In this extensive four-part interview Roy Posner, President of Growth Online, considers what our evolutionary destiny might be; as individuals, and in our collective existence. Created May 2002

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What if humanity was not the final rung of evolution? What if there was the possibility of a new evolutionary individual, emerging out of the human, as different from us as we are from the primate? Is there such a possibility, and if so, what good would it serve? And if there were a good reason for such an emergence, what would this evolutionary individual be like and act like? Finally, if we wanted to join in a journey to become this new being, what would be the path that takes us from what we are now, our current human functioning, to this new evolutionary individual with a spiritual supernature? 

Part 1: A Vision of the Future Evolutionary Existence
Part 2: The First Signs of Our Ascent 
Part 3: The Path From the Present to the Evolutionary Future
Part 3: The New Evolutionary Individual and Divine Life on Earth

Go directly to main points

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PART 1: 
A Vision of the Future Evolutionary Existence

Growth Online: Welcome again to the Growth Online interview series.

RP: Thanks. It has been a while since our last discussion.

Growth Online: So now we're going to take a peek into the future, at our future existence. How can anyone know what the future holds?

RP: That's a very good question! Most of the predictions about the future are always off base. Who would have dreamed up an Internet, let alone the decoding of the genome, or the idea of having little nano-robots fix our internal organs and structures? Of course, there are always a few who see into the future; perhaps they are having an illumination, a vision of what is far ahead. In that case they themselves are becoming evolutionary beings (!), because they are having illuminations and intuitions that are probably going to be an important part of individual human existence in the future.

Then again many predictions, even scientific ones have not come to pass. Remember flying cars? (laughter)  Well it still could happen. 

(pause) But what I'd like to address are the internal changes of consciousness, of being of the individual, even of the society. The outer inventions will take care of themselves! Actually the more internally connected we are, the more we are in touch with the spirit, the Force, the more we are connected to the infinite powers of the universe that are there just below the surface. When we make connection with these forces, then new ideas, new possibilities, new inventions, new products, new forms of matter just pour into our minds! We open the floodgates to the new, at 100 times the level we are now developing the new. 

So if we want to become great materialists we must become great spiritualists (!), because it is in the realm of spirit that we unlock the infinite potential of matter. After all matter is just a form of spirit. The creation is just a form of the Creator. The more we are touch with the essence of the spirit, the Divine Reality, the more we have power over life, over matter; to create the new, to unleash the new in its infinite perturbations and possibilities.

Growth Online: So a spiritualized man is the future man?

RP: Yes, it is true. And yet this spiritual man is very different from any current conception. Let me explain: When we normally think of a spiritual person we think of someone who lives a separate life, a cloistered existence somewhere. Perhaps he is the sannyasi of India who has touched upon the infinite spirit in his being, and is in a state of timeless peace and rapture. Most likely he has decided to live outside of this world to enjoy his bliss and rapture. He is one with Divine, Brahman, the Absolute, and wishes to remain fixed there. He experiences what is called moksha, or liberation, in India. This experience goes back perhaps 7000 years or more. In the last few thousand years it has expressed in the philosophies of Shankara and later Buddha. In Buddhist practice one sees the problems of the world; the cause of suffering and pain; and then meditates or goes within and separates from that falsehood of life and reaches a state of inner peace known as Nirvana. Yet Nirvana too, like Shankara's philosophy and the retreating moksha, and liberation of the Indian saddhu, are all movements away from life, not toward and embracing life. In such a condition how can one develop great new evolutionary products!

This same separation from life exists in the Western tradition, as seen by monks who live in the abbey or monastery separate form the community.

All of these ideas of separation from life have reached their end. They have served their purpose to invoke and connect with spirit apart from life, but now they are anachronisms. We must learn to connect with spirit in life, wherever we are, in all aspects of our daily existence. We must bring spirit into our thoughts, our acts, our work, our inventions, our ideas, our communities, and our institutions. Then we can use the creative Force that is there in the spirit that releases the infinite potential of every thing. Instead of retreating with spirit like the sannyasi or the monk, we bring spirit into every act in our busy modern lives. In such a way we play an evolutionary role for ourselves, for the community and society, even for the universe itself.

Growth Online: So is this how we become the new evolutionary being? 

RP: I think it's far more astonishing and rich than this! Actually it’s utterly fantastic, beyond our normal human comprehension! What I have just discussed is understandable for most people. After all, we believe in spirit; we are aware that we can become people focused on spirit, and we can utilize spirit in our lives. Of course, maybe one in a 100,000 actually does it. 

But what I hope to get at goes much further, is a bit more startling, more "futuristic" if you will, than what I have just described. It is the replacement of the current human individual existence and collective life for something radically different.

Growth Online: How Do you mean? 

RP: Well it's hard to explain! After all how can you explain something that doesn't exist? Or how can you explain the future evolutionary existence with our minds when the experience of this future being is beyond mind? But I will give it a shot!

(pause) Let's start with something practical. There is a conflict between two parties; they are at odds with one another. From their individual perspective they are right from their own side. What they each perceive as a truth is of course really only a partial truth at best. Perhaps one side's truth is greater than the other; still each side sees only their side, a very small part of the overall truth. 

Now the man or woman who has touched the divine deep within his soul, living a life of continuous bliss, may witness this conflict, and feel the utter futility of the conflict. Rooted in spirit, he may sense its absurdity and falsehood, sensing that they are simply stuck in their narrow egos. Experiencing the infinite spiritual Divine, he leaves the conflicting parties to their misery. That's about as far as he perceives the parties. In this way he does not really partake in the processes of the world. He’s just a witness; a profound witness who might feel spirit in all, yet is somehow disengaged and not truly tuned in.

The future evolutionary spiritual person will have a considerably different view of the situation, even though he too is firmly anchored in the bliss of spirit. He looks at the situation, and instead of seeing illusion and falsehood, he sees the positive in the negative occurrence. He knows that only through this conflict will the deeper truths come out for each of the parties. He is aware of a process that is unfolding between the rivals. It is in fact a spiritual process. 

He senses that each party is aware of something that the other side is ignorant of; and that it is only through their conflict that each side can know their own folly and falsehood and find their respective missing knowledge! And what's so fascinating is that the knowledge each side is ignorant of is only known by the other side; thus the absolute necessity of their interconnection and conflict, which will in the end reveal the truth that the other side is missing! This is an astonishing insight born of having a profound evolutionary spiritual consciousness. He has many such insights and perceptions in the world. We call this particular insight "contradictions are complements." The evolutionary spiritual being continually sees the conflicts of the opposing parties in the world in their necessary unity and oneness.

Thus, at any moment this evolutionary spiritual individual who is watching the conflict has the knowledge of the true truth, the full truth in all its myriad of details, and in that perception also experiences the unity and oneness of this situation and all of life that in this case on the surface appears to be a contradiction and conflict. He has the inner subtle sense to see the weakness that each side has, the necessary relation that exists between the two that enables them to overcome their limitations of character, all the while sensing the place that the overall situation is moving. He has a knowledge of integral truth of the moment.

In this way the evolutionary spiritual being senses the true and full truth of everything that is unfolding around him. Where others are unaware or oblivious, he perceives the subtle interdependent relationship of all things he comes in contact with. Thus he is integrally unified with all he comes in contact with; he is one with his environment, as well as one with all those around him. And in that subtle vision of unity he senses the wider truth that are unfolding around him; the higher harmonies that are emerging at any moment. 

He is not a being connected to spirit disconnected from life, but a being deeply connected with everything; in its wholeness and in its detail. He has a complete identity with the current and emerging knowledge and truth in that moment. He is not a passive observer or a disconnected spiritualist, but is instead intimately involved in the unfoldings of life; fully engaged and ready to participate. This evolutionary spiritual individual has fully embodied a unitarian consciousness; he has in essence developed a future evolutionary supernature.

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Growth Online: But is he really spiritual, like the monks and sannyasi you mentioned before. That is, does he really experience spirit? 

RP: Yes, very much so, and in ways that go far beyond our traditional notions of the spiritual life.

This gentleman (or gentlewoman) perceives that spirit exists not only through the transcendent Divine beyond this outer life, but it exists in this earthly life as well. In fact, he experiences all of the universe, the world, the society, his life, himself, all things as spirit. In other words, he sees and feels that everything is God. He doesn't just have the eternal Transcendent spiritual consciousness of the saddhu or monk, but he has also this new element, this Truth consciousness. This spiritual essence that he feels enables him to experience, in his active working life, a profound integral harmony with his environment and with others; the true truth at any moment; the exact right actions at any moment in time. 

Such an individual is obviously quite different in his functioning than the monk or wanderer who is lost in his bliss in the transcendent Divine. He is a future evolutionary being, steeped in the bliss of spirit, but also engaged in life, rooted in this new evolutionary spiritual consciousness, this new truth consciousness power of the Divine spirit.

Rooted in the delight of spirit this evolutionary individual sees everything in its oneness. He senses and experiences it in all things; in all its diversities and multiplicities; even in what appears to others as conflicts and contradictions. He always knows the deeper relations between the parts, between the conflicts and the conflicting parties. His life is one of essential, spontaneous, and inherent unity with everything. 

As you can see this is not easy to explain. This spiritualized future person is quite different from our usual concepts of a spiritual existence and life.

(pause) And yet I have explained but one aspect of this new evolutionary spiritual being!

Growth Online: But you do say that he experiences spirit. It's not exactly clear how he is "spiritual," in the sense that he is connected to his soul, some higher power,  or God.

RP: Yes, we need to explain why this evolutionary being is a spiritual being; how he connects to or uses spirit. 

(pause) As we said to be able to perceive the oneness of existence and also have the complete knowledge of the truth, in all its detail at any moment, is very different from the blissful sannyasi who sees God everywhere, but has no direct knowledge of the true truth. And yet our individual of truth consciousness is fully anchored in spirit. In every moment in his life he is connected to the Divine Reality. In fact it is because of that connection to that Divine Force, that Divine Truth Consciousness that he is able to be an instrument of it in his active life. 

Thus he is not just one with his environment and the people around him, and lives in that unified truth, but he is one with the Divine spirit, its Force, and Truth Consciousness. In fact, it is only because he has this connection to this Force, that he is the way he is.

Growth Online: So there's some sort of mother ship of truth consciousness from which he gets his consciousness which enables him to live the way he does in that state of oneness?

RP: That's an interesting way of putting it, but yes, in a way that is true! 

Growth Online: But how is that connection to God any different than any person connecting to God, such as the athlete in the film Chariots of Fire who says that he runs to experience God's pleasure?

RP: (pause) Yes, it is somewhat different; and it's different because I am speaking of a new power on earth that has never been there before. You could say in a way that it's a new manifestation or extension of God. Or perhaps we can say that God has evolved! He (or she or it) now has a new aspect and power, or at least one that we never recognized and were in contact with before. And that new power, or rather his many new powers (only a couple of which I have thus far discussed) is what the new evolutionary individual will manifest; can and will become in all aspects of his being in the future. 

Growth Online: Please explain!

RP: Yes, this is very different indeed. 

What I have described as a person having a truth consciousness that enables him to be one with the environment and people around him, one with the emerging and total truth of the moment, and have perfect knowledge and insight on what is right to do at any moment, which action to take at any point, and many other attributes to be explored, is a person who has evolved from our normal human consciousness to a supra-mental consciousness, utilizing the evolutionary supra-mental power of the Divine. 

I use the term "supra" to indicate that it is above mind; thus supra-mental. It is a power, a spiritual power that he has acquired by rising above the sense-bound and rational planes of mind proper, and onto the spiritual planes of mind. At these spiritual planes of mind one experiences ideas and knowledge very differently that in mind proper. There one gains knowledge and insight by being in a state of silence; or higher still as a light that comes into one, as illuminations, as visions, and higher still as intuitions of the knowledge simply descending into the being. Highest still one emerges into this supra-mental plane of existence. There the knowledge he seeks is simply there inside him! He knows and is the knowledge! He not only experiences an identity of oneness with knowledge, but identity with everything, including his environment, the people around him; and with the emerging situations and circumstances at any moment in time.

In the supramental consciousness we don't acquire the knowledge of something by thinking, by inquiring about the object of the knowledge. We simply know it at any moment in time. And we know it because it is not external to us, it is simply in us to begin with! Now that is truly a mind-boggling concept!  In this consciousness when we want to know something that would seem to be external to the normal mind, something that needs to be found out through inquiry, there is no thinking effort to acquire it because it is already inside us a priori! 

And to make it even more interesting, we are not only the instantaneous knower of the knowledge, but we are simultaneously the creators of the knowledge we wish to know!  I'm not sure I will even attempt to explain this. It defies all of our concepts of logic; and yet this is the supramental functioning of the future evolutionary being.

Growth Online: How come we haven't heard of such an idea in the spiritual or evolutionary literature before?

RP: This Supramental consciousness is new on earth. It has only in the last half century that it has descended from the Divine provinces into the earthly plane, and is now beginning to be available to humanity, to the individual who calls it into his being. 

We should note that this is a power and force that we can now use in our every day lives, no matter what our level of consciousness; without necessarily having to evolve to a much higher level of consciousness or the ultimate evolutionary being. One can call open to this Force at any point, at any time, before any situation, circumstance, event, or act. The result will be that thereafter everything will tend to go right. Life will cooperate, positive events will transpire, things will work right, people will show up just at the right time; everything just turns out perfectly. 

It is complete marvel. To experience it but once can change a life forever.

Let me tell you about an experience I had that illustrates the use of this power. I was doing a training class about ten years ago. In the class things were going poorly during the morning session part of the course. Students were agitated and unhappy, people came late, the answers I gave were poor or incorrect; everyone was generally miserable! So I opened myself to this Force; that is, I consecrated the event just before the start of the afternoon session. Thereafter, every conceivable thing went right. The lessons flowed smoothly, I was able to explain things clearly, people understood clearly, no one was late or hurriedly walked in and out of the room; all of life seemed to cooperate. It was an absolute marvel, a profound miracle really.

Plus, and this is a special quality of opening to this power, there was a deep peace and calm that permeated that room for the rest of the day. It was if we were doing meditation as we were simultaneously learning. In the end utter confusion was turned into an utter marvel. That is the great power of this supramental, truth consciousness; this new active, dynamic power of the infinite Divine, of God.

Growth Online: That's a wonderful story! So had you become this future evolutionary person in that moment?

RP: Well, I had opened myself for an instance to the evolutionary power. I had not actually become the evolutionary being based on this power. That would require me to live in such a state in every moment of my active life! Could you imagine that marvel existing every moment in your life? It would be beyond overwhelming! Living in such a way at every moment is the way this supramental individual would live. I had but a momentary taste. It was but one humbling experience. 

To actually become this truth consciousness spiritualized being permanently we would need to embody this power in all aspects of our being; in our thoughts processes, in our emotions, and in our bodies. We would need to rise to that plane of consciousness above us, and call it into these three aspects of our being, until each of the three levels were transformed and supramentalized.

(pause) This interest in the Force is there in the imagination of society. When we hear the expression "may the Force be with you" we are in essence opening to the dynamic action of the Divine consciousness. It's not just a force hat we can open to, but it is a force that brings with it stunning results. You might remember when Luke Skywalker in Star Wars opens to the Force, everything thereafter goes right for him. We see clearly that his space battle with the enemy planes suddenly turns to his advantage. Also, interestingly, things simultaneously start working better for his comrades on the planet who have their hands full wit the enemy as well. This shows a dynamic interconnectedness of life that the Force can effect when opened to. When he opens to the Force it affects not only his own fortunes but it also affects others on the great invisible web of life that binds him to others who he is related to in purpose and intent.

However Luke does not embody the Force yet; he is just using it at a moment of crisis. He is consecrating an event in a moment of great peril. On the other hand, his master Yoda was actually beginning to embody the force in his very being; in his thoughts, in his emotions, and in his cells and psychical body. In fact we discover in the film the Phantom Menace that those who embody the Force have a peculiar reading in their blood cell count indicating that they are filled with Force. Perhaps one day those who have embodied the supramental consciousness will have something similar that can be measured!

No, one surely needs to go through a lengthy process, a yoga, a radical transformation of the being in relation to this consciousness to embody its power in one's thoughts, in the mind, in the emotions, in the psyche, and ultimately in the bodily organs and functionings, to become the supramental being.

Growth Online:  So the Force is both metaphor and real in the world now. But why wasn't this Force available to humanity in previous eras? There were many spiritual experiences in the past, many inner experiences, occult experiences, miracles, and so forth. But why wasn't this new power you speak of available back then?

RP: From our side of the coin we could say that man in his evolution had to rise to a certain level of consciousness to perceive it. From the other side perhaps we can say that the Divine in life is evolving and so it was the right time for it to evolve further to the point that this supramental power could now descend and be available in the earthly realm.

In the end it Sri Aurobindo was the individual who became the nexus between the human ascent towards this power and the divine descent of this power. At some point he made the connection, sensed this dynamic, infinitely-creative unitarian consciousness descending from "above," and spent he rest of his life trying to bring it down more tangibly into the earth consciousness. Shortly before his passing it was clear that he had had considerable success, and it was in fact believed that by the 60s and 70s this Force was fully available for any one in the world who opened to it. Now individuals can open to it far more easily, and at any moment experience, in any circumstance and situation experience its wondrous workings.

Growth Online:  But this is not the same as becoming an evolutionary being who is an embodiment of the Force.

RP: No, it is not the same thing as establishing a spiritualized Gnostic individual and divine life on earth. That was Sri Aurobindo great vision, to which he devoted his life. Still, establishing the Force "under our radar screens" was a great step in the spiritual history of the world. Now we are able to open to this Force in our daily lives and experience it's great effects. It is also the power that is the basis of the supramentalized spiritual existence.

By the way just to throw something else at you. This supramental power is actually the power that created our universe! It is the instrument that the Divine extended itself into to enable the universe to emerge from the Divine Reality. But that is a story for another day!

Growth Online: So I assume you have gotten most your ideas from Sri Aurobindo and his followers. Is that right?

RP: Yes, it is based on the direct insights and experience of the Indian sage and seer Sri Aurobindo, who was the great spiritual pioneer who opened the landscape to this new power and the possibility of a new evolutionary divinized future human existence.

His belief was that humans may not be the final rung on the evolutionary scale. That we might witness the emergence of a new species, one that is above and beyond the present human race as we know it. Or, perhaps we could say that it is perhaps the same human species, but that is evolving to a new level that appears very different in functioning, inwardly and outwardly, from the current humanity. Different emotionally, mentally, spiritually -- even one day physically!   

Sri Aurobindo believed that if we could make the ascent to overcome our limiting nature, if we could further rediscover the hidden spirit in life, if we could come in contact and open ourselves to this Truth Consciousness, then we can change life as we know it. If we can change our own nature by making a concerted effort to overcome our limiting attitudes, opinions, prejudices, and other weaknesses, by connecting with our inner being and soul, and opening ourselves to this Force, we will see the beginnings of a dramatic, unprecedented change in our nature. This change will not only enable our own infinite capacities to blossom, but will release the perfection, oneness, and infinite capacities of the world around us to emerge; including our families, friends, associates, businesses, institutions, and the communities and nations we live in.

So he invited us to take a journey on a path from our current human functioning to a vastly different superfunctioning that opens he doors to infinite accomplishment, success, and happiness in life.

Growth Online: That is a quite a powerful vision! 

RP: Yes, it really is. It is a first glimpse into a new future spiritualized individual, and a new collective life of such individuals. Fortunately, Sri Aurobindo also gave us many clues about how such an individual would live and function in life.

Growth Online:  Speaking of which; do you have any other indicators of how this new evolutionary individual would actually live?

RP: Well in one sense we have discussed the way this future person would live in terms of his mental outlook. For one he would in essence at any moment know the full and total truth of things. It would be something akin to hovering over a scene in a Shakespearean play and perceiving at any moment in time the motives, wills, and attributes of each of the characters; and completely know in full the environmental influences of the scene. This individual would in essence have this total knowledge at any moment in time. He would have an integral knowledge of everyone and everything around him. 

But, as you suggest, there must be other aspects to such an astounding existence. We've kind of focused on his nature in terms of mind and perceptions and knowledge; we can also consider such an existence in terms of his feelings and emotions. 

First of all such an evolutionary being would have evolved out of his egocentrism. He no longer acts for his own power; for the satisfaction and enjoyment of his own vital ego. It would be just the opposite. He perpetually feels that the interests, feelings, and needs of other individuals are as important as his own self. He would feel deeply that they are his own. At that point his emotional center has shifted from himself, his separate self, his ego-orientation, to a state of complete identity and harmony with those around him; with their wills, their needs, their actions, and their feelings. The other selves he interacts become part and parcel of his own self. Their essence of being is felt as a part of or an extension of his own essence. At that point he moves from being an ego-centered self to becoming a universal self. This is obviously an astounding reorientation of human consciousness. 

(pause) We think that the goal of life is to fulfill our individual needs. Instead our real goal is to find our true inner spiritual self, and find our extended self. One of the things Sri Aurobindo often speaks of is that man will inevitably evolve to the point where he has a triple status  -- the status of realized individual self where he moves from his ignorance and falsehood to a perfection and integration of his own personal self; a universal self where his own identity is bound to the forces and currents of other people, to the environment, to the collective, to the world and even the universe itself; and a transcendent self, in which he is one with the will and workings of the transcendent Divine spirit. This triple status is in his view the ultimate evolutionary destiny for the individual. 

Growth Online: But is there any kind of feeling and emotion in this existence, or is it just some kind of peaceful, non-emotive harmony?

RP: When we talk of feeling and emotion, we are really talking about what we call the vital aspect of the individual. This evolutionary individual would have had a transformed vital, just as he would have had a transformed mental makeup and ultimately a transformed physical makeup. In this new status his vital would now be calm, peaceful, pure, open, free, joyful, and filled with an interminable delight. This would replace the normal human nature of intense, up and down feelings, bridled attachments, the hot and cold showers of intense changing emotion, the wanting attitudes, the unshackled impulses, and the and the slavery to our normal animal instincts. 

He would share and commune with others in his delight, as he would take great pleasure in their delight. Their successes would be felt as his own; their joys of achievement would be his. He would feel an endless goodwill towards others, a continuous gratitude, and other feelings of harmony and oneness with others. 

Take the idea of love. Love for this evolved individual will not be the normal self-centered, selfish human love of today. Instead he will experience love simply through the interaction with other beings. This new man will have a Christ and Buddha-like love consciousness by simply being in contact with other individuals. From that interaction he will derive great inner satisfaction and pleasure.

Perhaps his greatest source of pleasure will be the intense delight, joy, and even bliss he will experience by being continually connected with the Divine spirit. He will feel this connection inside him, in all he experiences around him, in everything he perceives, he does; in every action he takes, and in all the results that follow. In that way he experiences an endless pleasure and delight of being; an "ananda" as they call it in India, an ecstatic inner bliss and joy of existence. 

And he will know that when he experiences this delight, he will be fulfilling the purpose for which the Divine created this universe, us -- for the discovery of the delight of our higher nature.  

Growth Online: Such bliss seems as much physical in nature as emotional. Are there any other physical changes that this individual will experience?

RP:  Yes, there can be a great change in the body of the individual; of the very matter and substance that he is made up of. But this is likely to occur much later on in the process of his transformation. It would likely occur after the essential psychological, mental, and emotional transformations has been made. 

(pause) What he will become physically is hardest to know or envision. What we are assuming is that his mental and emotional nature will have been transfigured, it will have been filled with the supramental power, transforming these aspects into their higher functioning. Then at some point this truth consciousness power, this evolutionary power of the Divine, of God, somehow effects his very cells in some manner, enabling them to change and function in a different way. This then effects a change to the organs, fluids, nerves, bones, and other structures of the body; and we begin to see the emergence of what we could call a new species of individual.

Growth Online: That's pretty wild! What will this person be like; are we going to run into alien-like creatures with big brains?!?

RP: Who knows, maybe we will! (laughter)

Sri Aurobindo has a number of general observations about the physical makeup of a future evolutionary being. First, he suggests that his body would have great strength, plasticity, and flexibility. There would be a general bodily happiness, a sense of living at ease. Second, he would be liberated from all the bodily suffering that we experience now. All of the pains, injuries, diseases, and other falsehoods of the body would be a thing of the past.  Third, we may very well see changes in the functioning of the body as I mentioned earlier. For example, we might see an end to, or a big change from the current methods of digestion, breathing, procreation, and circulation. 

As a result of such changes this individual would be able to live as long a he wishes to live.  

Finally, we could see major changes to the outer structure of his body as a result of these other changes. 

The partner of Sri Aurobindo, known as the Mother, had a number of future visions of the physical makeup of this ultimate evolutionary future individual. In one vision she said she saw a slim individual, taller than the current human, with no breasts, no sexual organs, a reduced abdominal area, amongst other changes. She also said that a light seemed to emanate from within this individual. Instead of light shining on us to enable our color, the being would radiate his own light!

I mention The Mother being because she spent most of her life attempting to become this ultimate supramental being. She was perhaps the first person to attempt the physical transformation of her body into this new evolutionary body. She constantly spoke of how the supramental power was piercing the very cells of her body and was giving her body new qualities and dimensions. How she was able to see with eyes closed, hear others when they spoke little or at all, and could feel other bodies inside her body to name but a few. This was the great adventure in consciousness she undertook in the last twenty years or so of her extraordinary life. 

The story of how she did this makes for astonishing reading. Her life was really an endless marvel! This epic transformative adventure of hers is captured in the fascinating 13-volume book called The Agenda. It is in essence a ongoing twenty-year interview with her, where she explains hundreds of her subtle spiritual experiences and realizations. In the end we can say that her own physical body had become the great laboratory experiment of human transformation.

Growth Online: This is very interesting; and yet one must ask an important general question, which is why should humans move and evolve in such directions at all? Why wouldn't we simply develop in an entirely other way? I mean what indicators or markers along the way in our evolution in the last 100,000 years would suggest that in the future we become this evolutionary being? 

RP: Yes indeed, what are the indicators that would suggest such an arc of progress? 

(pause) To answer that we need to evaluate the past changes and movements in human evolution. Then we would need to understand the transitions that enabled him to move from each aspect of his being to the next highest one. Yes, that understanding is critical.

On first glance what Sri Aurobindo has envisioned and what I have just described seems so far-fetched as to border on the absurd. Yet, from his vantage this future evolution is a natural extension and projection of our current makeup and existence. 

Let me explain, with a little evolutionary history. Let's consider the progression of how life evolved in the universe. As life in the universe has evolved from physical matter to animated life to conscious being in mind, so too the human's development mirrors this progression. The physical matter of the universe has essentially become our bodies; the animus of life in the universe has become our life force, and our emotional and psychological being. As for mind, well we are in essence the embodiment of thought and mind in the universe, unless there are also other self-conscious beings somewhere else. 

In this progression we can say that mind is our highest functioning in our evolution so far. Our minds is what separates us from other animals, particularly in its higher functionings. In fact, our powers of reason, logic, and self-conception are unique in all the world, a step upwards from the lower species on earth. It is our crowning quality and achievement.

It is not too difficult then to conceive of the fact that there can be a yet higher functioning of mind than even the current highest functioning of mind. Rather than the current limited mind, which is primarily focused on the inputs of the five senses, or the higher ideative processes of logic, reason, and the development of new ideas, we can envision the emergence of new functionings of mind, new ways understanding or absorbing knwo3eldge, new ways of perceiving the world.

Sri Aurobindo calls such new higher functionings of beyond the current functionings of mind spiritual mind. In spiritual mind the knowledge that we try to pursue at any moment comes into our field of awareness not primarily through the inputs of our senses of the current mind, not through the hard thinking processes of scrutiny and ideative logic of the current mind, but through subtle means. For example, if we are calm and peaceful, then thoughts arise in our minds in our silence.  Higher still, knowledge enters our minds not through a complex thinking process but as illuminations of knowledge that enter our minds as vision and light; or even higher still as pure intuitions and descents of the complete object of knowledge into our minds without any thought at all. There is simply a descent of the entire object of knowledge that we wish to know into minds. It simply drops into our minds! 

At these pinnacles of spiritual mind we are no longer restricted to what we know, or have absorbed, that are there stored in our own mental data banks. Instead we open ourselves to knowledge that is there in the subtle realms around us, that are there unseen in the universe. We are in essence open to descents from the universal mind, where all knowledge is "stored," which we can access at any time, descending as needed into our being as visions, illuminations, and thought-less intuitions. 

Many people have had such openings to these higher spiritual planes of mind. "Eureka, I've got it" is an example of an illumination and vision that has come into a man's mental awareness as light, that is, knowledge as light. Others have had similar experiences by going within into a meditative or contemplative or other higher state of consciousness. Actually, most of us have these experiences from time to time, though we are rarely aware of it, since we live too close to the surface of life to sense its subtlety. Naturally as human grow and evolve the frequency and intensity of such experiences will dramatically increase. After awhile for some it will become a settled realization, where knowledge enters our mind's in ways very different from the current thinking processes of mind proper.

Then finally there is the ultimate evolutionary status that we are addressing in this discussion. At this highest level of spiritual mind there isn't even an object of knowledge! Or rather the object of knowledge we are trying to perceive no longer exists in the universe and descends into our being as intuitions. Instead we ourselves are the object of knowledge! This is the ultimate super-mind, a plane of consciousness that the evolutionary spiritual individual will embody in all aspects of his being.  

Growth Online: This is fascinating, but a little fuzzy. Do you have a practical example that can help us better understand these levels? 

RP: Yes, let's take an example. 

(pause) Let's say that I am a financial professional who wants to give the best answer to his client's inquiry. If I am a person centered primarily in the lowest consciousness of the human being, the physical consciousness, then I am not even interested in giving him an answer! the physical is inert, fixed, and unresponsive. If I am centered in the next highest level, in the vital/emotional consciousness, then I'll give him an answer if I feel like it, if I am moved to do so emotionally, if I am enthusiastic about doing it. The emotions are up and down dependent on one's feelings. If I am centered at the mental level, then I think about the possible solutions to the problem by accessing my storage bank of information and ideas using in my mind, and by the mind's thought processes of logic and reason.

Now let's see how the spiritual mind would handle coming up with the solution for the client. If I am in the first level of spiritual mind, the higher mind, I would be calm, and would be more likely come up with the a solution by working from this silent state. In my silence all of my mental functionings seem to work at their sharpest; there is less waste in thought, more of a tendency through my thinking to get at the solution. I am less distracted by the sense orientation of mind proper. This is higher mind. 

At the next highest level of spiritual mind, the solution to the problem does not come through the normally heavy thinking and ideative processes, but come as a ray of light, an illumination, or as a vision. Suddenly I say "yes, now I've got it." It just comes into my mind. This is illumined mind. 

Higher still the complete object of knowledge with all of its details simply enters my brain as intuition. The solution to the clients problems in its myriad of details simply comes into my mind "from the outside." There was absolutely no though involved. The knowledge with all of its needed details is dropped into my head; the object of knowledge simply descends into me as intuitions. This is intuitive mind.  

At the highest supramental level of consciousness, above even these three levels of spiritual mind, the solution I seek is simply in me! The client asks for a solution; and I know it instantly in all its details without any thinking. In this case there  is no descent because the object of knowledge is already part of me, even if I have no skills or knowledge in the field the client is asking questions about!  I just know. Since the object of knowledge doesn't descent into me as it does in intuition, then I must instantaneously be creating that knowledge even as I know it. This is an astounding concept, indicating that I am getting the answer and creating the answer simultaneously! When the client asks his question (on any topic in the universe) I simply know because I create the object of knowledge from seemingly out of nowhere! There is no division between subject and object. He is at once the creator of the knowledge and the perceiver of that which he has created. 

One of the conclusions we have come to is that this supramental way of knowing is precisely the way that the Divine or God "knows." He is not just the knower but the creator of the knowledge that needs to be known! After all it was through this supramental power that the Divine created the universe; and we can use that same power to be both creator and knower of the object of knowledge that is within us. 

This is but one example of the astounding ways that the supramental evolutionary being experiences reality.

Growth Online: I think I get it. It is rather overwhelming. It is beyond the wildest science fiction. It is .. well.. it's hard to explain ... yet it's remarkable!

So at that point you actually become the ultimate evolutionary individual? 

RP: Not quite. We can have any of these experiences for a moment or two. However, that fleeting experience is very different than living that way, embodying it in our lives on a permanent basis. In other words, having an experience is not the same as a realization. A realization is something permanent and integrated in one's being.

Also, what I have described is but one aspect of this supramental existence. There are other extraordinary aspects of this evolutionary individual that are beyond the mental aspect, the integral knowing. There is also how it expresses in the emotions and psychological nature, as well as the effects on the physical body, the effects on action and results in life, and so forth.

Growth Online: I see. But still I don't quite have the picture of how these levels relate to our ultimate evolutionary destiny? 

RP: I am mentioning these levels of spiritual mind only to point out that there is an ascending evolution that the universe and later the human race has been and is going through; which began as matter, evolved further as the animus of life, and further developed to the current mental functioning of the human mind. Our spiritual destiny then is to rise to up through these ascending levels of silent, illumined, and intuitive spiritual mind, and then move onward still to this ultimate supramental, truth consciousness level of mind.

There is then a natural upward ascent, curve, and movement among these levels; from mind proper that we now have and utilize, to spiritual mind, and then onto the supramental consciousness, where we experience and live a oneness and identity with everything, where there is the true truth; which becomes the foundation for this ultimate human existence.

(pause) Still, we can better understand this arc if we understand the current functionings of our minds; of mind proper. That will clue us into the subtle changes that occurred in mind; that are there between the lowest sense-based part of mind proper and the highest rational part of mind proper. Then we can see even more clearly the curve of the arc of our ascending evolution.

Growth Online: So your now talking about the normal mental functioning of the typical person that he uses on a daily basis?

RP: Yes. 

(pause) First we should acknowledge again that we are fundamentally a physical body. From that matter in our bodies has emerged an animated aspect, an energy-driven aspect which we experience in our feelings and emotions. This is the vital level. Of course, all sentient life forms have various vital capacities. What makes us uniquely human however is our developed mental functioning. This is the plane that evolved out of the vital, as the vital organized itself to deal with the pressures and force of life.

Let's then focus on this normal functioning of mind so we can better see this arc and curve of our evolutionary possibility. At the lowest level of mind proper the mind functions primarily as an interpreter of the inputs of the body's five senses. At this level of mind the mind is performing more of an automatic function, not unlike a computer; processing, organizing, systemizing of the physical, natural, and practical facts of information that are being absorbed by the five senses; and turning them into understanding, comprehension, and knowledge, which can later be used for decision-making, action, and accomplishment in life. 

At a slightly higher level of mental functioning we utilize, develop, and give meaning to these inputs of data we get from the senses. We evaluate the information, tinge it with our vital sentiments, and develop it into meaningful personal values and ideals that we believe in. At this middle level of mind proper we in essence gain a knowledge of life's workings and color it into a settled belief system. This is where the practical organized knowledge and comprehension of facts that we gained from the senses in the previous lower level is imbued with our emotions and feelings, which turns these organized facts into our own interests, sentiments, values, and ideals.

Though it exists in each person, few people have their center of their being and consciousness art this level, though there are some who are highly developed here. Certainly as we develop as people, we will move from our emotive, emotional, separative, ego-based vital center below mind, and the fact-gathering sense-based lower mind to this middle region of mind. In other words, our values, sentiments, and ideals will become more defined for more people in the future. Now this is not the case for 75% or more of the people of the world.

I think that all of the emerging values we see in the world, such as freedom and democracy are examples of values and ideals that are developed at this level. We also develop our own personal values at this level, such as believing or valuing tolerance, openness, commitment to the customer or to high level of products in a business; not to mention our moralities, philosophies, social values, and deepest beliefs.

Then we come to the highest part of mind proper. It is here that we enter into the realm of logic and pure thought; where we also conceive new ideas, new possibilities, including new possibilities in the future for our own selves. At this level we not only think rationally, logically, and objectively, but we can envision, self-conceive the world; self-conceptualizes our own possibilities and potentials; we begin to become master of that which he wishes to become. That is a big change in human consciousness, and a great turning point in human evolution! 

At this level of mind we move from the mere automatic gathering and sorting of information, of the reflexive interpretation of this data from the sense mind, and come to the doorway of true thinking, understanding, and conception; including our own self-conception. We begin to become conscious of who and what we are, enabling us to vision our future possibilities and potential. We begin to become self-conscious beings, sensing that we can in fact determine our own future destiny, and as a result, we begin to march in the direction of our own self-conception and vision. We are thus able to grow, develop, and evolve.

Growth Online: But few of us live at this level.

Yes, only a very few individuals are centered in their normal day to day being at this highest level of mind proper, where logic, pure thought, and self-conception reign; though more and more of us are moving in this direction. It's surely our destiny as we become more learned, educated, aware of possibilities.

Theoretical scientists, mathematicians, metaphysicians, and programmers use logic and reason primarily indicating that they are centered at this level. Perhaps the currently popular Self-Help movement is an indication of the emergence of the self-conceptive element of this plane; of how we can conceive our higher level of personal growth in the future. Again also, if we look out into society, we can see how this level is reflected there. Such disparate phenomenon as the great discoveries in science, or the emergence of the Internet, or the understanding of impassioned negotiating in world conflicts, or the logical though processes that go into thinking about economic and social development are in various ways reflections of man's ascent toward the logic, rationality, pure thinking, and self-conceptive aspects of this highest level of mind proper.

Growth Online: So that's then the pinnacle of how we use our minds in life?

RP: Well, that's the pinnacle of mind proper. Further still, beyond these normal levels of mind, we come to the doorways of the spiritual mind that we discussed earlier. At those centers of consciousness, we move beyond the hard thought and ideative process of mind. Here we gain the object of knowledge, we know the object of our inquiry more directly through silence, illumination, vision, and intuition. At these levels knowledge just pours into our being, rather than going through the hard mental processes of logic and thinking of mind proper.

Beyond that we move into the highest realm of mind, beyond spiritual mind to the realm of the pure truth consciousness, the supramental plane of consciousness. There we know things directly, we are one with the object of knowledge, of the object of our inquiry. The object of knowledge, the thing we wish to know, whatever it is, is simply there in our being. When we wish to know something we simply know it!

Planes of Consciousness
(vertical scale)

Supermind* (truth consciousness)

Overmind

Spiritual Mind -Intuitive Mind -Illumined Mind -Higher Mind

Mental  (Mind proper) -Pure Mind -Emotional Mind -Physical Mind

Vital

Physical

* -Above the plane of Supermind is the Divine existence and consciousness; the Divine Omnipresent Reality; the Satchitananda (Existence-Consciousness-Bliss) of the East; the Creator of the West. Supermind is the intermediary between this ultimate Divine plane and all that is below it.  
-For of the nine levels of our (non-spiritual) mental, vital, and physical makeup, click here.  For an explanation of the levels of spiritual mind and above, click here. For more info on the Supramental plane and consciousness, click here.

And its not limited to this; this truth consciousness existence extends to other aspects of life. As we are enveloped by this supramental power we are not only one with the object of any knowledge we seek to know, but we also are in identity with, are one with all and everything in the world; one with the environment, one with all of the individuals we interact with; and one with the situations and circumstances we are engaged in. In that way we are completely and integrally connected with everything around us, giving us a great knowledge, insight, truth, power, and harmony in life. At any moment we become integrally aware of the myriad of outer and subtler forces, energies, needs, and unfoldings around us. This gives us an integral knowledge, that enables us to know the full and integral truth of each moment, enabling us to see all the possibilities around us, including the possibilities for action. Then we are able to take the exact right actions since we are aware of all the best potentials and possibilities. So everything we do tends to end perfectly, to be perfectly executed with the greatest efficiency that enables the greatest results to come about in the shortest period of time with the least effort expended.

Also, in that status we become open to the infinite potentials of life. Endless new possibilities come into our field of vision; a plethora of ideas enter our minds, such as outburst of new concepts, new products, inventions, ideals, ways of living, and others. Over time we begin to move away from our acceptance of the finite nature of life around us -- that what life presents is only what is possible -- to a point where we are able to make life endlessly blossom. At that point we become the great creators of new life. We perceive the vast multiplicities that are there as potential, and enable them to come into being from seemingly out of nowhere. Thus, we become God-like in our capacities to unleash the infinite in life.

Growth Online: It sounds like you are describing some sort of magician who pulls a rabbit out of hat, who enables things to appear out of nowhere.

RP: Yes, that "nowhere" is the infinite potential of life that we come directly in contact with when we embody the supramental consciousness. We in essence are able to mimic the Divine consciousness that extended to and utilized the supramental power to create the universe in the first place. In that consciousness we are able to gain access to that same power; to engage the infinite potentials and possibilities that exist at the spiritual plane, and turn them into infinite manifested realities. Thus, we become God-like creators in life.

(pause) So in living this extraordinary existence we are able to abridge space and time. When we open and embody this Force we gain the results in a few days, hours, or even seconds what would have taken months or years to attain if left to the natural order. Because we have insight and integral knowledge in any given moment, we are able to take the absolutely correct inner or outer action that enables life to instantaneously and abundantly respond in kind. In that way we are able to replace the finite that we originally perceived with the infinite that we now helping to manifest.

Thus we see two extraordinary developments. We are able to overcome time by making the future occur in the present, and we are able to manifest the infinite in the finite. We have overcome the shackles of space and time, and have opened the portals to the infinite, enabling it to pour into life. In that way we have become Divine-like, becoming, in essence, the Masters of Life.

Also, as a result of this timeless and infinite existence, we experience life as never-ending marvel; We experience great joy, an endless delight of being. At that point we truly fulfill the purpose of life, the purpose for which the Divine manifest this universe; which is to enable the forms in the universe it created, including us, to discover our higher nature, to find spirit, to enable spirit to release the infinite potential of life, and, as a result, for us to experience the infinite delight of being.

I should point out that we not only experience this delight as a result of releasing the infinite potential of life in the timeless present, but also as a result of our experiencing the oneness with all existence; by living in identity with the objects of knowledge, and by being one with the environment and other individuals around us. That oneness also reinforces this great delight of being.

Ultimately, however, the greatest contributor to this ecstatic experience of continuous joy, delight, and bliss is our relationship with the spiritual source of all in the universe, with the spiritual Divine Reality. Our delight is that we are not only experiencing a Divine connection, but that we are following, living out, driven in all our actions and deeds by the Divine will and purpose.

(pause) So now we see this entire spectrum, this arc and curve of man's ascent. He is born with a body and a vital/emotional being, and a partially developed mental being. In the current evolution he rises to become a fully mental being; that is, he rises from utilizing mind for mere fact gathering and idea development, but rises uses mind for the development of his sentiments, values, and ideals, and then higher still to pure reasoning, where he can also self-conceive his future existence.

Then he emerges even beyond mind proper, into spiritual mind, where knowledge simply descends into his being without thought, in silence, as illuminations, as visions, as intuitions. Then he begins to encounter the truth consciousness where he is the creator and knower of the knowledge he wishes to know; where he embodies this supramental power in all parts of his being, enabling him to discover, control, and release the infinite potentials of life; where he becomes one with all around him, and becomes an instrument of the Divine will in every action he takes, in every breathe he takes And in that existence he continually experiences the delight and ecstasy of being, fulfilling the purpose of the creation.

This then is the arc that Sri Aurobindo has inscribed for us. It is one that traces the past evolutionary change, accounts for our present human status, and points to a future evolutionary possibility, to a new type of spiritual evolutionary being and existence.

(End of Part 1)

---

PART 2 
The First Signs of Our Ascent 

Growth Online: So how do we get from here to there; from us poor human to the pinnacles of this future evolutionary existence?

RP: Sri Aurobindo said that life, what we call "Nature" was on a path headed towards this evolutionary existence. Nature's progress would one day lead us there. Unfortunately, left to Nature itself, it could take 30,000 years to reach such an existence! However, Sri Aurobindo believed that though our own human self-conception and aspiration towards that aim, we can now set out on that path, not wait for Nature, abridge time, and make it happen in perhaps 300 years. 

I believe we could in fact see major inroad towards such a life in even the next 30 years. 

Growth Online: What makes you think that?

RP: Well, already we see a vast acceleration of the higher mental capacities of man. For example, we have seen in the last half-century a rapid increase in logical, rational thought divorced from senses in such diverse areas as new mathematics, developments in science and theoretical physics, in software programming, in economic and social development, in strategic planning, in decision-making, and in many other areas and fields of life. In these fields and in many other aspects of our daily existence we see a distinct acceleration towards the higher aspects of mind proper. For example, people in their work are better at organizing, systematizing, planning, and logical decision-making.

Likewise, we see how people are using the higher aspect of mind proper to come up with new ideas in their work and elsewhere in their lives. In recent times there has been a plethora, rather a torrent, of new ideas, new theories, new forms of logic, even new ways of thinking. 

Then there's the ability for us to be aware and self-conceptualize that which we want to become. This aspect of mind is reflected in many ways such as the acceleration and interest in self-help groups, of personal growth as in this Growth Online site, and in many other ways where people want to become something greater than what they are, both inwardly and outwardly.

So despite the unbelievable ignorance and falsehood that we as a species are steeped in, we see that the power of rationality, higher thinking is on the rise! These are distinct signs that man is awakening. 

Likewise, we see a social awakening as well. As a result of greater global communications and media, we see a distinct awareness of our interconnectedness. From that we are able to rationally perceive the plight of others, the ways to solve problems that effect us all, and so forth. This also indicates a slow, but steady movement towards higher states of harmony and unity, reflecting our evolving social awakening and progress. 

Both of these trends, the individual's higher mental development and the emerging social awareness, come together today with the advent of the Internet. The Internet is an embodiment of both the higher mental consciousness of the individual and the emerging social consciousness of society.

Growth Online: The Internet?

RP: Well, the Internet is a complex system that is in one sense is an extension of the ever-growing, rapidly developing capacities of the human mind. It's a reflection of all aspects of mind, from fact-gathering sense-based mind to the mind of sentiments, ideas, and values to the highest aspect of rational thought, new ideas, and self-conception of who we wish to be and how we can improve ourselves. The Internet is in that sense an external embodiment of all of these higher aspects of mind. 

The Internet surely gives us plenty of fact-based information, unloading the burden of the lower part of mind which is engaged in fact and idea gathering based on the input of the senses. With this information in hand we can move towards the higher aspects of mind proper where we develop our sentiments, values, and ideals, and higher still where we engage in rational thought, where we extend the information and values to new possibilities for the world and ourselves.

The Internet is then a reflection of our own aspiration to move towards the middle and higher aspects of mind, and away from fact gathering. Let's let the Internet do that so that we can engage in our higher mental functionings!

Plus the Internet is a reflection of the forces and powers that are emerging in society, such as a movement to closer connections between the people of the world, as well as new emerging values, such as freedom, democracy, individual self-reliance, the interrelations of cultures, the inter-relation of various fields of work in life, the belief in individual fulfillment in one's lifetime, and so forth. So the Internet is also a reflection of movements towards higher unity, harmony, and oneness of society. And these social developments are reflections of the individual's movement to fulfill himself in his lifetime, to conceive that which he wishes to be. So the Internet has emerged as a reflection of all of these forces, powers, drives, and aspirations. I have spoken at great length on this topic in another interview called The Internet is Mirror of Our Evolution.

Growth Online: And yet this state of the individual and society you are describing seems pretty far away from the ultimate spiritual evolution that we have been taking about.

RP: Well, yes and no. No it's not the obvious inner oneness and identity with others, with the environment, of the experience of the true truth of things that we envision for this future evolutionary existence. It's not even directly the first small psychic or spiritual experiences that would indicate or be a forerunner of a spiritual transformation. And yet such developments as the movement toward higher functionings of mind and outwardly the Internet are important steps along the way. 

Still your question is valid. If you think of it, from one perspective, the Internet is a kind of subtle, even magical system of organizing and disseminating information and knowledge. We do a search on the Internet and we are connected to a universe of information. The results come instantly and abundantly. If we are fortunate, we also get integrated information that has predigested facts that have been formulated into ideas that are very useful to us. This suddenness and integral detail of knowledge, is really a kind of miracle at work. The laws of space and time are seemingly overcome. This surely must indicate some sort of subtle or spiritual functioning is at work!

Also, the way information is linked, related, and unified on the Internet are also a sign of a hidden unity and harmony that is emerging; in the being of individuals, even in the society. 

If in one incredible system you capacities that overcome laws of space and time, and also suggest higher emergences of unity and oneness behind, you have something that seems suspiciously spiritual in nature! (laughter)

Growth Online: You have then a rather interesting definition of the term "spiritual."

RP: Yes, spiritual is the movement to the higher aspects of mind to spiritual mind and above. We are surely seeing man moving into the higher aspects of mind proper, and is beginning to have experiences that suggest he is also peeking into the spiritual mind. In addition, any movement towards unity, harmony, and oneness is spiritual because Oneness of being is one of the great properties and outcomes of spiritual connectedness and consciousness.

Also we can see even the Internet itself is spiritual in nature.

Growth Online: The Internet is spiritual?

RP: I think so!

I think the Internet is spiritual because it is non merely gross-material, outer, obvious in its functioning, but subtle and inner in its workings. We type in something in a search and we get responses from all fields of life, from all disciplines, from any place on earth, and it all comes instantly in a bundle. That sounds a little bit like the supramental functioning where an individual knows the object of knowledge the instance he wishes to know knowledge. For this individual it occurs within him, whereas in the Internet it occurs outside and he needs to make an effort.

So the Internet seems to have qualities that seem to take us in the direction of inner, hidden, infinite forces and powers of life. It's not that Internet is spiritual in full; it's just that it has this subtle capacity that borders on the spiritual.

It's also subtle because it enables individuals to have from an outer source somewhat of an integral knowledge. For example, an individual who has a particular illness can search the Internet, and by the end of the day have more knowledge about his illness than any doctor could have provided him! we call this a subtle power because it defies our normal perceptions of logic and space and time as expressed in the outer gross-material plane of existence. Instead we move into the hidden, inner, cosmic subtle powers of existence that humans are just beginning to come in touch with. The Internet has this subtle aspect that defies space and time, and can enable full, integral knowledge in the blink of an eye.

The subtle, and further still the causal plane of the supramental consciousness, are aspects of existence that we are beginning to touch in our lives. If the spiritual is the sum of everything that is gross-material, subtle, and physical, then by touching the subtle and causal we are touching spirit to a far greater degree. When we move to the higher aspects of mind proper we become somewhat more subtle; when we move to spiritual mind we become vastly more subtle. When we open to the Force or when we embody the force as supramental spiritual evolutionary beings then we become causal, enabling life to respond infinitely and abundantly in a moment in time.

So Internet is the ultimate form of complex organization reflecting the higher developments of mind in the individual, and perhaps even of something subtle and spiritual in the mind of men. The Internet is subtle in that it gives sudden information, defying the laws of space and time; and it is subtle because it gives deeply insightful, full, integral knowledge. These are all indicators of something very special, that some special inner forces, powers, call it spiritual if you wish, are at work.

Growth Online: So there are many currents indicating some kind of emergence.

RP: Yes, it's happening at the level of the individual and at the level of the society. More specifically we can see that it is an indicator of this evolutionary emergence toward the subtlety of higher spiritual mind.

The Internet, instant global communications and media, freedom, democracy, greater higher education, rise in logical and rational thinking, the rise of deep logical thinkers like programmers and theoretical scientists, are all signs of the movements toward the higher statuses of mind; where one thinks rationally and logically, where one self-conceives the world, with new ideas, new possibilities; where one conceives one's own potential in life, where one utilizes one's own higher mental power to envision what he wishes to become, to envision his total self-fulfillment of his potential; and where one begins to experience the world as subtle intuitions of knowledge. 

Through the utilization of the emerging powers of mind we are beginning to control and redirect the slow, meandering course of Nature. It seems like all of these developments are indications that we are beginning to take control of life; of not waiting around for Nature to take her interminable conflict-filled course. These are surely early indicators that man through his developing consciousness is moving on a path toward a new higher status. 

An associate of mine said that the last few centuries have been dominated by trade, economics, and our material well being, but that the 21st century will be the century of the emerging spirit. We are now in that transition between the two, with all of these developments being the indicators of this great change.

Growth Online: And with all of these wonderful, even subtle developments, with our greater utilization of our mental capacities, things don't seem particularly spiritual out there. If anything, things seem cold and quite material. 

RP: Yes, you are right, these do not seem to be clearly the spiritual movements that Sri Aurobindo and others conceived of. And yet they are clear indicators of an emerging subtlety, whether in the higher movements of mind in individuals or in the emergence of new technologies and social bridges between people that do seem to border on the spiritual.

On the other had, there are many direct signs that there is an acceleration of spiritual-type experiences, events, and situations that are probably the indicators and harbingers of a new spiritual evolutionary individual and collective world to come.

Growth Online: How so?

RP: (pause) People are beginning to become conscious! They really are! For example, say something unusual happens at the office that seems to suggest that there is something non-linear or non-logical at work, and the other person exclaims, "Boy, you must be psychic." This is an indication that people are becoming more subtly aware. They are increasingly having synchronistic experiences of all types that they are really aware of and are acknowledging, and are not simply ignoring and dismissing as mere coincidence. Another example: one person says to another "I can't believe you just called, I was just thinking of you at that very moment." This is an overt recognition of the subtle forces at work.

Of course, many have experienced a profound spiritual experience in their lives in the traditional sense of the word "spiritual." A communion with God, a profound sense of one-ness, a severe illness or near-death experience, an answer came to a prayer when there was a difficult situation. Such experiences have always been there, and continue to be so. 

Then there are those who are aware of the inter-relationship and connection between one's inner consciousness and life and the outer world around us. There are a number of individuals who for example changed an inner perception or attitude, or took a particularly new approach or action, and then were amazed when life seemed to suddenly and abundantly respond on the outside in kind. If they even a little bit conscious, they are able to see the relationship between their inner change of attitude, perception, value, action, and the way life suddenly responded kind in a positive way. Such experiences are dramatically on the increase. I get emails all of he time with people's experiences. They feel overjoyed and energized by the experience, and are happy to share it. Plus, they see how life really works, and how they can control their lives from a change in their own consciousness. It's a revelation.

Growth Online: Do you have some way of classifying this particular phenomenon?

RP: At Growth Online we call this phenomenon "life response," and it is perhaps the most astounding process and functioning of life that we present at the site. For instance, one businessperson changes a bad attitude, and then suddenly gets a call from out of nowhere offering him a big contract! This is, in effect, life responding positively to his change of inner status and consciousness. In life we don't normally perceive such connections, but there is in fact a total connection between these two seemingly disparate entities; between the inner status of the individual and the sudden, sometimes instantaneous outer positive results that follows. This demonstrates the connection between the inner to the outer, itself a reflection of the ultimate unity and oneness of life. 

These are only a few of the types of subtle experiences that people are increasingly having. Everywhere people are sensing such phenomena more and more in their lives. They are acknowledging it; even as they mock it or joke about it on the surface. It shows that the spiritual power, as expressed in this connectivity between the inner and the outer, in non-linear outcomes, in experiences that defy our normal perceptions of logic, of cause and effect, of space and time, is really emerging in life. Or, perhaps we should say that these conscious individuals have risen to a level of knowledge of and awareness of such things spiritual, and are thus more likely to acknowledge it and respect it when it occurs. Though a serious interest in such forces and powers is not really at the center of most of these individual's lives, the awareness of such phenomenon in people's minds is beginning to get organized. It's definitely a start.

Growth Online: But what's the connection between these experiences and the different levels of mind and consciousness that lead to our evolutionary spiritual being?

RP: It is the first signs of the movement beyond the rational, logical mind; of mind proper. It is a movement into the higher capacities of mind, which we have called spiritual mind. They are experiences of the subtlety that that is there in the hidden dimensions of life that come from momentary experiences from the spiritual plane of mind.

As we said, in spiritual mind we experience knowledge and the world around us in a different way. If we are calm and silent, then we seem to understand better; our thinking processes work better, and ideas, logical thoughts more readily come into our being in silence. This is higher mind, the level up from mind proper. At a higher level still of spiritual mind, we move beyond the hard thinking processes, and instead ideas, knowledge, understanding, insights comes as illuminations of light and visions. Beyond that still the object of knowledge comes as intuitions, where we no longer have to think hard to come up with an answer; instead the object that we now searching for simply comes into our minds as a descent of intuition. We simply know the object of knowledge that we seek. At that point we have completely dissociated ourselves from the sense mind of mind proper. This is intuitive mind. Beyond that is supramental mind or supermind, where we are the object of knowledge; where we are in complete identity with the environment, others, the true truth, and the transcendent Divine consciousness, God.

All of these early experiences of man are subtle movements toward and connections with these spiritual levels of mind. 

(pause) Perhaps we can also say that these experiences of subtle life phenomena and the like are also a reflection of some type of inner capacities that reside in the deeper recesses of our being; in what we call the inner mind.

Growth Online: An inner mind?

RP: Let me explain. We can kind of think of two simultaneous evolutionary movements in the individual. One is the movement that ascends from matter to life to mind to spiritual mind to truth consciousness mind, and beyond where we connect to pure Spirit. Perhaps we can call these the "evolutionary steps" that leads us to our spiritual nature. It's a movement upward from matter to pure spirit; to the Divine. This is the ascent along the vertical scale of human consciousness. We experience knowledge in silence as vision, illumination, and intuition of the object of knowledge without thought at all from these ranges.

But there's another movement, a movement from living our lives at the outer surface of life to living it centered in the very most depths of innermost consciousness. In this evolutionary movement we make the effort to withdraw from our outer surface connections with life, which is the way we normally engage life and the cause of many of our problems, and instead move within into our inner consciousness. In essence we move from the surface of life to the depths of our being; "from the surface to the depths" as we say. When we connect deeper within ourselves in this way, whether it be through concentration, meditation, or just by being still and focused within, we withdraw from the surface consciousness of outer life, and touch our inner consciousness of stillness, of calm, of wideness, of wisdom, and ultimately our spiritual self. 

As we move ourselves from the surface of life, we move into the depths of our being; from the outer physical, mental, and vital consciousness to an inner consciousness, including the inner mind that is more in touch with the truth of things. This inner mind constantly throws up signals and information to our surface consciousness. Generally these are of a very high and positive nature. This subtle mind is in direct touch with universal forces, and universal mind itself. The inner consciousness can see behind the things we are experiencing; it is aware of the play of forces involved at any moment; personal or universal. So our surface being constantly receives something, inner touches, communications, and influences from this region. These reflect in our psychic experiences, our human intuitions, and other types of subtle experiences we occasionally have in life.

At the greatest depths we are in touch with the inner, personal soul, the psychic being. There we are open to the greater cosmic, universal forces, with its greater truths, understanding, wisdom, power of effectivity. There are few who have connections with this region, but for those who do one's life is very different from the normal human functioning, and is a distinct step towards the evolutionary spiritual being that is the subject of our inquiry.

The thing I am trying to bring out here is that individuals are having more and more experiences that originate in the subtle mind and perhaps the personal soul, just as they are having experiences that relate to mind proper, and spiritual mind and above.

Growth Online: So it seems that there are two tracks to our growth and development.

RP: Yes, the journey is not only to the pinnacle planes above mind proper, but into the depths of the inner being. We can rise to the powers of spiritual mind to supermind to the transcendent Divine, or we can dive within and find the psychic being, the spiritual Self there. People have had all sorts of profound experiences as a result of an opening above and plunging deep within. We even occasionally have experiences from these realms when we live in our normal vital and mental consciousness.

So we can say that the individual can rise to the heights in the vertical scale of consciousness that spans matter to the Divine. Or he can move to the depths of the horizontal scale of consciousness that exists from the surface of life to the depths of one's being in the subliminal being, culminating in the inner personal soul, in our spiritual guide within.

Horizontal Scale of Human Consciousness

< DEPTHS (inner)

SURFACE (outer) >

 

DEPTHS (inner)