, we should not turn unduly pessimistic. Knowing that there cannot but be some natural difficulties on the arduous path of the achievement of our difficult goal, we should redouble our efforts... conveniently forget that the Mother has said something else too which goes apparently counter to what she has stated in the course of the above piece of dialogue. She has referred to the Law of Collectivity and pointed out that even a supreme Avatar cannot accomplish the Goal set before us unless and until there is a conscious collaboration of others in the task. Here is the relevant portion of her... new world more true, if not absolutely true. It would seem that a certain number of individuals - until now it seems to have been more in time, as a succession, but it could also be in space, a collectivity - are indispensable so that this truth can become concrete and realise itself. "Practically, I am sure of it. "That is to say, however conscious, however powerful he may be, one ...
... two thousand people of all age-groups and of both the sexes, drawn from different strata of society and with widely differing backgrounds, and living and working together in the compact space of a collectivity and yet how smoothly and satisfactorily the Ashram life is going on with how few troubles and turmoils erupting there! And this is so when the Mother and Sri Aurobindo are both not there physically... been functioning - so smoothly with so many heterogeneous elements working together. This simple fact cannot but convince anyone with unblemished vision that this smooth functioning of our Ashram collectivity is a tangible proof that a higher spiritual Force and not any mere human control has been at work here despite the individual sadhaks foibles and deficiencies. Sri Aurobindo has not left... meantime do our personal bit of sincere sadhana and live in peace without getting unduly bothered by what others are on their part doing or not doing. Sri Aurobindo has envisioned a day when a collectivity or group would be formed of those who would have reached the supramental perfection. Then indeed some divine creation could take shape here upon earth: "A new earth could descend that would be a ...
... the tenth chapter of Supermanhood and remains absorbed most of the time. ) It goes on inside. ( To Sujata, after Satprem has left. ) On December 5 and 9, you two will come after the [collective] meditation. I won't translate, but I want to listen to Supermanhood . 1 It's very good.... It's more than very good: it opens the door to the future. ...
... glorified under the name of the competitive system, and dissatisfaction with its results has led to the opposite idea of State socialism, which supposes that the negation of individual liberty in the collective being of the State can be made to amount by some mechanical process to a positive sum of liberty nicely distributable to all in a carefully guarded equality. The individual gives up his freedom of... the effective principle of liberty. The principle of self-determination really means this that within every living human creature, man, woman and child, and equally within every distinct human collectivity growing or grown, half developed or adult there is a self, a being, which has the right to grow in its own way, to find itself, to make its life a full and a satisfied instrument and image of its... overcome it. Therefore the ethical idea has pushed itself forward into the other and Page 627 opposite principle of altruism. The main general results have been a clearer perception of collective egoisms and their claim on the individual egoism and, secondly, a quite uncertain and indefinable mixture, strife and balancing of egoistic and altruistic motive in our conduct. Often enough altruism ...
... for that you must rise above them. If that were not possible, it would be impossible to do yoga. But you do not become aware of it, it is a constant thing. For example, there is that formidable collective suggestion of death. But how can you get rid of that idea unless you are able to create in you an immortal consciousness? Once you have created in you the immortal consciousness, you can be freed... example, that the infinite cannot be within the finite, that what begins will surely have an end—ideas of this kind which seem wonderfully luminous, and yet are idiocies. But all that belongs to the collective human mentality and there Page 313 is nothing more difficult than to drive this out of the head of people who think themselves very clever.... Perhaps you have not yet put these problems... Aurobindo's. One day we shall translate it together from English into French. He has made a wonderful observation upon logic and reason 2 ... And all that never even crossed your mind: that these are collective suggestions and one must come out of them. Not only does it not appear to you as slavery, but it appears to you as an illumination. Well, it's not that at all! Mother, sometimes we are terribly ...
... consciousness, let us say, a terrestrial or collective human psychological zone—there is a difference, "collective human" is restrictive, whereas "terrestrial" includes many animal movements, even plant movements; but as in the present case the moral notion of guilt, sin, evil belongs exclusively to the human consciousness, we will say simply the collective human psychological consciousness—when you ...
... towards which Nature is proceeding slowly but inevitably, bringing into play factors and forces that work out that consummation. Man is a gregarious animal, a social being. He forms groups and collectivities and lives as a member among others with whom he is related and connected in various ways. These groupings are the units round which man's life crystallises and develops, the nuclei of a growing... content with the family alone, but extend its boundaries or make new adhesions to it for the formation of a still larger and more composite unit. The village was such a unit in the early days. It was a collective organization on a territorial basis: originally, however, the village too seems to have been if not wholly, at least in its major portion, an extended family. It gradually grew into a heterogeneous... levelling parochial differences and local narrownesses; but it also means the overgrowth of a central organism – called the metropolis-at the expense of other member organisms forming part of the larger collectivity, viz., colonies and dependencies and subject races, which must in the end bring about a collapse and disruption of the whole structure. The Roman Empire was the typical example of this experiment ...
... towards which Nature is proceeding slowly but inevitably, bringing into play factors and forces that work out that consummation. Man is a gregarious animal, a social being. He forms groups and collectivities and lives as a member among others with whom he is related and connected in various ways. These groupings are the units round which man's life crystallises and develops, the nuclei of a growing... with the family alone, but extend its boundaries or make new adhesions to it for the formation of a still larger and more composite unit. The village was such a unit in the early days. It was a collective organization on a territorial basis : originally, however, the village too seems to have been if not wholly, at least in its major portion, an extended family. It gradually grew into a heterogeneous... levelling parochial differences and local narrownesses; but it also means the overgrowth of a central organism— called the metropolis—at the expense of other member organisms forming part of the larger collectivity, viz., colonies and dependencies Page 93 and subject races, which must in the end bring about a collapse and disruption of the whole structure. The Roman Empire was the typical ...
... projects in which there can be a division of labour; there can be educational games of team work; and there can be joint experimentation, joint pursuit of the subject, or collective discussion. It may, however, be noted that the collective work often tends to become mechanical, and this tendency should be discouraged. Freedom to choose a work or a subject is a necessary element of the training... of multi- point entry system, non-formal education, part-time education, and of weaving examination system into the learning process itself. Page 37 Hand in Hand-doing collective work Page 38 I. Grouping of Students For each major stage of studies (lower primary, higher primary, etc.) there could normally be sections or groups of about 100 students... homogeneity is by virtue of character or personality rather than capacities. Such groups are very valuable. They should be recognized, and they should be given all the help needed—individually or collectively. Such groups become, if properly encouraged, transmitters of enthusiasm, dedication and devotion to studies, work and ideals. In regard to the above system of grouping, three obvious advantages ...
... November November Mother’s Agenda 1964 November 25, 1964 ( The following conversation is about the collective meditation of the day before, November 24, a darshan day. ) So, what about you? What's new? Nothing new?—and what's old?! ( laughter ) ( silence ) Yesterday, during the meditation, I don't know what happened... when suddenly ( the gong rang ) bong! bong! it was over. Time passed outside time. It's the first time, because even when I have an experience, even the first time, I remember, when we began collective meditations Page 291 and Sri Aurobindo came down and literally sat on the [Ashram] compound, it was very interesting, of course, and very compelling, 2 but I was conscious of time ...
... emphasised the fundamental elements of India's culture, a spiritual attitude towards life, a dynamic faith in the guiding Divine Spirit. Culture which is a collective creation is not like a house built of bricks; it is a mould of collective consciousness that organises life round values which it evolves during the course of its history. Culture is, more truly, a living organism that must change according... was started to promote it; he pointed out the dangers of exclusive nationalism. In his Gifford lectures he has worked out the conception of Vishwamanava, the collective man, a conception of growing perfection of the human being through collective effort. His influence has largely been active in the field of creative literature and fine arts. Mahatma Gandhi through his long and active life tried what... in India in 1906 remains true, even today, for the whole student world of India. He said, " Work that she (India ) may prosper; suffer that she may rejoice." But it was no narrow patriotism or collective ambition, for even in those days of political subjection he declared the aim of the political struggle. " It was to save the light, to save the spirit of India from lasting obscurantism and ...
... and the best thought of mankind demand, that which would ensure it the greatest possibility of an enduring success. It is not likely to take perfectly, until a probably much later period of our collective evolution, the form of a federation of free and equal nations or adopt as its motive a perfect harmony between the contending principles of nationalism and internationalism. And now we have to... aspect of the problem, its effect on the springs of human life and progress. The political and administrative unification of mankind is not only possible but foreshadowed by our present evolution; the collective national egoism which resists it may be overborne by Page 405 an increasing flood of the present unifying tendency to which the anguish of the European war gave a body and an articulate... formation, but as it develops and becomes more complete and even vigorous, a strictly unified order will not necessarily involve a considerable overriding of the liberties of mankind, individual and collective, and an oppressive mechanism by which the free development of the soul-life of humanity will be for some time at least seriously hindered or restricted or in danger of an excessive repression. We ...
... polity, society, ethical order, intellectual system, which vary from the pure to the mixed, from the simple harmony to the complex; each and all of these are so many experiments of individual and collective self-formation in the light of a progressive and increasing knowledge. That knowledge is governed by a number of conflicting ideas and ideals around which these experiments group themselves: each... and satisfaction as in that of the poet and artist creating forms of beauty for the aesthetic delight of the race. Whatever individual error and limitation there may be, does not matter; for the collective and progressive knowledge of Page 119 the race has gained the truth that has been discovered and may be trusted in time to get rid of the error. It is when it tries to apply ideas to... obscure and ill-understood struggle it intervenes. It can in its nature be used and has always been used to justify any idea, theory of life, system of society or government, ideal of individual or collective action to which the will of man attaches itself for the moment or through the centuries. In philosophy it gives equally good reasons for monism and pluralism or for any halting-place between them ...
... hand on her chest), I can speak to him. He is close. But (spreading out her palms to both sides) he is not in the physical. One must cling to the Divine within. All these things—harmony in the collective and so on—they are all right, but it is to the Divine within that you have to cling. Reported by SRIMAYI *Mother India, February 21,1975. Page 169 ...
... reaction, magnifies the thing and aggravates it. But it is easy to arrange, and, with the goodwill of all, I am sure that all will be well. I consider that we are at an excellent occasion for collective and individual sadhana and that is why I engage myself in it and take special interest in it. We do not work for the success of X's play, or of Y's dance, or of Z's scenario. ' We want to render ...
... floods, earthquakes, have all the souls chosen to die together at that time? The vast majority of human beings have a collective destiny. For them, the question does not arise. One who has an individualized psychic being can survive even in the midst of collective catastrophes, if such is the choice of his soul. How is the soul conscious of being and existing after death, once it is ...
... even predominates for a time over the economic and we have the nation or State. If we give their due value to these fundamental characteristics and motives of collective existence, it will seem natural enough that the development of the collective and cooperative idea of society should have culminated in a huge, often a monstrous overgrowth of the vitalistic, economic and political ideal of life, society... principle and instinct of egoism, but a concomitant principle and instinct of association. Human life is moved by two equally powerful impulses, one of individualistic self-assertion, the other of collective self-assertion; it works by strife, but also by mutual assistance and united effort: it uses two diverse convergent forms of action, two motives which seem to be contradictory but are in fact always... the full possession and utilisation of the earth. All this life still takes as its cadre the old existing forms, the family, the society, the nation and it has two impulses, individualistic and collective. The primary impulse of life is individualistic and makes family, social and national life a means for the greater satisfaction of the vital individual. In the family the individual seeks for ...
... sentiments brought in a collective spirit amongst them and an united effort for improving the quality of life started. Normally, individual life and collective life depend on each other for their betterment. Collectivity creates opportunities for the individuals to grow and to progress. The individuals, by their achievements in various fields of human activities, make the collective life rich and fruitful... tries to exploit the collectivity for his selfish and personal gains. To check this tendency, the collectivity adopts certain measures, which bring in some control, but the freedom of the individual is very much restricted. With this, the possibility of getting the best and the most from the individuals becomes impossible. This battle for individual freedom and collective control is going on since... , Pranab Page 70 Individual and Collective Progress Man is a gregarious animal. He likes to live with others and in groups. Originally, fear and the feeling of insecurity must have prompted man to do this. Then, when the finer qualities started gradually developing with the growth of the soul, the collective living gave man a higher meaning. These qualities were ...
... human adventure, seen here in the light of Sri Aurobindo's vision of the future, there emerges the one eternal question and dominant theme of our seeking: man past and present, man individual and collective, but always and above all, the ultimate flowering of his life upon earth. We have pleasure in stating that the Government of India have given to our Centre of Education a grant to meet the cost ...
... advocates a collective reorganisation, something which could lead to the effective unity of mankind. The other declares that all progress is made first by the individual and insists that the individual should be given the conditions in which he can progress freely. Both are equally true and necessary, and our effort should be directed along both these Page 39 lines at once. For collective progress... progress and individual progress are interdependent. Before the individual can take a leap forward, at least a little of the preceding progress must have been realised in the collectivity. A way must therefore be found so that these two types of progress may proceed side by side. It is in answer to this urgent need that Sri Aurobindo conceived the scheme of his international university, in order to... workable, any world-organisation Page 41 must be based on this mutual respect and understanding between nation and nation as well as between individual and individual. Only in order and collective organisation, in collaboration based on mutual goodwill, is there any possibility of lifting man out of the painful chaos in which he finds himself now. It is with this aim and in this spirit that ...
... the Divinity concealed and to be self-discovered in its human collectivities, group-souls meant like the individual to grow according to their own nature and by that growth to help each other, to help the whole race in the one common work of humanity. And that work would be to find the divine Self in the individual and the collectivity and to realise spiritually, mentally, vitally, materially its greatest... Glimpses of the new social order A society that lives not by its men but by its institutions is a machine "A society that lives not by its men but by its institutions, is not a collective soul, but a machine; its life becomes a mechanical product and ceases to be a living growth. Therefore the coming of a spiritual age must be preceded by the appearance of an increasing number of... largest universality, nor his own life to be full life except as it is one with the universal life. He will not live either for himself or for the State and society, for the individual ego or the collective ego, but for something much greater, for God in himself and for the Divine in the universe." "The spiritual age will be ready to set in when the common mind of man begins to be alive to these ...
... call Page 23 psychological terrestrial or human collective (there is a difference: 'human collective' is restricted, while 'terrestrial' includes many animal and even plant vibrations; but in the present case, since the moral notion of guilt, sin and evil belongs exclusively to human consciousness, let us simply say 'human collective psychological consciousness'); when you contact that through ...
... spoke of the inner mind of the Asram, I was only using a succinct expression for the "minds of the members of the Asram" and I was not thinking of the collective mind of the group. But the action of the Mother in the meditation is at once collective and individual. She is trying to bring down the right consciousness in the atmosphere of the Asram—for the action of the minds and vital of the sadhaks ...
... in progress and not perfection. Now we are going to try to find a definition which can fit all instances, that is, the individual, the collectivity, the earth and the universe. We may say that perfection will be attained in the individual, the collectivity, on the earth and in the universe, when, at every moment , the receptivity will be equal in quality and quantity to the Force which wants ...
... . Early 1930s It has been found necessary to change some of the forms and methods hitherto used to help by external means, the individual and collective sadhana. This has to be done especially in regard to the consecration of food, the collective meditation and the individual contact of the sadhak with the Mother. The existing forms were originally arranged in order to make possible a spiritual ...
... institution where almost two thousand men and women of varying ages, belonging to different nationalities and coming from diverse social backgrounds, are consciously striving to build up a new type of collective life which, far from being a monastic life of a few isolated spiritual seekers, gives full scope to life-manifestation in all its vigour and variety. Sri Aurobindo Ashram aspires to create a "new... superior to the present individual and common existence" (- Sri Aurobindo) wherein the genuine and unfettered freedom of individual creativity will be harmoniously blended with the flowering of collective perfection of a higher order. The Ashram community in its self-building draws inspiration and guidance from the following words of Sri Aurobindo: "Man's true way out is to discover ...
... I don't know if it would be easier if I weren't doing anything? Probably not, because it's not so much the work [to be done], it's not that: it's people's general attitude. It makes for a kind of collective support at the moment of the transition. At the moment when the consciousness that ordinarily supports the cells fades away for the new one to take the place, the cells need ("the cells," I don't... them), but there has to be the support of... (how can I put it?)... in people it gets expressed as the need of the Presence, but that's not what is necessary: it's a sort of collaboration of the collective forces. It's not much, it's not indispensable, but it helps a little, in some measure. There is a moment when there's almost an anguish, you know, you're suspended like that; it may be a few seconds... transition], the unpleasant consequence of it would have been worse than the fact of being tired. There were a few very difficult days when Amrita left, 1 because Page 67 a whole collectivity of people thought, "Ooh, so one can die." There. So that's how it is. But more and more—more and more—the body has been learning that what happens (what happens every second) is the best thing ...
... their various colours are imbuing each person with various phases of the beautiful inner consciousness. Being tied in the same bundle would suggest that a deep unity and harmony are created and a collective movement made towards a goal which lies far from the outer common world vitalistic activity. ...
... perhaps tell him casually that it is not our hope to transform suddenly the whole human race. Your object is precisely to lead a higher life away from ordinary world. It is not solitary; there is a collective side to it and a side not only of meditation, but of work, action and creation. There is nothing in this that is impossible. Sri Aurobindo ...
... explained in terms of the personal unconscious, and which Jung ascribed to the collective unconscious of the human race, common to all individuals. Jung thus added a new dimension to the concept of the unconscious, distinguishing the personal from the collective unconscious. Jung's distinction between the personal and the collective is somewhat akin to, though narrower than the distinction Page 7 ... expresses itself in diverse forms, including the sexual urge. Secondly, Jung believed that besides the unconscious in the individual spoken of by Freud, there is a collective unconscious which is common to the human race as a whole. The collective unconscious, according to Jung, plays a far greater role in determining an individual's behaviour than the personal unconscious. Jung's broader concept of the... with its associated instinct of greed. By contrast, in Indian thought greed for wealth has always been viewed as one of the most powerful motivating forces in human life.) In Jung's concept of the collective unconscious, too, we find some degree of concurrence between modern psychology and Sri Aurobindo. Freud regarded the unconscious as partly the outcome of repression; the contents of the unconscious ...
... and the collectivity can be created and perfected. Examples of great Rishis and personalities like Rama and Krishna, Mahavira and Buddha and a number of Siddhas illustrate what profundities of knowledge are required if we are not only to repeat what was achieved in the past but also if we are to recreate, with new knowledge, the perfect relationship between the individual and the collectivity, — perfection... can build a path leading us from the present critical condition of the world towards a better and Page 118 smoother progress ensuring the needed perfectibility of the individual and collective life? It will be seen that these questions are interrelated and demand a vast and strenuous effort of research. Fortunately, the supreme help that we can get in this task of research is the... fire of aspiration, Agni, and as it is described in the very first hymn of the Rigveda, that fire of aspiration is kavi kratu, Seer-will, the substance of which is satyascitrasravastamah, the collectivity of the highest inspirations that express multiple aspects of the Truth. Action that is inspired by the fire of aspiration has still to pass through mental consciousness, and that consciousness, ...
... with the aids of which we can build a path leading us from the present critical condition of the world towards a better and smoother progress ensuring the needed perfectibility of the individual and collective life? It will be seen that these questions are interrelated and demand a vast and Strenuous effort of research. Fortunately, the supreme help that we can get in this task of research is the... fire of aspiration, Agni, and as it is described in the very first hymn of the Rigveda, that fire of aspiration is kavi kratu,— Seer-will, the substance of which is satyascitrasravastamah, the collectivity of the highest inspirations that express multiple aspects of the Truth. Action that is inspired by the fire of aspiration has still to pass through mental consciousness, and that consciousness,... individual is to be liberated and is to be prepared for perfection. It is on the basis of this knowledge that, according to the ancient Indian wisdom, the harmony between the individual and the collectivity can be created and perfected. Examples of great Rishis and personalities like Rama and Krishna, Mahavira and Buddha and a number of Siddhas illustrate what profundities of knowledge are required ...
... The confusion that now exists on earth is nothing in comparison with what may happen. Just imagine any strong will possessing the power to transform matter according to its liking! If the sense of collective unity did not grow in proportion to the growth of the power, the resulting conflict would be yet more acute and chaotic than all our material conflicts.” 1 15.2.1958 The Mother ...
... perfection only that the Divine begins, and until now Thou hast not granted to it any extraordinary intensity, any real perfection.... Everything is in a state of promise, a promise not individual but collective; nothing is completely realised. Why, O Lord? Thou hast placed in my heart a peace so total that it seems to be almost indifference and in an immensity of calm serenity it says: Just as ...
... that I realise what it was. Once again this evening I entered that state in which the consciousness is scattered in a multitude of different elements, centres of consciousness both individual and collective, to carry out a certain action there or rather as many actions as these elements comprise. By flashes one point or another suddenly appears distinctly, then fades away giving place to another ...
... 1913 1913 Prayers and Meditations December 29, 1913 O Lord, grant that this collective convention of the ending year be for us also the occasion to put an end to a whole lot of bonds and attachments, illusions and weaknesses which have no longer any purpose in our lives. At every moment we must shake off the past like falling dust, that it may not soil ...
... Estate — Lord Ousteri. After Louis a triumvirate took charge and tried their mettle. Finally a somewhat loose Democracy worked. But, let us not forget that whoever carried the “Sceptre”, alone or collectively, for a long or a short period, is only a Regent (a glorified term) of the Mother who bestows Her bounty on all equally — to receive and absorb is the individual’s endeavour. Work — especially ...
... ( silence ) This woman... a "collective karma"! What rubbish—absolute humbug. It may be true for some people, but not for her. If I hadn't seen her I might have been intrigued and tried to find out, but.... A collective karma.... Of course, there are all the links you have with people you've known in past lives; in that sense, yes, there is a collective karma! But really, people use such big... Agenda 1962 February 3, 1962 ( A visitor has written to Mother about her difficulties, saying she is the victim of a "collective karma." ) Those karma stories.... I often wonder, very often, whether it helps people to know their karma. I don't think it does. I mean, if they themselves discover the experiences they... into more intimate rapport with the Divine. And if one adds to this, as I do, a mantric program, that is, a sort of prayer or invocation, a program for both personal development and helping the collective, then it becomes a truly active work. Then there's also what I call "external" work: contact with others, reading and answering letters, seeing and speaking to people, and finally all the activities ...
... Year] prayers from 1933 to now, and each one will contribute to the general work so that the result will be a whole holding together? It is indispensable to teach them from the beginning to do a collective work in which each one plays his part; otherwise the whole thing will remain only as an interesting play for a few children. 13 September 1945 ...
... perception of Thy divine light is awake. I knew well that none could invoke Thy presence in vain and if in the sincerity of our hearts we commune with Thee through no matter what organism, body or human collectivity, this organism in spite of its ignorance finds its unconsciousness wholly transformed. But when in one or several elements there is the conscious transformation, when the flame that smoulders under ...
... purely personal past, for it includes all the acquaintances I used to have, a whole collection of things that represents not only my individual life but something rather collective (as it always is; each of us is always a collectivity but we aren't aware of it, and if anything were taken away, it would unbalance the whole). A whole set of things that were absolutely wiped clean from the memory (it must... ordinary human, one who is not a collectivity in himself—as is a writer, for example, or a philosopher or statesman) projects himself through his imagination into what he calls 'immortality' (meaning an indefinite duration of time) he doesn't project himself alone but rather, inevitably and always, what is projected along with himself is a whole agglomeration, a collectivity or totality of things which ...
... body. This consciousness has much difficulty in changing, because it is under the influence of the collective suggestion which is absolutely opposed to the transformation. So one has to struggle with this collective suggestion, not only with the collective suggestion of the present, but with the collective suggestion which belongs to the earth-consciousness as a whole, the terrestrial human consciousness ...
... individual sadhana-it embraces also the collective consciousness which is specially the field of its application. It is the muffled voice of entire humanity in its secret aspiration that is given expression here. It is by the power of this mantra , protected by this invulnerable armour, – if we choose to Page 65 accept it as such, - that the collective life of man will attain its fulfilment... far more agonising and terrible. But we do not expect such a catastrophe. We have hope and confidence that the secret urge of Nature, the force of the Mahashakti will save man, individually and collectively, from ignorance and foolishness, vouchsafe to him genuine good sense and the true inspiration. Page 67 ...
... individual sadhana —it embraces also the collective consciousness which is specially the field of its application. It is the muffled voice of entire humanity in Page 6 its secret aspiration that is given expression here. It is by the power of this mantra, protected by this invulnerable armour,—if we choose to accept it as such,—that the collective life of man will attain its fulfilment... more agonising and terrible. But we do not expect such a catastrophe. We have hope and confidence that the secret urge of Nature, the force of the Mahashakti will save man, individually and collectively, from ignorance and foolishness, vouchsafe to him genuine good sense and the true inspiration. Page 11 ...
... then it will become perfect. 2.4.1970* * Any suggestion? About what? About sadhana. Patient aspiration. 7.6.1970* * Don't you think that the two collective "meditations" that we are trying to have in Aspiration—on Thursday and Sunday at the same hours as the Ashram—are the minimum of inner discipline that our Aspiration should give to itself? ... silence and the effort to concentrate together —if not to meditate—are they not an opportunity to receive your force and to open ourselves a little more to you and to Sri Aurobindo, helping to form our collective soul? Without any wish to impose anything on anybody from outside, is not this elementary discipline, however, necessary in the beginning? Concentrating together is indeed a very ...
... man allows that universal or cosmic thing to manifest. If you take it like that, it makes sense. That "universal thing" might be a collective transformation. A transformation that's no longer exclusively individual—the descent of the Holy Spirit into the collectivity? I had been told that even in the College of Cardinals, things were only suggested, and each one was left to understand more or less ...
... also for the collective life. Greed, lust for power and domination over others are his characteristic nature even in these days of so-called enlightened self-interest which is only an euphemism for blatant exploitation of others. He is at enmity not only with his neighbour but also at loggerheads with whomsoever stands in the way of the aggrandise ment of his individual and collective ego. Thus sects ...
... Mother reads from Lights on Yoga , "Surrender and Opening". Here we are. Nothing to ask? Nobody has anything to say? ( Silence ) We can meditate for five minutes. Let us try collective meditation, shall we? It's going to be a little difficult. We can try. You would like to try on what we have read? Do not think, just concentrate like this: let what we have read enter into ...
... the Divine. Integral mental purity: silent, attentive, receptive, concentrated on the Divine―this is the path to purity. Vital purity: it begins with the abolition of desire. Collective purity: a very precious achievement but one difficult to obtain. Divine purity: it is happy just to be, in all simplicity. ...
... My blessings are always there to awaken you, but you must want to make use of them. 21 October 1935 Blessings are a manifestation of the divine grace, in favour of an individual or a collectivity. 22 October 1935 My love and blessings are with you. Understand that blessings are for the best spiritual result, not necessarily according to human wishes. My blessings are very dangerous ...
... Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol. 6 In Her Company When the Mother was giving collective meditation, in the playground for instance, along with those people assembled there around Her, a different kind of people also joined in and gathered – beings from other worlds, gods and angels. The Divine in a physical human body upon earth – it ...
... send them away. One of them turned up for work this morning, after 18 days' absence. Amrita has already given me his official letter of dismissal (referring there to an article in the Convention Collective), copies of which have been sent to the Labour Office and the President. This letter I will hand over to the man tomorrow. This gardener, although he came from a communist quarter and belonged ...
... this difference and if it works, why is it in small pockets only? Perhaps the reason is that none has been able to satisfy the two-fold demand which society places on education - of individual and collective growth, of competition and cooperation, of right and left-brain development, of self and life mastery. One does come across individuals who are a delight and a marvel because they combine in themselves... religious education. Life itself is the great teacher - we all learn our moral lessons best from the living examples of people real to us and our natures are trained through our daily interactions and collective work. Keeping this in mind, the teacher uses each opportunity that the school life offers to put before the children a high ideal which something in their own deeper selves, their soul, responds... mirror (reflecting, without praise or blame) to the child in the choices she makes with regard to her daily actions. Of course, some basic rules of conduct might be in operation - as is the need of a collective life. But, the general endeavour is at becoming aware of one's weaknesses and strengths without taking them to be the final truth about oneself. In this manner one is free from taking credit or blame ...
... Vivekananda puts it – the fundamental note of her cultute and nature, which distinguishes her from the rest of the world. What then are the distinguishing marks of spirituality? How does a spiritual collectivity live and move – kim âsita vrajeta kim? And do we find its characteristic gait and feature exclusively or even chiefly in India? Was not Europe also in her theocratic and... underground and follows narrow and circuitous by-paths; rarely does it appear on the top in sudden and momentary flashes and even then only to dive back again into its subterranean hiding-place; upon the collective life and culture it acts more as an indirect influence, an auxiliary leaven than as. a direct and dynamic Force. In India there is an abundance, a superfluity even, of religious paraphernalia, but... moving with the sureness, the ruthlessness of nature's unconscious movements, – it is a tact, native to the force that is life. It is this attribute which the Englishman draws from the collective genius of his race that marks him out from among all others; this is his forte, it is this which has created his nation and made it great and strong. All other nations ...
... group of seekers of the Divine Truth with a collective existence and aim; a work is being done for the Divine against great difficulties and in the midst of a hostile and censorious world which is only too glad of any pretext for assailing it and, if possible, injuring its fair fame and success. A conduct like this deals a wound to the work and the collective effort towards a higher life. Your proposed ...
... whether one Bhupendranath Dutt published matter which he knew to be likely to bring the Government established by law, to wit certain mediocrities in Belvedere, Darjeeling, Shillong or Simla who collectively call themselves the Government of Bengal or of India, into contempt or hatred, or to encourage a desire to resist or subvert their lawful authority. If that were all, we might argue the question... the talk of men that sleep or are in intellectual and moral bondage. We Nationalists declare that man is for ever and inalienably free and that we too are, both individually as Indian men and collectively as an Indian nation, for ever and inalienably Page 617 free. As freemen we will speak the thing that seems right to us without caring what others may do to our bodies to punish us for ...
... (1969-1970) On Thoughts and Aphorisms Aphorism - 335, 336 335—Family, nationality, humanity are Vishnu's three strides from an isolated to a collective unity. The first has been fulfilled, we yet strive for the perfection of the second, towards the third we are reaching out our hands and the pioneer work is already attempted. 336—With the present ...
... May 11, 1968 ( A disciple has written an article on the Ashram's future in which she said in particular, "The Ashram will become an occult center, a select collectivity...." ) I am not at all anxious for advertisement or publicity for the Ashram . It's not necessary at all. It's not necessary to talk about the Ashram—( laughing ) the true way to make it ...
... work. When I find someone both honest and capable he becomes very precious. The Mother Negligence In the Ashram, negligence in work is treachery. The Mother The collective work ...the collective work should not suffer because of personal work. The Mother Page 22 Entire consecration to the Divine You seem to forget that by the fact... better to continue the work even if one feels lazy? Page 9 That depends on the work; there we enter another domain. If it is a work that you are doing for the collectivity and not for yourself personally, then you must do it, whatever happens. It is an elementary discipline. You have undertaken to do this work or have been given the work and have taken it up, therefore... training in a psychic elevation, selflessness, obedience, renunciation of all mental, vital or other self-assertion of the limited personality. Self-affirmation is not the aim, the formation of a collective Vital ego is also not the aim. The merging of the little ego in union with the Divine, purification, surrender, the substitution of the Divine guidance for one's own ignorant self-guidance based ...
... from it will go to the town..." It's not like that—it's not like that! No, it's useless. "...Each one will have to provide work for the collectivity according to his possibilities and aspirations—never to get money, but to serve the collectivity. In exchange, each one will receive what he needs to live. Giving everyone the same thing is out of question, everyone will receive what his real... manifestation of the Truth of the Future. 3) Until we have a common consciousness and the true and correct way of working collectively is in operation, what should we do? A hierarchical organization gathered round the most enlightened center, submitting itself to a collective discipline. 4) Should we use methods of organization of proven efficiency, but based on human logic and the use of machines... the 1800s—and how it moved on and progressed ( gesture like a great curve ). And that's... I have no words or capacity to describe it, but it's extraordinarily interesting. The vision of the human collectivity on earth, with all its stages, gradations, nuances, and how it all followed a movement... ( same arrowlike gesture ). And this story ("story"... this VISION, rather, because it wasn't a story: I ...
... 1968. Q. What is the difference between the Ashram and Auroville? The Mother answered: The Ashram will keep its true role as a pioneer, inspirer and guide. Auroville is an experiment in collective realisation . Sri Aurobindo has written about his Ashram: This Ashram has been created with another object than that ordinarily common to such institutions, not for the renunciation of ...
... progress of the collectivity was as important as that of the individuals. The need for a deeper collective consciousness and individuality had been felt for some time, not only among the Ashram inmates, but among the Aurobindonians outside as well. This feeling had become stronger after the Supramental Manifestation, and there had grown an aspiration, an "inner effort to create this 'collective individuality'"... effective power". A gnostic or supramental collectivity "can exist only on the basis of the inner realisation of each of its members, each one realising his... identity with all the other members... all as one, within himself... by a fact of consciousness, by an inner realisation". But due to the interdependence between the individual and the collectivity even one who is "the very first in the evolutionary... that its infusion would glorify the human body and make it an infallible instrument for the salvation, or transformation, of the world. VI A month later, on 7 February 1957, before the collective meditation, the Mother recalled the supramental manifestation of 29 February and declared that the Force was working "very actively, even while very few people are aware of it," and working both ...
... fulfillment of the work depends on certain collective laws that are the expression of a particular aspect of the Eternal and Infinite—naturally, it's all one and the same Being! There aren't different individuals and personalities, it's all one and the same Being. But the same Being expressing itself in a particular way that for us translates as a group or a collectivity. Well, then—any other questions... the Truth that will be a new world—a truer, if not absolutely true, world. A certain number of individuals (until now they seem to have come in succession, in time, but they might also come as a collectivity, in space) would seem indispensable for this Truth to be concretized and realized. On a practical level, I am sure of it. In other words, no matter how great he may be, no matter how conscious ...
... famous cry of Bankim's song, Bande Mataram – "I bow to you, O Mother." The movement is basically religious, it is towards the Divine – the country is viewed as a Goddess who is not only its collective soul but also a face and form of the World-Mother, the creatrix of the universe. When the innate turn of the nation is mystical, even the patriotic fervour can be directed only to the Divine Spirit... World-Mother just as in the first type indigenous history is ever alive, but the stress now falls less upon the Divine Presence than upon the particular face and form She assumes in the country's collective soul as felt in the traditional ideals and institutions , the characteristic customs and festivals, - in short, the whole historic consciousness. This Nationalism has the root s of its politics... a more than mental Power to guide one in work for that Power amongst men. The fourth type is non-religious, wholly secular. The country is no face and form of the Supreme Divine: it is not even a collective soul that can be addressed as Mother, except metaphorically. It is only an aggregate of individuals, a mass of human creatures, a large group of people with common traditions and a common territory ...
... ; (b) when a panoramic view of a given topic or subject is to be presented; (c) when collective awareness regarding a subject matter needs to be created; (d) when a discussion on a given problem is sought to be stimulated and conducted; and (e) when some general information is to be provided for any collective purposes. It has also been urged that lectures are effective instruments when results... should be aimed at among teachers should include: A spontaneous but well-cultivated interest in observing students with deep insight and sympathy; Psychological tact to deal with collective and individual needs of growth of students; Capacity to lead students to the art of self-learning; A cheerful and enthusiastic disposition capable of inspiring students to pursue ...
... each human life. The collective soul is there only as a great half-subconscient source of the individual existence; if it is to take on a definite psychological form or a new kind of collective life, that can only come by the shaping growth of its individuals. As will be the spirit and life of the individuals constituting it, so will be the realised spirit of the collectivity and the true power of... of its life. A society that lives not by its men but by its institutions, is not a collective soul, but a machine; its life becomes a mechanical product and ceases to be a living growth. Therefore the coming of a spiritual age must be preceded by the appearance of an increasing number of individuals who are no longer satisfied with the normal intellectual, vital and physical existence of man, but perceive ...
... Vivekananda puts it—the fundamental note of her culture and nature, which distinguishes her from the rest of the world. What then are the distinguishing marks of spirituality? How does a spiritual collectivity live and move— kim asita vrqjeta kim? And do we find its characteristic gait and feature exclusively or even chiefly in India? Was not Europe also in her theocratic and mediaeval ages as... underground and follows narrow and circuitous by-paths; rarely does it appear on the top in sudden and momentary flashes and even then only to dive back again into its subterranean hiding-place; upon the collective life and culture it acts more as an indirect influence, an auxiliary leaven than as a direct and dynamic Force. In India there is an abundance, a superfluity even, of religious paraphernalia, but... aboriginal, moving with the sureness, the ruthless- ness of nature's unconscious movements,—it is a tact, native to the force that is life. It is this attribute which the English- man draws from the collective genius of his race that marks him out from among all others; this is his forte, it is this which has created his nation and made it great and strong. All other nations have this one, or that ...
... should I go if I wish to meet the singer of this melody?” He said, “It is not possible to go there now. You are extremely fortunate to have heard him sing at this time. He sings only at the evening collective devotional singing; and he never meets anyone, whosoever it may be. But all are allowed to attend the evening singing; that is the only time you will be able to meet him.” C: “What is his name... for I am going to call him. Then I sat down with the tanpura . I sang just to bring you here. And see, you have arrived! Otherwise, I never sing at this time.” Then he asked me to attend the collective singing in the evening. My father, aunt and I went there. Some of his melodies were so touching and so simple that they just stuck in my memory: Abandoning your hankering after earthly tastes ...
... material modes of being. To put things more clearly, you are born in a certain society or religion, in a particular country, and this society has a collective conception of its own and this nation has a collective conception of its own, this religion has a collective "construction" of its own which is usually very fixed. You are born into it. Naturally, when you are very young, you are altogether unaware of... hardly perceptible to the ordinary consciousness; they become perceptible only to those who have already reflected much, observed much, deeply studied their own being—they are what could be called collective suggestions. When a being is born upon earth, he is inevitably born in a certain country and a certain environment. Due to his physical parents he is born in a set of social, cultural, national... you that there could be something to know there, and still less something you must get rid of. And it is quite remarkable that when for some reason or other you do become aware of the hold of this collective suggestion, you realise at the same time that a very assiduous and prolonged labour is necessary in order to get rid of it. But the problem does not end there. You live surrounded by people. These ...
... man because he is inwardly of one being with God will be our one solitary creed and dogma.8 And as we regard man the individual, we shall regard to man the collectivity. ... as a soul-form of the Infinite, a collective soul myriadly embodied upon earth for a divine fulfilment in its manifold relations and its multitudinous activities.9 We shall regard every human society, nation... Divinity concealed and to be self-discovered in its human individuals and collectivities, group-souls meant like the individuals to grow according to their own nature and by that growth to help each other, to help the whole race in the common work of humanity. And that work is to find the divine Self in the individual and the collectivity and to realize spiritually, mentally, vitally, materially its greatest... largest universality, nor his own life to be full life except as it is one with the universal life. He will not live either for himself or for the State and society, for the individual ego or the collective ego, but for something much greater, for God in himself and for the Divine in the universe.14 It can be said that such a spiritualized society will be a true inner theocracy, ...not ...
... which its will of being, its type of nature and mentality, its attempt of experience is carried forward, migrates, one might almost say, into new-born collective bodies, in other ages or cycles? Mankind itself has this separate collective soul and collective existence. And on that community the community of karma is founded; the action and development of the whole produces consequence of karma and experience... may be to our seizing, there is a group-soul which is the support and foundation—some would call it the result—of this communal variety. That gives us a ground for a group karma. For the group or collective soul renews and prolongs itself and in man at least develops its nature and experience from generation to generation. And who knows whether, when Page 362 one form of it is disintegrated ...
... their hands, that's what I mean. Page 419 "There will be no taxes as such but each will contribute to the collective welfare in work, kind or money." So that's understood: there will be no taxes of any kind, but everyone will have to contribute to the collective welfare through his work, in kind or with money. Those who have nothing other than money will give money. But to tell the... township. "All who live there will participate in its life and development. "This participation may be passive or active. "There will be no taxes as such but each will contribute to the collective welfare in work, kind or money. "Sections like Industries which participate actively will contribute part of their income towards the development of the township. Or if they produce something ...
... assist and enter into each other and become one. It is clear that the task is colossal. It is at once individual and collective; no individual by himself can accomplish this task. The great but little known experiments have shown that there has to be a minimum collectivity, representative of the whole humanity, which must support the individual revolutionary effort and evolutionary general progression ...
... been conversant with her way of working - are all "departing" from us one by one, leaving a tremendous vacuum of transition, one has to be, in order to prevent the qualitative deterioration of the collective life of the Ashram, very strict in the matter of admitting new entrants. Otherwise, there is fear that our Ashram too will meet the same fate as befell many other spiritual communities attempted... necessity of satisfying this basic psychological criterion before any one is considered for admission to the Ashram. Page 40 Otherwise he will prove himself to be a nuisance to the Ashram's collective life and himself be harassed by unruly drives and impulses. For, every sadhak staying in the Ashram has perforce to confront a host of personal difficulties. There is an occult reason for this upsurge ...
... the surrounding bodies and in the surroundings generally also; for one lives and moves through mutual interchange in the midst of others. A collective change takes more time than individual change. So it is no longer an individual consciousness, but the collective consciousness that has to do the work. The world progresses. And being in the world you too must progress. It is a progress, however ...
... the surroundings generally also; for one lives and moves through mutual interchange in the midst of others. Page 377 A collective change takes more time than individual change. So it is no longer an individual consciousness, but the collective consciousness that has to do the work. The world progresses. And being in the world you too must progress. It is a progress, however, which ...
... s—Plato, Leonardo da Vinci, Mozart, Napoleon, Einstein—in whom the collective unconscious culminates, without the individual members of the collective being able to equal them. In this case, on the other hand, the men of a new kind will be the prototypes of the humanity to come. Externally resembling the rest of the collective, they will surpass it, or more precisely, will be able to carry it... being might do, they resist anything which would formerly have obscured the psyche. They come from the future and are instilled in the collective unconscious. And, as no movement of the individual external nature can any longer submerge them, no movement of the collective nature is able to destroy them. There is something irrevocable about them. They are the beginnings of the future we shall know, whatever... future may be, to set fire to their conscious and unconscious being, to what they are individually and in relation to the collectivity, to all images without exception of what both stimulates and limits our thinking and sensibility in such a way that subsequently, as the collective unconscious enters through the breaches they have made in their consciousness, we might be able to in turn go beyond the ...
... Yoga and Collective Life: Collective Aspiration: Its Necessity for General Health and Perfection; Formation of the Collective Aspiration at various Psychological levels; The formation of the Group soul by yogic aspiration and methods: Its necessity and purpose; Problems of Collective Life and Yogic Solutions Transformation by Yoga and its rationale as a collective achievement for the... and Yogic Research; New Paths of Yoga Yoga and Knowledge of Sciences and Arts, Yoga and Medical Sciences, Yoga and Technology Yoga, Religion and Morality, Yoga and Collective Life, Yoga and change in the world-conditions: the idea of Cosmic Yoga, Yoga and the New World of Truth, Harmony and Liberty Books recommended: The Principal Upanishads Yoga Sutra... Self-Perfection, Instruments of the Spirit and their purification, Psychology of Self-Perfection, Perfection of Personality by Yoga, Supermind, its descent and its action upon the earth, Supermind and Collective life, Divine life on the earth Yoga and Health: Psychology, Yoga and Health Esoteric Causes of Illness and Yogic Remedies Page 369 Role of Hypnotism and allied Processes ...
... and to develop them in such a way that they could all open up to the spiritual light and force. This attempt had not only an individual aspect but also a collective one. This was a remarkable attempt which could have revolutionised the collective life of India. But this was interrupted on account of several factors. Among these factors was the fact of the exhaustion of the vital force as a result... of the collective life cannot be achieved if only the physical mind of the common man is trained as in the Vedic Age or even if a greater effort is made to train the psychic-emotional part of common man's nature, as was attempted in the Purano-Tantric Age. What is needed is to turn to spiritual reality the entirety of mental, psychical and physical living of the individual and the collectivity so as... significance and impression. The tendency to image the terrestrial life often magnified, as Page 22 in the Mahabharata and in the Ramayana, reflects the Vedic influence. In the field of collective life, Indian society developed its communal coordination of the mundane life of interest and desire, kama and artha. But it governed its action always by a reference at every point to the moral ...
... such well-defined collective personality as India has. In Europe you have several clearly defined national personalities. For instance, England has a definite national personality, so also has France. They are trying to create some sort of collective personality. They have not yet succeeded in giving form to it. While in India it is quite different. It is a well-defined collective personality which... of the same collective personality ? Sri Aurobindo : It is the same as with the Welsh, the Scottish and the English, or the Bavarian and the Prussian, in the same nationality. If there were not this clear collective personality it would have been difficult to create a political nation in India. But take the case of Asia. There is an attempt at the formation of a collective Asiatic personality... natures. Different personalities may combine and form one personality. Disciple : Has the collective personality of India been always there ? Sri Aurobindo : Yes, as far as history goes. I don't know what must have been in the Sumerian period. Disciple : What is the nature of this collective, or if I may say so, Super-personality ? Sri Aurobindo : You have to look to the cha ...
... one does not progress, one feels bored. Work done in the true spirit is meditation. Try to take pleasure in all you do, but never do anything for the sake of pleasure. When we have to work collectively, it is always better to insist, in our thoughts, feelings and actions, on the points of agreement rather than on the, points of divergence. All work must be play, but a divine play, played for ...
... enough. (5)Even if all of the Supermind had manifested in the subtle-physical and its action had been unimpeded, Sri Aurobindo and the Mother's purpose would not have been served without a collective Yoga going on under their inspiration. For, that manifestation by itself can do no more than ensure a future evolution beyond Mind in the long march of time. What Sri Aurobindo and the Mother wanted... swift accelerated evolving movement by means of a direct Integral Yoga. If so, the Ashram had an inevitable part to play from the beginning - for, where else could such a Yoga be practised on the collective scale on which they insisted as much as they insisted on the individual scale? (6)The assumed deterioration of the Ashram at present is certainly exaggerated. For one thing, there was plenty... because others are rotten but because one is oneself such. Furthermore, who is ready to deem his own self irremediable? Why, then, indulge in a sense of hopelessness about others and about this collectivity of us and them, which we term the Ashram? No doubt, physical transformation, in the way Sri Aurobindo and the Mother conceived it, is impossible without the Mother's physical presence. ...
... that asks for rest ( gesture of dissolution ). What it calls rest is the state of inertia, that is to say, the refusal to manifest the consciousness. It's only that. There is also that FORMIDABLE collective suggestion ... weighing down. That suggestion of ageing ... ageing, wearing out and death ("death," anyway what they call death, which isn't dying—what does "dying" mean? Annulment does not exist... anyway, giving up the form because the form refuses to be transformed (that's nearly what it is) and isn't receptive, it accepts a progressive deterioration because of the formidable weight of the collective suggestion—the habit of millennia: "It's always been like that, that's that." The great argument. Which isn't true, besides. But there is such idiocy in this body. For instance, there is at each ...
... his being-the intellect, emotions, passions, desires-are in constant conflict. To bring about harmony within oneself and express it in life is the problem of the individual. To achieve harmony in collective life is the problem of human culture. Page 85 The instruments of nature in man are not able to achieve this harmony. It is only by bringing forward the Soul, the psychic being... on earth from heaven, the harmonious notes were almost flooding the earth atmosphere. I could identify many notes of Indian melodies in it. That this soul-stirring music had the power to touch the collective soul with deep aspirations evoking genuine devotion was quite obvious. I heard afterwards that the choir on Fridays draws crowds from all over the neighbourhood. Apart from religious music ...
... Satprem Page 290 × A Sanskrit text by X which was to be played at the Ashram playground just prior to the collective meditation. ...
... nations. A civilised existence would ensure freedom from fear and suspicion in our individual, national and international relations. No treachery or breach of faith should vitiate individual and collective life. Mentally, humanity has progressed beyond imagination from the beginnings of our ancestors, the cavemen, hunters and nomads who lived more or less animal lives though they were far superior... developed various arts and sciences. A fairly civilised existence commenced with pursuits of higher arts and sciences. Music, poetry, literature, painting, architecture, sculpture were cultivated. A collective life with ideas and ideals of philanthropy, humanitarianism and social services was built up in course of a few centuries. Medical, engineering and other sciences grew. Man began slowly and consciously ...
... Education", a transcript of a series of three lectures delivered by the author in 1961 to the teachers of the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education, and "Two Cardinal Points of Education", a collective memorandum written by the author and presented by him in 1965 to the Education Commission of the Government of India. This enlarged edition was brought out again in 1976 and is presently (1991) ...
... the supermind. It is described there as the Truth, the Right, the Vast; as the supreme step of Vishnu; and some Vedic Rishis endeavoured to rise into its solar glory. But there is no trace of a collective ascent into it or of any attempt on their part to bring it down into the material life for a conversion of the earth-consciousness. It was even held by some Rishis that it was not possible to ... few subsequent Prayers depicting Remarkable transitions and new conquests. The Mother's sadhana has followed strange curves of ascent and descent, for it has not been so much an individual as a collective sadhana for the conversion of the earth-consciousness and the supramental self-expression of God in man. It would, therefore, be a great mistake to try to assess and understand it by the usual... Many of her experiences are a prism or a reflex of the experiences of the earth-soul, and by far the majority a mighty prelude and preparation and prognosis. Hers has been a consecrated life of collective Page 9 conquests, and it is only when the curves of her work come full circle that the veil will be lifted from the true nature of her experiences and an illumined elite of humanity ...
... the supermind. It is described there as the Truth, the Right, the Vast; as the supreme step of Vishnu; and some Vedic Rishis endeavoured to rise into its solar glory. But there is no trace of a collective ascent into it or of any attempt on their part to bring it down into Page 335 the material life for a conversion of the earth-consciousness. It was even held by some Rishis that it... few subsequent Prayers depicting remarkable transitions and new conquests. The Mother's sadhana has followed strange curves of ascent and descent, for it has not been so much an individual as a collective sadhana for the conversion of the earth-consciousness and the supramental self-expression of God in man. It would, therefore, be a great mistake to try to assess and understand it by the usual criteria... Many of her experiences are a prism or a reflex of the experiences of the earth-soul, and by far the majority a mighty prelude and preparation and prognosis. Hers has been a consecrated life of collective conquests, and it is only when the curves of her work come full circle that the veil will be lifted from the true nature of her experiences and an illumined elite of humanity or super- humanity will ...
... looks very angry ) It's disastrous. A dreadful blunder. It's going to get me into big, big trouble—just what I wanted to avoid. I think, or hope at any rate, that it won't get out of the small collectivity of the Ashram. It always gets out. And there's someone (nobody knows who) who sends the government EVERYTHING that appears here. It's a disaster. ( Mother goes within for a long time, ...
... of everything? Naturally, the first effect will be a change of consciousness, first among the most receptive, and then in a greater number of people. A change in the general conditions of collective life can only come later, perhaps long after individual reactions have been transformed. The first noticeable result is a heightening of the general confusion, because the old principles have lost ...
... research is done in collective groups. It is not possible for an individual to do it. Collectivity must take advantage of scientific progress and apply it so that it is now the result of the groups. An individual is only a means to make this collective progress possible. But this scientific will or this will to increase knowledge in the collectivity— is it conscious ? In the collective, it is not conscious... scientific progress. The group only takes hold of the advantage which the individual gives Page 19 to it by progressing. So this will is not conscious in the collectivity of mankind but something beyond the collectivity is dictating. And this cosmic impulse to increase knowledge is what the modern scientist is serving without knowing—the cosmic impulse to make man realise the omnipotent ...
... self-realisation. Continuity and change have been a special feature of this religion which consciously opens up towards something that lies beyond religion and shows to the individuals and the collectivities how to liberate themselves from dogma, rituals, outward ceremonies so as to enter into the kingdom of the spirit and experience of the Infinite Reality in thousand different ways. Like all... the most distinctive element of Hinduism lies in the fact that through successive stages, it built up for larger and larger gradations of human consciousness an organisation of the individual and collective life, — a framework of personal and social discipline and conduct, of mental and moral and vital development by which they could move each in one's own limits and according to one's own nature in... frame promise to play a major role and will probably impel new forms that will express the ancient spiritual aims as also those modern ideals which are striving to be actualised in the life of collectivities. In is necessary to emphasise that the goal sought after by Hinduism encouraged and inspired multisided development of all aspects of human nature and all parts of the being. In order to reach ...
... that threatens the progressive tenor of his life, and yet he is driven to create and multiply a myriad causes of conflict, within him and without. He longs so much for a harmonious advance of the collectivity and a general well-being of his species, and yet he is so helplessly dominated by aggressive, individualistic tendencies and an exclusive self-assertion. It is an age of darkness pierced by stray... extremely well for the future of our life and culture. In every field of activity, one observes earnest and persistent attempts at self-adaptation, coordination and cooperation, both individual and collective, national and international, meeting with varying degrees of success, in spite of all possible opposition. The prodigious work of the U.N.O. is a typical reflection of the many promises, paradoxes... science or philosophy, ethics or psychology. It is not enough to know the superficial layers of man's being and consciousness; it is not enough to explore some parts of his Unconscious, individual or collective; it is not enough to hold up before him a bright ideal of moral life and altruistic activity. What is indispensable for the radical conversion and integration of his being is a systematic exploration ...
... so-called human laws or "natural" laws are merely an immense morbid imagination collectively fixed—that is the box. Yes, exactly so, exactly so. Then, how... Yes, to what extent can an individual light act upon that?... There is the problem.... I do not know. ( Silence ) The vision is very clear, of the collective progress (our field of experience is the earth) that has taken place upon ...
... to develop them in such a way that they could all open up to the spiritual light and force. This attempt had not only an individual aspect but also a collective aspect, and this was a remarkable attempt which could have revolutionized the collective life of India. But this was interrupted on account of several factors. Among these factors was the fact of the exhaustion of the vital force as a ...
... this aspect that the problem should be seen, the Page 81 aspect of self-mastery, of control, of the endurance which will not allow your personal condition to react on your group-work or collective action. To forget oneself is one of the most essential conditions for being a true leader: to have no selfish interests, to want nothing for oneself, to consider only the good of the group, of the... with that aim in mind, without wanting any personal profit from one's action. A leader of a small group can thus become a perfect leader for a large group, for a nation, and prepare himself for a collective role. It is a training-ground of great importance, and that is truly what we have attempted and are continuing to try out here: to give to everyone as soon as possible a responsibility, big or small ...
... world, a world more true, if not absolutely true. It would seem that a certain number of individuals—until now it seems to have been more in time, as a succession, but it could also be in space, a collectivity—are indispensable so that this Truth can become concrete and realise itself. Practically, I am sure of it. That is to say, however great, however conscious, however Page 136 powerful... same Being! They are not different individuals or different personalities, it is all the same Being. And it is all the same Being expressing Himself in a way which for us becomes a body, a group, a collectivity. There. Do you have another question on the same subject? In what way has your vision become different since this experience? I repeat. For a very long time it seemed to me that if a ...
... human or "natural" laws are only an immense morbid imagination that has been collectively fixed—that's the box. Yes, that's it! That's right. So then, how...? Yes, to what extent can an individual light act on that?... There's the problem.... I don't know. ( silence ) The vision is very clear of the collective progress (our field of experience is the earth) which has taken place on earth; ...
... spiritual and supra-mental. In that component of our complex nature, it is claimed, is the integrating power; in it the truths of the individual and the collectivity coalesce; there we discover, we are told, that the individual and the collectivity are not what they appear to be in the lower or infra rational parts of our being. Individual is not, it is discovered, fundamentally egoistic in nature;... ultimately decline and succumb to the forces of the unconscious Unreason. Again, when the three ideals of the social Reason, — liberty, equality and fraternity, - are attempted to be established in collective life, these three are found to be in conflict with each other and defeated by the powers of Unreason. When liberty wins, equality gets dethroned; when equality is attempted to be raised up, liberty... other higher formulations of ethical and spiritual norms. They are all presented as universal doctrines intended to be prescribed uniformly for all people, but .if we take human individual and human collectivity to be evolutionary in character, and if we take elements of the complexity of human nature in an ascending order rising from the infra-rational to the rational and from the rational to the supr ...
... and to develop them in such a way that they could all open up to the spiritual light and force. This attempt had not only an individual aspect but also a collective aspect. This was a remarkable attempt which could have revolutionised the collective life of India. But this was interrupted on account of several factors. Among these factors was the fact of the exhaustion of the vital force as a result... message of the third stage is that the spiritualisation of the collective life cannot be achieved if only the physical mind of man is trained or even if a greater effort is made to train the psychic- emotional part of man's nature. What is needed is to turn the entirety of mental, psychical and physical living of the individual and the collectivity to divinise the whole of human life and nature. It is significant... of a psychic significance and impression. The tendency to image the terrestrial life often magnified, as in the Mahabharata and in the Ramayana, reflects the Vedic influence. In the field of collective life, Indian society developed its Page 93 communal coordination of the mundane life of interest and desire, kama and artha. But it governed always its action by a reference at every ...
... growth in capacities or its progress, provided that one discovers the true method and the right conditioning. This is one of the many experiments which we want to attempt in order to break these collective suggestions and show the world that human potentialities exceed all imagination. 2 February 1949 Page 257 ...
... fulfilment of the work depends on certain collective laws that are the expression of a particular aspect of the Eternal and Infinite — naturally, it's all one and the same Being! There aren't different individuals and personalities, it's all one and the same Being. But the same Being expressing itself in a particular way that for us translates as a group or a collectivity. Well, then — any other questions... the Truth that will be a new world — a truer, if not absolutely true, world. A certain number of individuals (until now they seem to have come in succession, in time, but they might also come as a collectivity, in space) would seem indispensable for this Truth to be concretized and realized. On a practical level, I am sure of it. In other words, no matter how great he may be, no matter how conscious ...
... adorable, a desired prize. "We live and move and have our being in the effulgent delight of the ether." For a supremely sweet harmony pervades the creation. Rabindranath's ideal of the vast human collectivity has also been inspired by this sense of harmony. All the nations, all the countries of the world, keeping' still their speciality and distinction, will stand united with one another – the human... low before the high – all such abject habits must be renounced, because they are harsh, ugly and devoid of beauty. Peace, love, generosity and friendship can make men beautiful individually and collectively. At the root of Rabindranath's patriotism also there lies the same love for beauty. The lack of beauty in slavery tortured him more than anything else. The ugliness of poverty was more unbearable... by him a real work to be- done. To build is to create. To create is to fashion a thing beautifully. The Page 154 ideal of his patriotic society has to foster all limbs of the collective life of the entire nation, to make it a united organism, to endow it with the beauty of forms and rhythm in action. So we say that the beautiful poetry and the poetry of beauty written by him ...
... delight in the ecstatic contemplation of this union; accomplish the mission I have entrusted to thee upon earth." Page 143 And the individual work to be carried on simultaneously with the collective work is to become aware and take possession of all the activities and parts of the being, the definitive establishment of consciousness in the highest point, making possible both the prescribed action ...
... Surely. Well, this is the mental way of looking at things—I do not have it any more. Page 328 Yes, Mother. ( Silence ) The difference is perhaps a difference in the general or collective intensity of this Power, of this Force, is it not so? There is a difference in the power for action. He himself possesses more action, more power for action, now than when in his body. Besides ...
... Mother hands Satprem a brochure on Auroville The photos are very pretty. One is quite like a nebula. Practically, is it moving? It seems to be going quite well. A very widespread collective response, and from the two opposite sides: the whole Communist side is moving, and the whole financial, American side is moving. There is an effervescence. It's sure to work, I KNOW it exists—the ...
... is the supreme focus of unity which draws the evolving world, through more and more complex organizations of structure and increasingly centred interiorizations of consciousness, towards a final collective unanimity of reflective beings. Teilhard arrives at the vision of Omega by his "ultra-physics" and then argues that at the human level of evolution Omega may be expected to communicate with us by... phenomena and in what Sri Aurobindo names the Inconscience, an apparent negation of everything divine, where yet the full divinity lies "involved" as a prelude to its being "evolved" individually and collectively. Perfection is thus the inherent destiny of all evolving forces — a total fulfilment in the space-time cosmos itself by means of a push from the "involved" Supermind Page 32 and... towards consummating in the most integral sense both the Vedantic discovery, "All here is Brahman", and the perfectionist dream of modern science — a totally realised existence, both individual and collective, in the field of matter. In this context arises, between Teilhard and Sri Aurobindo, the issue which Dr. Beatrice Bruteau has discussed in a penetrative article, "Sri Aurobindo and Teilhard ...
... lessons to a certain group of students should agree among themselves to allot the work so that the students are not overworked and can enjoy a rest and a relaxation that are indispensable. This collective preparation must be ready before I can give any useful advice. As for the subjects, it is indispensable to choose those which coincide with their personal experience so as to encourage int ...
... Chapter V Nation and Empire: Real and Political Unities The problem of the unification of mankind resolves itself into two distinct difficulties. There is the doubt whether the collective egoisms already created in the natural evolution of humanity can at this time be sufficiently modified or abolished and whether even an external unity in some effective form can be securely established... And there is the doubt whether, even if any such external unity can be established, it will not be at the price of crushing both the free life of the individual and the free play of the various collective units already created in which there is a real and active life and substituting a State organisation which will mechanise human existence. Apart from these two uncertainties there is a third doubt... the strong beginnings of a moral and spiritual oneness. It is the first question that must be taken first in the logical order. At the present stage of human progress the nation is the living collective unit of humanity. Empires exist, but they are as yet only political and not real units; they have no life from within and owe their continuance to a force imposed on their constituent elements or ...
... Page 103 thing at the same time, one needs very clear brains and very upright intermediaries (!) Then this famous question of money would be solved. Money belongs to no one: money is a collective property that only those with an integral and general, universal vision must use. And let me add, a vision not only integral and general, but also essentially TRUE, which means you can distinguish... of transformation, is greater than that of all the intermediary regions. That is a fact. Those two facts make it impossible for any pretense to last. (I am looking at it from the standpoint of a collective organization.) As soon as you come down from that supreme Height, you find the whole play of diverse influences ( gesture of mixture and conflict ), and that's in fact a sure sign: if you come... sness choosing instruments and expressing itself through a certain number of instruments, if one can't be found (just one isn't enough, either, that one would necessarily need to choose a whole collectivity). Those possessing this consciousness may belong to any class of society: it's not a privilege arising from birth, but the result of personal effort and development. In fact, that would be an external ...
... the problem as it offers itself to modern mankind; as stated here to a more ancient mentality, it does not meet the insistent pressure of the present mind of man for a collective advance, does not respond to its cry for a collective life that will at last embody a greater rational and ethical and if possible even a dynamic spiritual ideal. Its call is to the individual who has become capable of a complete... hereafter, but meanwhile half convinced of terrestrial impotence, persuaded that the soul is a stranger and intruder upon earth, declares that after all not here in the life of the body or in the collective life of mortal man but in some immortal Beyond lies the heaven or the Nirvana where alone is to be found the true spiritual existence. It is here that the Gita intervenes with a restatement of... uplifted above the restless darkness of the human mind and the false limitations of the ego. At the same time, and here we get the gleam of a larger promise which we may even extend to the hope of a collective turn towards perfection,—for if there is hope for man, why should there not be hope for mankind?—the Gita declares that all can if they will, even to the lowest and sinfullest among men, enter into ...
... but nothing sensational, nothing to make a "nice picture," no. But first, I had asked you to tell me if you saw something. I did see something, but I don't think it's very interesting, or collective either. I seemed to kind myself in an enormous plane, a very powerful one, which managed to take off (a takeoff which, besides, gave me a very pleasant sensation). It took off, but it was hedgehopping... it's just "the way things are." ( silence ) Your vision... obviously it's mental constructions standing in the way of the takeoff—that's obvious. But it isn't an individual experience: it's a collective thing. It was very black, and it was a church... like a church steeple. But the gold ciborium, what is that? It was very pretty, besides; it was beautiful, but hidden. But it's true, that's ...
... yes! Certainly, certainly! But that is the mental way of looking at things, you see—I don't have it anymore. Yes, Mother. ( silence ) Perhaps the difference lies in the general or collective intensity of that Power, that Force? There is a difference in the POWER of the action. He himself—he himself has a greater action, a greater power or action now than when he was in his body ...
... things. To be individualised in a collectivity, one must be absolutely conscious of oneself. And of which self?—the Self which is above all intermixture, that is, what I call the Truth of your being. And as long as you are not conscious of the Truth of your being, you are moved by all kinds of things, without taking any note of it at all. Collective thought, collective suggestions are a formidable influence... influence which act constantly on individual thought. And what is extraordinary is that one does not notice it. One believes that one thinks “like that”, but in truth it is the collectivity which thinks “like that”. The mass is always inferior to the individual. Take individuals with similar qualities, of similar categories, well, when they are alone these individuals are at least two degrees better ...
... stage and turn of its development, enter into the spiritual ways and pass by its own chosen path out of this inferior existence. But then the collectivity of humanity will have to remain confined to the perpetual conflict between the individual and the collectivity, within the circle of the ego and its dualities, and the evolutionary stress in humanity will have to be denied its urge to complete what is... transformed, and the spiritual tendency has been to look more beyond life than towards life. It is also true that spirituality has been successful in the life of individuals but not in the field of collectivity. At the same Page 12 time, it needs to be underlined that the solution of the problems of human life which spirituality offers is not a solution by external means, though these also... Nature has fully confirmed this intensive evolution and formation through the individual that anything radical of an expanding or dynamically diffusive character can be expected or any attempt at collective spiritual life, — Page 13 such attempts have been made, but mostly as a field of protection for the growth of the individual's spirituality, — acquire a successful permanence."13 ...
... in any fuller view of life and progressive expansion and integration in a worthwhile existence. To create a field for these elements to express themselves in a free atmosphere of life in a collectivity is not only necessary; but the various contributing factors must come together to work out a rich harmony and a vibrant orchestration. It is to this end that Sri Aurobindo and the Mother undertook... growth of its activities, since my purpose is to give some salient features and significant results which may be found gratifying or otherwise, as the first results of a futuristic experiment of a collective life and the hazards of its growth and encourage further study. Any individual capable of taking a broad and comparatively large and sympathetic view of the Ashram-commune and its life ...
... lake, at the time of collective dining the so-called Pariahs, Shudras, Brahmins would all sit together comfortably without any distinction of caste or creed and take their meals. Today it may appear quite common. But in those days many of us would not dare to disclose such a conduct at home. We would be alarmed if some family member chanced to see us taking part in a collective dinner. Along with Bharati ...
... it was with the Mother that we started our contacts. The Mother would now sit down daily for her meditations with all of us together, in the evening after nightfall. That was the beginning of collective meditation. She made a special arrangement for our seating. To her right would sit one group and to her left another, both arranged in rows. The right side of the Mother represented Light, on the... oneself in, limbs and all, and hide as in a shell by cutting oneself off from all outward touches. This was a temporary necessity in order to maintain the consciousness of the individual and the collectivity always at a high level and keep it unsullied and unchanged. Our give and take with the outside world was very little indeed and it was carried on under the strictest vigilance. All around us there ...
... beautiful way. You can have this inner life, that is already there, this inner life not with much difficulty, for it is already there, a collective inner life, which is so beautiful as I say, filled with the fragrance of the Mother's Presence. It is a collective life in which you all are not only brothers and sisters but one body and soul unified in the Mother's loving and living substance. ...
... amusing oneself. For those in Auroville who want to be true servitors, is Sunday a holiday? In the beginning the organisation of the week was conceived in this way: six days of work for the collectivity to which the individual belonged; the seventh day of the week was reserved for the inner quest for the Divine and the offering of one's being to the divine will. This is the only meaning and the ...
... imposition are what she aimed at, among other things. How far we are true to that spirit, to what extent we reflect the Mother's consciousness—in our individual lives and in Page 110 our collective existence—depends upon the measure of this freedom we have realised. It is from this standpoint that we have to judge the quality of our achievement or failure. Where there is no freedom to ...
... continue to collaborate with the present administration of Auroville. But aware of the responsibility that the Mother reposed in me, I remain available for her work, the day when the will—personal and collective—of the Aurovilians, would impose radical changes in orientation on this system which has, in my view, already too much impaired the image of Auroville and seriously threatened its development. ...
... old consciousness, it would be rather... rather unpleasant, you can say, but the old consciousness: gone. It's something... something that isn't an individual consciousness, but it is not just a collective consciousness either: there's "something" up there—THAT, up there—which sees, knows, decides.... That, up there, is quite all right, it hasn't moved—it hasn't moved. But this.... ( Mother points ...
... sacrificer." Commentary Madhuchchhandas, son of Vishwamitra, invokes in the Soma-offering Indra, the Master of luminous Mind, for increase in the Light. The symbols of the hymn are those of a collective sacrifice. Its subject is the growth of power and delight in Indra by the drinking of the Soma, the wine of immortality, and the consequent illumination of the human being so that the obstructions... expression in right form and confuse the receptive mind. Indra must be not only illuminer, but a fashioner of right thought-formations, surūpakṛtnu . The Rishi, next, turning to a comrade in the collective Yoga, or, perhaps, addressing his own mind, encourages him or it to pass beyond the obstruction of the adverse suggestions opposed to him and by questioning the divine Intelligence progress to the... thought-connections by word-echoes, with the ariḥ kṛṣṭayaḥ of the next verse. These are, I think, not the Aryan nations on earth, although that sense too is possible when the idea is that of a collective or national Yoga, but the powers that help man in his ascent, his spiritual kindred bound to him as comrades,. allies, brothers, yokefellows ( sakhāyaḥ, yujaḥ, jāmayaḥ ), for his aspiration is their ...
... force that are still sealed to it. (3) To speak again to the world the eternal word under a new form adapted to its present mentality. It will be the synthesis of all human knowledge. (4) Collectively, to establish an ideal society in a propitious spot for the flowering of the new race, the race of the Sons of God. The terrestrial transformation and harmonisation can be brought about by ...
... February February Mother’s Agenda 1970 February 21, 1970 ( Mother is ninety-two. She receives Satprem after the collective meditation. Before she speaks, Mother looks at him for a long time with an indescribable expression. ) The body has received a gift this morning.... This morning, truly the Supreme Lord has taught ...
... Duty towards the Divine and Others Duty towards the Divine is far more sacred than any social or family duty; it is all the more sacred because within the human collectivity it is almost wholly ignored or misunderstood. One who has given himself to the Divine has no longer any other duty than to make that consecration more and more perfect. The world and those who ...
... order meant the supremacy of the family and the clan: that was the central unit round which society grew and was held together. Krishna came to break that mould and evolve a higher and larger unit of collective life. It was not yet the nation, but an intermediary stage something like a League of clans, (as we in our day are trying another higher stage in the League of Nations). The Rajasuya celebrates the ...
... from psychoanalysis, held that besides the personal unconscious which is specific to each individual, there is another greater layer of the unconscious - the collective unconscious - which is common to the human race as a whole. The collective unconscious, according to Jung, contains what he calls archetypes or universal "complexes of experience" which are at the basis of all behaviour, both instinctive... individual but as a blind tool of a collective force. The aim of Jungian analysis is to Page 50 bring about individuation by making one conscious of the archetypes governing one's life and freeing one from bondage to their dictates. Thus Jung's Analytical Psychology concerns itself essentially with the development of awareness pertaining to the collective unconscious and its archetypes in ...
... students' questions. I hope they will be able to understand. If a cell becomes conscious of its own personality, is it not liable to act only in its own self-interest, taking no account of the collective interest? What is the self-interest of a cell! Does the decentralisation occur all at once or by degrees? Everything does not disperse all at once; it takes a long time. The central... another, or without reason. It is this which inevitably precedes death. Page 341 Must each cell be conscious of its oneness with the centre? It is not like that. It is still a semi-collective consciousness, it is not an individual consciousness of the cells. Does decentralisation always occur after death, or can it start before? It often starts before. Do the cells disperse ...
... se who live almost exclusively in the physical consciousness—is the religious method, precisely because it is based on fixed creeds and practices. Simply by an act of faith or a collective suggestion—above all a collective suggestion—many human beings who have not yet reached any considerable inner development can take up the path of religion. For occultism we must already have come to a second ...
... more beautiful way. You can have this inner life; it is already there, this inner life, without much difficulty; it is already there, a collective inner life, which is so beautiful as I say, filled with the fragrance of the Mother's Presence. It is a collective life in which you all are not only brothers and sisters but one body and soul unified in the Mother's loving and living substance. ...
... lives to Yoga (except, of course, the students who are here only for their studies and who are not expected to have made their choice in life). Whereas in Auroville simply the goodwill to make a collective experiment for the progress of humanity is sufficient to gain admittance. 10 November 1969 ...
... elevation, selflessness, obedience, renunciation of all mental, vital or other self-assertion of the limited personality. "Self-affirmation is not the aim, the formation of a Page 78 collective vital ego is also not the aim. The merging of the little ego in union with the Divine, purification, surrender, the substitution of the Divine guidance for one's own ignorant self-guidance based ...
... with their hands, that is what I meant. Page 265 "There will be no taxes as such, but each one will contribute to the collective welfare in work, kind or money." So that is clear: there will be no taxes, but each one will have to contribute to the collective welfare by his work, in kind or in money. Those who have nothing but money will give money. But to tell the truth, "work" can be... aloof, and that is quite possible in her park, surrounded by a road, with someone to stop people from coming in; one can stay very quiet―but if I am there, that is the end of it! There would be collective meditations, etc. That is to say that if I get a sign, first the physical sign, then the inner command to go out, I shall drive there and spend an hour, in the afternoon―I can do that now and then... for the disciples' residences, and each one had his own house and garden―a small house and a garden for each one. There was some means of transport, I wasn't sure if it was individual transport or collective transport―like those small open tramcars in the mountains, you know―going in all directions to take the disciples back towards the centre of the town. And around all that, there was a wall, with ...
... sing his social and collective self-expression. Meanwhile, the nascent subjectivism preparative of the new age has shown itself not so much in the relations of individuals or in the dominant ideas and tendencies of social development, which are still largely rationalistic and materialistic and only vaguely touched by the deeper subjective tendency, but in the new collective self-consciousness of... universe and the economic and sociological conditions of human life as determined by the physical being of man, his environment, his evolutionary history, his physical and vital, his individual and collective need. But after a time it must become apparent that the knowledge of the physical world is not the whole of knowledge; it must appear that man is a mental as well as a physical and vital being and ...
... mood – a collective sense of the vanity of vanities brooded on our life. The active life was, no doubt; retained, but restricted within a narrow compass, and it was unavoidable. The way of life in the end became confined solely to the physical plane. Only the animal propensities were attended to. We missed all high ideals of action. In the social life we were deprived of all collective enterprises ...
... Unfortunately I myself was introduced, rather introduced myself to them very late. I did not have enough time to know them, get close to them. I do not have enough matter to justify and/or satisfy our collective effort to write, print, read and may be wonder and admire, or in some cases emulate. So I close this series for now, keeping ajar the door of a Past. Who knows some more old friends may just knock ...
... It lasted for Page 76 one hour and there it was truly almost miraculous. The same Consciousness as this consciousness I had in what we can call the "material mental" (that is, the collective consciousness of the cells), but this morning it was in the cells themselves, this Consciousness [the eternal Consciousness Mother speaks of in the conversation of March 4 ], the same Consciousness ...
... subconscious.... The supramental light was coming down before November, 2 but afterwards all the mud arose and it stopped." 3 Once again Sri Aurobindo verified, not individually this time but collectively, that if one pulls down too strong a light, the violated darkness below is made to moan. It is noteworthy that each time Sri Aurobindo and the Mother had some new experience marking a progress in ...
... Education and the Aim of human life Two Cardinal Points of Education A Collective Memorandum presented in 1965 to the Education Commission, Government of India, by P.B. Saint Hilaire (Pavitra), Director, Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education, Pondicherry, on behalf of the Teachers of this Institution.* ""This Memorandum is an official... nature and constitution, and this will determine the attitude that the teacher should take towards the growing child. The second concerns the future of man, of man the individual and humanity the collective man. Modern education, on the whole, takes the child as an undeveloped body endowed with a young life, untrained sensibilities, acute but often unrestrained emotions, an immature mind and, as... western educationists, and after them the entire world, have seized only half the truth, and this deficiency may be the source of the ominous trend in education evinced the world over. No human collective life is possible without discipline, but it ought to be a discipline taking into account as much the diversity of human nature as the unity of the soul, the deeper consciousness in man. Only ...
... sight natural that our age should be so named because. of the vast economic changes science has brought about and is even now bringing about in the individual and collective life of man. It has given a new concept of collective life by showing the possibility of ameliorating the material condition of the masses all over the world. Man has established himself as the undisputed king among creatures... presents so many avenues of new approaches to problems of man's individual and collective life that it is not possible to deal with all of them in a single exposition. I choose three such: (1) the physical body in the scheme of supramental perfection; ( 2 ) the place of material, economic organisation and ethics in the collective life of man from the point of view of The Life Divine; ( 3 ) the origin... which the modern spirit wants to create individual and collective perfection. What remains of the old spiritual values is " moralised humanitarianism " and " Social ethicism "; these are to replace the old religious spirit and spiritual idealism. Granting that the economic stress has a legitimate place in any scheme of reconstruction of collective life, the need to consider the adequacy of the psy ...
... lessons to a certain group of students should agree among themselves to allot the work so that the students are not overworked and can enjoy a rest and a relaxation that are indispensable . This collective preparation must be ready before I can give any useful advice. As for the subjects, it is indispensable to choose those which coincide with their personal experience so as to encourage introspection ...
... recently been reduced or restrained, military expenditures are being ruthlessly planned at the cost of many important priorities. And science still continues to minister ingeniously to the art of collective massacre. Environment has come to be vastly disturbed and, in spite of warnings and wise talks, it continues to be alarmingly ruined. Expensive life styles have been fashioned and advocated, and... social or political unity is not necessarily a boon in itself; it is only worth pursuing in so far as it provides a means and framework for a better, richer, more happy and puissant individual and collective life. Looking at the past examples of large aggregates such as we find under the Roman Empire and others, we are likely to conclude that if there were to come about today a social, administrative... probability. The second article was that Reason can, with its capacity to observe, know and govern impartially, apply itself to human life and arrive at the right relationship between the individual and collectivity. Reason also erected in this connection three great ideals of progress, — Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, — and dreamt of their harmonious fulfilment in a rational order of society. At the end ...
... seeking of them was earnest, powerful, effective. But the application in the collective life of society was subjected to serious reserves. Never sufficiently bold and thoroughgoing, it became more and more limited and halting when the life-force declined in her peoples. This defect, this gulf between ideal and collective practice, has pursued all human living and was not peculiar to India; but the... eppur si muove . Even in failure there is a preparation for success: our nights carry in them the secret of a greater dawn. This is a frequent experience in our individual progress, but the human collectivity also moves in much the same manner. The question is whither are we marching or what are the true routes and harbours of our voyage. Western civilisation is proud of its successful modernism.... gained in materials, in power of plasticity, in a new kind of depth and wideness. And we shall have acquired a salutary habit of many-sided thoroughness and a sincere endeavour to shape the outer collective life into an adequate image of our highest ideals. Temporary diminutions will not count before the greater inner expansion that is likely to succeed this age of external turmoil and outward-looking ...
... and other beings, endeavour in the eightfold path or the law of faith, love and purity or any other such revelation of the nature of the divine in life. Then because every tendency in man has its collective as well as its individual aspect, because those who follow one way are naturally drawn together into spiritual companionship and unity, he establishes the saṅgha , the fellowship and union of those... in Page 174 the individual, and the slaying of desire, ignorance, egoism is the victory. But there is an outer struggle between the powers of the Dharma and the Adharma in the human collectivity. The former is supported by the divine, the godlike nature in man, and by those who represent it or strive to realise it in human life, the latter by the Titanic or demoniac, the Asuric and Rakshasic... reign of the Asuras, the evil-doers, and in them depress the power they represent and to restore the oppressed ideals of the Dharma. He comes to bring nearer the kingdom of heaven on earth in the collectivity as well as to build the kingdom of heaven within in the individual human soul. The inner fruit of the Avatar's coming is gained by those who learn from it the true nature of the divine birth ...
... 30,34-37,38-39, 105-08 and the inconscient 34 and the subliminal 8 and the submental 34-35 Subliminal, the 8-9,30, 38-42 Page 165 and collective unconscious 41-42 and the subconscient 8 Superconscience (Superconscient), the 30, 31,38-39,40,42-43,45-46 Superego 12,25,28,50,52,66 Supermind 43,62,62fn ... 133, 141 Titchener, E.B. 17 Transactional Analysis 52-53 Transpersonal Psychology 15-16,45,49 Type A behaviour 99,153 Unconscious, the 4, 23-46 passim collective 6,7,26-27,28,41, 42,50 personal 7,26 Vibrations 158-59, 160 Vital, the (life force) (life nature) 6,79,33,118-20 and the mind 85-86 disturbances of - 96-102 ...
... EACH OF US ON EARTH.. Each of us on earth has a short span of dreaming and doing. But the human life which we live, whether individual or collective, is not all that is ours. Through and beyond our dreaming and doing, a larger life is being dreamt and done. Our hearts and minds have a movement which we vision as our own concern. But there is ...
... rule of the Divine even in semi-conscious matter. 2 February 1938 Your first attitude of detachment was the true one. The weakness that you are experiencing now is the result mostly of collective suggestion acting through subconscient memories of old ideas and feelings. Our help and blessings are with you. 6 January 1939 Subconscient remembrance must be purified of all that ...
... fulfil the conditions for our spiritual awakening, we may be left behind and the Mother and Sri Aurobindo may initiate their work of integral transformation elsewhere at another time in some other collectivity more open to their Light and action. Sri Aurobindo himself has uttered a similar note of warning in another context with respect to the evolutionary preparedness or willingness of humanity. Thus ...
... itself was a consequence of the revolt of individualism against authority. Individualism refuses to allow the collective to crush the individual; indeed, it admits rational and reasonable Subordination of the individual to the collective good; but it admits it on the condition that the collective good includes the rational and reasonable good of the individual. Individualism goes farther. It seeks increasing... and unsupported authority. In the work of the scientists, there is perfection of purity and satisfaction, and even if there is any individual error or limitation, it will not matter, since in the collective progression. of knowledge the error will get eliminated. On the other hand, it is becoming increasingly clear that the balance sheet of science is a mixed one, particularly because when science Turns ...
... this came expressing in a really touching way, the best human will which can manifest on earth at present, from the collective point of view. I am not saying that some individuals have not risen much higher and understand much better, but they are individual cases and not a collective attempt to do something for humanity. I was moved. And then I came to the end of their booklet and to the remedy ...
... is the secret summit of existence and to reach the spiritual consciousness and the Divine the ultimate goal and aim of our being and therefore of the whole development of the individual and the collectivity in all its parts and all its activities, reason cannot be the last and highest guide; culture, as it is understood ordinarily, cannot be the directing light or find out the regulating and harmonising... ourselves today and are half turning indeed to emerge from it but have not yet emerged. We must suppose then that in this leading, this predominant part assigned to religion by the normal human collectivity there is some great need and truth of our natural being to which we must always after however long an infidelity return. On the other hand, we must recognise the fact that in a time of great activity... his life,—not indeed any breathless rush after novelties, but a constant motion towards a greater and greater truth of the spirit, the thought and the life not only in the individual, but in the collectivity, in the communal endeavour, in the turn, ideals, temperament, make of the society, in its strivings towards perfection. And he is obliged too to see that the indictment against religion, not in ...
... and with a varying tempo. The view implies two conclusions or rather postulates: (l) that whatever is born must die, there is no resurrection or rejuvenation, neither in the individual nor in. the collective life and (2) that humanity remains on the whole more or less the same, there is no global progress: there is no continued march forward towards a kingdom of heaven upon earth, even as there has not... indirect influence and the rest of the personality, the dynamic members disintegrate and are taken up into the general earth atmosphere. Something of the same kind is likely to happen in the case of collective groups too. A nation like India that hitched her wagon of life to a star-the supreme spiritual reality – is bound to regain her ---------- ¹ Toynbee also speaks of the possibility of... ess which the group is not; the group is more a field and a frame for the individual in spite of a conscious existence of its own. In any case, the revival or renaissance of a nation – a collective consciousness and being – is quite possible, and the normal curve of life – birth and growth and death – is not even for it the ineluctable destiny. For like the individual, the group too has that ...
... all-victorious as it was once in the past. It will become greater than' that. Along with a strong vital what we need is collective effort and collective perfection. From an individual point of view we have much more of heroism, courage and bravery than the others but that collective, communal force and organisation is lacking in us. Otherwise, just imagine, how immensely developed the Vijayanagar... powerful kingdom lost everything after losing just one war. There is no instance in history where a whole kingdom has gone to ruin just because of losing one war. We do not have such a developed collective spirit and there are plenty of proofs of this. So much heroism, so much valour, so much self-sacrifice and yet we cannot save the situation when it matters. When Mohammed Ghori began mounting... his forces to fight the English once again. Maybe that's why he had come to Delhi.' 'Yes, that is possible. That is why the Mother would always repeat to us that in Sri Aurobindo's yoga collective integration was needed along with the individual's progress. Sri Aurobindo called this "spiritual solidarity".' Page 99 ...
... instruments and cannot be shut up in a physical, a vital, a mental or a temperamental formula. So to confine it, even though the false formation be embodied in the armour-plated social body of a huge collective dinosaurus, can only stifle the growth of the inner Reality and end in decay or the extinction that overtakes all that is unplastic and unadaptable.” 974 This paragraph was written during the ...
... it into a symbol of conquering all the ills that attend on man's mortality. But the vision unfolded goes beyond a mere individual's perfection. A democracy of the Divine, liberating the' human collectivity, is the goal as in that utterance by the story's main character: Page 366 A lonely freedom cannot satisfy A heart that has grown one with every heart: I am a deputy ...
... world: the will to find a new, higher, progressive solution, an effort to rise towards a vaster, more comprehensive perfection. Certain ideas of a more general nature, of a wider, perhaps more “collective” kind, are being worked out and are acting in the world. And both things go together: a possibility of a greater and more total destruction, a reckless inventiveness which increases the possibility... How long it will take is difficult to foresee. It will depend a great deal on the goodwill and the receptivity of a certain number of people, for the individual always advances faster than the collectivity, and by its very nature, humanity is destined to manifest the Supermind before the rest of creation. At the basis of this collaboration there is necessarily the will to change, no longer to be ...
... arrangement by which men collectively can live, produce, satisfy their desires, enjoy, progress in bodily, vital and mental efficiency; but the spiritual aim makes them much more than this, first, a framework of life within which man can seek for and grow into his real self and divinity, secondly, an increasing embodiment of the divine law of being in life, thirdly, a collective advance towards the light... social life into a preparation for the monastery or cavern or mountain-top or make of it a static life without any great progressive ideals but only some aim which has nothing to do with earth or the collective advance of the human race. That may have been for some time a tendency of the Indian mind, but it was never the whole tendency. Nor does spirituality mean the moulding of the whole type of the national ...
... with somebody who is ill, one is sure to catch it, and then, that the inner methods are not powerful enough to act on the physical, and all kinds of stupidities of which the air is full. These are collective suggestions which are passed on from one person to another by everybody. And if by chance there are two or three doctors, then it becomes terrible. ( Laughter ) Page 143 When Sri Aurobindo... game, when you play, it is like this ( gesture ), and then it is like the vibrations of a point, it goes on increasing, increasing and increasing until suddenly, crash!... an accident. And it is a collective atmosphere like that; we come and see it, you are in the midst of a game—basketball or football or any other—we feel it, see it, it produces a kind of smoke around you (those vapours of heat which... almost unbearable. For everything it is like that, for everything. They are very close relations, you see. That's all? You still have something to ask? Mother, there are periods when there is a collective illness in the Ashram... Yes, not only in the Ashram. Unfortunately, first it comes in the town and then someone very kindly... people who spend their time frequenting the town, you see, bring ...
... Transformation SRI Aurobindo insists so much on physical transformation, because without it the spiritual achievements of the human soul cannot be manifested in earthly life, individual and collective. It has been possible up to now to purify the mind and the heart to a certain extent and even to discipline and regulate (more by suppression or repression than otherwise) the life-parts of man... so to manifest is the sole reason of its being here. Sri Aurobindo wrote in one of his letters to Barindra, "What God wants from man is to manifest Him here, in the individual and the collectivity — to realise God in life. The ancient systems of Yoga failed to synthesise or mite spirituality and life; they have explained the world away as Maya (illusion) or a transient Lila (play). The result... transformation of which the Mother speaks ¹ The Synthesis of Yoga, Book I., Part I, Ch. 3 Page 355 can be nothing else than the physical transformation of man, individual and collective, leading to the establishment of the divine life on earth. On more or less the same subject, the Mother says in The Supreme Discovery: "Let us allow ourselves to be penetrated and transformed by ...
... Transformation Sri Aurobindo insists so much on physical transformation, because without it the spiritual achievements of the human soul cannot be manifested in earthly life, individual and collective. It has been possible to purify the mind and the heart to a certain extent and even to discipline and regulate (more by suppression or repression than otherwise) the life-parts of man, but the... that so to manifest is the sole reason of its being here. Sri Aurobindo wrote in one of his letters to Barindra, "What God wants from man is to manifest Him here, in the individual and the collectivity—to realise God in life. The ancient systems of Yoga failed to synthesise or unite spirituality and life; they have explained the world away as Maya (illusion) or a transient Lila (play). The... favourable to the flowering and growth of the individual." This terrestrial transformation of which the Mother speaks, can be nothing else than the physical transformation of man, individual and collective, leading to the establishment of the divine life on earth. On more or less the same subject, the Mother says in "The Supreme Discovery": "Let us allow ourselves to be penetrated and transformed ...
... ultimate test that it imposes upon itself is not merely that of logical consistency and comprehensiveness but also of its ability to show the way to liberation from delusion and sorrow and even to total collective welfare by attainment of states and powers of perfection. II All Yogic disciplines maintain that the state of bondage is marked by identification of the experiencing consciousness... action and enjoyment of being on the supramental gnostic basis. And this integrality of perfection cannot remain confined to the individual, but would extend progressively to the development of the collective divine life on the earth. In the words of Sri Aurobindo: 'The divinising of the normal material life of man and of his great secular attempt of mental and moral self-culture in the individual... individuals in the world are finding themselves in the grip of dilemmas, which have become impossible of solution through any of the ordinary known means at the disposal of humanity, but even the collective life of humanity has reached such as acute stage of mechanisation, standardisation and unbearable structuralisation that the ideals of progress which have been put forward, the ideals of Page ...
... test that it imposes upon itself is not merely that of logical consistency and comprehensiveness but also of its ability to show the way to liberation from delusion and sorrow and even to a total collective welfare by attainment of states and powers of perfection. II All Yogic disciplines maintain that the state of bondage is marked by an identification of the experiencing consciousness with... action and enjoyment of being on the supramental gnostic basis. And this Page 298 integrality of perfection cannot remain confined to the individual, but would extend progressively to the collective divine life on the earth. In the words of Sri Aurobindo: The divinising of the normal material life of man and of his great secular attempt of mental and moral self-culture in the individual... individuals in the world are finding themselves in the grip of dilemmas, which have become impossible of solution through any of the ordinary known means at the disposal of humanity, but even the collective life of humanity has reached such an acute stage of mechanisation, standardisation and unbearable structuralisation that the ideals of progress which have been put forward, - the ideals of liberty ...
... accident is already the beginning of the dislocation I spoke of. But the situation becomes complicated if it is a case of collective accident. The result here depends upon the atmosphere of the persons involved. It is the proportion of these two elements in the personnel of a collective accident that determines the character and magnitude of the accident. I will tell you a story, I mean a true story ...
... accident is already the beginning of the dislocation I spoke of. But the situation becomes complicated if it is a case of collective accident. The result here depends upon the atmosphere of the persons involved. It is the proportion of these two elements in the personnel of a collective accident that determines the character and magnitude of the accident. I will tell you a story, I mean a true ...
... decisive advance in his evolution. It is true that a somewhat similar attempt was made by the Vedic Rishis, but it was confined to some parts of human. nature, and undertaken on an individual, and not a collective scale. The Tântrics also laboured towards some such- objective, but with nothing better than very partial and precarious, though often spectacular, results. The Al- chemists, at their very best,... divine Power which alone can transmute,. without coercing or crippling, the teeming elements and. Page 411 energies of human nature; third, the time was not ripe for such a global collective endeavour, and the evolutionary march of man had not yet arrived at the stage from which the culminating saltus could be confidently taken. But today, in spite of the materialist's denial of Spirit ...
... prepared. The confusion existing at present upon earth is nothing in comparison with what could take place. Imagine that very powerful will has the power to transform matter as it likes! If the sense of collective unity did not grow in proportion to the development of power, the resulting conflict would be yet more acute and chaotic than our material conflicts. , 15 February 1958 Every outer change must ...
... indeed obtain this featureless liberation, but what is the gain? The Spirit, the Self, the Divine is always there. What the Divine wants is for man to embody Him here, in the individual and in the collectivity — to realise God in life. The old system of yoga could not synthesise or unify the Spirit and life; it dismissed the world as an illusion or a transient play of God. The result has been a diminution ...
... above material contingencies, one can see the terrestrial life as a whole. From that moment, it is easy to realise that all the efforts of mankind converge towards the same goal. It is true that collectively or individually, men follow very different paths to reach it; some of these paths twist and turn so much that they seem at first sight to move away from the goal rather than to lead towards it; ...
... I to do? What role do I have to play in the vast and mysterious universe? What is the best and highest goal that I should aim to realise? But from no human endeavour — particularly when at a collective and general level— is it easy or desirable to eliminate intellectual inquiry. On the contrary, such an inquiry can be an excellent aid in the ultimate search for the aim of life — a direct search ...
... Indeed, what we see rampant in India today is the mediaeval spirit. This reversion to an older-an extinct, we ought to have been able to say-type of mentality is certainly a fall, a lowering of the collective consciousness. It bas got to be remedied and set right. Whatever the motive forces that lie at the back of the movement, motives of fear or despair or class interest or parochial loyalty, motives ...
... even language, fused together into a composite but indivisible unit. Not pact nor balancing of interests nor sharing of power and profit can permanently combine and unify conflicting groups and collectivities. Hindus and Muslims, the two major sections that are at loggerheads today in India, must be given a field, indeed more than one field, where they can, work together; they must be made to come in ...
... see how far we in the Ashram have advanced towards the realisation of the double goal of Page 12 establishing spiritual consciousness in the constituent individuals and building up a collective spiritual life. Where does our Ashram stand in its present form and disposition with respect to that dual achievement? Surely, as it is, the Sri Aurobindo Ashram cannot be considered to conform ...
... months if not years. In his letter, among other things, P-da has expressed his anguish over the supposed absence of harmony and brotherly feeling among many Ashramites. He somehow feels that our collective life here is not as he thinks it should be. He wanted to meet some senior member of the Ashram who could possibly clear his sense of uneasiness. I immediately took the letter to respected ...
... is identified with essential energy. Chit and Tapas are one and the same. The seed of consciousness has to be sown in the field of our being, whether it is the individual or the collective being. How is it to be done? And who is to find the seed? There must be some one or even a few who are the prophets, pioneers or forerunners, who are the appointed missionaries. You or I may be elected ...
... consciousness is identified with essential energy. Chit and Tapas are one and the same. The seed of consciousness has to be sown in the field of our being, whether it is the individual or the collective being. How is it to be done? And who is to find the seed? There must be some one or even a few who are the prophets, pioneers or forerunners, who are the appointed missionaries. You or I may be elected ...
... Indeed, what we see rampant in India today is the mediaeval spirit. This reversion to an older—an extinct, we ought to have been able to say-type of mentality is certainly a fall, a lowering of the collective consciousness. It has got to be remedied and set right. Whatever the motive forces that lie at the back of the movement, motives of fear or despair or class interest or parochial loyalty, motives ...
... suffering unites more than common joy. In respect of the memories of a nation griefs are worth more than triumphs..." Ernest Renan : "What is a nation ?" Page 50 groups and collectivities. Hindus and Muslims, the two major sections that are at loggerheads today in India, must be given a field, indeed more than one field, where they can work together; they must be made to come in ...
... and progress under the pressure of a new Truth and a new Consciousness. Some people are aware of it; many are not. But that does not matter. The movement is going all right in the individual and in collective life: there is unrest, turmoil and upheaval everywhere; old bases and old values are getting shaken and are gradually yielding place to the new. Women, whether in India or elsewhere, are no exception ...
... latter would be an attempt at collective realisation. A year later she was to elaborate this further. There was really no fundamental difference in the attitude towards the future or towards service to the Divine, but while the Ashramites were sadhaks who had consecrated their life to Yoga, what was expected of the Aurovilians was only "simply the good will to make a collective experiment for the progress... actual human unity. 10 Throughout the ceremony, which took about seventy-five minutes, the words of the charter rumbled in the rhythms of one language or another along the unseen corridors of the collective consciousness of the silently participating congregation comprising tens of thousands of aspiring humanity. In all, 124 Nations of the world and 23 States of the Indian Union - comprising the big... But how to make the box - the prison - itself disappear? "To what extent can individual light act upon that?" That was a problem to which she yet had no answer. She perceived very clearly the collective progress (our field of experience is the earth) that has taken place upon earth; but considering the past, it would seem that a formidable time is still needed for all to be ready to change.... And ...
... likely that had I been able to start this work thirty years ago, it would have been premature. The consciousness of the others also had to develop—the two are linked, the individual progress and the collective progress, and one cannot advance if the other does not advance. I have also come to realize that for this sadhana of the body, the mantra is essential. Sri Aurobindo gave none; he said that one ...
... this morning, I had a demonstration in my own body of how to do it. A demonstration. But it can't be explained. And it began again just now, but instead of being me alone, it was what I might call a collective demonstration ( gesture between Mother and Satprem ), I mean it had to do more particularly with you. It's like things being put in order, in a certain very subtle way which isn't easy to express ...
... * For those in Auroville who want to be true servitors, is Sunday a holiday ? In the beginning the organisation of the week was conceived in this way: six days of work for the collectivity to which the individual belonged; the seventh day of the week was reserved for the inner quest for the Divine and the offering of one's being to the divine will. This is the only meaning and the ...
... such a way that the body is adapted to the needs of its new experience. But this is at a rather advanced stage. And later, when it is fully formed and returns to earth with the idea of service, of collective Page 268 help and participation in the divine Work, then it is able to bring to the body in formation certain elements of the mind and vital from previous lives which, having been organised ...
... built in the supramental way." 11 April 1952 Sri Aurobindo has given up his body in an act of supreme unselfishness, renouncing the realisation in his own body to hasten the hour of the collective realisation. Surely if the earth were more responsive, this would not have been necessary. 12 April 1953 Page 9 × ...
... make ourselves better. The Vedantic truth that the world is only a projection—a function—of our consciousness is as pragmatically true as it is spiritually true. The ills that humanity suffers from—collectively and individually—stem from the errors that lie at the roots of our ignorant nature. We must be cleansed of these evils—individually first of all—if we ever hope to see a clean world outside. A yoga ...
... on and scattering of the cells...." So then? Abhijit says, "If a cell becomes conscious of its own personality, there is a risk that it may act in its own interest without regard for the collective interest." ( Mother laughs ) The interest of a cell! Page 153 Then? Amitangshu asks two questions. The first is, "Does the decentralization take place all at once or in degrees ...
... weigh the pros and cons or the right and justice involved in case of quarrel with outsiders. All will pool their strengths together to defeat the adversary. That is also the case with national or collective egos. International wars are the natural consequences of such attitudes. All these are the aberrations and failings of the vital or life-being of humanity. This is patent in all human affairs. But ...
... with Sri Aurobindo, p.1048) Be that as it may, we, the disciples of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo, should be clear about one point. What we Page 48 should strive after in our collective sadhana is not a fanatically disposed herd-instinct nor an emotional-vital egoistic solidarity. We seek in our mutual relationships something deeper and truer, based on the inner oneness of the spirit ...
... a)The children of today have to be prepared to become builders of the future, - the future which would be marked by replacement of competitive individualism by the synthesis of individual liberty, collective egalitarianism and universal and spiritual fraternity; b)The future will be liberated from disabling scepticism and from comforting arrestation of quest of knowledge, and progress will be accelerated ...
... possible, as though I were spreading the consciousness out wide, like this; (gesture) and then from far above I bring down the Force as much as I can and put it upon you as strongly as I can... it is a collective work... it is a work of unification which I do..." ( CWM , Vol. 7, pp. 258-59) Page 127 The March Past-'I am there Every Evening' "I AM THERE EVERY EVENING" Bonjour ...
... Nature and bring about perfection or at least some approach to perfection in the collective human life. Page 461 × It does not follow that a true democracy must necessarily come into being at some time. For man individually or collectively to come to a full self-consciousness is a most difficult task. Before a true... calculable and manageable by a logical intelligence and unified will? Socialism is the complete expression of this idea. Uniformity of the social and economic principles and processes that govern the collectivity secured by means of a fundamental equality of all and the management of the whole social and economic life in all its parts by the State; uniformity of culture by the process of a State education ...
... to you last December, a certain habit of thought which comes from the education we have received, from the influence of the environment, and which is most often made up of social conventions and collective suggestions. This habit naturally makes us give a far better reception to all the thoughts which are similar, if not conformable, to those which already fill our minds, than to those which could... is sometimes so difficult for us to learn to think for ourselves: we hesitate to change anything whatsoever in our customary way of thinking, which is most often made up of social conventions and collective suggestions. For our whole existence is based upon this habit. It takes a great courage and a great love of progress to consent to examine one's existence in the light of thoughts that are deeper ...
... absolutely precise and exact) of all the points of falsehood IN THE ASHRAM'S ATMOSPHERE that established the contact. So if that consciousness that was there had been collective, if it had been possible to receive it collectively, NOTHING WOULD HAVE BEEN TOUCHED: the stones would have been thrown, but wouldn't have hit anyone. That's how it would have been. For instance, a stone (a brickbat) was ...
... boundless energy of infinite existence, infinite movement, infinite activity pouring itself in limitless Space, in eternal Time, an existence that surpasses infinitely our ego or any ego or any collectivity of egos, in whose balance the grandiose products of aeons are but the dust of a moment and in whose incalculable sum numberless myriads count only as a petty, swarm. A guidance, a governance ...
... Divine in doing it. It is not a very difficult thing after all. At first you may do it as a kind of preparation to make you capable of receiving the divine force, and then as service to help in the collective work. You can do it not for personal gain but in order to be ready for the Divine Work. This seems to me indispensable. If you keep the ordinary point of view, you will always find yourself ...
... spiritual society, in the place of the collective ego there has to emerge a collective soul, and such group souls have "like the individual to grow according to their own nature and by that growth to help each other, to help the whole race in the one common work of humanity. And that work would be to find the divine Self in the individual and the collectivity and to realise spiritually, mentally, vitally... After Sri Aurobindo's passing, the Mother visualised a collectivity "that would not be necessarily limited to the Ashram but would embrace all who have declared themselves... to be disciples of Sri Aurobindo and have tried to live his teaching". The manifestation of the Supramental consciousness in 1956 made it all the more necessary that a collective individuality should be striven for, centrally in... the individual and 'collective man', or the human aggregate, have no reason to pull in different directions. The aim should rather be to establish "an ideal society in a propitious spot for the flowering of a new race, the race of the Sons of God". The Son of Man must strive to outgrow his limitations and become the Son of God, and human beings should learn to enact the collective life of a Divine Society ...
... material universe,—for possibly there may be thinking living beings in other planets,—an acceptance of man's mortality and a passive endurance of it or an active dealing with a limited personal or collective life and life-aims are the only choice possible. The one high and reasonable course for the individual human being,—unless indeed he is satisfied with pursuing his personal purposes or somehow living... to seize on or to advance towards the highest possibilities that can be developed here or are in the making. Only mankind as a whole can do this with entire effect, by the mass of individual and collective action, in the process of time, in the evolution of the race experience: but the individual man can help towards it in his own limits, can do all these things for himself to a certain extent in the... from making a high use of the will and thought which have been developed in him or from directing them to great ends which shall or may be worked out by humanity. Even the temporary character of the collective being of humanity does not so very much matter,—except in the most materialist view of existence; for so long as the universal Becoming takes the form of human body and mind, the thought, the will ...
... the realm of pure science, has permitted massive misuse as well as right use in the service of man. What engineers the wrong use is not the knowledge itself, but the vitalistic pull, individual or collective, that exploits that knowledge. Only, with the present pace in scientific advancement, the possibilities of proper use and criminal misuse have acquired a like exponential range. As an answer to the... call of the Mother, using often Sri Aurobindo's name to put more love and zeal into the strenuous enterprise! We felt the vibration of a tremendous energy driving, supporting, inspiring the entire collective body. 5 But a dormitory so uniquely beautiful yet so thoroughly functional needed careful maintenance as well as thoughtful use. The rules, as approved by the Mother, were rather strict, and... not the achieved fact: What there is is organisation and order which the Mother has been able to establish and maintain in spite of all that. That organisation and order is necessary for all collective work; it has been an object of admiration and surprise for all from outside who have observed the Ashram; it is the reason why the Ashram has been able to survive and outlive the malignant attacks ...
... all the gods or the all-gods. It has been disputed whether these Vishva- devas form a class by themselves or are simply the gods in their generality. I take it that the phrase means the universal collectivity of the divine powers; for this sense seems to me best to correspond to the actual expressions of the hymns in which they are invoked."9 " They are fosterers or increasers of man and upholders... rejected and it has to be changed into the true basis. It declares that a Divine Will is actively at work and can, and does, intervene. in a critical life-situation in the case of an individual or a collectivity. When the individual gives up his egoistic initiation of action then an impersonal and even a Divine Will can be discovered and obeyed. This great truth is crucial because it has a direct bearing... independent of all such intermediate, permissible standards, there is a Divine Will which is to be discovered. A divine purpose is at work in the universe in the individual's life and in that of the collectivity. Gita points out psychological processes and methods by which one can gradually progress towards the discovery of the Divine Will. It can be arranged in the form of a graded rise with methodical ...
... quarrelling and self-assertion. What there is, is organisation and order which the Mother has been able to establish and maintain in spite of all that. That organisation and order is necessary for all collective work; it has been an object of admiration and surprise for all from outside who have observed the Asram; it is the reason why the Asram has been able to survive and outlive the malignant attacks... discipline as they choose to impose upon themselves; that might do if the only thing to be done were for each individual to get some inner realisation and life did not matter or if there were no collective life or work or none that had any importance. But this is not the case here. We have undertaken a work which includes life and action and the physical world. In what I am trying to do, the spiritual ...
... and mastery over the life-forces and activity in the physical world; (b) they emphasise the collective aspect of realisation; and (c) the knowledge and practice of Tantra is made available to all individuals and sections of society. Thus, the concern of Tantra for human life, both individual and collective, is unique and its contribution to the understanding of life is highly significant. Since ...
... to dispassionate and objectless service of the race and of the individual, knowing well that the latter is a transient fiction of the nervous mentality and the former only a little more long lived collective form of the same nervous spasm of Matter. It is true that materialism is no more being advanced so overwhelmingly, and it has been largely conceded that materialism cannot be defended as a... of the universe, mysteries and wonders of the universe, the paradoxes of the universe as also questions pertaining to the aim of life and those relating to fulfillment of the individual and the collectivity need not be raised, and even if raised, cannot be answered. It is also acknowledged that this conclusion and consequent attitude may be found unsatisfactory, but it is argued that there are no ...
... fulfilment exceeding the individual transformation, a new earth and heaven, a city of God, a divine descent upon earth, a reign of the spirit, a kingdom of God, not only within us but outside in a collective human life ... Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine - II: Man and the Evolution I plunged into the reveries of my childhood: Beauty, Wonder and Quietude. These things surely create a paradise ...
... quality of life. Lifelong learning project will have a special role in promoting work place skills and in stimulating participation by increasing number of people in the civic, cultural and collective life of the country. Lifelong learning includes continuing education, adult education, independent study, open system education, agricultural education, business education, labour education, occupational ...
... in doing it. It is not a very difficult thing after all. At first you may do it as a kind of preparation to make yourself capable of receiving the divine force, and then as service to help in the collective work. You can do it not for personal gain but in order to be ready for the Divine Work. This seems to me indispensable. If you keep the ordinary point of view, you will always find yourself in ...
... effective force: great men of action have this distinction. Even then, however, . theirs is not that type which is absolute or never-failing, nor that especial category which will bring about a collective change, a fundamental change, intensive as well as extensive, needed at this evolutionary crisis of earth and humanity. The ordinary average man is part and parcel of Nature's movement and his ...
... le effective force: great men of action have this distinction. Even then, however, theirs is not that type which is absolute or never-failing, nor that especial category which will bring about a collective change, a fundamental change, intensive as well as Page 63 extensive, needed at this evolutionary crisis of earth and humanity. The ordinary average man is part and parcel ...
... transformation, it must have parallel echoes in other individuals—not necessarily the whole of humanity, but, as I said, presumably a sizeable part of it. Otherwise the purpose of the change, a global collective change, will not be fulfilled. An isolated individual supra-mentalised body upon earth would be a freak of Nature, a forced miracle as it were, an anomalous object in Nature, and humanity even at ...
... only case in which one can say that the thought is our own. Otherwise, all the rest is simply a sing notation: we note down, we invest a force with words, a force that's altogether universal and collective, which enters, goes out, moves and passes freely from one person to another. But how is the thought formed in the universal Mind? Page 345 In the universal Mind? You say that ...
... attitude of the militant nations, the emergence of fanaticism, the Sectarian intolerance, communal strifes and competitive existence leading to unrest and disorder and disharmony in our individual and collective lives. Another problem that immediately concerns us is the population explosion in Asian and African countries. Imagine that only less than 40 years back we were half our present numbers. If ...
... zone The shape will be Hexagon. The colour will be gold, golden pink. The shape signifies 'Perfect Creation' . The Residential zone will have 3 sections 1) People who wish to stay in a collectivity, that is to say as neighbours, can stay there . 2) There will be old men's and women's houses. Also big houses like management houses where people can have all the facilities, because they work ...
... India must not prejudice us as historians. We have to be calm and clear in our approach to the problem even while realizing that we cannot afford to be lax about a matter that keenly affects our collective future. In the field of history we have to face four crucial questions here: Page 1 (1)Is there any genuine evidence of what almost every history book at present takes for ...
... presence of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother through their own words, find the answers to his or her questions, and get the needed guidance, the light and the inspiration for moving individually and collectively towards the supramental future. VlJAY Sri Aurobindo Ashram Pondicherry ...
... an unmanageable hugeness and complexity, for the service of his mental, vital, physical claims and urges, a complex political, social, administrative, economic, cultural machinery, and organized collective means for his intellectual, sensational, aesthetic and material satisfaction. Man has created a system of civilization which has become too big for his limited mental capacity and understanding... discoveries which require exploration of the psychical and spiritual domains. Similarly, centuries of experiments in the spiritual fields have shown that the neglect of material life and neglect of collective welfare result in poverty or bankruptcy and even in economic and political slavery. As Sri Aurobindo pointed out : "It is therefore of good augury that after many experiments and verbal solutions... domain of Matter. And in doing so, all that is intermediate between Spirit and Matter has also to be perfected and brought into unity in complete integration. All this has to be done both at the collective level and at the individual level, and in doing so, we shall find it necessary to develop integral education. If we analyse the human being, we shall find that between two poles of the body and ...
... bold rethinking about ends and means. II The Mother's New Year prayers always had, as we have seen earlier, an urgency of temporal and spiritual relevance in the perspective of the collective Yoga of the Ashram and of the unconscious Yoga of humanity, but the wartime prayers were even more, for each was almost a winged squadron of the spirit and made straight for the intended target... offered an opportunity for Hindus and Muslims to work together and thereby once and for all lay to rest the ghost of the 'Two Nations' theory. And, above all, it was necessary to organise the collective strength of the country and repel the very real danger from Japan. 11 V But it was all to no purpose. Gandhiji had described the Cripps Plan as "a post-dated cheque on a bank that... on the right side, they at once make themselves instruments of the Divine purpose in spite of all defects, errors, wrong movements and actions which are common to human nature and all human collectivities. The victory of one side (the Allies) would keep the path open for the evolutionary forces: the victory of the other side would drag back humanity, degrade it horribly and might lead even, at ...
... Christianity?" All readers of Teilhard know how much store he sets by St. John and especially St. Paul in whom he reads a body of doctrine justifying his "faith in the world", his forward gaze towards a collective ultra-human ready to be gathered into Christ. But can we aver that Teilhardism coincides with Pauline Christianity? If we go by Rideau's information we 5. Ibid., pp. 326-27. ... dialectic of the first chapter of Romans." 7 - "There is no trace in Teilhard of the Pauline dialectic of death, through the death of God, of the final destruction of a fundamental alienation and a collective existential regeneration through Christ's priestly act. The Cross is never interpreted as a pardon and a return to grace." 8 We see that Teilhard fastens on certain elements of original... point of his re-thought Christology. The second is no less uncompromisingly unorthodox. In orthodox Christianity, sin occurs with the first Man, whether we take Adam in an individual or in a collective sense. As a result of Adam's violation of God's command, evil entered the world and ruined the paradisal state: all life, and not only humanity, underwent a catastrophe and man lost the intimacy ...
... Avataras – Divine Incarnations – also in the category). Even so, there is a collective manifestation too, an upsurge in which a whole race or nation takes part and is carried and raised to a higher level of living and achievement. There is a tide in the affairs not only of men, but of peoples also: and masses, large collectivities live on the crest of their consciousness, feeling and thinking deeply and... of larger collective surges in human society, are not isolated happenings, having no reference or point of contact with one another. On the contrary, they are two limbs of a global evolutionary process. In and through them across countries and centuries the spirit of humanity moves towards greater and greater fulfilment. Evolution means the growth of consciousness. In man in his collective existence ...
... species, is the goal that has been envisaged for the integral yoga, and since this yoga is not only the yoga for the individual but also for the collectivity and for the advancement of the evolutionary process, its goal includes radical consequences for the collective life of humanity and even for the solution of the contemporary problems of humanity. Integral yoga has for its aim the generalization... the divine unity with all beings by a sympathy and participation in the spiritual purpose of the Divine in humanity. The individual Yoga then turns from its separateness and becomes a part of the collective Yoga of the divine Nature in the human race. The liberated individual being, united with the Divine in self and spirit, becomes in his natural being a self-perfecting instrument for the perfect out... into the gnostic consciousness and nature. But there still remains the third desideratum, a new world, a change in the total life of Page 8 humanity or, at the least, a new perfected collective life in the earth-nature. This calls for the appearance not only of isolated evolved individuals acting in the unevolved mass, but of many gnostic individuals forming a new kind of beings and a new ...
... age of cosmonauts, the age of technical advance and it seems at first sight natural that it should be so called because it has brought about and is even now bringing about in the individual and collective life vast changes by showing the possibilities of ameliorating the material conditions of the masses by technology all over the world. Man has been enabled to establish himself as the undisputed... rationalistic view Truth is unknowable. What is urgently needed today is not only mastery over Page 24 nature but also mastery over self. The application of scientific advance to collective life has put into man's hands such a tremendous reservoir of material power that without a corresponding inner transformation of his nature, man would not be able to make a real advance in his... still it is clear that Gandhi did the right thing in trying his novel experiment after consulting only his own conscience. The world has now a new weapon for setting right some of the wrongs of collective life. What is, or what seems impossible at one time becomes possible after sometime. So the sciences of medicine, physics, etc., have achieved many things that were at one time considered impossible ...
... It’s no more than that. 26 Mother was reaching the bottom. It was in 1967. And then... And then that FORMIDABLE collective suggestion... weighing down. The form which accepts a progressive deterioration because of the formidable weight of the collective suggestion—the habit of millennia: “It’s always been like that, it can’t be helped.” The great argument. Which isn’t true, besides... besides. 27 It was the other face of the problem. Inertia and the desire of rest in the body, bad will and mortal suggestions around; and of the two it was the collective problem that was going to become more and more painful, almost insurmountable: There are minutes when the body feels it has escaped that law of death . But it doesn’t last; it’s for one minute, then it passes and things are back as... the work depended on the ratio between two aspects, the proportion between two aspects: that of the individual transformation (that is, the transformation of this body), and that of the general, collective and impersonal work. If a certain balance is kept, that state of prolonged trance may be dispensed with, but then the same work which would have been done in a few weeks or months (I don’t know) ...
... spring from courage, from individual heroism, are yet akin to the heroism of bees or ants—almost mechanical gestures, instinctive gestures Page 142 ─induced in an isolated element by the collective consciousness of the genius of the race. Discarding all mental constructions, sensing them to be poor and strengthless compared to the realising, destructive power at their command, they will ...
... would only be a relatively superficial reading of the matter. The Cold War may be over. Nevertheless, in the post Cold War scenario, tyranny, absolutism and the ego-play of the various human collectivities, rooted to the many atavistic forces of linguistic, ethnic, communal or nationalistic loyalties have not become outdated. If anything, the individual today is under a greater control of diabolical ...
... secret that pushes a limb no longer necessary or useful to decay and death. Man too in his work of reformation or regeneration should learn that lesson, whether in respect of his individual or of his 'collective growth and evolution. Discover the truth that is to replace the 'old, live it intensely and wholly – the old past will automatically slip down like old clothes or drop like yellow sapless leaves ...
... always present." These are words that should be kept always bright and blazing in the heart of each and every one. It gives the source and origin of the inspiration, the single fount of all movements collective and individual. And a third mantra not less living or less urgent has been given by the Mother: "Let us work as we pray, for indeed work is the body's best prayer to the Divine." Here we learn ...
... around us at each moment, if we could measure the force of their power of formation, we would understand what can be created by the concourse of our converging wills and the formidable concert of the collective ideas and beliefs of a people, a civilisation, a race." "Certainly, all ideas are not creative to the same degree. In fact, few minds are capable of thinking real thoughts; and most individual... Chaldean initiation : "When you are twelve united in righteousness, you will manifest the Ineffable." Groups are subject to the same laws as individuals. More favourable moments due to collective suggestions. Renewals: the beginning of each new year, whatever date is chosen as a starting-point. An opportunity is given to awaken in oneself the idea that all things can be new and the ...
... indeed, is very symbolic. It means precisely... no, I shall tell you afterwards. But generally speaking, it means this: that every time one is unhappy, well, it is one more suffering added to the collective suffering of the Divine. It is from a state of deep compassion that the Divine acts in Matter and this deep compassion is translated in Matter precisely by this psychic sorrow which is spoken... And there is a moment—in everyone's life there is a moment—when this need for perfect sincerity comes as a definitive choice. There is a moment in one's individual life, also a moment in the collective life when one belongs to a group, a moment when the choice must be made, when the purification must be done. Sometimes this becomes very serious, it is almost a Page 146 question ...
... Sri Aurobindo, The Ideal of Human Unity, p. 296. Page 254 is to arrive at a supremely harmonious equation of Unity and Diversity, Freedom and Order, individual Growth and collective Cohesion. Thus, unity being the very basis of existence, "the oneness that is secretly at the foundation of all things, the evolving spirit in Nature is moved to realise consciously at... and establish a sense of conscious oneness with all other existences in the universe, — a real oneness and not merely "a pluralistic unity, the drawing together of similar units resulting in a collectivity or solidarity," 2 — we must enter spiritual consciousness. For when man identifies himself with the One inhabiting all bodies and manifesting Himself in everything, he sees oneness everywhere ...
... the world-substance, of what works behind. So it achieves nothing more than a fragmentary probing of the subconscious — mostly the individual subconscious and sometimes the general and collective, but even the collective is felt to be just a play of the similarities lying at the base of the variations of individual psychology. Everything is "found" psychological — even God is a psychological pattern — ...
... sending up a branch. But there are no trees & वया in the singular is opposed to this interpretation. (3) यदीं गणस्य रशनामजीगः. S. when he throws out or seizes the darkness which is the rope of the collective world binding its activities. If रशना can = tongue, then it may be, when he has put out the tongue of his cohorts. Otherwise when he has uncoiled the rope that binds together his hosts. अड्ंक्ते ...
... receded. Hold firm to the Swadeshi, hold firm to your refusal to the recognition of the Partition, hold firm to the national movement which is uplifting India. Let not any act of yours individually or collectively make you guilty in the eye of posterity in this critical hour of the destinies of India. Remember this, whether we look to our own efforts to raise the nation or whether we look to our rulers, that ...
... Basically, if you remove the veneer—the veneer of good manners—man admits the existence of the Divine only on condition that his sole occupation be to satisfy all of man's needs and desires—it may be collective desires, even "planetary" desires as Y. would put it, but it boils down to that. And it's like that especially, especially with the notion of a Divine who put on a body.... In fact, they found ...
... ignorant nature to the true and only aim of the human existence. The occasion of the war which has been presented to Arjuna can be understood only when that highest aim of human life, individual and collective, can be known." It is towards that knowledge that Sri Krishna's answer leads Arjuna from step to step. Sri Krishna reiterates the affirmations of the Upanishads in regard to immortality, which ...
... light, then ceases broken and spent— The tragedy can happen in either of two ways. The individual's own unconsciousness can reach and overthrow and spoil his higher poise, or the collective unconsciousness too can invade and overwhelm the individual in his high status, who is declared not unoften the highbrow, an enemy of the people—although atonement is sometimes attempted at a late ...
... cells, exposing them to decay and disintegration. But in itself, each cell has an infinite vitality. Thus the problem is, if one cell is essentially immortal, then how can they be made, in their collective life, to avoid conflict and decay, undergo rejuvenation and youthfulness. Science in a practical way through material means tries to prolong life as far as possible, as for us, we are not ...
... when they are on parade, look all similar and geometrically patterned: each is just like another and all move and march in the same identical manner. But that' is when you look at the whole, the collectivity, but looked individually, each one regains his separate distinct personality, each having his own nature and character, his own unique history: there no two are alike, each is non pareil and behaves ...
... The in- ¹ Sri Aurobindo: "In Horis Aeternum", Collected Poems & Plays Page 117 individual's own unconsciousness can reach and overthrow and spoil his higher poise, or the collective unconsciousness too can invade and overwhelm the individual in his high status, who is declared, not unoften, the highbrow, an enemy of the people – although atonement is sometimes attempted at a ...
... cells, exposing them to decay and disintegration. But in itself, each cell has an infinite. vitality. Thus the problem is, if one cell is essentially immortal, then how can they be made, in their collective life, to avoid conflict and decay, undergo rejuvenation and youthfulness. Science in a practical way through material means tries to prolong life as far as possible, as for us, we are not limited ...
... transformation of all the parts of the being of man, and their perfect attunement to the supreme Divine Will. The Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo promises to realise this aim in individual and collective humanity. Its method is an integral surrender to the Mother, the Consciousness- Force of the Divine, and the crown of its achievement the manifestation of God in a transfigured humanity ...
... state but a cultivated awareness of the collectivity and a voluntary subordination of the individual to the needs and decisions of the collectivity as an integral part of the Page 18 process of the individual and collective perfection. Or, in other words, when we speak of democratic socialism, we should mean a state of existence where collectivity respects the freedom of the individual... perfection, and where the individual freely sacrifices his narrow interests and his egoism in the interests of the development of the collectivity. Development ought to aim at the growth of this kind of inter- relationship between the individual and the collectivity. But even this is not enough. Development needs the promotion of science and technology. Fortunately, science and technology... to recognize the dangers of the one and the difficulties of the other, and to conceive or design appropriate lines of action. In doing so, care should be taken to recognize the needs and truths of collective life of mankind. Uniformity, if led to its logical extreme, would impose not only the rule of one language, but also the overpowering dominion of one aspect of culture. Unity, on the other hand, ...
... individuals and collectivities, communities and nations, all are feverishly seeking after self-expression and self-fulfilment. But where is the guarantee that all these diverse self- affirmations xxx will move in perfect harmony and mutual adaptability? Where is the assurance that the self-affirmation of the individual will not go counter to the self-affirmation of the collective being and... everybody a practising scientist. But in order that a few can be effectively the same for the welfare of all and for the general flowering of Science and Spirituality, it is absolutely essential that the collective mind of man accept the simultaneous necessity of both the disciplines, for the eradication of the multipronged ills of man and of his society as evolved at present, also the validity and truth of... and vice versa? Harmony, and not disharmony and discord, should be the keynote of all true living, whether individual or collective. But till this day, man's attempts at harmonisation have all miscarried and failed. He has tried his hand at a number of remedies, educational, administrative, social and religious, but the disease seems to have defied all palliatives up till now. But the ...
... put into practice, will help man the individual and man the collective being to realise the great destiny that is awaiting the race. And, be it noted, all the principles of education enunciated by Sri Aurobindo are designed to fulfil that very task. We have advisedly employed the expression "man the individual and man the collective being". For, the insistent problems of man do not pertain to... will, in that case, be turned towards a satisfaction of his legitimate vital propensities under the precarious government of a trained mind and reason and for the best advantage of the personal and collective ego. But Sri Aurobindo cannot accept this view of man nor, therefore, these goals of education as ordinarily envisaged. He does not, of course, deny that the things alluded to above do represent... in the nation or the people not merely an organised State or an armed and efficient community well prepared for the struggle of life and putting all at the service of the national ego, but a great collective soul and life that has appeared in the whole and has manifested a nature of its own and a law of that nature, a svabhāva and a svadharma, and has embodied it in its intellectual, aesthetic, ethical ...
... self-evident. The sum and substance of all he says is that man is growing and has to grow in consciousness till he reaches the complete and perfect consciousness, not only in his individual but in his collective, that is to say, social life. In fact, the growth of consciousness is the supreme secret of life, the master key to earthly evolution. Sri Aurobindo believes in evolution. Creation... complete, integral perfect being expressing and embodying in all his limbs and movements the supreme reality made of utter truth and knowledge and power and delight. This being his individual life, his collective or social life too would figure the same pattern. A new society in which men have found their soul and soul function is a harmonious, a unitary body, composed of individuals who by living each one ...
... level. In that spiritual and supra- mental component of our complex nature, it is claimed, is the integrating power; in it the truths of the individual and the collectivity coalesce; there, we discover that the individual and the collectivity are not what they appear to be in the lower or infra-rational parts of our being. Individual is not, it is discovered, fundamentally egoistic in nature; ego is ...
... an artificial equality has also its irrationalities, its contradictions of the collective good, its injustices even and its costly violations of the truth of Nature. Equality like individualistic liberty may turn out to be not a panacea but an obstacle in the way of the best management and control of life by the collective reason and will of the community. But if both equality and liberty disappear... and rational adjustment of his life with the life of others, it is for the reason of the whole community to arrange that too for him. Not the reasoning minds and wills of the individuals, but the collective reasoning mind and will of the community has to govern. It is this which will determine not only the principles and all the details of the economic and political order, but the whole life of the... cell of this life, the development of his capacities, his actions, the use of the knowledge he has acquired, the whole ordering of his vital, his ethical, his intelligent being. For so only can the collective reason and intelligent will of the race overcome the egoism of individualistic life and bring about a perfect principle and rational order of society in a harmonious world. It is true that this ...
... If you want to know what is really happening in the world, you should not read newspapers of any sort, for they are full of lies. To read a newspaper is to take part in the greatest collective falsehoods. 2 February 1970 * Mother, Your note about reading newspapers was shown to me yesterday. Now tell me personally for myself. I have been reading regularly since ...
... occasion, it will differ. But, at any rate, it can be said that whoever lives in a community must follow, as much as possible, the rules of that community. Moreover people have a right to go against collective rules only when all their actions are prompted exclusively by the Divine in them. If all they do, all they say is done and said as they would do and say in the presence of the Divine, then, but then ...
... that inspired the founding of the Ashram in 1926? Do the inmates still seriously engage themselves in their spiritual pursuit? Do they sincerely make an effort to build up in the Ashram a spiritual collectivity harmonised on the basis of the unity of the Spirit in all? Or, who knows, perhaps many of the new Ashramites have for all practical purposes banished from the field of their consciousness any active ...
... the Penal Code is a monument of legal ferocity, but at present of futile ferocity. The offence is that of exciting contempt and hatred against the Government. The Government means the bureaucracy collectively and individually. Anything therefore in the nature of plain statement and strong comment on any foolish or arbitrary conduct on the part of an official or on any unwise or oppressive policy on the ...
... good character. This was more useful and important for the nation. So, Birenda started a club where the young could, through physical exercises and games, learn to be disciplined, know the values of collective organised effort, how to lead or follow, etc. They were at the same time taught some moral values and slowly infused with a national spirit. Birenda learned his boxing skills under J.K. Sheel and ...
... themselves on the right side, they at once make themselves instruments of the Divine purpose in spite of all defects, errors, wrong movements and actions which are common to human nature and all human collectivities. The victory of one side (the Allies) would keep the path open for the evolutionary forces; the victory of the other side would drag back humanity, degrade it horribly and might lead even, at the ...
... eruption of the irrational as the Third Reich represented was uncomfortable, disturbing and potentially dangerous. For the world to be made aware of the sheer potency of the irrational, on so awesome a collective level, would have been to open a Pandora’s Box of incipient ills for the future. And it would have been profoundly unsettling, for citizens of both the Western democracies and the Soviet Union, to ...
... questionings. He simply said that the world began with desire and with the end of desire it must end. He was on the brink of saying that the world was purely subjective, that is to say, a collective illusion, and if the illusion ceased the world would also cease. But he did not go so far. It was Shankara who took up the line and completed the teaching. In the more ancient wisdom, however ...
... accomplished. That is how we read the situation. When it looked as though there was no way left at our disposal to compose the acute and bitter differences among the multifarious Indian collectivities and also between the Indians and the British or foreigners, precisely at that critical hour appeared the war bringing a unique opportunity, a call and a message, as it were. There is certainly ...
... transformation must have parallel echoes in other individuals – not necessarily the whole of humanity, but as I said, presumably a sizeable part of it. Otherwise the purpose of the change, a global, collective change will not be fulfilled. An isolated individual supramentalised body upon earth would be a freak of Nature, a forced miracle as it were, an anomalous object in Nature, and a humanity even at ...
... assumed a first importance in our epoch. The same problem of disbalance and disharmony has lately shown itself in an equally acute form also in the relation between the individual and the collectivity. The maladjustment between the individual's hopes and needs and aspirations and the demands of the organised society has become so much pronounced that the representative man of the century is... invariably come to see that "all problems of existence are essentially problems of harmony." 2 In the sphere of human relations too - whether between man and man or between the individual and collectivity - the essential problem is of harmonisation between two basic trends of man: the trend to over-accentuated individualisation, the individual's all-imperative impulse towards self-assertion and... difficult task of harmonisation between his individualistic trend and his drive towards socialisation, man has laid an exclusive or dominant stress sometimes on the individual, at other times on the collectivity. In the first view wherein emphasis is laid on the individual, the society is considered to exist only as a field of activity and growth for the individual; its sole function is to help the ...
... has acknowledged, the Ashram had been only "a collection of individuals... without a collective organisation... one could say it had a general value, but it was something very floating, without a collective reality".28 The aim, then, was to make collectivity as real as individuality, and besides to make the collective reality embrace even the individualities of those sadhaks who couldn't stay in the... established and is being maintained - enables the sadhaks in the Ashram and outside to accomplish the desired and destined inner change as well as the consequential collective change- To reach the Light, to manifest it in oneself and in the collectivity - that is the essence of the sadhana of this Yoga. But although it could be stated so simply, to practise it and register unqualified success - oh how difficult... been done which had long failed to accomplish itself and which is of great importance. 56 It would thus appear that the collective aspiration of a flowing stream of sadhaks could itself create a concentration of spiritual atmosphere conducive to a collective advance in the Yoga although spearheaded by the Guru. The gains for the sadhak, of course, are beyond accountancy, and even beyond ...
... ourselves on the earth as the animals do, not only having made to keep it and develop its best vital and egoistic or communal use for the efficiency and enjoyment of the individual, the family or the collective ego, substantially as is done by the animal families and colonies, in bee-hive or ant-hill for example, though in the larger, many-sided way of reasoning animals; it is also, and much more chara... culture governed by the enlightened reason of man and led by the wisest minds of a free society, nor the modern ideal of an efficient culture and successful economic civilisation governed by the collective reason and organised knowledge of mankind can be either the highest or the widest goal of social development. The Hellenic ideal was roughly expressed in the old Latin maxim, a sound mind in a... possible to the human being. We must remember that our aim of self-fulfilment is an integral unfolding of the Divine within us, a complete evolution of the hidden divinity in the individual soul and the collective life. Otherwise we may simply come back to an old idea of individual and social living which had its greatness, but did not provide all the conditions of our perfection. That was the idea of a s ...
... destruction. The only way by which this law can be overcome is to conquer the fact of ignorance and ultimately to eliminate it from the life of the individual and ultimately from the life of the collectivity. And there is no other way than that of spiritual contemplation; and even spiritual contemplation has to be matured in spiritual realisation. And considering that even when a few individuals live... realisation, the world continues to live in struggle and destruction, in strife and pain, we are obliged to conclude that even the individual spiritual realisation is not enough. We have to contemplate collective self-realisation. In any case, if unity is to be realised, if unity is to actualised, it seems that it Page 489 can only be done by the abolition of the root cause of division and conflict... social or political unity is not necessarily a boon in itself; it is only worth pursuing in so far as it provides a means and a framework for a better, richer, more happy and puissant individual and collective life. 3 Page 492 Let us take the example of the Roman Empire; for it provides a historical illustration of an organisation of unity which transcended the limits of the nation, ...
... peace that brings quietness in the whole being down to the body, if we allow it to do so. It is that peace you must seek and then you will get the quietness you wish for. When we have to work collectively, it is always better to insist, in our thoughts, feelings and actions, on the points of agreement rather than on the points of divergence. We must give importance to the things that unite and ...
... itself. But there is besides one thing that you must understand clearly. Things are no longer what they were before, when you were last here. 3 At that time the Mother was bringing down a rapid (collective as well as individual) transformation and creation into the mental, vital and physical planes from above, by the power of a supramental Light and Force acting through the higher illumined mind and ...
... reading next Wednesday: The Supramental Manifestation . And the first sentence I read today remains the key of the Page 78 entire problem not only for the individual but also for the collectivity: "All would change if man could once consent to be spiritualised; but his nature, mental and vital and physical, is rebellious to the higher law. He loves his imperfection." I would like ...
... such a way that the body is adapted to the needs of its new experience. But this is at a rather advanced stage. And later, when it is fully formed and returns to earth with the idea of service, of collective help and participation in the divine Work, then it is able to bring to the body in formation certain elements of the mind and vital from previous lives which, having been organised and impregnated ...
... men permit it. They are very attached to their grating, very attached, they cling to it. They don't feel alive when it doesn't grate. But they don't know. Sometimes, in the individual or collective evolution, there are phases when you have emerged from the grating, that is to say, you no longer believe in it, no longer believe in the truth and importance, the reality of those things, but you ...
... × See Agenda I , p. 104 × The yoga's collective difficulties. × During the last conversation, Mother had broken off abruptly as if about to faint ...
... 'Siddhi Day' or 'Victory Day', marked a decisive stage in Sri Aurobindo's Sadhana, since it meant -as explained by him later - the descent of the overmental Godhead into the physical. There was a collective evening meditation on this 24th of November 1926. All the inmates - permanent residents and temporary visitors alike -attended that special meditation. The Mother and Sri Aurobindo blessed all those ...
... transformation which the consciousness is able to bear because it is turned to the Light. In the evening just before the Mother came down for a Page 185 collective Meditation I saw the flower signifying 'Fire in the Mind' (Poinciana pulcherrima). At first it appeared as a bud and then slowly it opened out. Has the vision any connection with my sadhana? ...
... these questionings. He simply said that the world began with desire and with the end of desire it must end. He was on the verge of saying that the world was purely subjective, that is to say, a collective illusion, and if the illusion ceased the world would also cease. But he did not go so far. It was Shankara who took up the line and completed the teaching. In the more ancient wisdom, however ...
... ask: "Would Teilhard believe in the Parousia of Christ if he did not vision Omega Point?" Omega Point means a total maturation of mankind - a maturation represented by the existence of a collective unit of unanimity. Without such a maturation, would Teilhard have faith in the completion of Christ's mystical Body? His own answer 6 is unmistakable: "We continue from force of habit to think of... anthropogenesis, that the parousiac spark can, of physical and organic necessity, only be kindled between Heaven and a Mankind which has biologically reached a certain critical evolutionary point of collective maturity?" To the word "anthropogenesis" here Teilhard has the footnote: "And, it may be added, in perfect analogy with the mystery of the first Christmas which (as everyone agrees) could ...
... sons. The sepoy panicked and instead of shooting at the general, turned his rifle on himself and pulled the trigger. He survived this suicide attempt and was later court-martialled and hanged. As a collective punishment the 34th Native Infantry was disbanded, its shameful fate being publicly proclaimed at every military station in British India. Pande achieved a certain kind of immortality and the 34th... Then you may find some to listen.' In the early months of the British recovery, few sepoys were left alive after their positions were overrun. The British soldiers seemed to have made a collective decision not to take prisoners and most actions ended with a frenzied use of the bayonet. On the line of march whole villages were sometimes hanged for some real or imagined sympathy for the mutineers ...
... not altogether general, can at least be shared by a certain number of individuals who, besides, as soon as they share it, will lose the perception of being separate individuals and become a living collectivity. This new realisation is proceeding with what one might call a lightning speed, for if we consider time in the ordinary way, only two years have passed—a little more than two years—from the time ...
... circumstances and the world as it appears to us, in accordance with the will that manifests through that experience. It seems to me that the most universal proof of the validity of an individual or collective experience would be its power to make things—these appearances that we call the world—different from what they are. From the subjective point of view, the effect of the experience on an individual ...
... How long it will take is difficult to foresee. It will depend a great deal on the goodwill and the receptivity of a certain number of people, for the individual always advances faster than the collectivity, and by its very nature, humanity is destined to manifest the Supermind before the rest of creation. At the basis of this collaboration there is necessarily the will to change, no longer to be ...
... grades of form and consciousness as its machinery. The first by itself would mean only a cosmic evolution; for the individual would be a quickly perishing instrument, and the race, a more abiding collective formulation, would be the real step in the progressive manifestation of the cosmic Inhabitant, the universal Spirit: rebirth is an indispensable condition for any long duration and evolution of the ...
... conformity to his will, we lift high the standard of truth, progress and transformation of mankind. * India is not the earth, rivers and mountains of this land, neither is it a collective name for the inhabitants of this country. India is a living being, as much living as, say, Shiva. India is a goddess as Shiva is a god. If she likes, she can manifest in human form. * ...
... of the old yuga is the forerunner. This must be her mission and service to humanity,—as she discovered the inner spiritual life for the individual, so now to discover for the race its integral collective expression and found for mankind its new spiritual and communal order. Our first object shall be to declare this ideal, insist on the spiritual change as the first necessity and group together ...
... Supermind, the creative Truth-Consciousness, which has never been brought into play in its direct form. The Supermind can divinise the mental and vital and physical being of man and bring about a collective spiritual life on the basis of an inner unity and take up all the fields of activity and give them a divine value, direction and fulfilment. Thus the Intergral Yoga sweeps everything into ...
... behind Jesus’ crucifixion.” Pilate washed his hands, according to Matthew, to indicate his innocence of bloodshed, and at that moment “the Jewish leaders as well as ‘the whole nation’ acknowledged collective responsibility and invoked what turned out to be a curse upon themselves and their progeny: ‘His blood be upon us and upon our children!’’’. 543 Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus to the Romans ...
... magnifies the thing and aggravates it. But it is easy to arrange, and, with the goodwill of all, I am sure that all will be well. Page 264 I consider that we are at an excellent occasion for collective and individual Sadhana and that is why I engage myself in it and take special interest in it. We do not work for the success of X's play, or of Y's dance, or of Z's scenario. We want to render ...
... his own Integral Yoga is founded, even though it has built new methodologies for purposes of a new objective in order that the supra-mental knowledge can be harnessed for purposes of the highest collective welfare and for the mutation of the human species which would result in the development of a new humanity or super-humanity. Page 240 ...
... stoops to mere sentimentalism but expresses itself in total sacrifice of one's personal happiness in order to uphold equally the great value of the imperative call of the highest action that aims at collective and public welfare. Sri Rama, the hero of this story, a few glimpses of which are given in this monograph, has been engraved in the hearts of the people of India and in the general ethos of the ...
... The Yoga of Sri Aurobindo - Part 7 The Divine Suffering Generally speaking, when one is unhappy, it is one more suffering added to the collective suffering of the Divine. The Divine acts upon Matter in a state of deep compassion: this compassion is translated in Matter and is figured there by what we call Psychic Sorrow. It is, as it were, a reversed image of the ...
... honestly and whole-heartedly to its production. That is the line of true communism. Above all, one must cultivate the civic sense, the very primary thing one must have for a harmoniously prosperous collective life, we have to learn again the first lesson of civilised living in these days when the brute and the vampire are seated in human hearts. We must not always clamour for selfish gains, gains for ...
... but an enriched and multiple Page 280 unity in expression. Furthermore the individual can proceed yet beyond. He has to and now is able to, not only in his individual but in his collective consciousness – turn back and move straight to its original unity: he can establish direct contact, commune and unite with the Divine Himself from whom it I came and drifted away. The ranges of ascent ...
... Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol. 3 The Divine Suffering GENERALLY speaking, when one is unhappy, it is one more suffering added to the collective suffering of the Divine. The Divine acts upon Matter in a state of deep compassion: this compassion is translated in Matter and is figured there by what we call Psychic Sorrow. It is, as it were, a ...
... New World. It views modem man's concern for the collective life as something unprecedented. The experiments that have been heralded by the great revolutions have contributed to the re-making of the collective life of Man.. It is felt that these experiments will continue to grow until the highest and the deepest in the individual and the collectivity are brought forward in the task of the new tr... utilitarian necessities of individual or collective life. The Rita, therefore, cannot be prescribed or circumscribed by any legislation or any man-made law. Rita is, indeed, the right law of action, but it issues from the vast consciousness of the truth, and it is thus superior to any human standards of action or any laws of the individual and collective life. It is this idea of Rita which... predominant tendency to place Page 47 the law of the truth as the sole law to which the individual and the collectivity are called upon to give their ultimate allegiance. Thus there came about in India an organization of human life in which each individual and collectivity was given the freedom to develop in accordance with the law of the truth; even the state authorities could legislate ...
... depending On his or her at mood, and also on the impact of the Mother's vibrations. As for the group as a whole, the brief collective silence had an efficacy of its own especially since most of them preferred to close their eyes when meditating. The cumulative force of the collective meditation was, however, a felt thing, though not exactly quantifiable. Now on one occasion, unable to concentrate, Amal... ocean, bear us over into thy felicity. Bum away from us the sin! 18 Nolini must have concentrated and aspired as he opened the volume, for the progress not only of himself, but of the entire collectivity that was the Ashram. And, in response, the ancient Rishis gave the right words of aspiration and consecration, and in the charged atmosphere of the Prosperity Room, the words reverberated with ...
... or a dispassionate and objectless service of the race and the individual, knowing well that the latter is a transient fiction of the nervous mentality and the former only a little more long-lived collective form of the same regular nervous spasm of Matter. We work or enjoy under the impulsion of a material energy which deceives us with the brief delusion of life or with the nobler delusion of an ethical... Non-Being behind it, we have the starting-point for a second negation,—parallel at the other pole to the materialistic, but more complete, more final, more perilous in its effects on the individuals or collectivities that hear its potent call to the wilderness,—the refusal of the ascetic. It is this revolt of Spirit against Matter that for two thousand years, since Buddhism disturbed the balance of the ...
... e in any way. So if I increase the wages of some of you, I shall be obliged to dismiss some others in order to compensate. It remains to be seen which is stronger: your individual egoism or your collective egoism. Page 173 Do you want to increase your own earnings at the expense of the livelihood of some of your fellow-workers? You complain that you live in misery; and I tell you that... is full of misery. April 1952 TO THE EMPLOYEES OF SRI AUROBINDO ASHRAM What I wish to do for you. I shall tell you how I view the solution of your problems, both individual and collective, and what is the truth of the relation between us. But for the working out of the programme I am going to place before you, two essential conditions are necessary. First, I must have the financial ...
... The Basis of Unity I A MODERN society or people cannot have religion, that is to say, credal religion, as the basis of its organized collective life. I t was mediaeval society and people that were organized on that line. Indeed mediaevalism means nothing more – and nothing less – than that. But whatever the need and justification in the... only a modified utility. A modern people is a composite entity, especially with Page 51 regard to its religious affiliation. Not religion, but culture is the basis of modern collective life, national or social. Culture includes in its grain that fineness of temperament which appreciates all truths behind all forms, even when there is a personal allegiance to one particular form ...
... Earthly Destiny The Basis of Unify A MODERN society or people cannot have religion, that is to say, credal religion, as the basis of its organized collective life. It was mediaeval society and people that were organized on that line. Indeed mediaevalism means nothing more—and nothing less —than that. But whatever the need and justification in the past... all or only a modified utility. A modern people is a composite entity, especially with Page 128 regard to its religious affiliation. Not religion, but culture is the basis of modern collective life, national or social. Culture includes in its grain that fineness of temperament which appreciates all truths behind all forms, even when there is a personal allegiance to one particular form ...
... A New Society THE BASIS OF UNITY I A modern society or people cannot have religion, that is to say, credal religion, as the basis of its organized collective life. It was mediaeval society and people that were organized on that line. Indeed mediaevalism means nothing more—and nothing less—than that. But whatever the need and justification in the past... either no reality at all or only a modified utility. A modern people is a composite entity, especially with regard to its religious affiliation. Not religion, but culture is the basis of modern collective life, national or social. Culture includes in its grain that fineness of temperament which appreciates all truths behind all forms, even when there is a personal allegiance to one particular form ...
... single all-integrating Mother-power to which the cosmos owes its life and its evolutionary élan. Egoistic fissiparousness was never to be encouraged ; the quest for the organised whole, for the collective existence, was deemed indispen sable. But what was envisage d in the quest was a unity without uniformity, a concord without monotony and always the movement was towards the inner as the foundation ...
... one by work for the Divine. Synthesis both in philosophy and Yoga of all the apparent strifes and discords is the message of Sri Aurobindo. We have to work it out in our lives both individual and collective to arrive at divine unity, peace, bliss and harmony. And this union can come only by an integral self-giving and surrender of all the parts of our being to the Divine. Page 17 ...
... can harm you, a sort of magnetic 'grip' which can change even the attitude of an opponent who has a bad intention. It is as strong as that. And with this, the game becomes pleasant, harmonious, a collective understanding which compels us to bring out the best in us. And you can be sure that there will Page 146 never be any accidents. But if you have something in your mind, even a ...
... that try to control you or utilise you. In the lower creation it is always a play of divergent forces and the individual being is only a field, a passive field for the play of cosmic or collective forces. It is in, man, with the awakening of an individual consciousness in him, that a movement of self-assertion, of willed reaction has started in nature, that is to say, one is no more content ...
... forces that try to control you or utilise you. In the lower creation it is always a play of divergent forces and the individual being is only a field, a passive field for the play of cosmic or collective forces. It is in man, with the awakening of an individual consciousness in him, that a movement of self-assertion, of willed reaction has started in nature, that is to say, one is no more content ...
... and an idea belonging to others. No one has an idea Page 33 exclusively his own. There is an immensity out of which one can draw according to one's personal affinity. Ideas are a collective possession, a joint property. Only there are different stages. There is the most common or commonplace stage where all of us have our brain sunk in a crowded mass of impersonal notions. It is the ...
... idea belonging to oneself and an idea belonging to others. No one has an idea exclusively his own. There is an immensity out of which one can draw according to one's personal affinity. Ideas are a collective possession, a joint property. Only there are different stages. There is the most common or commonplace stage where all of us have our brain sunk in a crowded mass of impersonal notions. It is the ...
... featureless unity at the source but an enriched and multiple unity in expression. Furthermore the individual can proceed yet beyond. He has to and now is able to, not only in his individual but in his collective consciousness—turn back and move straight to its original unity: he can establish direct contact, commune and unite with the Divine Himself from whom it came and strayed away. The ranges of ascent ...
... surroundings was designed as to promote their growth and development; nothing was allowed which was injurious to the physical and psychological health of children. Verily, the entire life of the collectivity was conceived and organised as that of a learning society. Classes ranged from the kindergarten up to the post-graduation; and although three faculty of arts, science, and engineering technology... crisis has to be met, development of psychic and spiritual consciousness should be fostered. Unfortunately, spiritual consciousness is often conceived as a denial of material life and concerns of collective life. In Sri Aurobindo's and the Mother's view, however, there is no fundamental opposition between Matter and Spirit. True integrality, according to them, implies rejection of no element in human... easily yield to the project system; teachers, therefore, announce a few projects in each subject, and students according to their choice select at least a minimum number of projects for which they collectively or individually work and produce charts, monographs, designs, etc., which are periodically exhibited for the benefit of the whole school. Experiments in the lecture system, syllabus system ...
... not wake up, although it is active and operative and produces effects upon the conscious life and its movements. It covers what Freud calls the Id, and also what Jung calls the Individual and Collective Unconscious. It is the region in which our suppressed desires and wishes find their resort and from where they surge up during our dreams or during our physical and mental illness. It is the abode... second, a field of circumstances in which the individual finds in himself or herself and in which he or she works, learns and struggles to arrive at mastery. Arrival at this mastery, individual and collective, may be considered to be the realisation of human fulfilment. The history of the world may be regarded as an account of the human aspiration towards human fulfilment. It manifests itself in... circles of lower life marked by hunger and satisfaction, strife and success, and perils of small and great disasters, and yet, on the other hand, the upward human aspiration to build individual and collective life on the basis of mutuality and harmony, of peace and concord, and ever- increasing perfectibility of our highest potentialities must continue to struggle without any sound promise of its eventual ...
... basically the 1912 document only set down Mirra's own dreams and visions of the future. A great change - a supreme transformation - is to be effected, both on !he individual and the social (or collective) planes, and these are to be integrated into a harmonious and creative whole. In Sri Aurobindo's Page 51 poem, The Rishi, (written in 1907 and revised in 1911), the Arctic seer exhorts... a "progressing universal harmony", the means for achieving it on earth is the realisation of human unity through awakening and manifesting "the inner Divinity which is One" in individual and collectivity alike. More specifically, the task before us is fourfold: firstly, for each individual to realise in himself the one Divine Presence; secondly, individualising "the states of being that were... more of the fountains of universal force that are still sealed to it"; thirdly, "to speak again to the world the eternal word under a new form adapted to its present mentality"; and, fourthly, "collectively, to establish an ideal society in a propitious spot for the flowering of the new race, the race of the Sons of God". The "states of being" and "fountains of universal force", so far foreign to ...
... overmind and cross the border into supramental gnosis. This nature of the gnosis would evidently determine all the relations of the life or group-life of gnostic beings; for a gnostic collectivity would be a collective soul-power of the Truth-consciousness, even as the gnostic individual would be an individual soul-power of it: it would have the same integration of life and action in unison, the same... and truth-sense of self and each other, the same truth-action in the relation of each with each and all with all; this collectivity would be and act not as a mechanical but a spiritual integer. A similar inevitability of the union of freedom and order would be the law of the collective life; it would be a freedom of the diverse play of the Infinite in divine souls, an order of the conscious unity of souls... impossible for the mind to forecast in detail what the supramental change must be in its parts of life action and outward behaviour or lay down for it what forms it shall create for the individual or the collective existence. For the mind acts by intellectual rule or device or by reasoned choice of will or by mental impulse or in obedience to life impulse; but supramental nature does not act by mental idea ...
... the quality of the Work acts upon this receptivity and imposes itself on it in a more and more efficient and imperious way. There is an interdependence between the individual progress and the collective progress, between that which works and that which is worked upon. It proceeds like this ( gesture of intermeshing ), and as one progresses, the other progresses. The progress above not only hastens... above follows a certain trajectory, and in some cases the distance increases, in others it decreases (although on the whole, the distance remains relatively unchanged), but my feeling is that the collective receptivity will increase as the action becomes increasingly supramentalized. And the need for an individual receptivity—with all its distortions and alterations and limitations—will decrease in ...
... Asram mind since almost the Page 558 beginning and if it is somewhat diminished in generality and force, is still there. When it disappears altogether, it will be a great day for the collective sadhana. 5 April 1935 Are flowers mere symbols and nothing more? Can the flower symbolising silence, for example, help in the realisation of silence? It is when Mother puts her force into ...
... soul is a delegation of the spirit in mankind, a special help to lead it faster. It is the soul that makes individual progress possible. The spirit, in its original form, has a more general, more collective action. For the moment the spirit plays the part of a helper and guide, but it is not the all-powerful master of the material manifestation; when the Supermind is organised into a new world, ...
... of that same thirst or need for Security: nothing can be achieved except in peace, nothing can be arrived at except in peace, nothing can be realized except in peace—we need peace, individually, collectively, globally. So let's make horrifying weapons of destruction so that men will be so frightened that nothing will happen—how childish! But that's the current state of mind. It is still one of those ...
... realise, a goal sure to be realised one day but - it is realistic to admit - not in the immediate future. In the meantime, what sort of relationships should the Ashramites seek to establish in their collective life? Now, what the sadhaks are expected to avoid and what to cultivate have been made abundantly clear by the Mother and Sri Aurobindo in their various writings. If we become sincere in our effort ...
... always wanted liberty and equality and fraternity in the world at large, the ideal has not been realised because we did not care to realise it in the consciousness and life of each one of us. In the collective life of mankind that truth will alone become a fact which is a fact in the inner existence and consciousness of every human being. The inner discovery is indeed a battle and here too a victory ...
... such a way that the body is adapted to the needs of its new experience. But this is at a rather advanced stage. And later, when it is fully formed and returns to earth with the idea of service, of collective help and participation in the divine Work, then it is able to bring to the body in formation certain elements of the mind and vital from previous lives which, having been organised and impregnated... constitution, but in any case it stops progressing and after a time decomposes. Those who lead a purely physical life reach a kind of summit, then they slide down very quickly. But now, with the general collective human progress, there is behind the physical progress a vital progress and a mental progress, so that the mental progress can go on for a very long time, even after the physical progress has come... the universe, therefore his true path must be an absolutely unique path. There are similarities, there are resemblances, there are categories, families, churches, ideals also, that is, a certain collective way of approaching the Divine, which creates a kind of church, not materialised but in a more subtle world—there are all these things—but for the details of the path, the details of yoga, it will ...
... There never are many. Only, in the heat of action, when the atmosphere is at its utmost tension, there is a kind of collective suggestion which makes heroes of men for the time being. Afterwards it is finished, but at that moment one is heroic. But this of course is a collective suggestion. True courage, in its deepest sense, is to be able to face everything, everything in life, from the smallest ...
... with all being by a sympathy and participation in the spiritual purpose of the Divine in humanity. The individual Yoga then turns from its. Page 62 separateness and becomes a part of the collective Yoga of the divine Nature in the human race. The liberated individual being, united with the Divine himself and spirit, becomes in his natural being a self-perfecting instrument for the perfect out... the long history of Indian Yoga finds its full justification and its fulfilment in earthly life. And resulting from this yoga we get a supreme message that, to use the Mother's words, "Salvation is collective and physical". 93 Page 68 ...
... setting of the material existence and fulfils His Will in every "detail of its earthly life. This ascent to the higher divine Nature is the supreme "work of human life, both individual and collective. The collective lower Nature of the mental man has to be transformed and converted into the higher, so that man as a race may take the next higher step in evolution, and live sad. work on earth as a supramental ...
... is because of the spiritual Person, the Divinity in the individual, that perfection or liberation, — salvation, as it is called in the West, — has to be individual and not collective; for whatever perfection of the collectivity is to be sought after, can come only by the perfection of the individuals who constitute it. It is because the individual is That, that to find himself is his great necessity... largeness. For human thought falls apart towards two opposite extremes: one, mundane and pragmatic, regards the fulfilment and satisfaction of the mental, vital and physical ego-sense individual or collective as the object of life and looks no farther, while the other spiritual, philosophic or religious which regards the conquest of the ego in the interests of the soul, spirit or whatever be the ultimate... of mind by the death of the body; the one abiding truth is eternal Nature working in the race — this or another — and her purpose should be followed, not ours. The fulfilment of the race, the collective ego, and not that of the individual should be the rule of life. Another trend of thought, more vitalistic in its tendencies, fixes on the conscious ego as the supreme achievement of Nature, no ...
... characteristic is related to the astonishing fund of integral knowledge that could serve as the foundation of the contents of education. And the third emerges from the ancient pursuit of individual and collective perfectibility in the light of their laborious experiments related to the human potentialities. Let us briefly elucidate them. 1.Education and Life: Methods of Education; Role of teachers... Its aim was to transmit to the new generations this knowledge and to develop it further by means of fresh quest and experimentation. 3. Human potentialities and pursuit of Individual and Collective Perfectibility The third characteristic of the ancient conception of education was its emphasis on harmonisation of different aspects of personality so that the physical being of the individual... merely a member of human pack, but he is something in himself, a soul, a being, who has to fulfil his own individual truth and law as well as his natural or assigned part in the truth and the law of collective existence. The individual thus demands freedom, space, initiative for his soul, for his nature, for his swabhava and swadharma, to use the Indian terms. These two ideas together are bound to ...
... only the minimum of initial self-training necessary for those who have yet to cast the whole trend of their thought and feeling into the mould of a higher life and to enlarge the egoistic into a collective consciousness. The Society has its headquarters at Pondicherry with a reading-room and library. A section has been founded at Karikal and others are likely to be opened at Yanaon and Mahe. ...
... pass into a beatific beyond (whether the Vedantic Liberation, the Buddhist Nirvana, the Vaishnava Bliss-world, the Zoroastrian or Christian Heaven, the Muslim Paradise), there has to be an organised collective life with a certain minimum of rules. An extreme tolerance is attempted because human beings are so various. Sri Aurobindo and the Mother have tried to give the utmost liberty to their disciples ...
... (incomplete) Our ideal is not liberation, not attaining Nirvana by being dissolved in the indeterminable Unlimited; the ideal is attainment of divine consciousness by the individual and by the collective, unity, perfection, and delight in the divine consciousness and being self-realised, life and works established in the self and inspired and directed by the divine Shatki, - works as of a liberated ...
... doesn't have the key, that is, of which one doesn't have the threads that can guide and solve the problems. The animal sets itself no problems: it just lives. Its instinct drives it, it relies on a collective consciousness which has an innate knowledge and is higher than itself, but it is automatic, spontaneous, it has no need to will something and make an effort to bring it about, it is quite naturally ...
... group of industries, nor a department in an administration, Page 150 nor a service in a state, but a small world in miniature containing potentially all the possibilities of a human collectivity, plus new and yet unknown potentialities (possibilities) still latent and waiting for manifestation. You will find already an embryo of organisation which has for its centre of coordination the ...
... latter is undoubtedly dangerous because hard and cold and pitiless, nevertheless it is unquestionably useful to master the overflow of sentiment which cannot hold a predominant place in the ruling of collective interests. These faults which would be serious if the activity of women had to replace that of men, could form, on the contrary, by a collaboration of the two sexes, an element of compensation ...
... central and recurrent as well as its most external and diverse issues. Man in every mode and field - the thinker and the scientist no less than the artist and the mystic - man individual and man collective - the modern breaker of new ground side by side with the heir of the ages - is Sri Aurobindo's material for probing and guidance. Especially is he concerned with man the conscious evolving agent ...
... the hidden spirit. We hasten to gratify the immediate and forget the eternal, we clutch at the shadow and let go the substance. We are carried away in the flux and tumult of life. It is a mixed and collective whirl – a Weltgeist that moves and governs us. We are helpless straws drifting in the current. But manhood demands that we stop and pause, pull ourselves out of the Maelstrom and be what we ...
... terms with the research in the problems related to the supramental transformation of the physical consciousness at the cellular level. In 1968, Mother founded Auroville, an International city as a collective field for the material and spiritual researches required for realising human unity as a part of the supramental action on the earth. Mother's exploration into the body-consciousness and her ...
... terms with the research in the problems related to the supramental transformation of the physical consciousness at the cellular level. In 1968, Mother founded Auroville, an International city as a collective field for the material and spiritual researches required for realising human unity as a part of the supramental action on the earth. Mother's exploration into the body-consciousness and her discovery ...
... the hidden spirit. We hasten to gratify the immediate and forget the eternal, we clutch at the shadow and let go the substance. We are carried away in the flux and tumult of life. It is a mixed and collective whirl—a Weltgeist that moves and governs us. We are helpless straws drifting in the current. But manhood demands that we stop and pause, pull ourselves out of the Maelstrom and be what we are. ...
... always wanted liberty and equality and fraternity in the world at large, the ideal has not been realised because we did not care to realise it in the consciousness and life of each one of us. In the collective life of mankind that truth will alone become a fact which is a fact in the inner existence and consciousness of every human being. The inner discovery is indeed a battle and here too ...
... meaning, that sprung in his intuition gradually blossomed into a lush of foliage and flowers and fruits. He brought a new birth, a new life and a new' creation everywhere in all the fields of the collective life of state, society, religion, culture, literature and language. He made the fundamental scheme, the blue-print for the future fulfilment of the country. It is he who laid down the first principles ...
... the divine in the aspirant. The third group: After this the aspirant rises into the realm of Truth, the Right and the Vast where his being will embody all the gods. The universal Godhead is the collective power of all the gods. Each god has a different aspect and a particular truth to stress. They at once carry out their own work and help one another in performing their work. Thus in their combined ...
... anything more than a vision on a shining cloud constantly run after in a circle and constantly deceiving the hope and escaping the embrace. That will be when man in the collectivity begins to live more deeply and to govern his collective life neither primarily by the needs, instincts, intuitions welling up out of the vital self, nor secondarily by the constructions of the reasoning mind, but first... darkened denials of this ultimate certitude, and even with these as a necessary earthly starting-point. And as it will regard man the individual, it will regard too man the collectivity as a soul-form of the Infinite, a collective soul myriadly embodied upon earth for a divine fulfilment in its manifold relations and its multitudinous activities. Therefore it will hold sacred all the different parts... impulse, partly under that of the environment acting on the communal mind and temper. In this stage the people is not yet intelligently self-conscious in the way of the reason, is not yet a thinking collective being, and it does not try to govern its whole communal existence by the reasoning will, but lives according to its vital intuitions or their first mental renderings.... A second stage of ...
... louder than they to tell them, "Keep quiet!" You said that to each individual is given a problem to solve. So each man upon earth has to live individually, for, in living collectively one has the difficulty of the collectivity also: it is not only one's own difficulty. Yes, but man happens to be a social animal, and so, instinctively, he forms groups. But that also is why those who wished to go... There is a vital solidarity and a mental solidarity which you cannot prevent. There is, after all (though men are much more individualised than animals), there is a spirit of the species. There are collective suggestions which don't need to be expressed in words. There are atmospheres one cannot escape. It is certain (for I know this by experience), it is certain that there is a degree of individual ...
... characteristic is related to the astonishing fund of integral knowledge that could serve as the foundation of the contents of education. And the third emerges from the ancient pursuit of individual and collective perfectibility in the light of their laborious experiments related to the human potentialities. Let us briefly elucidate them. Educational and Life: Methods of Education; Role of... Its aim was to transmit to the new generations this knowledge and to develop it further by means of fresh quest and experimentation. Human Potentialities and Pursuit of Individual and Collective Perfectibility The third characteristic of the ancient conception of education was its emphasis on harmonisation of different aspects of personality so that the physical being of the individual... merely a member of human pack, but he is something in himself, a soul, a being, who has to fulfil his own individual truth and law as well as his natural or assigned part in the truth and the law of collective existence. The individual thus demands freedom, space, initiative for his soul, for his nature, for his swabhava and swadharma, to use the Indian terms. These two ideas together are bound to ...
... Force puts a pressure. And it's above all for unifying, penetrating the whole and endeavouring to make of it something cohesive which can express collectively the Force from above. In the morning it is an individual work, in the evening it is a collective work. But naturally, within that, each one can feel individually, but you see, it is a work of unification which I do in the evening. Each one receives ...
... On the contrary, we shall never find out their true meaning or resolve their harsh and often agonising problems until we learn to see in them a means towards the discovery and the individual and collective expression of our highest and, because our highest, therefore our truest and fullest self, our largest most imperative principle and power of existence. All life is only a lavish and manifold opportunity... whether concealed in his nature or conscious in his higher self or inner genius. He obeys an inner ideal, not an outer standard; he answers to a divine law in his being, not to a social claim or a collective necessity. The ethical imperative comes not from around, but from within him and above him. It has been felt and said from of old that the laws of right, the laws of perfect conduct are the laws ...
... the web of inner state and outward action and event through which we know the individual. So, equally, every collectivity small or great is each the Self, the Divine similarly expressing itself in the conditions of this manifestation. We cannot really know any individual or any collectivity if we know it only as it appears inwardly to itself or outwardly to us, but only if we know it as the Divine ...
... prove it abundantly.” The other Message came in 1953: "Sri Aurobindo has given up his body in an act of supreme unselfishness, renouncing the realisation in his body to hasten the hour of the collective realisation. Surely if the earth were more responsive, this would not have been necessary.” The present letter is concerned to set forth the essence of "the realisation” whose pursuit constitutes... formation of such a nucleus is evidently a necessary preliminary condition for the work Sri Aurobindo has undertaken for the world since he aims not only at an individual realisation but at a great collective descent of the highest truth into life and a new power on the earth for the liberation and perfection of mankind. I may point out further that it is this yoga's newness that is responsible ...
... ignorance and division so as to inspire among the youth a burning quest for wisdom and courage, for excellence in works and skills, and for universality and all that contributes to individual and collective perfection. Page 61 Once of the best means of achieving this goals is the task that we have begun earnestly during the last few years the task of Value-Oriented Education. ... that the individual is not merely a social unit, but a soul, a being, who has to fulfil his own individual truth and law as well as his natural or his assigned part in the truth and law of the collective existence. Happily, this Western idea agrees at its root with the profoundest and highest spiritual conceptions of Asia and it can easily play a great role in harmonizing our national effort at ...
... individually by some of the Vedic Rishis, but there is no record of a collective endeavour for such aa ascent, nor was any systematic descent of the Supermind for the transformation of the earth-consciousness envisaged in their aim. But the most outstanding feature of the aim of the Integral Yoga is that it seeks to raise the collective human consciousness into the divine consciousness of the Supermind ...
... supposed needs). I see all the entreaties that come from everywhere, and it all revolves around the same thing (even those who think they've understood that the consciousness must be general—not collective, but terrestrial—they're slaves to the reactions of their body), it all revolves around two things: sleep-food-sleep-food-sleep... ( Mother draws a circle ). Even with those who profess that they ...
... the house over there to this one 1 ), his life no longer belonged to the public. And what happened... well, it will be interesting in a hundred years. Not now. ( Then Mother speaks of the collective meditation held on August 15, Sri Aurobindo's ninetieth birthday. ) Mon petit, we had a meditation here on the 15th, at ten o'clock. 2 At a quarter to ten, I was sitting here at the table in ...
... The new house (28, Rue Francois Martin), the last that Sri Aurobindo and the Mother occupied, is called Meditation House. Later, in the hall outside Amrita's room, Mother used to preside over collective meditations. For many years she also distributed flowers etc here. There were three doors (the upper halves had shutters) connecting the Stores and the verandah but only the middle one was used; ...
... sheer exhaustion and demoralization in which the ghettoized Jews found themselves and the degree to which they were isolated and cut off from the outside world. It ignores the intimidating effects of collective punishment as practiced by the Nazis whenever they were faced with even the most trivial and minor acts of defiance. The knowledge that the Germans would exact terrible reprisals was a serious d ...
... Mother has had hardly any time to eat or sleep, spending hours to see people, work, write letters and so on. Satprem remarks that she does not look tired. ) If there weren't people's thought, the collective suggestion, and maybe—maybe—a subconscious suggestion (the cells may possibly still be subject to a subconscious suggestion, that's possible...), otherwise, with a few seconds of... ( gesture of ...
... ventured to state that even in the "golden" past when the number of inmates was very much restricted and the Mother and Sri Aurobindo were physically present to look after everything, the Ashram's collective life was beset with certain difficulties arising out of the capricious nature and behaviour of some disciples. And this phenomenon was neither fortuitous nor unessential to the fulfilment of the ...
... transforming their mental, vital and physical nature-self, is needed for the new life to appear; only such a transformation of the general mind, life, body-nature can bring into being a new worthwhile collective existence." (The Life Divine, p. 1061) All such quotations suitably knit by Prof. Mukherjee for bringing out the import of every idea related to the total study of the Ashram, impress on ...
... the basic commitment to what the Mother and Sri Aurobindo expect of us as their loving and loyal children, he will not only lose his own peace and happiness but, what is worse, he will disturb the collective life here into the bargain. A sadhak of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, if he would really like to deserve the appellation, must show his zeal to fight out his weaknesses again and again; for, as Sri Aurobindo ...
... there are no empires but only nation States. No doubt there are larger groupings like the European Union, ASEAN and so on. But at the present stage of human progress, the nation is the largest living collective unit of humanity. The question that naturally arises is why did the empires disappear? They disappeared because by their very nature, empires are artificial units built by force; they are not based ...
... ing, reinforcing,. riveting wherever and however necessary. But the misfortune is that the steel has got rusted and worn out from inside. In other words, a diminution of public morality and collective honesty has set in, an ebbing of the individual consciousness too that made for rectitude and justice and equity and fair dealing. Men who are limbs of that frame, who by their position ensure the ...
... are not exclusive of each other. Indeed they with their respective fields and functions are interchangeable, each one can do the work of any other or of all together. They function severally and collectively, and they intermingle and reciprocate in their functioning even like and following the example of the Vedic gods. Fire can ignite the brain or the vitals or the cardiac and the throat region or ...
... cosmic, or even in the terrestrial, context. There is also this close nexus between the individual and the collectivity. As in Mach's Principle, you cannot really - really - change anything, unless everything else also is changed at the same time. Individual change may be the key to collective change, but without the latter, individual change too cannot be complete or final. Hence the Mother's af... an unpredictably illuminating discourse. The hour, the place, the audience, the text, and the Mother herself acted upon one another to make every Wednesday evening a step in the progress of the collective sadhana of the Ashram. In the very first class, the Mother makes a sharp distinction between our surface movements, reactions, thoughts, feelings, sensations, actions, Page 550 ... and thought, harmony and melody, aspiration and prayer, freedom and fatality, science and art. Karma and Grace, vibrations and reactions, faith and trust, consciousness and memory, individual and collective progress, and so on. And yet, for all the lucid clarity with which the differentiations are made, the Mother is not speaking from the mental or conceptual level at all. There is no intellectual ...
... community of sadhaks now placed under the Mother's care was to grow into a "spiritual collectivity" which Sri Aurobindo decided to put under a protective spiritual Name. It is said that he considered for three days 3 - perhaps consulting the Mother before taking the final decision of naming the collective establishment "Sri Aurobindo Ashram", notwithstanding the ideas of austerity, asceticism... complete, and then take the people forward too; and second, with whatever gains of Yoga had already accrued to them (and they were momentous enough), to get a group together, and carry whole collectivity forward. Sri Aurobindo and the Mother opted for the latter course. Page 241 Many years later, when the question was directly put to him "Why did you retire?", Sri Aurobindo... organised manifestation would have been possible. 9 III While the disciples could see that Sri Aurobindo's Siddhi on 24 November 1926 had a key importance to the Sadhana - individual and collective - and meant a decisive victory on the path generating a new fervour and ananda in the atmosphere, few of the inmates were quite prepared for what immediately followed. On the 27th morning ...
... all conscious tension have gone. Only—there is an 'only' in all this—if there were a more liberal proportion between the 'refreshing' (if I may say so) freedom of solitude and the necessity for collective work, there would probably be fewer difficulties.... Towards the end of the first year after I retired upstairs 3 (perhaps even before, but anyway, some time after I began doing japa while walking)... when I received the Command from the Supreme, who was right here, this close ( Mother presses her face ). He told me, 'This is what is promised. Now the Work must be done.' And not individual but collective work was meant. So naturally, because of the way it came, it was joyously accepted and immediately implemented. But when I remember that experience and consider what I have now... ( silence ...
... life upon the earth. But there is also a third perfection to be attained. This will mean the development of a new world, a change in the total life of humanity, or, to begin with, a new perfected collective life in the earth-nature. Integral yoga is an evolving yoga, and in order to lead this yoga to its farthest possibilities, Sri Aurobindo and the Mother have suggested a difficult programme of research... physical consciousness of the human body; only then the integration of Spirit and Matter can be secured. That integration would manifest, first, in a few individuals, and then it will spread into collectivities of such individuals; this would secure for humanity the higher and higher states of welfare and harmony. Evolution of consciousness on the earth, in order to be secure, must find a physical ...
... high integrity (!) to be able to be everywhere at the same time and do all at the same time. Then this famous question of money would be solved. Money does not belong to anybody. Money is a collective possession which should be used only by those who have an integral, Page 51 comprehensive and universal vision. I would add something to that: not only integral and comprehensive ...
... help me", I say, "No, no, it will be much more difficult here; your difficulties will increase considerably." And that is what it means, because they are no longer isolated difficulties; they are collective difficulties. So in addition to your own personal difficulty you have all the frictions, all the contacts, all the reactions, all the things which come from outside. As a test. Exactly on the ...
... perpetrated in the name of religion are among the darkest stains on human history, and simply because of this little initial error: wanting what is true for one individual to be true for the mass or collectivity. ( Silence ) The path must be shown and the doors opened but everyone must follow the path, pass through the doors and go towards his personal realisation. The only help one can and should ...
... can all agree—and after this is firmly established, each one must be ready to yield his personal will in order to keep intact this point of harmony. 29 March 1966 When we have to work collectively, it is always better to insist, in our thoughts, feelings and actions, on the points of agreement rather than on the points of divergence. We must give importance to the things that unite and ...
... strengthening, reinforcing, riveting wherever and however necessary. But the misfortune is that the steel has got rusted and worn out from inside. In other words, a diminution of public morality and collective honesty has set in, an ebbing of the individual consciousness too that made for rectitude and justice and equity and fair dealing. Men who are limbs of that frame, who by their position ensure the ...
... very, very rarely that someone writes to thank me because nothing has happened, you understand! Let us take an accident, it is already the beginning of a disorder. Naturally when it is a public or collective accident, the atmosphere of each person has its part in the thing, and that depends on the proportion of defeatists and those who, Page 405 on the contrary, are on the right side. I don't... them quite natural. When people are ill and get well quickly, they are full of gratitude; but never do they think of being grateful when they are well; and yet that is a much greater miracle! In collective accidents, what is interesting is exactly the proportion, the sort of balance or disequilibrium, the combination made by the different atmospheres of people. There was an aviator, one of the great ...
... names and became great favourites with the Mother; one was Big Boy and the younger one was Kiki. It is said about one of them—I forget which, perhaps it was Kiki —that he used to join in the collective meditation and meditated like one of us; he perhaps had visions during meditation and his body would shake and tremble while the eyes remained closed. But in spite of this sadhana, he remained... materials in proper order and neat and tidy is a very necessary element in our life upon earth. I do not know to what extent we have yet been able to assimilate this teaching in our individual or collective living. How many of us have realised that beauty is at least half the sense of life and serves to double its value? And even if we do sometimes realise, how many are impelled to shape our lives ...
... body cells have issued and evolved. Legends and fairy tales, mythologies and fables are a rationalised pattern and picture of the vibrations and urges that moved the original consciousness. It was a collective—a racial—and an aboriginal consciousness. The same lies chromosomic, one can almost say, in the constitution of the individual man of today. This region of the unconscious (or the inconscient)... what makes the thing still more complex is that all these elements exist simultaneously and act simultaneously, although in various degrees and stresses. They act upon each other, and severally and collectively impress upon the nature and character of the individual being and mould and direct his physical status and pragmatic life. A man can, however, take consciously a definite position and status, identify ...
... body cells have issued and evolved. Legends and fairy tales, mythologies and fables are a rationalised pattern and picture of the vibrations and urges that moved the original consciousness. It was a collective – a racial – and an aboriginal consciousness. The same lies chromosomic, one can almost say, in the constitution of the individual man of today. This region of the unconscious (or the inconscient)... what makes the thing still more complex is that all these elements exist simultaneously and act simultaneously, although in various degrees and stresses. They act upon each other, and severally and collectively impress upon the nature and character of the individual being and mould and direct his physical status and pragmatic life. A man can, however, take consciously a definite position and status, ...
... species and in humanity a matter of race. Logically, then, the Teutonic race is alone entirely capable, and therefore all Teutonic races must be taken into Germany and become part of the German collectivity; races less capable but not wholly unfit must be Germanized, others, hopelessly decadent like the Latins of Europe and America or naturally inferior like the vast majority of the Africans and Asiatics ...
... discoveries these last few days.... I have discovered that in past lives (I don't know which ones), my psychic was several times in a tortured body. And it comes back for (how should I put it?) a collective action in the world, on the earth, so that the possibility of the thing may disappear. It's a rather interesting work. But I noticed it because I said to myself, "But why is my attention constantly ...
... co-operation. It will not be an open conflict, neither will it be a convenient compromise of rival individual interests. It will be the organic expression of the collective soul of humanity, working and achieving through each and every Page 5 individual soul its most wide-winging freedom, manifesting ...
... of the country's collectivity as well as physical expanse. No matter how rationalistic we may be, the moment we are patriots the heart in us intuits this Mother-being and with the dream of its more-than-human loveliness and on the supporting breath of its super-animation we move to the exertions and the heroisms that ordinarily lie far beyond our powers. When a country's collectivity is disposed to occult... Aurobindo brought to his work the full reality of the Being hailed by Bankim Chandra in Bande Mataram. The national soul felt by historical India is not merely the presiding genius of the human collectivity in the land bounded by the Himalayas and by rivers and seas. The distinguishing mark of the Indian consciousness is the realisation, from age to age, of the Eternal, the Infinite, the Absolute. ...
... Avataras—Divine Incarnations—also in the category). Even so, there is a collective manifestation too, an upsurge in which a whole race or nation takes part and is carried and raised to a higher level of living and achievement. There is a tide in the affairs not only of men, but of peoples also: and masses, large collectivities live on the crest of their consciousness, feeling and thinking deeply and... men and established upon earth, then the larger anonymous movements are born and have sway. Indeed, these movements, the appearance of great souls upon earth and the manifestation of larger collective surges in human society, are not isolated happenings, having no reference or point of contact with one another. On the contrary, they are two limbs of a global evolutionary process. In and through ...
... Asuric Upsurge I As we have seen in the preceding chapters, during the seven-year period between 1931 and 1938 there were broad indications that the Yoga at the individual and even collective levels was making steady progress. The Mother's sudden and serious illness in October 1931 had been a set-back of course, a temporary triumph for the hostile forces, but presently the divine dispensation... s among the disciples at this time should be viewed only in the wider perspective of this general progress, outer and inner, of the Ashram community. These had their part to play no doubt in the collective sadhana of the Ashram community, for many of their letters acted as catalytic agents and engineered the emanation from the Source of the much needed general and particular illumination with regard... room, she was apt suddenly to go into a trance and remain in that state for quite some time. In Nirod's words: Such trance moods were more particularly manifest at night during the collective meditation below, and in that condition she would come to Sri Aurobindo's room .... He would watch her with an indulgent smile and try all devices to bring her down to earth .... Then going ...
... smile, one must be in the total peace of perfect and integral "surrender". 26.1.1970 I find that I have still attachment to money — direct or indirect. It is the contagion of collective attachment. Money is a god universally worshipped on the earth and difficult to dethrone. When it will be nothing but an instrument of divine work, the difficulty will disappear. 28.1.1970... mental wisdom that preserves the dirt of money? The physical atmosphere is full of the suggestion and one cannot breathe without absorbing it; and the attachment in the vital comes from the collective conviction of the invincible power of money. This is the cause of almost all difficulties. 30.1.1970 A month of what we were calling the new year has passed, and at what speed! ... as possible. If our attention is well awake we can profit from all circumstances. 19.3.1970 "The more rapidly one goes, individually, the more one must try to extend and strengthen the collective base." (Questions and Answers) Happily all this is Mahashakti's affair. Now, more and more, the whole world works in the joy of being at the service of the Supreme Lord ...
... the history of the world when there was a great need to subordinate the individual to the collectivity or to the state. This attitude has been challenged by the modern theory of individualism, according to which, the fulfillment of the individual is more important than the needs of the society or the collectivity. According to this view, the individual ought to act according to the injunction of the... f of Athens, elected and. re-elected for almost 30 years by the Athenians, the polls (city) of Athens reached the zenith of its political power and cultural achievements, and every aspect of the collective life prospered and developed. In his childhood and youth, he received music lessons from Damon 6 the most famous music teacher of his time, he learnt literature from Pythocleides, he absorbed philosophy... enjoy these events together in an atmosphere of critical appreciation. The political and social organization of the Greek city-states is regarded as an important step in the evolution of mankind's collective organization, for it was an attempt to realize freedom and equality for the individual. Although the rights of free expression and political participation were confined to Greek citizens, and although ...
... Chadwick) 255, 259ff, 321 Ashram, Sri Aurobindo 53-5, 105, 126, 215, 220-1, 226, 240-2, 247, 445, 449, 460, 532, 548, 561-3, 573, 636-8, 658, 769 Deva Sangha 200-1, 204, 215, 241, 281 collective meditation and Pranam 213,287, 319-20, 340-2, 349-50,353,417-8,522 Darshan day 223-6, 263, 286, 358ff, 400, 628-9, 708 messages 365-7, 662, 771, 773-4 'birth': 24 November 1926 234-6, 239ff... Christmas day 364 New Year day 364-6 messages, origin of 365-7 prayers and messages 74, 422-3, 446, 449, 458, 463, 479, 518, 547, 606, 689, 706, 721, 738, 758, 770-1 individual and collective movement 367-8 atmosphere 374, 434-5 condensation of force 373 at Darshan time 628-9 Yoga not a Grand Trunk road 382 no escapist retreat 394 threat of closure due to wrong attitude... going down 207-8 moves to Sri Aurobindo's house 210 managing the household 210-1, 215, 217-8, 223 (also 78) as Mahalakshmi 211, 225, 296, 529 tackles black magic (stone throwing) 213-4 begins collective meditations 213 Page 905 moves with Sri Aurobindo to Library House 215 installs Sri Aurobindo as the Master of the Yoga 217 interest in cats 218-9 knee-joint inflammation 226 ...
... later period, Bhagvad Gita was composed as a part of the great Mah ā bh ā rata and it is considered to be the quint-essence of the Upanishads. The Upanishad, Brahmasutra and Bhagavad Git ā are collectively Prasth ā natrayi. The Vedic literature mainly consists of mantra samhitā, Brāhmanas, Āranyakas and Upanishads. In understanding the mantra samhita, the study of Brāhmanas, Āranyakas and... Yajurveda, 'Udgātā' connected with Sāmaveda, there is a fourth priest called Brahmā who is supposed to be a specialist of all the four Vedas, including Atharvaveda. Rigveda, Yajurveda and Sāmaveda are collectively called Vedatrayi, and Atharvaveda is not included in the Vedatrayi, although it has significant place in the Karmakānda of the Vedas. Atharvaveda is also known as Atharvāngirasa Atharvaveda has... known that Brāhmanas concentrated on Karmakānda rather than on Jnānakānda. As far as the Jnānakānda is concerned, we have a vast literature of Āranyakas and Upanishads. Āranyakas and Upanishads are collectively called Vedānta, since they constitute the last part of the fundamental core of the Vedic literature. The main subject dealt with the Āranyakas is the esoteric meaning of sacrifices, their rituals ...
... victoriously. The very fact of knowing that there is a danger of contagion is already a great step towards liberation. But it is far from sufficient. There are two possible victories to be won, one collective, the other individual. The first is, so to say, positive and active, the second negative and passive. To win the positive victory it is necessary to declare an open Page 92 war of... shall be content to asepticise ourselves so as to be safe from all infection. We shall aspire therefore for the individual victory, and if we win it we shall find out that we have done more for the collectivity in this way than we suspected at first. To win this victory we must build up in ourselves a mentality whose quality is the opposite of that of the surrounding medium. We must, little by little ...
... fear of a breakdown, I have seen that He has held us up. That is, I believe, for two reasons: one, an aspiration from my heart, the other, a collective aspiration from the crowd. So ladies and gentlemen, I would ask you to keep up this constant collective aspiration in order that our class can serve some useful purpose. It is extremely funny or interesting that during these vacations, this ...
... names and became great favourites with the Mother; one was Big Bay and the younger one was Kiki. It is said about one of them – I forget which, perhaps it was Kiki – that he used to join in the collective meditation and meditated like one of us; he perhaps had visions during meditation and his body would shake and tremble while the eyes remained closed. But in spite of this sadhana, he remained in... materials in proper order and neat and tidy is a very necessary element in our life upon earth. I do not know to what extent we have yet been able to assimilate this teaching in our individual or collective living. How many of us have realised that beauty is at least half the sense of life and serves to double its value? And even if we do sometimes realise, how many are impelled to shape our lives ...
... movement we have found in the celebrations of the 7th August and the 16th October. They are to us what sacred days are to the ordinary religions. The individual religious man can do without them, collective religion cannot. These are the sacred days in the religion of Nationalism, the worship of God the Mother. Page 175 The 16th October is the idea of unity, the worship of the Mother one ...
... preferences to win the final victory, even if he has to break his neck on the way. It is your attitude that must change―because nothing is personal , all belongs to the Divine and is meant for collective use if necessary―and as a concrete illustration of this, I must ask you to leave your present quarters and to go to a new house where you are given some lodging. I advise you to take this decision ...
... action, scientific domains, all belonging to the mind—not a very high and abstract mind, a mind above the physical mind which, without our knowing it, pours out constantly through the individual and collective mind to manifest in action. Some people, through a special faculty, are in contact with these domains, take up one formation or other that is there, draw them to themselves and give them an expression ...
... individuals in it have an action INDEPENDENT of the group, then they fall back into their own determinism, which means that the protection acts according to their personal faith, not at all as something collective: according to their personal state and faith, the action of the protection is greater or lesser. I saw it was clearly that. I saw how it had happened (because his question made me look at it, ...
... the reality. Secondly, observation is limited by its scope. All the facts of the world, all sense-perceptions possible and actual cannot be included within any observation however large, however collective it may be. We have to go always upon a limited amount of data, we are able to construct only a partial and sketchy view of the surface of existence. And then it is these few and doubtful facts that ...
... This will be the highest reach of self-perfection." 70 The integrality of perfection cannot remain confined to the individual, but it would extend progressively to the development of the collective divine life on the earth. In the words of Sri Aurobindo: "The divinising of the normal material life of man and of his great secular attempt of mental and moral self-culture in the individual ...
... not upon competition, nor even upon co-operation. It will not be an open conflict, neither will it be a convenient compromise of rival individual interests. It will be the organic expression of the collective soul of humanity, working and achieving through each and every Page 111 individual soul its most wide-winging freedom, manifesting the godhead that is proper to each and every one ...
... the challenges of life and of the cultural context in which one is required to meet the demands of the individual and collective life; At a deeper level, human growth is aided by the development of arts, sciences, and technologies that enable the individual and collectivity to build up bridges between the past and the future through accumulation of experience and transmission of valuable... human growth require to be constantly subtilised so that the processes of growth attain increasing acceleration at an optimum level, which may differ from individual to individual and from collectivity to collectivity. Pedagogy and Aim of Life The greatest educationists, who have played important roles in fashioning educational systems have, in their quest to develop ideal processes and ...
... between this concentration and a so-called "ordinary" meditation? Why do we do it and what happens there? We make an offering of all our daily actions. Yes, this is the individual side. And collectively, what is this concentration for? (He is on the way, note, he has taken half the first step). We concentrate on our weak points and aspire for their disappearance. Page 105 That... For a long time meditations used to take place in the Ashram building. Then, as the number of disciples increased and sports gained importance, these meditations were replaced by collective "concentrations" at the Ashram Playground. ...
... departments of the single nation of mankind. The present obstacle to any such extreme consummation is the still strong principle of nationalism, the sense of group separateness, the instinct of collective independence, its pride, its pleasure in itself, its various sources of egoistic self-satisfaction, its insistence on the subordination of the human idea to the national idea. But we are supposing... farther unification than was the separativeness of the old pettier and less firmly self-conscious groupings which preceded the developed nation-State. It is still the most powerful sentiment in the collective human mind, still gives an indestructible vitality to the nation and is apt to reappear even where it seemed to have been abolished. But we cannot argue safely from the present balance of tendencies ...
... Pakistan's connivance broke into Kashmir, then ahimsa is just an unconscious collaboration with anti-civilisation forces and, far from being a merit, a pernicious mistake. To refuse to see in some collectivities of human beings on certain occasions of history a streak of the diabolic which cannot be mended but requires to be ended by physical attack is sheer blindness to facts. The last war threw these... is impotent to yield those terms. Not even a human natural factor like "society" can be their source, for it can only impose on the individual what many individuals consider to be advantageous to collective existence-and its will is not from any plane higher than that of the single individual and hence cannot have a definitively binding character. Mere numbers cannot make a thing right. Nor can any ...
... in the many which acting collectively may outweigh and exceed isolated or rare excellences. If the king, the sage, the best are Vishnu himself, as old Indian thought also affirmed, to a degree to which the ordinary man, prākṛto janaḥ , cannot pretend, so also are "the five", the group, the people. The Divine is samaṣṭi as well as vyaṣṭi , manifested in the collectivity as well as in the individual ...
... They want to have a meditation at the same time and with the same programme as the Ashram. The necessary information should be given to X. Page 237 Don't you think that the two collective "meditations" that we are trying to have in Aspiration―on Thursday and Sunday at the same hours as the Ashram―are the minimum of inner discipline that our Aspiration should give to itself? These... silence and the effort to concentrate together―if not to meditate―are they not an opportunity to receive your force and to open ourselves a little more to you and to Sri Aurobindo, helping to form our collective soul? Without any wish to impose anything on anybody from outside, is not this elementary discipline, however, necessary in the beginning? Concentrating together is indeed a very good thing ...
... body cells have issued and evolved. Legends and fairy tales, mythologies and fables are a rationalised pattern and picture of the vibrations and urges that moved the original consciousness. It was a collective—a racial—and an aboriginal consciousness. The same lies chromosomic, one can almost say, in the constitution of the individual man of today. This region of the unconscious (or the inconscient)... more complex is that all these elements exist simultaneously and act simultaneously, although in various degrees and Page 49 stresses. They act upon each other, and severally and collectively impress upon the nature and character of the individual being and mould and direct his physical status and pragmatic life. A man can however take consciously a definite position and status, identify ...
... manifestation as a whole, in its totality, which progresses towards a growing, infinite, eternal perfection. It is not each separate element, individually, it is all together, as a Page 324 collective and total expression of the divine Truth. All this is moving forward constantly, eternally, towards a greater perfection. The universe of tomorrow will necessarily be more divine, if one may say ...
... are just the difficult years. The years of transition... ( Mother puts her head in her hands ). ( brief silence ) It's interesting. When I am quiet, I hear a kind of great chant—almost a collective chant, I could say: OM Namo Bhagavateh .... As if all of Nature went ( rising gesture ): OM Namo Bhagavateh... ( Mother goes into contemplation ) Page 61 ...
... the earth: the will to find a new, a higher, an ascending solution, an effort to surge forth into a vaster, more encompassing perfection. Certain ideas of a more general, more extensive, more collective nature, as it were, are being worked out and are at work in the world. And the two go together: a greater and more total possibility of destruction and an inventiveness that unrestrainedly Page ...
... world of devotional life opened out for them. The first Marathi poet combined in himself the lyrical mysticism of Valmiki and the spiritual classicism of Vyasa to build the foundation of a larger collective social order. The method of the poet is reiterative, emphasising each idea or concept with the help of several examples. It does amount to a kind of poetic fervour, but it is meant for the listeners ...
... of Man, he conceives for man a superhuman future and presents a transcendental vision of omega-workings. Evolution is pushing man towards a higher goal, an omega-point, which can be described as collective divinity. A cosmic divine manifestation is in the making.¹³ Whitehead Whitehead (1861-1947), who recalls the Platonic view of the cosmic process, maintains that nothing can emerge in ...
... on. Fire then is the energy of consciousness secreted in the heart of things. It is that which moves the creation upward, produces the unfolding evolution that is history, both individual and collective. It is kindled, it increases in volume and strength and purity and effectiveness, as and when a lower element is offered and submitted to a higher reality and this higher reality impinges upon the ...
... feeling does not go, it persists. So a new religion is proposed, a Godless religion, a Natural Religion and it came to be called the Religion of Humanity. God was replaced by Humanity. Humanity is a collective reality: to serve it became the ideal, the summum bonum. And to serve is to worship and adore. Thus a new deity was installed. To give yourself wholly, to work for the welfare of humanity, body ...
... community. “He has of course said that, to this end, the individuals constituting this collectivity should themselves have the supramental consciousness. But even without attaining an individual perfection – even while still being very far from it – there was at the same time an inner effort to create this ‘collective individuality’, so to speak. The need for a real union, a deeper bond has been felt... environment has any permanent meaning or value except in so far as it adds something or recovers something or preserves something for this human march.” 68 “The collective being is a fact; all mankind may be regarded as a collective being: but this being is a soul and life, not merely a mind and a body.” 69 “[Individual man] is not merely the noble, merchant, warrior, priest, scholar... at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, in Pondicherry, South India? In August 1957, one year after the descent of the Supermind, the Mother said the following: “It is only quite recently that the need for a collective reality began to appear, which remains not necessarily limited to the Ashram but embraces all who have declared themselves – I don’t mean materially but in their consciousness – to be disciples of ...
... action according to the licence of personal desire and action done according to the Shastra. We must understand by the latter the recognised science and art of life which is the outcome of mankind's collective living, its culture, religion, science, its progressive discovery of the best rule of life,—but mankind still walking in the ignorance and proceeding in a half light towards knowledge. The action... his or of all being. The Shastra is something impersonal to the individual, and that gives it its authority over the narrow personal law of his members; but at the same time it is personal to the collectivity and is the outcome of its experience, its culture or its nature. It is not in all its form and spirit the ideal rule of fulfilment of the Self or the eternal law of the Master of our nature, although... although it may contain in itself in small or larger measure indications, preparations, illuminating glimpses of that far greater thing. And the individual may have gone beyond the collectivity and be ready for a greater truth, a wider walk, a deeper intention of the Life-Spirit. The leading in him that departs from the Shastra may not indeed be always a higher movement; it may take the form of a revolt ...
... and disorder and darkness are "inherent in the world as it is at present.” The absolute perfection of the individual depends upon the perfection of the collectivity of which he is an inseparable part, and the perfection of the collectivity is the great end which the divine Force has been working out through the evolutionary process of Nature and revolutionary Yoga. The first cause of the ... illumined and transmute to serve the Cosmic Will. This Cosmic Will or the self-fulfilling Will of the Eternal operating in Time and Space, is the teleological secret and source of all action, collective and individual. To know this Will by inner identity and fulfil it through our integral being, perfectly attuned to its working, is the aim of Yogic action; and we shall presently see how the Mother ...
... it is not something unrelated to the Roses of Power, Light and Bliss. It is characterised as Desire that has a smiting drive and comes incarnate: It is also a multiform movement of colourful collectivity and a creator of concordances in a time-existence made deathless. The smiting drive towards deathless incarnation connects up directly with the infinite force and might and the piercing diamond... But then this is not an accident in view of Sri Aurobindo's claim that even the inanimate objects arc dumbly praying to the Great Mother, The passion for '"white arms" is something like the collective unconscious. All Sethna's poems are characterised by a search for a purer aesthetics and in some of Page 217 them in Altar and Flame, there are lines which are ...
... see only one side of her process and put that forward as the whole and perfect system which must govern our ordering of our life. Working through the imperfect individual and still more imperfect collective mind, she raises up the facts and powers of our existence as opposing principles and forces to which we attach ourselves through our intellect and emotions, and favouring and depressing now this... social, cultural and political to which he belongs and to the idea and need of humanity at large. The community must seek its own fulfilment, but, whatever its strength of mass consciousness and collective organisation, can accomplish its growth only through its individuals under the stress of the circumstances set for it by its environment and subject to the conditions imposed by its relations to ...
... this doesn't exist, the other person's idea and one's own idea. Nobody has ideas of his own: it is an immensity from which one draws according to his personal affinity; ideas are a collective possession, a collective wealth. Only, there are different stages. So there is the most common level, the one where all our brains bathe; this indeed swarms here, it is the level of "Mr. Everybody". And then ...
... of such an organised system of physical education promote sportsmanship, leadership, obedience to leadership and spirit of fair play so necessary for a healthy and progressive life, individual and collective. The vital, the life-energy part of man, is more difficult. "The vital being in us is the seat of impulses and desires, of enthusiasm and violence, of dynamic energy and desperate... harmony and beauty must be cultivated. A good amount of the vital energy is needed for the normal life-process. But still a good part remains unutilised. That must be tapped for individual and collective progress, and there is so much to build and create in this beautiful world of ours. To conclude in Sri Aurobindo's own words: "Our life, still full of obscurity and confusion and occupied ...
... only be to submit grievances to the Government for redress, to beg for privileges and to petition for favours. It will then admit the absolute authority of the bureaucracy and fulfil the purpose of collective petitioning instead of leaving each individual class or community to approach the omnipotent seat of power by itself. The absolute rule of the Moguls admitted this right of petition; it recognized ...
... its essential nature. To assert that man must believe in finality although he is constitutionally unable to grasp any finality, is to leave the terra firma on which all thought moves & reposes, the collective mental experience of the race affecting & affected by the mental experience of each individual and to launch into the void of dogmatic & irrational belief. Credo quia incredibile est, I believe because ...
... coming and going, for buying and selling, for having the right of communal prayer, for marrying, for the child that is born, even for the dead who were taken to the cemetery. Without money the Jewish collective was inevitably doomed to disappear … It is in this sense, and in this sense only, that it may seem to a superficial observer that the Jews have been the prime agents of the ‘capitalist mentality’ ...
... else very imperfectly exemplified. In fact, when a man turns his vision and energy inward and enters on the path of Yoga, he is popularly supposed to be lost inevitably to the great stream of our collective existence and the secular effort of humanity. So strongly has the idea prevailed, so much has it been emphasised by prevalent philosophies and religions that to escape from life is now commonly ...
... it was momentary, not in a permanent way, but at will and anyway lasting long enough to make me experience it concretely. But this is a personal affair, it has nothing to do with the public or collectivity, while the other point is interesting: I have a feeling it is Nature's collaboration, pushing humanity in that direction in Page 76 order to prepare a matter more receptive to the ideal ...
... a's teaching.This works up to a certain point, but then it fades away. These human attempts in various times and places have been more or less successful individually but they have never given a collective result. The psychological method is far more difficult but far more effective: through your actions, to be in a state of inner will to express nothing in yourself but the Truth of your being, ...
... . Fire then is the energy of consciousness secreted in the heart of things. It is that which moves the creation upward, produces the unfolding evolution that is history, both individual and collective. It is kindled, it increases in volume and strength and purity and effectiveness, as and when a lower element is offered and submitted to a higher reality and this higher reality impinges upon the ...
... paradoxically one might say that the part is the whole, nothing but the whole, only on a reduced scale. Viewed in this light all human endeavour, its achievements and realisations form a single collective activity: it is one force, one energy realising itself in and through many vehicles and instruments. Not even man's mental activity that seems so free and autonomous is outside the compass of the ...
... Fire then is the energy of consciousness secreted in the heart of things. It is that which moves the creation upward, produces the unfolding evolution that is history, both individual and collective. It is kindled, it increases in volume and strength and purity and effectiveness, as" and when a lower element is offered and submitted to a higher reality and this higher reality impinges upon ...
... these cases, collective work is very useful, and it should be encouraged. But care should be taken to see that the needs for individual excellence are not sacrificed for the sake of the demands resulting from the consideration of the economy of the collective work. Often the collective work tends to be mechanical, and this tendency should be discouraged. It is preferable that the collective works are... interest for a subject, (c) presenting a panoramic view of a subject, (d) explaining general difficulties or hurdles which are commonly met by a large number of students in their studies, (e) creating a collective atmosphere with regard to certain pervasive ideas, and (f) initiating rapid and massive programmes of training. Finally, lectures as reports of research work have their undeniable place and value ...
... eases, collective work is very useful, and it should be encouraged. But care should be taken to see that the needs for individual excellence are not sacrificed for the sake of the demands resulting from the consideration of the economy of the collective work. Often the collective work tends to be mechanical, and this tendency should be discouraged. It is preferable that the collective works... interest for a subject, (c) presenting a panoramic view of a subject, (d) explaining general difficulties or hurdles which are commonly met by a large number of students in their studies, (e) crating a collective atmosphere with regard to certain pervasive ideas, and (f) initiating rapid and massive programmes of training. Page 164 Finally, lectures as reports of research work have their undeniable ...
... God and with this world of beings who dwell in him and in whom he dwells. It is not an injunction to subordinate the individual to society and humanity or immolate egoism on the altar of the human collectivity, but to fulfil the individual in God and to sacrifice the ego on the one true altar of the all-embracing Divinity. The Gita moves on a plane of ideas and experiences higher than those of the modern... strength, by the rule and example, by the visible standard and the invisible influence of its Best. The best, the individuals who are in advance of the general line and above the general level of the collectivity, are the natural leaders of mankind, for it is they who can point to the race both the way they must follow and the standard or ideal they have to keep to or to attain. But the divinised man is ...
... Aurobindo's contribution to spiritual experience. The systematic detailed exposition of them is his contribution to philosophy. And the direct application of them to the problems of individual and collective living in his Ashram at Pondicherry is his contribution to practical world-work. These three contributions render Sri Aurobindo the most important influence for humanity's future, the spiritual... to this phenomenon. Page 7 modernity of the Aurobindonian Yoga is the insistence that the production of a few extraordinary individuals is not the object. A collective, a social transformation is wanted. And that is why the spiritual work, though unimplicated in politics, is never indifferent to the crises brought about in any part of the world by tyrannies ...
... the evolutionary process which is concerned not only with individuals but also with collectivities. The Supramental Yoga takes all mankind as its material. It is not for just a few extraordinary individuals: its call is to the whole of humanity, declaring to all the divine destiny awaiting them. It is a collective and not a merely individual Yoga and it promises a perfect society, a new world of complex ...
... of the place." 3 In the evening, the sadhaks used to gather in the Meditation Hall, and Page 349 the Mother would come down almost to the foot of the staircase, and after the collective meditation, the sadhaks would file up to her and receive her blessings. While giving a flower, the Mother might unpredictably go into a trance which could extend, though only rarely, to almost... past. During Pranam following the evening meditation, the sadhaks were not supposed to ask questions or raise any personal problems. The action of the Mother in the meditation was "at once collective and individual"; and her aim was to try "to bring down the right consciousness in the atmosphere of the Ashram". The evening meditation was a "brief period in which all is concentrated in the sole ...
... a game, when you play, it is like this (gesture), and then it is like the vibrations of a point, it goes on increasing, increasing and increasing until suddenly, crash!… an accident. And it is a collective atmosphere like that; we come and see it, you are in the midst of a game—basketball or football or any other—we feel it, see it, it produces a kind of smoke around you (those vapours of heat which ...
... appeared. Have we ever really known how the first humans were formed, the first mental realization? Were they isolated individuals, or were they in groups - did the phenomenon take place in a collective milieu or in isolation? I don't know. It may be analogous to the case of the coming supramental creation. It isn't difficult to conceive of an individual in the solitude of the Himalayas ...
... instinct, it is sure that everything will be all right. It is only the perversion of thought which destroys this; as one grows up the thought becomes more and more distorted, there is the whole collective suggestion, and so, little by little, the body loses its trust in itself, and naturally, losing its self-confidence, it also loses the spontaneous capacity of restoring its equilibrium when this ...
... possible. And that was the result ( the vision that the Manifestation was not for the immediate future ). And it always ends in the same way: "What You will." But with a very clear vision that a collective transformation sufficient to create a new species on earth still seems some way off ... without any estimate of the length of time, but not immediate. Page 261 The fact is certain. ...
... unconsciousness and delay in the process of growth and evolution: its aim is to complete the cycle of individual growth in a single life. Now the same principle can be extended to the wider collective development. Civilisation has reached a status today when the next higher status can be and must be attempted. Man has risen to a considerable height in the mental sphere; the time and occasion ...
... then setting out all together on the path.¹ But the aim of yoga was not individual salvation; the aim was collective, even cosmic. And, as Mother explained years later, no individual, however great he may be, can by himself achieve a collective realisation. A representative collectivity—at the very minimum—is needed. Here the yoga was the yoga of conscious evolution, and it needed an evolutionary... Sri Aurobindo since his arrival in Pondicherry. Later, hundreds joined so as to make a small representative world consisting , of specimens of each type of human consciousness and development. This collective formation was a sort of spontaneous development. In the words of the Mother: The decision was not at all a mental choice; it came spontaneously. The circumstances were such that there was no... static Reality of featureless Nirvana or into supraterrestrial planes of heavenly existence, but the establishment of the kingdom of the Spirit on the earth; not merely an individual achievement but a collective one for the earth; not merely the realisation of the Divine, but the realisation of the integral Divine and its integral manifestation in the physical life,—this is the aim which, according to Sri ...
... growth of the individual is the indispensable means for the inner growth as distinguished from the outer force and expansion of the collective being. This indeed is the dual importance of the individual that it is through him that the cosmic spirit organises its collective units and makes them self-expressive and progressive and through him that it raises Nature from the Inconscience to the Superconscience... not near enough to the original Superconscience; he has to find himself as the mental and vital ego before he can find himself as the soul or spirit.” 30 “Whatever perfection of the collectivity is to be sought after, can come only by the perfection of the individuals who constitute it.” 31 “But within this general nature and general destiny of mankind each individual human... human pack, hive or ant-hill; he is something in himself, a soul, a being, who has to fulfil his own individual truth and law as well as his natural or his assigned part in the truth and law of the collective existence. He demands freedom, space, initiative for his soul, for his nature, for that puissant and tremendous thing which society so much distrusts and has laboured in the past either to suppress ...
... not work with their hands, that is what I meant. "There will be no taxes as such, but each will contribute to the collective welfare in work, kind or money." So that is clear: there will be no taxes or duties, but each one will have to contribute to the collective welfare through work, in kind or in money. Those who have nothing to give but money will give money. But "work" may mean... "All who live there will participate in its life and development. "This participation may be passive or active. "There will be no taxes as such but each will contribute to the collective welfare in work, kind or money. "Sections like industries which participate actively will contribute part of their income towards the development of the township. "Or if they produce something ...
... all men, the entire humanity itself. She has identified herself with each person in her being and consciousness, she is one with all, all are merged in her. Her voice utters the cry of the human collectivity. Mother's Prayers and Meditations are the prayers and meditations of man. Thus again: - .. il m'a semble que j'adoptais tous les habitants de ce bateau, que je les enveloppais tous dans... revivre en Toi; la terre attend Ton arret dans me grandiose prosternation .. 1 This is the second status of the Mother's being, the first is the personal and individual, the second is this collective and universal being. But she is not merely the universe, she is the Mother of the universe. Hers is not merely earth's prayer, but the prayer of the Mother of the earth. It is not merely the prayer... bras comme un enfant malade qu''il faut guerir et pour lequel on a, a cause meme de sa faiblesse, une tendresse toute speciale. 1 The triple status of the Mother, the individual, the collective and the transcendental (or, in other words, the personal, the universal and the supra-personal) has been condensed and epitomised in the magical note describing her first meeting with the Lord: ...
... good work." Again: For all to agree, each one must rise to the summit of his consciousness: it is on the heights that harmony is created. 10 And once again: When we have to work collectively, it is always better to insist, in our thoughts, feelings and actions, on the points of agreement rather than on the points of divergence. We must give importance to the things that unite and... After the foundation on 21 February 1971, there was the difficult work of excavation (as Ruud Lohman, one of the Aurovilians, puts it) "of a vast crater 10 metres deep, or the reaching into the collective inconscient, or both;" and then the raising of "the four cement-concrete pillars back up Page 803 to zero-level to the point where [the digging began] one and a half year ago": ... infallible global understanding and concord. If in our inner life the rift between man and god, matter and spirit, could be healed, then inevitably the healing of the rift between man and nature, man and collective man, would follow as a matter of course. VII In an earlier chapter a reference was made to Meditations on Savitri, a collaborative work of interpretation by the Mother and Huta. The ...
... and the attempt at all possible. In seeking the truth and law of his own being the individual seems to have discovered a truth and law which is not of his own individual being at all, but of the collectivity, the pack, the hive, the mass. The result to which this points and to which it still seems irresistibly to be driving us is a new ordering of society by a rigid economic or governmental Socialism... human pack, hive or ant-hill; he is something in himself, a soul, a being, who has to fulfil his own individual truth and law as well as his natural or his assigned part in the truth and law of the collective existence. 2 He demands freedom, space, initiative for his soul, for his nature, for that puissant and tremendous thing which society so Page 24 much distrusts and has laboured in ...
... would make it possible for vast masses of men seized by the passion for an ideal and by the hope of a new happiness for mankind to break up the present basis of things and construct a new scheme of collective life. In another direction, the replacing of the individualistic basis of society by an increasing collectivism, there has been to a large extent such an intellectual preparation and gathering force... restricted, but will not be abolished; national armies may be limited in numbers—an illusory limitation—but they will be maintained; science will still continue to minister ingeniously to the art of collective massacre. War can only be abolished if national armies are abolished and even then with difficulty, by the development of some other machinery which humanity does not yet know how to form or, even ...
... it that the phrase means the universal collectivity of the divine powers; for this sense seems to me best to correspond to the actual expressions of the hymns in which they are invoked. In this hymn they are called for a general action which supports and completes the functions of the Ashwins and Indra. They are to come to the sacrifice in their collectivity and divide among themselves, each evidently ...
... and will take place individually before occurring collectively. It is probable. But no individual realisation can be complete nor even approach this perfection if it is not in harmony with at least a group of consciousnesses representative of a new world. In spite of everything there is so great an interdependence of the individual and the collectivity, Page 319 that the individual realisation ...
... literature? Yes, Mother. Then it's the worst of them all! ( Laughter ) Page 164 No, it is the second series. Then I am going to draw first for the collectivity. That is, what will answer and express the collective state of all those who are gathered here. We are going to see what it will do. ( Mother concentrates and inserts a small card in the book. ) My child, this is in English ...
... from the world, and it's quite possible in her park with a road around it and someone to stop people from entering—one can be really in peace—but if I am there, that's an end to it! There will be collective meditations and so on. So if I have signs (physical signs, first), then the inner command to go out, I will go there in a car and spend an hour in the afternoon—I can do it from time to time....... of the disciples), and everyone had his house and his garden: a little house and a garden for everyone. And there were means of communication; I wasn't sure if it was individual transportation or collective transportation (like those small open trams in the mountains, you know) that crossed the city in all directions to bring the disciples back to the center of the city. And around all that, there was ...
... Dharma is not any religious creed or dogma nor a system of rituals, but a deeper law of the harmonious and interdependent growth of the deepest aspirations of the collectivity and of the individuals that constitute the collectivity. Dharma can be regarded as an ordered system of moral and spiritual values. Spirituality proceeds directly by change of consciousness, change from the ordinary ...
... of humanity is a steady progress and there is no great gain in rushing positions far ahead, while important points in the rear are uncaptured. The national ego may easily mean nothing more than collective selfishness. I may be ready to sacrifice money and ease for the country in order to secure my wealth, fame or position and property which depend upon her security and greatness. I may be ready to ...
... But each one must know that his discovery is good for him alone and it is not to be enforced upon others. And also this: In Auroville, nothing belongs to anyone in particular. All is a collective property. I have difficulty speaking.... Page 188 Didn't you have something to ask? Yes, I would have a few things.... There are two things. First, on the mental or vital ...
... It is the dominance of the crude, ignorant, selfish and dangerous vital nature of man that is at the base of all our troubles and difficulties, perturbations and upheavals both individual and collective ; for the vital in us is not concerned Page 68 with truth, right or justice. It seeks self-affirmation, life-growth and satisfaction of all its desires and impulses. "It tries ...
... observe the children under their care and to pay individual attention to those who need it. At the same time, the framework of "class-learning" fulfils children's need to be together and to progress collectively. But the programmes such as those of horticulture, agriculture and elementary courses for skill development will require different kinds of grouping, depending upon requirements of the tasks involved ...
... and unconsciousness and delay in the process of growth and evolution: its aim is to complete the cycle of individual growth in a single life. Now the same principle can be extended to the wider collective development. Civilisation has reached a status today when the next higher status can be and must be at-tempted. Man has risen to a considerable height in the mental sphere; the time and occasion ...
... manifestation of the Divine. Its main aim is not liberation merely but the manifestation of divine perfection. In his vision not only the individual but the collectivity also is a term of the Divine. Acceptance of life includes the collective life. There is a deeper reason for accepting life. In his vision of the Reality Sri Aurobindo shows the rationality and the inevitability of an ascent by... earth-consciousness, then not only should it descend into the lowest plane of physical consciousness – the subconscient – but it must become a part of the collective consciousness on earth too. I asked him many questions about the organisation of a collective life based on spiritual aspiration. On the last day of my stay of eleven days I met Sri Aurobindo between 3 and 4 in the afternoon. The main... visions of perfection of the human Spirit on earth, I found the synthetic and integral vision of Sri Aurobindo the most rational and the most satisfying. It meets the need of the individual and collective life of man today. It is the international form of the fundamental elements of Indian culture. It is, as Dr. S. K. Maitra says, the message which holds out hope in a world of despair. This aspect ...
... all men, the entire humanity itself. She has identified herself with each person in her being and consciousness, she is one with all, all are merged in her. Her voice utters the cry of the human collectivity. Mother's Prayers and Meditations are the prayers and meditations of man. Thus again: . . il m' a semblé que j' adoptais tous les habitants de ce bateau, que je les enveloppais tous dans... en Toi,. la terre attend Ton arrêt dans une grandiose prosternation. . ¹ This is the second status of the Mother's being, the first is the personal and individual, the second is this collective and universal being. But she is not merely the universe, she is the Mother of the universe. Hers is not merely earth's prayer, but the prayer of the Mother of the earth. It is not merely the prayer... est dans nos bras comme un enfant malade qu'il faut guérir et pour lequel on a, ài cause même de sa faiblesse, une tendresse toute spéciale.¹ The triple status of the Mother, the individual, the collective and the transcendental (or, in other words, the personal, the universal and the supra-personal) has been condensed and epitomised in the magical note describing her first meeting with the Lord: ...
... general attitude. It makes for a kind of collective support at the moment of the transition. At the moment when the consciousness that ordinarily supports the cells fades away for the new one to take its place, the cells need ("the cells," I don't know if its them), but there has to be the support of... (how can I put it?)... a sort of collaboration of the collective forces. Its not much, its not indispensable... suspended like that; it may be a few seconds, but those few seconds are terrible. [Moments when all the disciples were watching her, thinking: Mother is very ill, Mother is leaving, Mother.... An opaque collective atmosphere that her cells were directly drawing in.] And even that comes from this idiotic spirit of self-preservation in the depths of any cellular consciousness—it knows that. It knows it. It's ...
... which they lived, they would have been called the Gangaridai. Pliny himself provides room for such a broad label when, as we have already marked, he employs the collective phrase: 'the whole tract along the Ganges.' Even a collective heading he mentions: the context in which he has that phrase concerns the Prasii and their capital Palibothra and he tells us that the people along this tract were... boundary in Lower Bengal but with no inclusion of them in the Calingae, no restriction of them to the eastern side of India and with a suggestion 'of their Gangesextensive existence. A collectivity of confederacies leads us to see in Plutarch's "Kings of the Gāngāritai and the Praisiai" more than merely a couple of crowned heads: the kings of the several Gangetic confederacies might be... whole tract along the Ganges" (to quote Pliny again) into a super-tribal far-spread "nation" constituting a many-sided yet single kingdom, Gāngārāttā, whose variously located inhabitants were collectively called the Gangaridai. Page 174 ...
... won't have to work with their hands, that's what I mean. "There will be no taxes as such but each will contribute to the collective welfare in work, kind or money.” So that's clear: there will be no taxes of any kind, but everyone will have to contribute to the collective welfare through his work, in kind or with money. Those who have nothing other than money will give money. But to tell the... "All who live there will participate in its life and development. "This participation may be passive or active. "There will be no taxes as such but each will contribute to the collective welfare in work, kind or money. "Sections like Industries winch participate actively will contribute part of their income towards the development of the township. Or if they produce something... whole organization would have to be developed. There will have to be... something like that in Auroville. Based on work. Yes, an activity. You can define work as an activity that has a collective utility, not egoistic. (silence) The difficulty is the appraisal of the value of things. You know, you have to have a very broad vision for that. The easy thing about money was that it ...
... ing, she brought order, tidiness and a measure of functional adequacy to the community life of the inmates. Still it was Sri Aurobindo who remained the Master of the Yoga; he presided over the collective meditation in the evenings; he received the important visitors, he conducted the essential correspondence, and he sent out the feelers for eliciting support to his scheme for training select aspirants... Mother and craved her blessings. 4 Two of these third generation kittens were the belligerent brothers, Big Boy and Kiki, both great favourites with Mina, and Kiki is said to have joined the collective evening meditation, "and his body would shake and tremble while the eyes remained closed". In later years, the Mother was to speak feelingly of Kiki before the Ashram children - "a very sweet... no mental intervention. It was altogether spontaneous instinct. But what is instinct? - it is the presence of the Divine in the genus of the species, and that, that is the psychic of animals; a collective, not an individual psychic. 7 With all this background, it was hardly surprising that the worlds of plant and animal creation were not alienated from human beings in Mirra's scheme of things ...
... highest part is Justice, the charity which will permit no wastage and which will hinder no one in his free evolution. In this way, very naturally, everyone works at once for himself and for the collectivity. This orderly and harmonious country was ruled by a king who was king simply because he was the most intelligent and wise, because he alone was capable of fulfilling the needs of all, he alone ...
... perhaps, of the decline of civilisation and decompo- Page 110 sition of society, has come a growing vulgarity which seems to have taken possession of human life, individual as well as collective, particularly on the level of aesthetic life and the life of the senses, A methodical and enlightened cultivation of the senses can, little by little, remove from the child whatever is vulgar, c ...
... All-Will and Free-Will His is surely a bounded soul who has never felt the brooding wings of a Fate overshadow the world, never looked beyond the circle of persons, collectivities and forces, never been conscious of the still thought or the assured movement of a Presence in things determining their march. On the other hand it is the sign of a defect in the thought or a void ...
... growth. It is the learning by doing, as named by Dewey. When we say that a child is amusing himself or playing (alone or with playmates), it is almost always the purposeful activity (solitary or collective) of a growing being deeply engaged in the process of building up and perfecting his instruments of knowledge and action. We are indeed in presence of a genuine education, leading to discovery and ...
... the presiding deity, the godhead born full-armed out of the poetic consciousness of the race to which he belongs. Even in the case of France whose language and literature are more a democratic and collective and less an individualistic creation, even there one single Name can be pointed out as the life and soul, the very cream of the characteristic poetic genius of the nation. I am, of course, referring ...
... as a sign, perhaps, of the decline of civilisation and decomposition of society, a growing vulgarity seems to have taken possession of human life, individually Page 106 as well as collectively, particularly on the level of aesthetic life and the life of the senses. A methodical and enlightened culture of the senses can little by little remove from the child whatever there has been vulgar ...
... Yoga is to bring down the supramental consciousness on earth, to fix it there, to create a new race with the principle of the supramental consciousness governing the inner and outer individual and collective life. Therefore the existence of the Asram, whatever difficulties it created for ourselves or for the individual, was inevitable. The method was the preparation of the earth consciousness in the ...
... Mother's permission to join our group meditation here. Is he practising Yoga—does he do meditation by himself? It would as a rule be better if people tried by themselves first and joined the collective meditation only when they had begun to have experiences or some kind of opening. This is not an absolute rule, however. If the other sadhaks find no inconvenience, he may come as a trial and see ...
... themselves on the right side, they at once make themselves instruments of the Divine purpose in spite of all defects, errors, wrong movements and actions which are common to human nature and all human collectivities. The victory of one side (the Allies) would keep the path open for the evolutionary forces: the victory of the other side would drag back humanity, degrade it horribly Page 465 and ...
... terrible nervous tension which they provoked, as a sign, perhaps, of the decline of civilisation and social decay, a growing vulgarity seems to have taken possession of human life, individual as well as collective, particularly in what concerns aesthetic life and the life of the senses. A methodical and enlightened cultivation of the senses can, little by little, eliminate from the child whatever is by contagion ...
... tions of terrestrial formations: mineral, vegetal, animal, and psycho-intellectual or human-divine. Among the four, in order, there are no divisions. "Divine unity, embodied and manifested by collective humanity...." It was in both French and English. He called it "Fundamental Axioms of Cosmic Philosophy." It was the work of a certain French metaphysician who was well known around the turn of ...
... destroying, they have the delight of negation. What is instinct exactly? It is Nature's consciousness. Nature is conscious of her action; it is not an individual consciousness. It is a global or collective consciousness. There is also a consciousness of the species. Each species has its consciousness which is called sometimes the spirit of the species, that is to say, a conscious being presiding over ...
... friends in Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry, and its Delhi Branch, is incommensurable, and since to go into details must make the Preface endless, I have reluctantly to satisfy myself with this collective expression of my heartfelt gratitude. I have also heavily drawn upon published and other, sources, and I have indicated my indebtedness, generally in the Bibliography, and more particularly in the ...
... the progress of a species whose every instrument and speech and even history may crumble to dust and disappear forever without changing an iota in the progress of... something that has to do with collective and terrestrial human physiology. Our interpretation of this progress could very well have never existed, or could have been read in a completely different way—with different words and quite different... evolution, but Matter's evolution. And we are all in it together, little Marxists and little Christians alike. The Change of History But a moment comes when the spectacles can fall off mean, collectively and terrestrially. A moment when glasses are changed. A pure and unobstructed vision may well be the final goal of evolution. As though a number of filters were initially needed to screen from us... longer at the level of the cranium and through a mental medium, but at the level of Matter and in all points of the body. The barrier was broken and the flow rushed forth. 13 Something in the collective human barrier had perhaps given way. Why? It would take a total world vision really to understand. The universal movement is like this: through inner effort and progress, certain individuals, the ...
... there was the Yoga - there were the two Gurus (who were really one in consciousness) - and there were the many disciples; and since the yogic battle was being waged on the individual as well as collective fronts, the Mother and Sri Aurobindo were as much concerned with the disciples' sadhana as with their own, and some of the disciples felt perpetually intrigued by what was happening to the Supermind... a positive movement towards a solution - in the 1930s in what was little less than the invisible spiritual battle-ground of Sri Aurobindo Ashram. First: How did the sadhaks, individually and collectively, respond to the challenge for a change of consciousness (from the human to the divine) posed by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother? Second: How far did they, as the two "Leaders of the Way", succeed... unsuspected artistic veins in themselves, and the atmosphere of the Ashram quickened the flowering of the consciousness of most of the inmates. All this clearly showed that, generally speaking, the collective sadhana of the Ashram was not failing to show results that were by no means unimpressive. III Since the very beginning, indeed, there has reigned an atmosphere in the Ashram which ...
... leaving the environment, the collectivity, wholly unaffected - leaving them to stew in their own juice? "This does not seem possible to me," says the Mother; a comparative transformation, yes, but not a total transformation! Through complete inner detachment, or the annulment of the ego, a supramental consciousness may be won, which will then act upon the world, the collectivity and their undesirable vibrations... person; but there was a psychic nucleus in one and all, there was the ambience of the Spirit holding the congregation together, and when the Mother spoke, it was this etheric atmosphere, it was the collectivity of the hundreds of individually awakening or awakened soul-atoms that received the charge of her words, the mantric rhythms of her speech, the marvellous emanations from her eyes. Evening after ...
... pain owing to disease and weakness and fatigue and illness. In the collective life you will find that the problem of pain, the infliction of pain, is in the whole record of human history. If you study history, you will find that there is war and death and pestilence and killing and all kinds of ills: that is pain on the collective side. The area of pain is rather large. Why did the Eternal... knowledge - each aspect of human expression has a divine perfection and that perfection has to be brought into mankind. So the perfection of mankind and the perfectibility of life, individual and collective, is now a filled-in concept because of Sri Aurobindo. Take the problem of pain, regarded as a problem which has to be solved. Some solve it in one way, another in another way, but now Sri ...
... because it manifests something of the Divine Consciousness." Page 541 and trembling vitality and a new intensity and tone to the collective life of the sadhaks with Sri Aurobindo. The talks and discussions didn't interfere with the collective meditation, and everything in fact seemed to find its proper place like the several notes in a piece of music. Sri Aurobindo's birthdays were special... Manifesto for the future - comprising the plea for change, the programme of spiritual evolution (or revolution) and the promise of individual, social and terrestrial transformation, involving man and collective man and global humanity - the grand Manifesto had been broadcast in all its sovereign amplitude and self-sufficiency . While this testament of the Life Divine was unfolding with a leisurely puissance... its creed, function, organisation and policy, and this of course wasn't likely to happen. And Sri Aurobindo concluded his letter with the sentiment that the Congress had - and should have - its own collective inspiration and momentum, and the absence or presence of any particular leader should make little difference to its deliberation and decisions. At the Calcutta special Congress presided ...
... meaning and disappears into a much larger problem. Does the future of humanity lie in a culture founded solely upon reason and science? Is the progress of human life the effort of a mind, a continuous collective mind constituted by an ever changing sum of transient individuals, that has emerged from the darkness of the inconscient material universe and is stumbling about in it in search of some clear light... give up the highest she knows and barter it away for a perhaps more readily practicable but still lower ideal alien to her true and constant nature. It is important too for humanity that a great collective effort to realise this highest ideal—however imperfect it may have been, Page 74 into whatever confusion and degeneration it may temporarily have fallen,—should not cease, but continue ...
... the world, and it's quite possible in her park with a road around it and someone to stop people from entering — one can be really in peace - but if I am there, that's an end to it! There will be collective meditations and so on. So if I have signs (physical signs, first), then the inner command to go out, I will go there in a car and spend an hour in the afternoon - I can do it from time to time..... of the disciples), and everyone had his house and his garden: a little house and a garden for everyone. And there were means of communication; I wasn't sure if it was individual transportation or collective transportation (like those small open trams in the mountains, you know) that crossed the city in all directions to bring the disciples back to the center of the city. And around all that, there was ...
... penetrating; it goes farther, more deeply and more quickly. The collective movement forms a sort of basis which both restrains and supports at the same time. And it is the balance between these two movements which is necessary. So, the more rapidly one goes individually, the more necessary it is to try to extend and strengthen the collective basis. Mother, has this day, the fifteenth of August, an ...
... a usurpation by the ignorant Asura. The social law, that second term of our progress, is a means to which the ego is subjected in order that it may learn discipline by subordination to a wider collective ego. This law may be quite empty of any moral content and may express only the needs or the practical good of the society as each society conceives it. Or it may express those needs and that good... direction. Therefore in our perfection there must be nothing left in the mental being which conflicts with or prevents our sympathy and free self-identification with the kind, the group or whatever collective expression of the Divine he is meant to lead, help or serve. But in the end it must become a free self-identification through identity with the Divine and not a mental bond or moral tie of union ...
... that all know-ledge is only probable in character. We began at that time with the idea that human life can be lived in harmony with effectivity and fruitfulness because both the individuals and the collectivity can be harmonised by the ethical and social principles of liberty, equality and fraternity. Today we find increasing force of the idea that morality is a matter of emotional responses and that there... become so huge that it is un- manageable; it is a structure of great complexity meant to provide political, social, administrative, economic and cultural machinery; and its focus is on providing collective means for intellectual, sensational, aesthetic and material satisfactions. This System of civilisation has become too big for the limited mental capacity and understanding and for the still more' ...
... to a successful conclusion. In this context, one of the central issues on which we shall be required to have great and fresh clarity is that of Dharma and its applications in the individual and collective life. The current economic field, whether competitive or socialistic, is a field of the job market, which is being fed by human resources trained by educational factories providing courses and... transcendental reality. The ideal of equality is the idea of mutuality and harmony and its message is to restore sound equation between the individual and the individual and between the individual and collectivity. Its call is to awaken into us the vision of one underlying reality that can harmonise diversity into unity. It is consonant with the ancient Indian vision of samam brahma, one equal brahman ...
... Mother's daily routine allowed for four or five hours' contact with the sadhaks - for darshan, for collective meditation, for pranam, for individual interviews. There were the visits to the sadhaks' rooms, the drives in the evenings. In the early months after the Siddhi Day, the daily collective meditation was the time when the Mother invoked the Overmind gods into the sadhaks, and there were ...
... side of oversimplification, and bypasses the important truth that karma is not only individual, but collective; that there is a constant intermingling of all karmas, and that no individual karma can pursue its solitary course completely uninvaded and unaffected by the environmental and collective karma. A new, revealing light is thrown upon the problem of rebirth and the grouping of souls by ...
... consciousness aimed at by the Integral Yoga. These initial tasks of psycho-spiritual growth consist in: emerging progressively from the unconscious state in which one is more or less a fused part of the collective mass rather than an independent individual who is "a truly mental man who thinks for himself, is free from all outer influences, who has an individuality, who exists, has his reality" ( p. 104 ); ...
... “Fascism develops to the full and applies to the realities of the postwar new ethics which had originated on the eve of the war: the yearning to serve, the cult of power, of commanding and obeying, of a collective faith and abnegation. Fascism means adventure and also, as in Sorel, ‘the deed and nothing but the deed’ … But what in the first decade of the [twentieth] century was nothing more than a theoretical ...
... appearances before those who work under him. Unfortunately the same rule does not apply to a spiritual leader vis-a-vis his disciples. A great spiritual personality is so often surrounded by a collective ego-wall of mediocre followers that truth-seekers cannot help but hesitate to approach the Master. I often feel that all these legends grow around a luminary not because the disciples have too ...
... general level of mankind. That is why in the second place the message brought by Page 73 the War was that of freedom and autonomy for all, for the individual as well as for the collectivity or nation. Colonialism was to cease to exist; even the smallest nations were to win their freedom. This new era of progress was begun by the First World War. A third boon was to lay the f ...
... Mother. The creation of a new world, a new humanity, a new society expressing and embodying the new consciousness is the work she has undertaken. By the very nature of things it is a collective ideal that calls for a collective effort, so that it may be realised in the terms of an integral human perfection.’ 13 An integral human perfection can be no other than a supramental perfection; all perfections... for the material realisation of that unity; 2. To have the will to collaborate in all that furthers future realisations.’ 10 These were the ‘psychological conditions,’ ‘the goodwill to make a collective experiment for the progress of mankind’. 11 From the spiritual standpoint, however, Auroville was a new step forward in the realization of the supramental transformation process on Earth and ...
... the true sense of progress and there must be as part of it, a sound political, economic and social life, a power and efficiency enabling a people to survive, to grow and to move securely towards a collective perfection, and a living elasticity and responsiveness that will give room for a constant advance in the outward expression of the mind and the spirit. If a culture does not serve these ends, then... argument, it is not in the form entirely apposite; the analogy is far from perfect and the conditions were not quite of the same order. The peoples of Europe are nations very sharply divided in their collective personality, and Page 4 their spiritual unity in the Christian religion or even their cultural unity in a common European civilization was never so real and complete as... individual. The soul of a nation is a conscious being, a formation out of the Divine Consciousness and in direct contact with it. It is not merely the sum total of its individuals that compose it, but a collective personality of which the individuals are, as it were, cells, like the cells of a living and conscious organism. The soul of a nation is indeed conscious; it knows its raison d'etre, its life purpose ...
... men, the entire humanity itself. She has identified herself with each person in her being and consciousness, she is one with all, all are merged in her. Her voice utters the cry of the human collectivity. Mother's Prayers and Meditations are the prayers and meditations of man. Thus again: 1 "...il m'a semblé que j'adoptais tous les habitants de ce bateau, que je les enveloppais tous dans... Toi; la terre attend Ton arrêt dans une prosternation grandiose..." (7-11-1915) This is the second status of the Mother's being, the first is the personal and individual, the second is this collective and universal being. But she is not merely the universe, she is the Mother of the universe. Hers is not merely earth's prayer, but the prayer of the Mother of the earth. It is not merely the prayer... comme un enfant malade qu'il faut guérir et pour lequel on a, à cause même de sa faiblesse, une tendresse toute spéciale." (14.10.1914) The triple status of the Mother, the individual, the collective and the transcendental (or, in other words, the personal, the universal and the supra-personal) has been condensed and epitomised in the magical note describing 1er first meeting with the Lord: ...
... in humanity too we have to find and to serve him. The cult of humanity means an increasing kindliness, tolerance, charity, helpfulness, solidarity, universality, unity, fullness of individual and collective growth, and towards these things we are advancing much more rapidly than was possible in any Page 187 previous age, if still with sadly stumbling footsteps and some fierce relapses. The... earthly life to be constantly pressed towards and not shunting off the social ideal to doomsday to be miraculously effected by some last divine intervention and judgment, they cleared the way for a collective advance. For they made these nobler possibilities of mankind more imperative to the practical intelligence. If they lost sight of heaven or missed the spiritual sense of the ideals they took over ...
... then!" And they were moaning, "Why am I compelled to be like this?..." And all of a sudden, instead of giving them free play: the full Presence—in one second it was all gone. But the collective suggestion, the collective atmosphere is so... rotten, I may say, that it acts all the time. But you ( speaking to Sujata ) are one of those who can say that when I come at night, I am tall and strong. And ...
... that all knowledge is only probable in character. We began at that time with the idea that human life can be lived in harmony with affectivity and fruitfulness because both the individuals and the collectivity can be harmonised by the ethical and social principles of liberty, equality and fraternity. Today we find increasing force of the idea that morality is a matter of emotional responses and that there... become so huge that it is unmanageable; it is a structure of great complexity meant to provide political, social, administrative, economic and cultural machinery; and its focus is on providing collective means for intellectual, sensational, aesthetic and material satisfactions. This system of civilisation has become too big for the limited mental capacity and understanding and for the still more ...
... powers in this synthetic yoga of the Veda are sought to be purified, cultivated, developed and perfected by the constant aid sought and received from the cosmic powers in their individual or in their collective combinations. This is where the role of the Gods comes into our view prominently. Gods in their combination manifest the integrality of the one supreme Deva, one integral Divine Existent. The crown... finally, refer to the important verses, which appear at the close of the Rig Veda, since they bring out the futuristic vision of humanity and harmony, which can come about by intense aspiration for collective yoga that aims at highest welfare and solidarity of people. These verses express exhortation of Rishis for building up the future divine man, "Be, first, the mental being, and manifest, then, the ...
... how? A divine life means, firstly, the fulfilment of man's urge to individual perfection; and secondly, the harmonisation of perfected individuals with one another, and the evolution of a perfect collective life. "Perfect the individual, perfect the race"! Page 611 Between the twin poles of individual perfection and hierarchic perfection will revolve the many-splendoured Divine Life. ... ..when the gates are open and the flood comes in, you can't call it a descent. It is a Force which is spreading out.... A few had laboured individually and won individual victories to make a collective realisation possible. But the many do not get the realisation as a matter of course; it is not a free-for-all party where anyone can quaff for the asking "a glass of syrup". The right preparation ...
... alone, Fichte said, still feel as did the ancient Germanic tribes: duties and rights are derived from subordination to the common will. Only Germans are fit for the new era of social cooperation and collective moral idealism.” 387 This anti-individualistic thinking will lead directly to the bonding of the völkisch youth organizations and the Nazi slogan Du bist nichts, dein Volk ist alles: you are nothing ...
... what is the utility of a personal contact with you? To what extent does a personal contact with you help us?" What is meant by a personal contact? To see me, speak to me, what? Individually, collectively, how? Individually. Oh! ( laughing ) to have interviews? You may answer that it depends on the use one makes of them. It is very difficult to answer, for it is a purely personal question ...
... suffers all one's life. To do that, it is good to set up a certain number of principles in oneself, which, however, should be for each one, in conformity with his own nature. If you adopt a social, collective rule, you immediately make yourself a slave to this social rule, and that prevents you almost radically from making any effort for transformation. Sweet Mother, Sri Aurobindo has said that one ...
... its "Four Zoas" - Los, Urizen, Luvah, Tharmas - in their unfallen state, "Living Creatures" "pervading all,... each in the other reflected", we can see not only a more mystical version of Jung's "Collective Unconscious" and his psychological division of man into Intuition, Thought, Feeling and Sensation. In it we can also discern with Kathleen Raine 10 a presentment of "the Self of the Upanishads known ...
... their rationale can be comprehended, and their root cause can be removed as a result of which, not only can the supramental consciousness be attained but also manifested, individually as well as collectively in the earth-consciousness. Page 21 ...
... world-consciousness 8, 79 world-knowledge 22; see also knowl edge world-nature, intangible energies, of 62; see also Nature Yājnavalkya 97 yama 26 Yoga 21, 29; collective 15; cosmic 15; the conscious adventure of 53: the first steps of 54 Yogic consciousness 80 Page 106 ...
... all its inevitable consequence: egoism had uncontrolled sway, instead of submission and surrender and obedience, freedom attained complete freedom, liberty pushed to licence. Like individuals collective bodies also (in the matter of work and enterprises) were allowed freedom to grow – or perhaps not to grow – independently. Each group or section, each undertaking sought to depend upon itself, secured ...
... implement his decision. The teacher should then give his wise: and restrained support to the child. The three stages I have described belong to the individual development of the child, but the collective atmosphere has a great role in this evolution. The harmonious surroundings in which the child lives a large part of the day engaged in perfecting his instruments of knowledge and action, and the ...
... essential nature, which is a part of the divine Unity. Thus, a rich diversity harmoniously blended and supported by an underlying unity is the highest manifestation of the Divine in any collectivity or nation, or even in mankind and the whole world. "All urge of rivalry, all struggle for precedence and domination should disappear giving place to a will for harmonious organisation, for clear... knowledge that he acquires is fresh. Page 62 The real gain that one can expect from a well organized and thorough mental education has an individual aspect and a social or collective aspect. The individual aspect is culture. Culture is not erudition, it does not depend on the amount of knowledge, but on the way knowledge has been assimilated, integrated, transformed into... knowledge (books, magazines, lectures, exhibitions, human contacts, etc.); whatever is retained and assimilated will be welcome; it may be deep or shallow according to one's capacity. The collective aspect of education is utilitarian and functional. It is connected with the professional life of the individual and his relations with his fellow-beings. The present trend of the technological ...
... including the transformation of the physical. It holds up the ideal of living in the Divine, but not of manifesting the Page 34 Divine in the material world. It has no collective divine fulfilment in view-it doesn't speak of the evolution of a supramental or divine race on earth, which is our main objective. There are other differences, but we shall discuss about them when... mental consciousness. Yoga is the only remedy, and our Yoga, in particular, is the most difficult of all inasmuch as it has to effect a radical and integral transformation of earth consciousness. All collective work must be Yogic work initiated by the Divine. No mental planning has a place in it. What I have said above about the meeting of the East and West holds good in regard to the idea of integration... mind. If I had Page 42 addressed a layman, I would have certainly written what you have been writing to me with copious quotations from Sri Aurobindo on the subject of the collective action on the material plane and the marriage of spirituality and science etc. But, as I have said, I was appealing to you with all the sincerity of my heart to silence these mental thoughts and ...
... world: the will to find a new, higher, progressive solution, an effort to rise towards a vaster, more comprehensive perfection. Certain ideas of a more general nature, of a wider, perhaps more "collective" kind, are being worked out and are acting in the world. And both things go together: a possibility of a greater and more total destruction, a reckless inventiveness which increases the possibility ...
... individual evolution or not?... Do you have any experience of it?... And how could you have the experience? That would become interesting. How can individual evolution be experienced apart from the collective evolution of Nature? Can you give the answer? Unless one is conscious of the principle that is eternal in oneself, how can one know whether... Ah! Good, that's good. That is all right ...
... dangerous. If you want to know what is really happening in the world, you should not read newspapers of any sort, for they are full of lies. To read a newspaper is to take part in the great collective falsehoods. 2 February 1970 Mother, How can one know what is happening in other countries and even in our own, if we do not read papers? At least we get some idea from them, don't ...
... and upward-going movement. Hence all the complexity of my psychological statements as a whole, not new in essence—for much of it occurs in the Upanishads and elsewhere, but new in its fullness of collective statement and its developments directed towards an integral Yoga. It is not necessary for anyone to accept it unless he concurs in the aim; for other aims it is unnecessary and may very well be excessive ...
... of them to get into touch with their souls and thereby acquire some awareness of the Super-human in a direct manner. Not that the mystics, the Yogis, should shirk the several functions of a collective existence. They must work harmoniously in whatever mode they can to build a fairer future on earth — but the work, again, is not in itself the goal. The Latin proverb goes: Quis laborat orat, "He ...
... transport: ship, train, car, anything. So then... were there lots of people on the ship? Yes, a lot. Was it a big ship? Yes, it was a big liner. Then ( laughing ) it's surely that! It's collective evolution, as it is according to the laws of ordinary nature, and what you represented there was the higher knowledge wanting to change the pace, change the course of the ship. It's very clear. And ...
... Schiller and Nietzsche a symbol of German culture – quotes a historian who said that the völkisch movement, culminating in Nazism, was “the reconstruction of a past which was resplendently gilded in the collective memory of the Germans”. 471 It is an amazing fact that so many learned and highly cultured intellectuals, expressing the spirit of a Volk, could turn a mostly fictional past into a sequence of m ...
... established upon earth" 1 — he of whom, when in 1950 he accepted the process of death and left his material envelope in a gesture of supreme self-sacrifice for the fulfilment of the collective destiny of the race, the Mother announced: "Sri Aurobindo incarnated in a human body the supramental consciousness and has not only revealed to us the nature of the path to follow and the ...
... it takes to do that! Extraordinary. He told the story to some friends, who in turn told it to some Page 117 friends, so in the end the story became known. There was even a sort of collective thanks from the city for my intervention.... But the whole thing stemmed from that: "What Is this illness? You're able to find out, aren't you?" ( Laughter ) Go and catch it! But that feeling ...
... in this mortal world, in mrityuloka , they did not possess the necessary working intuition. They did not know the way towards physical transformation. Perhaps it was too early to realize it collectively here in this death-bound world. Now Sri Aurobindo by his intense and arduous yoga-tapasya has prepared the required ground, made ready the ādhā r for the spirit's wide-ranging activities ...
... can recollect but vaguely. This vagueness of memory is due, I suppose, to an overwhelming joy and palpitation in me on that occasion. All of us sat down before the banana leaves as we do at a collective dinner. I was one of the guests; with eyes full of delight I saw Sri Aurobindo as he stood before each banana leaf, looked at the person seated there, gently passed on to the next and thus to the ...
... Man, he conceives for man a superhuman future and presents a transcendental vision of omega-workings. Evolution is pushing man towards a higher goal, an omega point, which can be described as collective divinity. A cosmic divine manifestation is in the making. Whitehead, who recalls the Platonic view of the cosmic process, maintains that nothing can emerge in the evolutionary process of ...
... homogeneity is by virtue of character or personality rather than capacities. Such groups are very valuable. They should be recognized, and they should be given all the help needed individually or collectively. Such groups become, if properly encouraged, transmitters of enthusiasm, dedication and devotion to studies, work and ideals. In regard to the above system of grouping, three obvious advantages ...
... National Congress, held at Bombay in 1885. This event heralded the beginning of a political awakening. The demand for political freedom, however half-hearted and halting, began to find expression in the collective life of political India. Page 28 ...
... consequences: egoism had uncontrolled sway; instead of submission and surrender and obedience, freedom attained complete freedom, liberty pushed to licence. Page 38 Like individuals, collective bodies (in the matter of work and enterprises) were allowed the freedom to grow, or perhaps not to grow, independently. Each group or section, each undertaking sought to depend upon itself, to secure ...
... not only struggle but a veil of darkness as well – the ugly play of all the hungers and passions. Life becomes a chalice of poison. The individual is condemned to dash himself in vain against the collective solidarity of which he is a part. And thereupon we begin to perceive that the peace, the unity, the supreme identity Pasternak has realised do not belong to the land of the mortals. Even if there ...
... ensure the protected freedom necessary to the child for his self-educative process. But for the purpose of carrying this attitude of the teacher and this way of living of the child into the collective life and work of the school, we have to construct a frame-work, to devise methods, to elaborate techniques. The principal aims of these methods and techniques are to co-ordinate the activities of ...
... Tagore's voice rang clear and emphatic in tune with the cry of the ancients: "What shall I do with all this mass of things, if I am not made immortal by that?" When men, in their individual as well as collective egoism, were scrambling for earthly gains and hoards, he held before them vaster and cleaner horizons, higher and deeper ways of being and living, maintained the sacred sense of human solidarity ...
... cut themselves off from these collective activities suffer much from psychological troubles. Most of the ills of the youth outside have their origin in having no occupation after college and school hours. After Sri Aurobindo's passing, the Mother gave me one sound counsel, "Be in the atmosphere," by which she meant that I should not isolate myself from the collective activities. When there was a demand... or sounds, draw her out. Fifteen minutes' work thus took double the time and then she would hasten in order to make up for it. Such trance moods were more particularly manifest at night during the collective meditation below, and in that condition she would come to Sri Aurobindo's room with a heap of letters, reports, account-books, etc., to read, sign or answer during Sri Aurobindo's walking time. But... his bowed head for a pretty long time; all was unpredictable. There was an exceptional circumstance when Sri Aurobindo intervened in the Mother's work. On her way from Sri Aurobindo's room to the collective meditation below, she went for a while to her room to take some rest, as it was probably too early to go down. But once she sat down, time and space vanished and she was deep in trance, while below ...
... life body Page 507 of Brahman in the samasti, the collectivity, it was the collective Narayana, as the individual was Brahman in the vyasti, the separate Jiva, the individual Narayana; the king was the living representative of the Divine and the other orders of the community the natural powers of the collective self, prakrtayah. The agreed conventions, institutes, customs,... development and outer discipline; third, the practice of one of the prescribed religious or spiritual disciplines with a view to Grace or Knowledge; and, fourth, conformity to the laws of individual and collective life. For the Hindu, then, "all life and thought are in the end a means of progress towards self-realisation and God-realisation". 17 And one particular feature of Indian religion has been the periodic... tribal system founded upon "the equality of all the freemen of the clan or race". 47 In course of time, the freely chosen leader became the hereditary King, but his authority still flowed from the collective consent of his people. More than the King, it was the Rishi - who might come from any class - that wielded real authority, and this he Page 506 did on account of his spiritual ...
... method of doing the work on earth, and I had foreseen this in 1912. I met Sri Aurobindo for the first time in 1914, that is, two years later, and I had already made the whole programme. "4) Collectively, to found the ideal society in a place suited to the flowering of the new race, that of 'the Sons of God'." Where did you decide to found the Ashram? Where did I decide to do it?... I never ...
... difference between the varied qualities of the ideal itself. There are ambitions which pursue mere personal interests, material, sentimental or intellectual, others which have more general, more collective or higher aims, and yet others which are superhuman, so to say, and strive to scale the peaks that open on the splendours of eternal Truth, eternal Consciousness and eternal Peace. It is easy to ...
... let there remain nothing but the Divine. It's regular, every day, every single day. And for some time, these cells or this body consciousness (but it isn't organized as a consciousness: it's like a collective consciousness of the cells), it seemed to be complaining a little, to be saying, "But we don't feel much. We do feel" (they can't say they don't feel: they feel protected, supported), "but still ...
... a terrible battle (maybe not a war, but a battle) between Truth and Falsehood. There in Holland, it seems it's like in the year 1000: they Page 337 gather for meditations, entreaties, collective prayers.... Well. And here, it's the same thing, they are panic-stricken. But battle there is. You can't move a finger without waging a battle. I'll give you a very down-to-earth example: the ...
... could go there!... ( Mother laughs ) So I told them, listen!... No, giving speeches is quite useless. All those who want to come like that, individually I can say something for them, but not collectively. ( Mother approves ) That, you know, is a prayer I often have: to know what I should say to people. Yes. Page 196 ( silence ) There's a new ambassador of France in Delhi ...
... The Mother, Words of the Mother - I: India After this the Mother withdrew to her room in the Playground. We watched the Ashramites marching. At the end they observed a few minutes of collective concentration with the Mother, who had come out of her room again. Then her special chair and foot-rest were placed near the map, along with a small table on which stood plates of toffees. She sat ...
... generate a continuing process of lifelong education. And there is a search for a programme of learning that would necessitate a spontaneous harmony of the needs of personal development with those of collective development. It is being asked if there is a tool of acceleration of the summing up of the past and the unfolding of the future. And it is asked if there is a method and content of education that ...
... preferences and antipathies, blind impulses and urges, self-centred behaviour, erratic and erroneous actions and reactions, etc. And because of these we have not yet succeeded in building up an ideal collective life in accordance with the Mother's and Sri Aurobindo's dream. And it is good to be reminded that we shall never be able to realise our goal if we fail to remedy the basic malady assailing and ...
... from poems and plays should also be a part of the programme. Inspiring passages and interesting essays also should be utilised. Page 35 Exhibitions play a great role in creating collective atmosphere and also in opening vaster vistas before the children's vision and imagination. The programme should also include exercises of contemplation, purification and of aesthetic experience ...
... problems that most nations are facing today in terms of managing their health systems. It is not merely by having more medicines, more hospitals and more doctors that the basic problem of health at the collective level can better be solved. Education is what can be and should be the most potent remedy in the long term. The present quasi-ignorance of most people, even in developed societies, about the ...
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