... time then to read for one's mental development except at the cost of the time spent in meditation? If the power to meditate long is there, a sadhak will naturally do it and care little for reading, - unless he has reached the stage when everything is part of the Yogic consciousness because that is permanent. Sadhana is the aim of a sadhak, not mental development. But if he has spare time, those... no obligation on anyone to be engrossed in mental pursuits; sadhana must be done by one's own choice, not by rule or compulsion. Do you suggest that people here should have some mental development if possible? Would it really help the sadhana? I don't know if it helps the sadhana and I don't quite understand what is meant by the phrase. What is a fact is that mental like physical... those who have the mental turn will naturally spend it in reading or study of some kind. For one who wants to practise sadhana, sadhana must come first, - reading and mental development can only be subordinate things. I want to study as part of my sadhana, as an offering to the Mother, just as I do physical work with her Force supporting and Page 60 ...
... knowledge to be ignorant of the things of this world. Reading and Sadhana For one who wants to practise sadhana, sadhana must come first—reading and mental development can only be subordinate things. I don't know that it [ mental development ] helps the sadhana and I don't quite understand what is meant by the phrase. What is a fact is that mental like physical work can be made a part of the... Cultivation of the Mind in Yoga Letters on Yoga - IV Chapter I Mental Development and Sadhana The Development of the Mind The development of the mind is a useful preliminary for the sadhak; it can also be pursued along with the sadhana on condition that it is not given too big a place and does not interfere with the one important thing, the sadhana... the sadhana,—not as a rival to the sadhana or as another activity with equal rights and less selfish and egoistic than seeking the Divine. I have no objection to mental development. It is the idea that doing sadhana earnestly is egoistic and selfish, and reading is an unselfish noble pursuit that is absurd. Reading can be only a momentary help to prepare the mind. But the real knowledge ...
... twenty-one. Life's orientation changed, a whole series of experiences took place, with the development of the vital giving interesting occult result. Then, a period of intensive mental development, mental development of the most complete type: a study of all the philosophies, all the conceptual juggling, in minute detail—delving into systems, getting a grasp on them. Ten years of intensive mental... difficult to touch upon. What happened was far more exciting than any novel imaginable.¹ From 1910 to 1920—these ten years were a period of intensive mental studies for the Mother. This meant a mental development in all its comprehensiveness: the study of all philosophies, all the jugglings of ideas in their smallest details—entering into systems and understanding them. She went as whole-heartedly into... before I had any word or idea to explain it), consciousness and its force—its force of action, its force of execution. Next, a detailed study and thorough development of the vital. After that, mental development taken to its uppermost limit, where you can juggle with all ideas; a developmental stage where it's already understood that all ideas are true and that there's a synthesis to be made, and that ...
... twenty-one. Life's orientation changed, a whole series of experiences took place, with the development of the vital giving interesting occult results. Then, a period of intensive mental development, mental development of the most complete type: a study of all the philosophies, all the conceptual juggling, in minute detail—delving into systems, getting a grasp on them. Ten years of intensive mental... before I had any word or idea to explain it), consciousness and its force—its force of action, its force of execution. Next, a detailed study and thorough development of the vital. After that, mental development taken to its uppermost limit, where you can juggle with all ideas; a developmental stage where it's already understood that all ideas are true and that there's a synthesis to be made, and that... my experience of the hundreds and hundreds of men I have met. There's normally a physical strength built up through games and exercises, and side by side a more or less advanced, but primarily mental development, very mental. The vital is terribly impulsive and barely organized, except in artists, and even there.... I lived among artists for ten years and found this ground to be mostly fallow. I mingled ...
... personal viewpoint and pass on to a larger viewpoint, and at showing that the larger, the more universal viewpoint makes you overcome the personal thing." By "intensive mental development" Mother meant "a mental development in the most comprehensive way: a study of all the philosophies, all the conceptual juggling, in the minutest details- delving into systems, getting a grasp on them. Ten years... the standpoint of aesthetics together with a study of sensations, which culminated in the occult development with Theon; Page 267 then, at around the same time, an intensive mental development which lasted from 1908 to approximately 1920, a little less but especially before coming here in 1914." As the year 1908 ebbed, it swept away Madame Theon with it. Then bidding adieu to... philosophy of Europe —he had a rather remarkable metaphysical brain." He even published a book-length metaphysical essay. Thus, after a thorough vital development, Mirra was led by Richard to a "mental development taken to its uppermost limit, where you can juggle with all ideas, that is to say, when the mind's development has already made you understand that all ideas are true and that there's a synthesis ...
... & SPIRITUAL MAN Although all men look similar to one another, there is always a great difference in their mental and moral consciousness so much so that at the lowest end of the human mental development, men represent more or less animal consciousness and are almost on the same mental plane with the animals of developed intelligence. These men represent the physical mind and belong in the t... Tamas is the principle of inertia and ignorance and-these men have no higher objectives in life than those demanded by the necessities of sheer physical existence. At a higher stage of human mental development, we have what is called the rajasic type who are active, dynamic and kinetic in their nature. They are motivated by lust of power and enjoyment and are never satisfied with the routine and ordinary... mental consciousness. And they represent a fairly large number of human beings. Poets, philosophers, writers, artists, painters, sculptors and others are the at-present highest type of human mental development but they are all confined within the limits of knowledge-ignorance of the mind. The spiritual men, on the other hand, have exceeded the limits of mind and have by the highest human effort reached ...
... , 17.35 That's my experience now. ( Mother goes into a contemplation ) A.R.'s example is a very clear demonstration of... why there was a mental development in the world—indispensable. Once you have had the full mental development, you can say, "Yes, I no longer need it"—but not before. There's a small humorous detail: in "The Adventure of Consciousness" (which he read), regarding ...
... man and should know the secrets of the principles underlying the development of both our active and latent capacities. In the present system of education, we are too preoccupied with the mental development; and we give a preponderant importance to those qualities which are relevant to the present examination system. We are thus not giving so much of importance to the development of the powers of... of harmony and friendliness, of courage and heroism, of endurance and perseverance and of irresistible will to conquer the forces of ignorance, division and injustice. In the domain of the mental development, the values that we ought to seek would be those of utmost impartiality, dispassionate search for the Truth, Calm and Silence, and widest possible synthesis. The values pertaining to the aesthetic ...
... aspects and how to exceed them is the main domain of dharma. Physical and vital life have to be developed gradually and should be regulated by the general principles of mental development. The principles of mental development are those of the pursuit of truth, harmony and goodness. These principles are the central core of Dharma. At more advanced stages when the mental life begins to predominate ...
... s. Then came all the artistic and vital development, culminating in the occult development with Théon (I met Théon around 1905 or '06, I think 1 ). Then right around this time an intensive mental development began—from 1908 to 1920, or a little before; but it was especially intense before coming here in 1914. And 1920 marked the beginning of full development. Not spiritual development—that had... here, in 1920, with action. From 1911 or '12, up to 1914, there was the whole series of inner experiences, psychic experiences, preparing me to meet Sri Aurobindo (so this ran parallel to my mental development). In practice, these periods overlap, but approximately every twelve years a particular type of development predominated, in this order: consciousness first, then the vital (mainly from the ...
... is himself a constant Student. He is a child leading children, and a light kindling other lights, a vessel and a channel. In our present system of education, we are too occupied with the mental development, and we give a preponderant importance to those qualities which are relevant to subject-oriented, book-oriented and examination-oriented system. We do not give so much importance to the development... those of harmony and friendliness, of courage and heroism, of endurance and preservence, and the irresistible will to conquer the forces of ignorance, division and injustice. In the domain of mental development, the values that we ought to seek would be those of utmost impartiality, dispassionate search of the Truth, Calm and Silence, and widest possible synthesis. The values pertaining to the aesthetic ...
... III In our present system of education, all that we have conceived here to be relevant to the development of character is sadly missing. We are too preoccupied with mental development, and even in the field of mental development, we give a preponderant importance to those qualities which are relevant to our present examination system. We are thus not giving so much importance to the development ...
... sacred language, the ancient Aryan languages, there is one common element,—the roots, the elemental word-formations from the roots and so much of the original significance as survives variety of mental development playing on different lines and to different purposes. The object of Page 579 this treatise is to provide a reasoned basis, built up on the facts of the old languages, Sanscrit, Greek ...
... possessed & raised by mind, and,—although, owing to our clumsy conceptions about mind, this is not so apparent to us,—Mind also can realise its highest & most complex potentialities even of mental development & organisation only when it is invaded, possessed & raised by that which is higher than itself. Man is, here, the typical mental being. Imprisoned in the vitalised matter he has invaded & ...
... expressing it would be comparable to ours? There is no doubt that Page 6 we share with him certain elements of our nature, as he is our point of departure on the path of the mental development. But the movement which carries us is ascending and even should we still bear resemblance to Neanderthal man, he is no longer our equal. The powers latent in them, in particular the power of ...
... from the animal-human species, as follows: “There was [in her experience of the future] the whole part of humanity that will no longer be altogether animal, that will have benefited from the mental development and created a certain harmony in its life – a vital and artistic, a cultural harmony – in which the large majority will be content to live. They have acquired a kind of harmony and within it ...
... of vital experience and development, including her first marriage, her life as an artist among the artists, and the explorations of the occult realms. With Richard she had entered a period of mental development in the most comprehensive way: ‘a study of all the philosophies, all the conceptual juggling in the minutest details, delving into systems, getting a grasp on them.’ It was the experience and ...
... said, imperturbable way. Not that you should always be concentrated on the same thing, that’s not what I mean: I mean learning to concentrate. Materially, for studies, sports, all physical or mental development, it is absolutely indispensable. And the value of an individual is proportionate to the value of his attention.’ 26 To be surrounded by harmony and beauty, to live in it constantly and ...
... opened the gate.” 145 All these influences were stored in Hitler’s memory when he was “discovered” by Captain Mayr, who soon afterwards introduced him into the DAP. But the process of Hitler’s mental development in matters of pan-Germanism, nationalism and anti-Semitism seems less articulated and rectilinear than Brigitte Hamann would have it with so much certainty. If Hitler’s mental make-up had already ...
... widening of the consciousness into the cosmic Consciousness, the Self one in all, the psychic and the spiritual transformation of the nature. If these things are neglected and only poetry and mental development and social contacts occupy all the time, then that is not sadhana. Also the poetry must be written in the true spirit, not for fame or self-satisfaction, but as a means of contact Page 711 ...
... suit its forms to the capacities and limitations of the physical consciousness. And it has to lead up progressively to its own true nature, to manifest successive evolutionary stages for our mental development. Therefore the rays of Surya, as they labour to form our mental existence, create three successive worlds of mentality one superimposed on the other,—the sensational, aesthetic and emotional ...
... there in Nature, so that there is the influx I speak of, to however limited an extent. There is the seed man. Suppose a progression, more and more effort of progress, more and more result both of mental development and physical change. The lower kinds which are only a bridge, neither animals, nor complete men, disappear; the full basis of man is established. After that the real human progress. May it not ...
... you can spend the time in study as the sadhana is not active. If the sadhana were active then study could be done in the spare time, i.e. in times not given to work or meditation. Study and Mental Development A well-trained intellect and study are two different things—there are plenty of people who have read much but have not a well-trained intellect. Inertia can come to anybody, even to the most ...
... me, he has robbed me"; and it adds: "Those who nourish thoughts such as these never appease their hatred." We have begun our mental discipline, basing ourselves on the successive stages of mental development and we have seen that this discipline consists of four consecutive movements, which we have described in this way, as you surely remember: to observe, to watch over, to control and to master; ...
... naturally, one does not realise the integral yoga, for it is only along one line. But from the point of view of identification with the Divine it is even the most direct path. But without mental development one won't be able to express the Divine? One cannot express Him intellectually, but one can express Him in action, one can express Him in feelings, one can express Him in life. ( Silence ...
... relation to the new or supramental creation. And it was wonderfully clear and concrete and living. . . . There was all the humanity which is no longer altogether animal, which has benefited by mental development and created a kind of harmony in its life - a harmony vital and artistic, literary - in which the large majority are content to live. They have caught a kind of harmony, and within it they live ...
... which have followed an ascending curve and will continue to follow it until he reaches the threshold of the supramental nature and is transformed into the superman. This curve is the spiral of mental development. We tend to call “natural” any spontaneous manifestation which is not the result of a choice or a preconceived decision, that is to say, without the intrusion of any mental activity. This ...
... idle people. But... I dare not say this too loud, for it is not appreciated by intellectuals, this has always seemed to me a gymnastic exercise that's very interesting from the point of view of mental development, but without much practical result. Now, if you listen to people with an abstract turn of mind, they will tell you that physical gymnastics are a thoroughly futile occupation without any practical ...
... must always be living, always present behind all that you do, all that you experience, all that you think. To complete this movement of inner discovery, it is good not to neglect the mental development, For the mental instrument can be equally a great help or a great hindrance. In its natural state the human mind is always limited in its Page 91 vision, narrow in its understanding ...
... vital world to be able to come into contact with the play of forces, which is indispensable in order to manipulate them. As for spiritual philosophy, only the few who have a fairly complete mental development and are fully conscious on the intellectual plane, can usefully adopt this method; otherwise it is a dead letter for all those who don't have an ability for mental gymnastics and so cannot follow ...
... Aurobindo opposed—as one might say—"knowledge" to "Wisdom", he was speaking of knowledge as it is lived in the average human consciousness, the knowledge which is obtained through effort and mental development, whereas here, on the contrary, the knowledge he speaks of is the essential Knowledge, the supramental divine Knowledge, Knowledge by identity. And this is why he describes it here as "vast and ...
... natures following an ascending curve which they will continue to follow until he touches the threshold of the supramental nature and is transformed into a superman. This curve is the spiral of mental development. We tend to apply the word 'natural' to all spontaneous manifestation not resulting from a choice or a preconceived decision—that is, with no intrusion of mental activity. That's why a man ...
... natures which have followed an ascending curve and will continue to do so till he reaches the threshold of the supramental nature and is transformed into superman. This curve is the spiral of mental development. We tend to call "natural" any spontaneous manifestation which is not the result of a choice or a premeditated decision, that is to say, which is without the intrusion of mental action. That ...
... together. And there are vast movements of consciousness. To tell the truth, I don't like mental activity—I have never liked it. I worked a lot in the mind for a time: it was a phase, the phase of mental development when I did philosophy—all philosophies, comparative philosophies—in order to make the intellect more supple. But to tell the truth, it doesn't interest me. While states of consciousness—movements ...
... manifestation of beings from another world. I lived in that way for a time—a lived memory. I still see it, I still have the image of it in my memory. It had nothing to do with civilization and mental development: it was a blossoming of force, of beauty, in a NATURAL, spontaneous life, like animal life, but with a perfection of consciousness and power that far surpasses the one we have now; and indeed ...
... tragedy.... That is to say, death is a natural phenomenon in the creation on earth, but as a means of TRANSITION—I clearly saw why it had become necessary, how, with the human consciousness and mental development, it had been turned into a tragedy, and how it was becoming again merely a means of transition (a clumsy means, we might say), which was now becoming unnecessary again. There was that whole ...
... existence of a depth, do they believe that through such a game they can reach a depth? Page 301 I don't think they believe so. I think they consider they have reached the height of mental development. It's for the education of children, taken very small. They are left free in a place, they do what they like—absolutely free, with all they need at their disposal. So those who spend their ...
... widening of the consciousness into the cosmic Consciousness, the Self one in all, the psychic and the spiritual transformation of the nature. If these things are neglected and only poetry and mental development and social contacts occupy all the time, then that is not sadhana. Also the poetry must be written in the same spirit, not for fame or self-satisfaction, but as a means of contact with the Divine ...
... and that the development of this area will require inputs from the best and the wisest teachers and leaders of the society Again, teachers' training should have an important component of mental development. What has happened in the past is that we have encouraged research into how to teach various subjects of studies, but we have not paid adequate attention to research in how mental faculties develop ...
... pathological researches bear evidence to the "concomitance of psychical processes with physical, their dependence on material phenomena such as the functioning of the brain, the correlation of mental development throughout the animal kingdom with organization of 1 C. E. M. Joad, Guide to Philosophy, p. 525. (Italics ours) 2 3 Ibid., pp. 522-23. 4 Ibid., pp. 522-23. (Italics ...
... the human personality need to be brought forward so as to establish the true integration of all the powers of the being. • In our present system of education, we are too occupied with mental development, and we give preponderant importance to those qualities, which are relevant to subject-oriented Page 79 and examination-oriented systems. In contrast, the concept of integral ...
... the human personality need to be brought forward so as to establish the true integration of all the powers of the being. In our present system of education, we are too occupied with mental development, and we give Page 413 preponderant importance to those qualities, which are relevant to subject-oriented and examination- oriented systems. In contrast, the concept of integral education ...
... ever-widening light of the Spirit. In this perception, even Page 464 scepticism, agnosticism and atheism have a meaning and value as an indispensable stage for a certain line of mental development. But here, too, the dogma and denial behind the doubt, and atheism have to be surpassed, and whether by rigorous methods of philosophy and science or by a deeper plunge into deeper experiences ...
... you experience, all that you think. A story-day in the Mother's class for children Page 515 To complete this movement of inner discovery, it is good not to neglect the mental development. For the mental instrument can be equally a great help or a great hindrance. In its natural state the human mind is always limited in its vision, narrow in its understanding, rigid in its conceptions ...
... How does the real knowledge come? Can it descend even though the mind is not prepared? In some it does, others need a mental preparation. How shall I obtain mental development? Can it be had only by reading? A man may have read much and yet be mentally undeveloped. It is by thinking, understanding, receiving Page 20 mental influences ...
... for the whole world, for all men, for East and West, for everybody. Also it means a cosmic or world-embracing consciousness. She was creating a new type of the mental world, through the highest mental development, to reach a still wider mind – beyond the individual egoistic mind. As I have said, the mind, the head, being the highest part in man, it is easy for man to receive the new light through his ...
... the human mould by an over-widening light of the Spirit. In this perception, even scepticism, agnosticism and atheism have a meaning and value as an indispensable stage for a certain line of mental development. But here too the dogma and denial behind the doubt and atheism have to be surpassed, and whether by rigorous methods of philosophy and science or by a deeper plunge into deeper experiences ...
... education of children must begin with books written for children, but for adults, for those, that is, who had already had some education, the reading material must be adapted to their age and mental development. That is why, when I took up Greek, I began straightway with Euripides' Medea, and my second book was Sophocles' Antigone. I began a translation of Antigone into Bengali and Sri Aurobindo offered ...
... it must always be living, always present behind all that you do, all that you experience, all that you think. To complete this movement of inner discovery, it is good not to neglect the mental development. For the mental instrument can be equally a great help or a great hindrance. In its natural state the human mind is always limited in its vision, narrow in its understanding, rigid in its conceptions ...
... must not be an incongruous medley, but a careful selection of well-adapted and well-presented objects of interest. What should be the equipment of the class? Much depends on the age and mental development of the children, that is, on the level of the class. We have distinguished three stages in the relation of the children with the outer material world: manipulation, construction, observation ...
... Sometimes it is the vital will that turns a red eye upon some of its own movements and takes a perverse pleasure in a ruthless 'self-repression. Sometimes—and this is very common among people of poor mental development—the mind or the vital tramples upon the body, crushing even its healthy instincts and natural capacities, and reducing it to a limp bundle of battered nerves, as if the poor "brother ass" were ...
... even in ancient times. Page 28 I do not think that the villages in India, or anywhere in the world, are able to rule even in democracy. For creation a certain leisure and mental development are wanted. Question : Do you think that in Russia what they have attempted is real democracy? Sri Aurobindo : In Europe they have always tried for democracy. Real democracy has ...
... interpretation of the biblical story —about Paradise and the serpent — was that man wanted to pass from the state of animal divinity, like the animals, to the state of conscious divinity, through a mental development. And this is what is meant symbolically when one says that they ate the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge." Does anybody know whether the apple from the Tree of Knowledge the serpent gave to ...
... bends it in the opposite direction) ? What's interesting is that now that this mind of the cells has been organized, it appears to be going with dizzying speed through the whole process of human mental development, in order to reach ... the key, precisely. It is the mind of the cells that holds the key to death, or rather to non-death: the state in which death and life change into something else and ...
... with many detours through Japan and India, would last until 1920, when Mirra settled down definitively in Pondicherry: Ten years of intensive mental studies leading me to ... Sri Aurobindo. A mental : development of the most complete type: a study of all the philosophies, all the conceptual juggling, in minute detail— delving into systems, getting a grasp on them. 5 "Entering"—such is indeed ...
... be of general interest to all educationists. These questions and answers show how much importance the Mother gave to the inner development of the child along with his physical, emotional and mental development. And for both inner and outer growth, She created ample opportunities, and Herself guided us with unfailing patience, encouragement and love towards a conscious and constant progress. ...
... something deeper, think that with a game like that they're going to reach something deep? I don't believe they think that. I believe they regard themselves as having reached the pinnacle of mental development. It's the education of children from the time they're still very small. And they leave them free in a place and they do what they like - absolutely free, with everything they need at their ...
... January Questions and Answers (1950-1951) 20 January 1951 "To complete this movement of inner discovery, it is good not to neglect the mental development. For the mental instrument can be equally a great help or a great hindrance. In its natural state the human mind is always limited in its vision, narrow in its understanding, rigid in its conceptions ...
... imperturbable way; not that you should always be concentrated on the same thing—that's not what I mean, I mean learning to concentrate. And materially, for studies, sports, all physical or mental development, it is absolutely indispensable. And the value of an individual is proportionate to the value of his attention. And from the spiritual point of view it is still more important. There is no ...
... one of the most powerful means for acting on the body is faith. People who have a simple heart, not a very complicated mind—simple people, you see—who don't have a very great, very complicated mental development but have a very deep faith, have a great power of action over their bodies, very great. That is why one is quite surprised at times: "Here's a man with a great realisation, an exceptional person ...
... be concentrated on the same thing that's not what I Page-207 mean. I mean learning to concentrate. And materially, for studies, sports, all physical or mental development, it is absolutely indispensable. And the value of an individual is proportionate to the value of his attention. And from the spiritual point of View it is still more important. There is no spiritual ...
... imperturbable way; not that you should always be concentrated on the same thing—that's not what I mean, I mean learning to concentrate. And materially, for studies, sports, all physical or mental development, it is absolutely indispensable. And the value of an individual is proportionate to the value of his attention. And from the spiritual point of view it is still more important. There is ...
... in relation to the new or supramental creation. And it was wonderfully clear and concrete and living.... There was all the humanity which is no longer altogether animal, which has benefited by mental development and created a kind of harmony in its life—a harmony vital and artistic, literary—in which the large majority are content to live. They have caught a kind of harmony, and within it they live life ...
... as real as what everyone can see. The dreams that children so often have either in sleep or while they are awake are extremely vivid and have a great importance in their lives. With intensive mental development do these capacities fade away in children and even sometimes disappear in the end. Yet there are people who have the good fortune to be born with spontaneously developed inner senses and nothing ...
... necessary. And when a child has been made to undergo, for a number of years, a methodical training which is more like cramming than true schooling, it is considered that whatever is necessary for his mental development has been done. Nothing of the kind. Even conceding that the training is given with due measure and discrimination and does not permanently damage the brain, it cannot impart to the human mind ...
... widening of the consciousness into the cosmic Consciousness, the Self one in all, the psychic and the spiritual transformation of the nature. If these things are neglected and only poetry and mental development and social contacts occupy all the time, then that is not sadhana. Also the poetry must be written in the true spirit, not for fame or self-satisfaction, but as a means of contact with the Divine ...
... latent in all the operations of Mind. With the evolution of the Mind, some rudimentary beginnings have been unconsciously made towards the liberation of this higher & far grander force. As the mental development foreshadowed above proceeds to its goal, man will begin to evolve and realize himself as a mighty and infinite Intelligence, not limited by sense-perception or the laborious and clumsy processes ...
... inertia," you understand? What inertia imperfectly represents—it's the perfection of that.... Something with no activity of its own—which is VERY difficult precisely for those who have a great mental development, very difficult. Because its whole life long, the body has worked to be in that state of receptivity to the mind, and that state, which is what brought about its obedience, docility and so on ...
... with generally), but anyway I was led to do it because of a certain work. 1 For them, all the experiences men have are the result of a mental phenomenon: we have reached a progressive mental development (they are at a loss to explain why or how!), anyhow it was Matter that developed Life, Life that developed Mind, and all of men's so-called spiritual experiences are mental constructions (they ...
... he was a nuisance and a threat, comparable to what the Jews were to the Germans. Charles Davenport wrote as follows: “We have in this country the grave problem of the negro, a race whose mental development is, on the average, far below the average of the Caucasian. Is there a prospect that we may through the education of the individual produce an improved race so that we may hope at last that the ...
... the present and the future, as also created for the world its true future possibility. The deepest perceptions of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother have been that man has reached a high level of mental development, high enough acutely to feel the limitations of it and seek to exceed it. From a superficial, piece-meal, seeking for truths in more or less isolated fields of knowledge, which has created so ...
... humanity though they have been taken in the forefront of our life for over many millions of years have long been weighed in the balance and found wanting. That is how at the peak of human mental development we find ourselves no better than primitive animals which act on physical and vital desires and impulses and have not the least control over themselves. Satisfaction of hunger and sex is their ...
... they stand now, for I do not concern myself with that generally. For them, all the experiences that men have are the result of a mental phenomenon—it is that. We have attained a progressive mental development. They would be quite unable to say why or how!—but in brief, it is Matter that has developed Life, and Life that has developed Mind, and all the so-called spiritual experiences of man are mental ...
... have followed an ascending curve and will continue to follow it until he reaches the threshold of the supramental nature and is transformed into the superman. This curve is the spiral of mental development. We tend to call "natural" any spontaneous manifestation which is not the result of a choice or a preconceived decision, that is to say, without the intrusion of any mental activity. This ...
... true interpretation of the Biblical story of the serpent in the Garden of Eden is that humanity wanted to pass from a state of animal-like divinity to the state of conscious divinity by means of mental development, symbolized by eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. And this serpent, which Theon always said was iridescent, reflecting all the colors of the prism, was not at all the spirit of evil, ...
... is seen... not exactly as a distortion or falsification, but something like that—it's not that: it's the human way of being. And it's necessarily the way of being that resulted from intensive mental development. What's growing quite clear is—Consciousness. It's no longer explained with words or defined or... it's no longer that, it's—Consciousness (or rather one feels one knows what it is), Consciousness ...
... ng super- Page 336 consciousness in an all-harmonising super-organism. Teil-hard's futurism cannot quite be equated with Sri Aurobindo's, though both are "evolutive". A high mental development with a cosmic sense is his goal: the descent of the Supermind into the psychicised and spiritualised being and the gradual transformation of the body itself in the long run (perhaps of several ...
... That's the question. ( silence ) What's interesting is that now that this mind of the cells has been organized, it appears to be going with dizzying speed through the process of human mental development all over again, in order to reach... the key, precisely. There is of course the sense that the state we are in is a false unreality, but there is a sort of need or aspiration to find, not a mental ...
... in relation to the new or supramental creation. And it was marvelously clear and concrete and living. There was the whole humanity that isn't quite animal anymore, that has benefited from mental development and created a certain harmony in its life—a vital, artistic, literary harmony—and the vast majority of which live satisfied with life. They have caught a sort of harmony and live in it a life ...
... Soon after her return from Tiemcen in Algeria, there was in 1908 divorce from Henri Morisset. From 1910 to 1920 - these ten years were a period of intensive mental study for the Mother. This mental development in all its comprehensiveness Page 14 led her to the conclusion that while all ideas are true, a synthesis has to be made, and that there is something luminous and true beyond the synthesis ...
... ______________________________ 1. Sri Aurobindo, Vol. 18, Centenary Edition, pp.225-7 Page 35 and possessed fully in experience by the mind. This point marks the climax of the mental development as also a clear sign of the limitations of the mind. Having reached there its office is to fall into contemplation of silence and to open to the higher realms of experience, to receive clearly ...
... the human mould by an ever-widening light of the Spirit. In this perception, even scepticism, agnosticism and atheism have a meaning and value as an indispensable stage for a certain line of mental development. But here, too, the dogma and denial behind the doubt and atheism have to be surpassed, Page 25 and whether by rigorous methods of philosophy and science or by a deeper plunge into ...
... of the human personality need to be brought forward so as to establish the true integration of all the powers of the being. d. In our present system of education, we are too occupied with mental development, and we give preponderant importance to those qualities, which are relevant to subject-oriented, book-oriented and examination-oriented systems. In contrast, the concept of integral education ...
... Soon after her return from Tiemcen in Algeria, there was in 1908 divorce from Henri Morisset. Prom 1910 to 1920- these ten years were a period of intensive mental study for the Mother. This mental development in all its comprehensiveness led her to the conclusion that while all ideas are true, a synthesis has to be made, and that there is something luminous and true beyond the synthesis. In her ...
... beyond, to their own essential meaning, which can be glimpsed and conceived by the mind, but which cannot be held and possessed fully in experience by the mind. This point marks the climax of the mental development as also a clear sign of the limitations of the mind. Having reached there its office is to fall into contemplation of silence and to open to the higher realms of experience, to receive clearly ...
... applied in day-to-day life and becomes therefore popularized. Nowhere in the world do we find lesser importance given to physical education than in India. The role of physical education in mental development is now universally recognized, but I don't think it is so well accepted here in our society. Once I had a very interesting conversation with the sport editor of a big Japanese paper. He was ...
... for the note-book back again next day—these are the contents of this opulent offering. Turn a page and you find a gem. All these lengthy discussions, mind you, with a disciple who had the mental development neither of an Amal (Sethna) nor of a Dilip, but was merely a young man of average intelligence having a thirst for knowledge. One who had "drunk the Infinite like a giant's wine" came down to ...
... education of children must begin with books written for children, but for adults, for those, that is, who had already had some education the reading material must be adapted to their age and mental development. That is why, when I took up Greek, I began straightaway with Euripides' Medea, and my second book was Sophocles' Antigone.... I began my Latin with Virgil's Aeneid, and Italian with Dante ...
... wax which man can mould into what Page 369 he pleases, instead of being allowed to unfold in beauty and all-sided harmonious development. Dr. Montessori compares the child's mental development to a series of metamorphoses; and insists that the important thing is that, at each stage, the child should have what it needs at that stage without thinking of the future. "Each plane must be ...
... education of children must begin with books written for children, but for adults, for those, that is, who had already had some education the reading material must be adapted to their age and mental development. That is why, when I Page 62 took up Greek, I began straightway with Euripides' Medea, and my second book was Sophocles' Antigone . I began a translation of Antigone into ...
... was for the whole world, for all men, for East and West, for everybody. Also it means a cosmic or world-embracing consciousness. She was creating a new type of mental world, through the highest mental development, to reach a still wider mind—beyond the individual egoistic mind. As I have said, the mind, the head, being the highest part in man, it is easy for him to receive the new light through ...
... your vital and physico-vital being corresponding to some "need" in the physical Disciple : But take "patriotism", for instance : we can't feel partiotic unless we have the necessary mental development or enlargement. Sri Aurobindo : I don't admit that. Even dogs have some sort of patriotism. What man has done is that he has woven a lot of things round all the animal impulses of nature ...
... poise somewhere in the man, – not an unsteady inner condition. A strong mental being is also very necessary. Otherwise, when the experiences come the man turns upside down. In India, our mental development – I mean the outer man's development – is not at all proportionate. There is the psychic being ready in many Page 74 cases, there is the aspiration for spiritual life and ...
... perhaps to other, still misunderstood traditions. In fact, it would be appropriate to say that the spirituality of our modern era is marked by a dimming of consciousness commensurate with its mental development. Furthermore, the spiritualists could hardly have reached a conclusion different in nature from their premises. Having started from the idea that the earthly world is an illusion, or an intermediate ...
... came seeking her advice on his spiritual and political problems. -Jul-Oct Second visit to Tlemcen, Algeria. Soon afterwards leaves Le Groupe Cosmique. 1908-14 Period of 'intensive mental development' leading to the realisation of something luminous and true beyond the synthesis of all mental knowledge. 1908 Mar Separation from Henri Morisset. Later moves to 49, rue de Levis, Paris ...
... : anything about it? I saw his article on Brahmacharya but it did not contain consistent thought. Once he says that a strong mind has a strong body and then he says that as one progresses in mental development the body must get weak. He also finds a connection between lust and taste. Disciple : He wants to stick to the mental consciousenss and to the ordinary nature and tries to master the ...
... and more. And She added this: What's interesting is that now that this mind of the cells has been organized, it appears to be going with dizzying speed through the whole process of human mental development, in order to reach ... the key, precisely. The key of death. There is of course the sense that the state we are in is a false unreality, but there is a sort of need or aspiration to find, not ...
... understand? What Inertia imperfectly represents—it’s the perfection of that. And Mother looked at me out of the corner of her eye. It is very difficult precisely for those who have a great mental development, very difficult. Because its whole life long, the body has worked to be in that state of receptivity to the Mind, and that state, which is what brought about its obedience, docility and so on ...
... education of children must begin with books written for children, but for adults, for those, that is, who had already had some education, the reading material must be adapted to their age and mental development. That is why, when I took up Greek, I began straightway with Euripides' Medea, and my second book was Sophocles' Antigone. I began a translation of Antigone into Bengali and Sri Aurobindo ...
... justify it are of no value—it is not true that physical work is of an inferior value to mental culture, it is the arrogance of the intellect that makes the claim. All work done for the Divine is equally divine, manual labour done for the Divine is more divine than mental culture done for one's own development, fame or mental satisfaction. This inertia, numbness, pain should be thrown off with the same... 767 If there is temporary physical inability, one can take rest, but solely for the purpose of recovering the physical energy. The idea of giving up physical work for mental self-development is a creation of the mental ego. The inertia gives room and power for the hostile forces to act. The Hostile Forces and Universal Forces No, they [ the hostile forces ] do not create universal... s and knowledge. This idea of tests also is not a healthy idea and ought not Page 760 to be pushed too far. Tests are applied not by the Divine but by the forces of the lower planes—mental, vital, physical—and allowed by the Divine because that is part of the soul's training and helps it to know itself, its powers and the limitations it has to outgrow. The Mother is not testing you at ...
... justify it are of no value—it is not true that physical work is of an inferior value to mental culture, it is the arrogance of the intellect that makes the claim. All work done for the Divine is equally divine; manual labour done for the Divine is more divine than mental culture done for one's own development, fame or mental satisfaction. This inertia, numbness, pain should be thrown off with the same... character. If there is temporary physical inability, one can take rest but solely for the purpose of recovering the physical energy. The idea of giving up physical work for mental self-development is a creation of the mental ego. Of course the idea of bigness and smallness is quite foreign to the spiritual truth. Spiritually there is nothing big or small. Such ideas are like those of the literary... merely mental, vital or physical impulsions coming from his own or universal Nature. Of course the full significance of the surrender comes out only when he is ready. Any work can be done as a field for the practice of the spirit of the Gita. The ordinary life consists in work for personal aim and satisfaction of desire under some mental or moral control, touched sometimes by a mental ideal ...
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