Growth Online > Knowledge Base > Society's Growth  > The Emerging Spirituality in Society The Emerging Spirituality in Society   We have made vast progress through technology. As society opens to the spirit she will enable possibilities undreamed of even by science and technology. A new spirit-based society based on the profound experiences of pioneers of consciousness is a real possibility. Introduction to Page Spirit-Based Life on Earth | "The Force" Moving in the World Eastern and Western Consciousness (link to other page) Limitations of Religion vs. Spirituality | Miscellaneous  The True Psychological and Spiritual Individual Recent Evolutionary Changes in Society   INTRODUCTION TO PAGE (top)   In this section of the Growth Online Knowledge Base, we present our original thoughts, as well as links to our original articles on the Society's Growth topic of "The Emerging Spirituality in Society." (If you wish, you can see our other Society's Growth categories.)   SPIRIT-BASED LIFE ON EARTH (top)     New Divine Life on Earth Spirit-based Life on Earth Evolved individuals centered in the spirit will usher in a spirit-based life on earth. New Divine Life on Earth Human growth in consciousness can usher in a new divine life on earth. (Paraphrase of MSS)   Higher Nature and Spirit-based Life on Earth When we discover our higher nature we take an essential step to creating a spirit-based life on earth.   New Spirit-based Society As humans evolve beyond their higher mental capacities they enter the plane of the spirit. If enough individuals gain the skills, knowledge, and powers of the spiritual plane, then there is also the possibility of a new spiritual-based society. Collective Spiritual Life When a number of spiritualized evolutionary individuals appear, they can come together and form a collative existence that is the beginnings of what Sri Aurobindo calls a divine life on earth.   A New World Emerging There is a new world emerging from the old. There is a new consciousness being born on earth that has never existed before. People are en masse becoming aware of the subtle unfoldings of life. Many are coming to understand the phenomena of “Life Response” and “The Secret.” They express the fact that we can instantly change the conditions of life around ourselves from within. E.g., you change an attitude, or aspire for something intensely, and then within days, hours, minutes, even seconds good fortune arrives on its own. This is being accompanied by another movement: the psychological development of the individual. As we become more self-aware, as we shed out negative propensities, as we embrace higher human values, we begin to change and evolve our nature. Then there are the pioneers who are opening to the spiritual Force, which brings the conditions of life under control, while evoking results that are dynamically creative and unprecedented in quality. All of these are steps on the road to the spiritual awakening of humanity. It is the promise of a New World emerging from the old. Life Divine ... Here on Earth People go about their lives. When we reach a state of desperation, we exercise our faith; otherwise, spirit is a distant dream. Faith works more often than not, depending on the intensity and surrounding circumstances. The result is even impacted by the yearning and status of our evolving soul. The other way we relate to the Divine is through death. When someone we know passes from this earth, we imagine a heaven where they reside in a bodiless state, but similar to life as we know it. Who can say what the truth is. On the other hand, we rarely consider the possibility of a Divine life on earth. For millennia, we related to spirit as something “up there”, or “out there”, or beyond the beyond; a release into an eternity, or as the ancient Rishis experienced, a merging into the transcendence. The possibility that it is “right here” was rarely considered. In addition, there was no compulsion to bring that spiritual power down into the details of our lives, because life was considered if anything a barrier to connecting to spirit. Now that is no longer the case, as every individual can find fulfillment in his or her work, indicating that there is less time to commune with the divine apart from life. Now if we want to experience the Grace and Power, we have ample opportunity to practice it while fully engaging in the details of our lives. It is right here now; all we have to do is open to it. In fact, more and more we are compelled to do so because the human mind alone can no longer resolve the ever more complex problems of the world. Spirit can however because it is capable of moving in multiple directions simultaneously attracting instantaneous positive results -- abridging space and time, and defying normal causality and possibility. In that way, it is the ultimate Problem Solver. The end result of this movement is that we are all moving to a new stage of human development and consciousness. First, we have arrived at the first great point in our ascent: to mentality and rationality, which is an enormous development and sign of human progress. This has particularly been the case in the last 50 years. Then we move higher to the next pinnacle of consciousness and discover and utilize the power of the spiritual Force that is there in the atmosphere -- especially so in recent decades. We then apply that Power to the details of life, perfecting and divinizing it. As more and more individuals take to this approach, we see the first signs of a new type of existence emerging; a first glimmer of a new spirit-influenced and oriented society. It is the ultimate destination in our ascent to the Heights as a species. This is indeed a radical departure in spiritual history. It is no longer a life of spirit apart from life, or a Death Divine of eternal comfort in the afterlife, but the emerging of Divine Life right here on earth. In the interim, we are taking intermediary steps to raise our consciousness. Higher attitudes, purifying and perfecting our behavior, emerging higher personal values, a mind that embraces all sides of an issue, and the ability to open to the spiritual Force are several of the bridging steps to the collective emergence of the spirit. They are not movements apart from life, but taken here in preparation for something new and unique in human history -- a Divine Life; but here … on earth. New Evolutionary Being and Collective Life on Earth Eventually this individual can become the ultimate evolutionary personality and being. He become a transformed gnostic individual, filled with the Divine aspects and powers, living life for a Divine Purpose and Unfolding in creation. He acts with a spiritual orientation and purpose, bringing this spirit to bear in all activities in life. He is infinitely creative, dynamic, releasing the infinite potential of life into every moment by bringing he Being, the Spirit into the Becoming of every moment of our existence. If a number of such divine-like humans emerge, then there is the possibility of the development of a community of such individuals, living within the greater community of society. Such individuals may come together to help form a new social and collective order and existence, culminating in the possibility of the emergence of a divine life on earth. Sri Aurobindo's Vision of Future Life on Earth Sri Aurobindo, the Indian sage and seer, said 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. 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 the spiritual Force, then we can change life as we know it. He invited us to take a journey on a path from our current human functioning to a vastly different superfunctioning that opens the doors to infinite accomplishment, success, and happiness in life. Old Ways Disappear in New Divine Life In a new divine life on earth, the old ways of life would disappear, such as mental idols, constructed principles and systems, conflicting ideals. There would be an end of war, political strife and all the negative that issues from it. Life and body would no longer dominate nine tenths of our existence for their satisfaction. There would be the end of the reactions to success and frustration, vital joy and grief, peril and passion, pleasure and pain, the vicissitudes and uncertainties of fate and struggle. (Paraphrase of Sri Aurobindo) Humanity Fulfilling the Purpose of Creation Humans fulfill the purpose of creation when we find our higher nature; when we perceive spirit in our lives, fulfilling the purpose for which the Divine manifest a universe -- delight of being.  Purpose of Human Life is to Become Divine The purpose of human life is to become Divine. To have the joy, the delight that we are the Divine. (Paraphrase of The Mother)   Bringing the Sweetness of the Spirit to the Surface of Life When one has been cooped up in a home or cabin for days because of cloudy, gloomy weather, and then one emerges into the bright warm sunlight of a new day, the change is exhilarating. Now imagine if we were to emerge into an even greater place, where our current sun-dappled relatively-happy existence would seem like something cold, soulless, distant, and without meaning. It is the emergence from our current life into the spiritual life. When an American friend of mine who expatriated to India 30 years ago to live in a spiritual community returned to the US, she found the place not only utterly alien but devoid of any spiritual feeling. As she rode the ever-widening highways of the San Francisco Bay Area and toured the region she was raised in, she felt an icyness and un-soulfulness in the atmosphere, lacking richness and sweetness and deep connectedness to a Higher Reality that she felt in the spiritual community of her adopted homeland. And this is one of the urban regions often most associated with happiness and joy in America. Imagine then how she would feel in other locales. We cannot imagine this greater existence, because we only know and breathe in what surrounds us. We feel the atmosphere in our surroundings and believe that is the reality of life. We cannot imagine an entire society rooted in soulfulness, depth, sweetness, richness, and the deepest of sincere values. Some believe that is in fact the reality of things in the rural areas of the world. However, once you punctuate the surface, you see that there often resides an environment of profound ignorance, falsehood, and intolerance. When we go to our churches and temples, we may be moved by the spirit, only to be overwhelmed by the harsh reality that permeates the world that we reenter. If we bring the spirit into life after such experiences, we may be able to infuse our surroundings with a richer power, but that only lasts awhile. How then can we permeate the atmosphere with a deeper consciousness? While we cannot immediately change the society, we can connect to the deepest depths inside ourselves, and carry around that feeling everywhere we go. Then as we look out into the world, we will feel the sweetness there, which really does exist below the surface of things. Except we will experience it on the surface, even as others do not. After a while, others can take to this approach, and bring down the spiritual power to the point that the outer atmosphere is as sweet as it is in the subtle plane below the surface. Then we can begin to create a new type of life on earth. Then wherever we travel across this wide planet, we will not just be happy because of the sunshine or the beautiful mountains and terrain, but because the world around us is suffused by something more substantial, by a quality that cannot be described, even though it can be felt. Then we will know that humanity has taken a great step, for they have brought to the surface the deepest spiritual secrets and feelings of life.   ARTICLE: The Life Divine on Earth The ultimate destiny for humanity is a spiritual-based, divine life on earth. Divine Life on Earth, not Heaven We shouldn't aspire for a spiritual, divine life in the next life, but in this life; in the cosmos, universe we live in.   ARTICLE: Destiny Of Humanity   Sri Aurobindo's and a Divine Life on Earth     Spiritual Stage of Life on Earth Emergence of the Spiritual Age & Divine Life on Earth Beyond the physical-based social life of early man (marked by survival, fear, subservience, etc.), the vital-based social life of the past five hundred years (emerging through trade, travel, discovery, adventure, and the fulfillment of the individual needs, wants, and desires), and the currently emerging mental-based age (indicated by freedom, individuality, democracy, education, rationality, technology, and the common man) is the possibility of the emergence of a spirit-based age and collective existence. In this highest form of social or collective life, the domination of the ordinary mind -- of surface preoccupation, of partial knowledge -- gradually wanes and is replaced with a mind and life dominated by the spirit. This transition to this age begins when a good number of individuals take to a higher orientation of consciousness, including an opening to the logic, rationality, and intuitions of knowledge, as well as an opening to the spiritual Force in the atmosphere, as well as a connection to the spirit through our Soul and True Self. As a result of that supra-mental orientation, one develops the capacity to move life outside one's self from within; one takes to the highest of human and spiritual values; one endeavors to purify, perfect, and elevate of planes of our being -- physical, vital, and mental; and one continually makes the deep soul to soul connection with others. As a result, a new spirit-oriented life on earth begins to emerge. When a critical mass of such pioneering spirit-oriented individuals forms,  a collective life oriented around the spirit can emerge throughout the society -- culminating in a divine life on earth. Spiritual Stage of Life Humanity is gradually moving from the mental to the spiritual stage of life on earth. Spiritual Stage of Human Evolution There is a spiritual stage beyond the [current] mental [of human evolution]. As we begin to emerge through the mental stage, we perceive that even the power of mind cannot be the ultimate salvation for humanity; for after all the faculties of mind as we have said are decidedly limited. So there begins to develop a longing for a unity of awareness and perception that mind cannot hold; an openness to greater truths, greater insights, spiritual knowledge and vision. To an understanding that our individual will, the collective will, and the Divine will are all bound together. At some point individuals who have experienced the inner life of the spirit, who have begun to transform themselves to a higher physical, vital, and physical existence, who have experience the spirit in action in life, who have felt and opened themselves to a greater spiritual power to effect life, become the harbingers of a new collective life, a new divine life on earth. This is the vision that Sri Aurobindo envisioned beyond the mental stage that we are only just emerging into just now. The Development of a Mental and Spiritual-oriented Humanity A thousand years ago man was physical. His life was elementary. He survived. Today he has multiplied his comforts, enjoyment, reach, mastery a hundred or even a thousand-fold. The progress in one millennium has been phenomenal. This occurred because man moved from being physical to being mental. Though he has not yet acquired a fully formed mental life, a rational life, certainly he has moved away from the physical to the vital life. Both body and vitality accept the guidance of the mind, at least in material matters. Thus, we can say that man today is mental. If this phenomenal expansion was the result of moving from the physical to the mental, moving from mind to the Spirit can bring another phenomenal expansion of similar magnitude. Today’s life will further expand in its richness, inner peace, outer security, harmony and, especially, in Prosperity a thousand-fold. (MSS)   The Evolutionary Spirituality that is Now Emerging Europeans look out on the world and are proud of their rich heritage, even as they are oblivious to the deep culture and spiritual insights of the East. Currently the Europeans observe the sudden dramatic emergence of Americans, and the rise of the Eastern economic powers, and semi-consciously begin to question their long-held belief that they above all others have been the civilizing force of history. Likewise, the Americans look out at the emerging East, and wonder what is in store from these titanic economic and cultural powers, just at a time she thought she was the unstoppable cultural and economic leader in the world. From our current perch in history, we can trace the march of progress of civilization. As we know, it began in Africa, and then essentially moved in two directions -- to the East, where spirit and culture was born, and north to the Middle East, where religion was born. From out of the religion wing eventually emerged the rational thought and democracy of Greece, its practical application through the rules and organizational structures of the Roman Empire; the culture of the Renaissance and Enlightenment; and the economic expansion of the British Empire, which continues today through the material and cultural influence of the America dynamo. The Middle East and Africa meanwhile have remained poor and neglected. Through tragedy and suffering, the world now seeks to resolve the stagnant problems of the troubled areas. Meanwhile, the profound ancient wisdom of the East has remained unknown to a good part of the world -- even buried in its essence in its founding country, India. Why then has the profoundest understanding of the spirit ever known, that of ancient India, remained dormant and unknown? The simple answer is that civilization was not ready for the ancient wisdom of the Vedas, the Upanishads, and of the Rishis who intensely communed with the Divine Reality up to 7,000 years ago. Civilization had to first evolve through several stages before she was ready to this greatest of all spiritual knowledge and experiences to be broadcast and adopted by the rest of the world. In addition, the ancient spiritual realizations themselves had to evolve. Though great beyond measure, the spiritual  realizations of the ancient Rishis were in one sense a static one. I.e. though the spiritual seekers had found a direct connection to the Divine reality, that blissful liberation took place outside of life; not within it. Thus, a new, more comprehensive spiritual realization and knowledge was necessary if it were to spread far and wide -- one that combined their deep realizations with the aspiration of modern Man. Fortunately, in the first half of the 20th century, one individual, the Indian sage and seer Sri Aurobindo had those very realizations and spiritual perceptions, as he was able to integrate that profoundest of ancient wisdom with modern evolutionary understanding. By showing how spirit is not just a liberating element that one can dissolve into to discover ultimate happiness and bliss, but that it can be brought into the details of life, in order to elevate and perfect it, Sri Aurobindo made the great synthesis between the spiritual wisdom of the past and the evolutionary aspirations of a modern society. Thus, after a 7000-year sleep, the great spiritual wisdom of India has begun to take on a new tone and direction, allowing a more dynamic East, and a materially-exhausted West to embrace it. In essence, Nature has waited these millennia so that the world could first make the necessary evolutionary progress -- emotionally, psychologically, and mentally -- before it could embrace this new, dynamic evolutionary view of the spirit. Now that a solid base of material prosperity has been established in the world, now that Nature's course has passed beyond the ages of oppression by church and king, now that she has discovered democracy, developed a modicum of culture, and has begun to nurture true individuality, the peoples of the world seem ready to embrace the evolutionary spiritual teachings and realizations of sages like Sri Aurobindo and others in the emerging New Age.   The End of Suffering and the Spiritual Evolution of Man The great spiritual teachers and avatars in history have confronted the issue of suffering in a variety of ways. Krishna who was to his followers God incarnate said that suffering was part of the Divine plan – i.e. it served a useful purpose in creation. Buddha was shocked by suffering and death, and saw life as impermanent as a result. He therefore sought a way out of this state by moving within where he found permanence in the eternal-like bliss of Nirvana. Jesus said the way out of suffering was Love. However, the church turned him into an icon of suffering -- i.e. that he suffered for our sins so that we could live in life after death heaven without suffering. Each of the insights of these great beings are profound; yet each inherently are lacking in something. Krishna has the most profound view, though suffering and pain still remains unsolved. Buddha addressed suffering head-on, but found no solution other than being detached from it in silent bliss within. Jesus’ followers twisted his message; that the end of suffering could only be found in heaven, not on earth. The Indian sage and seer Sri Aurobindo agrees that suffering is part of the Divine plan – i.e. it creates more diversity/multiplicity through which Divine action can unfold. But he also acknowledged that we needed to overcome, abolish suffering, disease, and death in life once and for all. He said that this was accomplished by bringing the Spirit into the becomings of life; by opening ourselves to the spiritual Force which would overcome all human limitation, including suffering and death. As he indicated, this Force is the Creator power that enabled a universe to emerge from a Divine Source and Reality, and it also available to us to overcome the limitations of life, including disease, suffering, and death. When we open to that Power, they begin to quickly give way. Sri Aurobindo thus brings the evolutionary spiritual process of Creation to bear to overcome the limitations of humanity, ushering in a new stage of life on earth. He links consciousness and spirit to the modern evolutionary evolution to overcome suffering in life. He asks us to bring the spiritual Force and Being into the becomings of our life to transform humanity. Other The Force Seeking Man Since 1956 Since 1956 when the Force descended on earth, God seeking Man more than Man seeking God has become a greater reality. We see no God, we see only how prosperous we are. Prosperity is the God for the householder. The Force came down on earth in 1956 but began to act through the governments in 1967. From then onwards its action is more and more pronounced. Just now Man is surrounded by a plethora of social opportunities. Psychologically it is greater. (MSS) The Negative Life that Has Now Become Potential Positive Can Be Invoked through Spirit Life was NEGATIVE in Shakespeare's time. Therefore, his best works were tragedies. After 1956 when the Supramental Force has descended into the subtle atmosphere of the earth, life has become positive in potential. The positive nature of life is not there on its surface as a Power of Life for us to readily draw upon. One who invokes the Spirit converts the potential into actual power. (MSS, slight modification)     Development and Evolution of Spirit in Society through India The Emergence of Spirit in India The fertile conditions of a riverbed civilization led the early Aryans on a quest for God which resulted in the religions of Islam, Christianity, and Zoroastrianism which survive till today. Hinduism too as well as Buddhism owes their origin to settlers from Mesopotamia. The religious basis combined with material prosperity led the Indian to think about creation, its origin and process all of which sum up as Spirituality. They discovered the Brahman, the five elements, the origin of creation as energy and its predecessor Spirit and a method for the human soul to reach its spiritual origins. Those findings are true today and no other part of the world has excelled those findings or even equaled them. (MSS) Nature Develops Spirit in India, then Moved On In India Nature developed the Spirit, i.e. the Spirit in Man. India recognized that Man's best part is the Spirit and devised various ways to attain it and release it for liberation. Having discovered the Spirit, Nature moved away and worked at various places for the development of various other parts. [E.g. mind in Greece, individuality in Europe, science and technology currently in US]. During that period there was the necessity to preserve the treasure of Spirit discovered during the period of the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Gita. It is nature's irony that the best has to be preserved by the worst, even as the treasure of gold is saved in a forest under thorny bushes and protected by vital spirits. Indian Spirit had to be preserved in an atmosphere of poverty by a top dressing of Falsehoods. (MSS, extracted) [Now that Nature has passed into science, technology, individuality, etc., it is ready to embrace the spirit that India knows; however not quite on its old basis, but through the further spiritual development of the Force of the Supermind that is now available to all.] Development of Spirit in India -In India Nature developed the Spirit. By Spirit, I mean the Spirit in Man as one part of his being. It is the best part. India recognized that Man's best part is the Spirit and devised various ways to attain it and release it for moksha. -Having discovered the Spirit, Nature moved away [from India] and worked at various places [around the world] for the development of various other parts. (MSS) Nature’s Course for India India is a land of rishis; that her sons carry the spiritual light in her body in the depths of her being. Sri Aurobindo says that it is that spirit that is the source of her greatness; but it has been lost over the millennia, and needs to be regained. If she can accomplish this, she will not only emerge out of her poverty, but she will fulfill her role as the Guru of the world. How did India some to her current condition, and how can she reemerge in prosperity to fulfill her spiritual destiny?   Spirit developed and reached Its penultimate peak in India. However, Nature -- which is, along with Soul/Spirit, the instrument of the Divine -- did not want Spirit’s further development there. For Her own reasons, Nature moved elsewhere, as She set about developing Mind, Vital, Science, Organisation, Technology in other parts of the world. Now that Nature has completed this round of development outside India’s borders, She has now come back to India to complete the work of development of the Spirit on earth. In addition, because India has fallen into great poverty, Nature has come to resolve that difficulty as well. (Based on MSS) The Evolution of Spirit in India 100,000 years ago, Man emerged from the savannahs of Africa and entered two landmasses; the Middle East and Europe (the "western wave"), and that of the East, including India and China. The Western wave out of Africa mainly took to religion at first, while the Eastern wave took to spirituality. The Western wave of religion eventually shed some of its falsehood, evolved into rationality, democracy, freedom, individuality, science, technology, and the modern material world as we see in Europe, the USA, and elsewhere. The Eastern wave developed culture, emotion, and the Spirit. Of course, each of the two developed some of the capacities of the other -- e.g. religion developed in India, and there were strains of the Spirit in the West. My goal here is to trace the Eastern movement that enabled the flowering of Spirit. It originated in the period of the naturalistic life of the Vedas in India. There people connected to the Spirit through the natural forces of the physical world. In the stone, in elemental and environmental forces, individuals felt a connection to an ultimate spiritual Reality. Life was physical then and their connection to that Reality expressed through physical forms of nature, as well as the worship of Gods. Mind and higher emotions had not yet developed to interfere with their pure Divine reverence through physical means. Still, it was a great development in the spiritual history of man -- unprecedented until that time. And yet, people perceived that life was indeed full of suffering in life, pain, falsehood, negativity, and evil. Since these issues were raised in the subconscious of society, the avatar -- i.e. one who furthers the evolution -- Buddha came along in India and took to a very different path. He abandoned the aspiration and search for an ultimate Reality, indicating that it could not be known, and instead focused on the causes of evil and suffering in the world. He saw that if we move out of ego, all such negativity ceases. By meditating and reaching the timeless, spaceless Void one realizes the state of Nirvana, where ego, separation, and desire ceases, which, in turn, eliminates all suffering. It was a profound insight and another great development in the history of the Spirit. Over time Mind developed, and there resumed the attempt to commune with the ultimate Spiritual reality through this newly evolved faculty. As a result, the period of the Upanishads was ushered in. During that time there was a group of individuals who had a deep urge to connect with and experience the Supreme -- i.e. the ultimate transcendent Reality. They began to see that Reality in three aspects; as Existence -- i.e. as pure Spiritual Being; as a Consciousness that that had become aware of its own Existence, and as a result generated a Force that that became the energy out of which the universe would emerge; and as Delight, taking infinite pleasure in being conscious of Its own Existence. (This is expressed by the three attributes of Sat-Chit-Ananda; i.e. Existence, Consciousness-Force, Delight.) This is roughly equivalent to the fact that I exist as an individual; I am conscious of my existence -- which in turn energizes me; and I delight in being conscious of who I am. These ecstatic devotees -- known as the Rishis -- had the spontaneous experience of the Spirit, and saw how it could be brought into the details experiences of one’s life. They perceived the spiritual Being emerging into the becomings of life; knew the integration of Spirit and Matter; thus had a vision of that ultimate Reality, which they called “Brahman.” In effect, the Rishis of that time were likely the greatest spiritual aspirants of the ancient world. Though they ecstatically experienced the Spirit by communing with the transcendent Reality, it was left to the Bhagavad-Gita to address aspects the Rishis had not considered. While Rishis were more focused on pure transcendence and connection to the spiritual Reality, the Gita addressed the specific methods that would enable an individual to spiritually progress – i.e. grow, evolve, and be transformed. By connecting to the Soul within, one not only begins the process of a change out of our lower nature -- e.g. sensing a oneness with others, controlling negative behaviors, taking to higher emotions, etc. -- but one comes in touch with the same transcendent Reality that the Rishis experienced earlier. Now there was a path of individual progress through Soul, opening the way to the transcendent spiritual Reality. Our ultimate purpose then was to find our individual Soul, discover and surrender to the Supreme, and carry out and fulfill the Divine Intent on earth. Through service of works, true knowledge of the ways of life, and surrender to the Supreme Intent, one not only evolves, but fulfills one’s ultimate purpose on earth. These are several of the lessons offered by the avatar Krishna to the warrior Arjuna at the battle of Kurukshetera, as explained in the Gita. And yet, it has been left to modern India, in particular, through the spiritual insights of Vivekananda and then Sri Aurobindo to perceive the wider and all-encompassing spiritual picture. Drawing on the Rishis’ upanishadic ecstatic spiritual experience and the Gita’s methods of yogic progress, Sri Aurobindo put it all in an evolutionary context. He gave us the wider knowledge of the creation and unfolding of the universe, as well as the course of human destiny. He described the involution of life -- i.e. how the universe came about from a Divine source -- and the evolution of life from matter to spirit through individual transformation, culminating in a Divine life on earth. He traced the cause of Ignorance back to the involution of Spirit, showed the way back to Integral Knowledge through Soul connection and surrender to the descending spiritual Force that would aid in the individual’s transformation. In this way, he provided a more integral view of the Spirit, embracing the evolutionary principles of modern life. (Based on MSS) The Vedic Discovery of Spirit and Beyond In the period of the Vedas the Rishis discovered the Spirit. Also they lived in unison with Nature. It was a life of the whole or whole life. The physical Man discovering the Spirit, living in unity with the environment of Nature, though it is of a spiritual fullness, was the victory of the first step – the physical life, the life in the Body. The wholeness of primitive times could not last. The joint family of the last century of thirty or forty members was a life of unity. But it was the unity of an agricultural family, mostly of uneducated simple people of primary emotions living on their land. As agriculture moves to manufacture, rural life gives place to urban living, illiterate goodness exchanges itself with educated individuality, and joint family is no longer a reality. As civilisation marches ahead, joint family disappears and gives place to the nuclear family. Even its life is no longer certain. The Vedas have two parts, one seeking knowledge and the other preserving the sacredness of the rituals. A split arose there. Those who followed knowledge were the Rishis of the Vedanta. Those who preserved the rituals became the purohits. Sri Aurobindo pleads for the restoration of unity lost at that time. He says the unity is to be restored above in the Supramental plane. The original cleavage between the Rishis and the purohits was followed by the dichotomy of the sannyasin and the householder. Then it became the contradiction between the sannyasin who denied Matter any reality and the Materialist who discovered the secrets of the universe and denied any reality to the Spirit. This is so because the instrument of the Rishi or sannyasin was Mind that could perceive only a part of the Reality. The scientist did one better by insisting on his physical mind, a part of the Mind that is already a part. Supermind is the right complete instrument that can see the whole Reality of Brahman in the cosmos as well as in our human life. Sri Aurobindo, who discovered the Supermind guided by Vivekananda, asks us to receive the descending Force of the Supermind so that we may be raised to its own native plane. There the unity lost after the Vedic period can be restored in its fullness. It will be a unity that transcends life and Mind. The world energies are in the process of building up that unity, not according to any mental formula intelligible to us, but in terms of a Life that transcends rationality. It is a life that is intelligible to Intuition, accessible to insight. It eludes intellectual enquiries. (MSS) Also See the Foundations of Indian Spirituality   Conditions Required of Society and the Individual for the Spiritual Stage to Emerge   General   Conditions for Mankind's Spiritualization If mankind is to be spiritualized, it must first in the mass cease to be material or the vital man and become the psychic and the true mental man. (Sri Aurobindo, The Human Cycle)   Individual Development for New Spirit-based Existence For human life to be transformed into Divine Life, the ego should be replaced by the soul, the thoughts of mind by the connection to the spirit, the attachment of the heart by divine love, the excitement of the vital (emotions) by the delight of the spirit, the habitual efficiency of the body by the unfettered power of the gods, death by immortality, etc. All expressions of darkness and falsehood must be replaced by expressions of light and truth.   Sri Aurobindo's Method of Enabling a New Divine Life on Earth 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 (the very same consciousness that was instrumental in the creation of the universe), then we can change life as we know it; change our own lives, change the lives of the community, the society, and life on earth.  If we learn how to open to this Force, we can begin to live in an astounding new way, a way that has no precedence in human history; where every conceivable problem could be solved; where all our life activities and circumstances play out in perfect harmony, in perfect execution; where all of life cooperates; and where we gain access to infinite possibilities for creation, accomplishment, success, and joy.  Things that we perceived as limited in scope -- whether a business transaction, scientific research, a research project, or a great work of art -- are now seen and understood to have infinite scope. Past limitations turn into great multiples and infinities. Our perceptions of quantity and quality change, our perceptions of space and time become different, the nature of cause and effect is altered. Sri Aurobindo on the Spiritual Evolution of Society (from his book The Life Divine) Sri Aurobindo pointed to this spiritual age, where humans have evolved beyond their current limited capacities, ushering in a new type of individual, centered in the spirit, with infinite capacities for knowledge, accomplishment, and delight. Eventually such individuals would be harbingers of a new type of being, culminating in a new divine life on earth. Current Basis of Life Inadequate: "Man has created a system of civilization which has become too big for his limited mental capacity and understanding and his still more limited spiritual and moral capacity to utilise and manage, a too dangerous servant of his blundering ego and its appetites." The blossoming of the world is currently supported by a limiting ego, vital, etc., when it needs a wider, deeper truth -- to enable it to harmonize. "A life of unity, mutuality and harmony born of a deeper and wider truth of our being is the only truth of life that can successfully replace the imperfect mental constructions of the past ..." A scientific formula, a perfected economic society, a democratic existence, varying structure of governance is not enough to create a perfected society. Religion has not changed human life and society. Only a total spiritual direction can transform the race; only a full emergence of soul, of supramental Supernature can bring about this evolutionary miracle. This can only occur as a result of a radical change in the mature of the individual. The True Spiritual Individual The Emergence of the True Individual in Society Today America rules the world as Great Britain did till the world war. Greece, Rome, and France had such eminence in their time. We see Greece had it on the strength of a culture that enabled it to flower Mind. Rome ruled Europe because of her law. France dominated Europe by her Freedom. Britain’s eminence was made possible by her trade. North America dominates the world because the Individual is emerging there in the physical plane. Maybe the Americans are aware of their military, political strength and abundant wealth and do not really see the emerging Individual. That is the route social evolution has chosen. Army, wealth, political power, etc. are the results of the emerging Individual, not vice versa. In the twenty-first century, the Individual will certainly emerge and it will be credited as the century of the Individual. Emerging at the physical level, he ushers in prosperous plenty. At the vital level, he will be the harbinger of Peace expressed as international law and order. At the mental level, the emerging individual will establish the rule of Rationality, abolishing all kinds of superstition, which our present life abounds in. At that level, he will be a psychological individual and his goals will be psychological growth and ethical standards. The real individual is truly spiritual. He will accomplish things from inside and not move in the outer life. (MSS) 21st Century of the Spiritually Free Individual The 20th Century was called the century of the common man. The 21st Century will be the century of the spiritually free individual. (MSS) The Cause of the Times, and the Cause of the Emerging Spiritual Individual of the 21st Century In each period MAN is after something — survival, territorial integrity, living standards, patriotism, honour of the sacred soil, etc. That is the God of that period. All the other things are lip service. Capitalism, socialism, communism are beside the point for the masses, if the God of that period is not honoured. Russia stood for communism. The popular idea was America swore by capitalism. Abolish the visa requirements and allow free immigration as the USA did in the 16th and 17th centuries, and regardless of ’isms’, populations would move towards a land of prosperity in a great exodus. Rising standard of living was the God of the 20th century and it will be so until Asia and Africa become prosperous.  There are times when Man is willing to die for his religion or to defend his nation. It is true. A greater truth is the dominant wave of the century or the period or the age. It is something that compels. Man’s dominant urges find themselves subservient to that cause. No more is Man bound by isms, religions, national pride, etc. He wants to raise his standard.  The cause of a period is called the evolutionary tide. Nothing can stem that tide while it is on the ascendant. It is my personal view that the 21st century will espouse another greater cause. It will not be a cause of patriotism, honour, religion, race or anything that has actuated Man up until now. It will be the cause of the emerging Spiritual Individual. He will value his freedom, his own personal views, his own prerogative to protect his individuality. It is not social individualism or psychological independence, but the INDIVIDUALITY of his Spiritual Being. (MSS, extracted) The Invisible Movement of Rights in History, & the Emergence of Spiritual MAN in the 21st Century There is an invisible movement in the air all over the world which espouses the Rights of the oppressed. Now it is the Blacks who are in favour, next it is the women. The street children get their turn. The poor suddenly come into the favour of the world and the whole world sings the chorus of the Right to Food, Right to water, Right to Peace, etc. All types of Rights have emerged as the target for the awakened world. It is a balm to the hearts of idealists and visionaries the world over as the have-nots, downtrodden, the oppressed and the invalids have now their share of the limelight. The UN is the spearhead for most of these movements. The world is awakened enough in her conscience that the world opinion readily swings to this call. This development is imperceptible but unmistakable. I see behind all these urges that MAN is emerging as someone to be counted hereafter. The Spirit in MAN seeks expression, peeps out from its hiding place. The symptoms are well-defined. He who seeks expression is no longer the social man, but the Spiritual Individual. The 21st century will be his century. (MSS) One's Spirit Connecting to Society's Spirit Enables Boom When a writer or the leader or other skilled individual has touched the Spirit in his own inspiration in his field, it touches the Spirit of the population also. This individual Spirit calling the social Spirit creates a live ever-increasing movement, a boom, e.g. of sales or popularity. Anyone who is patient enough to invoke the Spirit in his own life, who acts on his own faith in Spirit rather than his own individual capacities to succeed, will witness such a boom in his own life. How far it will rise depends upon how far he is in tune with the Spirit of the Times. With the spiritual Force ever-increasing in the atmosphere, this phenomenon of interrelated Spirit is ever-more likely to burst out into boom. (Paraphrase of MSS) See Thought on the Nature of the True Spiritual Individual     Other Realization of the Divine Life Sri Aurobindo said it would take 30,000 years for people to experience and realize concretely in their lives what he has written left to the whims of Nature. Still he himself said that we could perhaps do it 30 years or 300 if we took up human transformation seriously. Sri Aurobindo's Vision of Rapid Evolution of Humanity Sri Aurobindo believed that we can abridge 30,000 years of human evolution into 300 or even 30 years if we consciously evolve our nature, and aspire for and open to the spiritual Force. In that process we open to the infinite potentials of life; which can enable stunning new developments in technology, in products, in any work, institution, social entity, or field of life. When we bring in the spirit in our lives we literally bring in the same infinite powers that created the universe. By opening to the Force the infinite potential for accomplishment, success, and joy defies our wildest imagination. New Insights into the Life & Teachings of Sri Aurobindo Site   Also see Thoughts on the Evolution of Society Thoughts on the Evolution in World History, and Current History and Affairs   The Vital, Mental, and Spiritual Frontiers of Life to be Organized Life consists of matter, the animus of life, mind, and spirit. In society we are moving well along towards the organization of matter, which enables infinite possibilities in the of the physical realm as seen in machines inventions, technology, roads, infrastructure, shelter, life sciences, medicines, etc. The US is of course in the vanguard here. And yet the rest of life beyond the physical matter remains unorganized. There is pain, suffering falsehood, ignorance, evil, conflict, contradiction, disharmony, hate, desire, attachment, and on and on. This reflects as poverty, war, disease, famine, and many other social ills. This is the vital realm of humanity unorganized. It is the next frontier beyond the organization of matter that we have now been passing through. Such organization inevitable requires the organization of thought, ranging from logical thought to thought that comes as light, illumination, vision, revelation, inspiration, and intuition from spiritual descent, that will be necessary to help organize the vital life. The subtle vital, mental, and spiritual existence remains for all intensive purposes a frontier unexplored. The mental capacities of certain citizens and the deeper spiritual truths of India, now more well-rounded through its acceptance of evolutionary theory, can help the material-oriented US and West, and inevitably the rest of the world, exploit the new opportunities to organize life within across borders of the new frontiers of our vital, mental, and spiritual existence. Reconciling Material Prosperity and Spiritual Realization in the World -The world fulfils itself by relating the two ends of Material Prosperity and Spiritual realization. It is its destiny. -The spiritual realization of India which was at one point partial has become whole in recent decades as a result of the evolutionary realizations of individuals such as Sri Aurobindo that took India beyond her static spiritual wisdom. -The practical organization of the US is currently physical which enables material prosperity. However, the practical organization of the US must rise from its physical basis to a spiritual basis. -One or more individuals, by living a life that includes both, can build the bridge between, reconcile the two worlds of material prosperity and spiritual realization. Such individuals can then develop their shortest method into The Formula of life, which the whole world can then readily follow, fulfilling its purpose and destiny. (Paraphrase of MSS) The Next "Leaders of the World" Will Use the Spiritual Power in Life Over a period of a hundred years, the world looked up to London as its capital. The Britisher had conquered several nations and established an empire on which, it was said, the sun never set. It was political power. To be precise, it was military power. Today the USA plays that role. This is because she is an economic power. Of course, behind it lies the political and military power. It is true that neither military might nor economics can lead the world forever. That is not given to money or the sword. That privilege is given to the Mind. Science is of the Mind when it is seeking after the whole or the ultimate cause. When science branches off at the utilitarian level, Science becomes efficient technology. The future leadership of the world is not even for the Mind. It goes to the Spirit. Whoever goes after the Spirit will qualify for the leadership of the world. There is a further step. It is not the partial Spirit that seeks to shun life; it is the Spirit that emerges in Life to enrich life spiritually. Material welfare is highly desirable, but a partial aim. Any partial aim will have the other side that troubles. No partial goal can any longer serve the world. The world needs a whole aim or an aim of the whole which will not have side effects or negative fallout. That goal is the Spirit in life, which makes life Life. The leadership of the world will go to those that provide this whole aim. (MSS, modified)  [India could well qualify in this way, as it knows the spirit; if it can apply the spirit to life (in an original way); as could others like the USA if it learns true applied spirit. We also see in this discussion a movement from Britain's military power which is physical, to the economic power which is vital, to the potential of the power born of mind, and spirit beyond mind. Thus we see an ascending scale from the past, in the present, and to a future leadership. The world has moved fro the physical to the vital to the current beginnings of the mental stage to a future spiritual stage. -Editor]   Western Mind, Individualization, and Loss of the Divine Developing one's capacities is great, including one's individuality and personal values and skills. Yet, ironically developing such capacities increasingly makes man forget the Divine Spirit. To lose faith in the Divine and shift that faith to oneself is in essence Westernization of the Mind. All the values that issue from that mind-set are values that can make the human personality dry, even rotten. We should understand that man is man because the Divine Spirit dwells in him. Man cut off from those springs of Spirit is a bundle of flesh and a basket of skills worth throwing away. Let him instead find the spirit, even as he develops his capacities. In that way he will move from the Westernization of Mind to the Universalization of Spirit. (Based on a thought of MSS)   Accomplishing Infinitely by Acting on the Universe Contained Inside Ourselves For 10,000 years we lived our lives based on our perception of physical space and measured time, which the Internet now threatens to abridge to a considerable degree. And yet the deeper inner consciousness of an individual can contain the entire universe within himself at any moment, negating space and time altogether. E.g. he can take actions from those depths, using that Force, enabling life to instantly respond up to an infinite degree from anywhere on earth within seconds. Even the Internet is a scratch of the surface compared to the accomplishment and joy that can emanate from this timeless, spaceless, infinite existence that we can contain from within. Untitled Eventually the human race will evolve to a new way of functioning, rooted in this truth, Supramental consciousness in all aspects of our being; in our bodies, our emotions, and our minds.   Pioneers Living in Supramental Consciousness Enabling Divine Life on Earth The ultimate pioneers of consciousness can go onto supramental heights rooted in this truth consciousness. Such a way of knowing can open the doors to a new way of living, to enable the emergence of a new type of evolutionary individual, and a new divine collective life on earth. Nature of Supramental Individual There would be a transformation of the current mental, vital, and physical aspects that make up the individual to a higher functioning. "... to convert our twilit obscure physical mentality into the plenary supramental illumination, to build peace and a self-existent bliss where there is only a stress of transitory satisfactions besieged by physical pain and emotional suffering, to establish an infinite freedom in the world which presents itself as a group of mechanical necessities, to discover and realize the immortal life in a body subjected to death and constant mutation, -- this is offered to us as the manifestation of God in Matter and the goal of Nature in her terrestrial evolution."  For a more extensive examination of the qualities that a spiritualized, evolutionary individual could have, please click here. Bridging Material Prosperity and Spiritual Realization in the Hour of God It has been said that the Hour of God is here. On earth it is fulfilled by relating the two ends of Material Prosperity and Spiritual Realization. One person can join these two ends, and through his experience present the Formula of Life for all the world to take up, enabling the rapid fulfillment of this auspicious time for Man. (Paraphrase of MSS) Supramental Transformation of Body The supramental transformation of the physical body will come at the latter stages of the supramental transformation. The Mother attempted the supramental transformation of her body. Sri Aurobindo said he would return in a supramental body. "THE FORCE" MOVING IN THE WORLD (top)   The Force The Force is an extension of the spiritual Reality that has descended into the earth's consciousness to enable it further evolution. It is not only the instrument that enabled the universe out of a Divine source, but it is the power that will aid the evolution of humanity in its evolution from its unconsciousness to its ultimate spiritual destiny. See Thoughts on the Role of the Supramental Force in Creation The Force Sri Aurobindo and the Mother worked to bring the spiritual Force -- i.e. the supramental truth consciousness -- into the earth's atmosphere. It would serve to further the evolution of life on earth. The Availability of the Force and the Next Stage of Human Evolution Just as there are great events in history, there are great events in spiritual history. The most well known are marked by the coming of great spiritual personalities. They usually arrive on the scene when society needs to make a decided progress, even evolution. E.g., Jesus brought a new level of Love into the world at a time when that aspect of life was subconsciously desired by the community. Likewise, Buddha revealed the cause of suffering in life, and showed the way out of it, when that was required by that society. Similarly, Krishna revealed the divinity that resided in our souls, and the transcendent spiritual reality that we can embrace in the details of our lives when that society was ready for that progress. Since "spiritual history" does not stop, such revelations of divine personalities continue in the modern era. Recently two such personalities arrived in India at the same time in the form of Sri Aurobindo and his partner The Mother. The former is considered the greatest spiritual figure of the last hundred years in the East, in that not only did he introduces the world to an evolutionary spiritual view of life, but participated in bringing down a new spiritual Force into the earth's atmosphere. Therefore, now when one opens to the Divine, there is a greater power of effectivity in life than had ever existed before. In the past only the greatest of spiritual personalities could bring down spiritual powers into life, such as Oneness, Love, Truth, Beauty, Infinity, Bliss, etc. Now that power is available to anyone -- as that Force has penetrated fully into the atmosphere of the earth. Any person at any time can open to it, and elicit instances of sudden good fortune. Events around one's life will begin to appear miraculous-like, as the Force tends to attract vast results in no time at all. E.g. oppressive neighbor will suddenly move away; lost jewelry will suddenly be found; financial distress will quickly be overcome; income opportunities will appear out of nowhere; solutions to confounding problems will suddenly reveal itself, a threat to a country's border will suddenly evaporate, persistent power outages will permanently cease, and so forth. One only has to open to that Force before engaging in any act, and sudden good fortune will come one's way. One has only to offer any problem or difficulty one has in life to that Force, and it will quickly evaporate and resolve it. One has only to offer one's aspiration for accomplishment to the Power, and it will be achieved in relatively little time; and in most unexpected ways. Even if one has little faith, the Force will still move the life around one's self if one makes the slightest effort to open oneself to its Power because it is now so active in the earth's atmosphere. That Force and Power is ultimately there to usher in the next evolutionary stage for humanity. In the last fifty years, we have begun to see the emergence of rational mentality in Man. And yet despite that benefit, it is still a limited capacity, requiring a higher spiritualized dimension for life to unfold with its maximum potential. Through the Force, we can truly begin to see the power of the Spirit to move life around us, even as we have begun to see how rational and insightful mind has brought great awareness and change to humanity in recent decades. Now we are ready to move forward, from mental man to the Spiritual Individual; one who continually draws on the Force to bring about instantaneous miraculousness in our lives.   The Force Seeking Man Since 1956 Since 1956 when the Force descended on earth, God seeking Man more than Man seeking God has become a greater reality. We see no God, we see only how prosperous we are. Prosperity is the God for the householder. The Force came down on earth in 1956 but began to act through the governments in 1967. From then onwards its action is more and more pronounced. Just now Man is surrounded by a plethora of social opportunities. Psychologically it is greater. (MSS) Indicator of Force in World The speed of the resolution of problems in the world is an indicator of the (Divine) Force in action. The sudden, miraculous end of the Soviet system through Gorbachev is an example. (Paraphrase of MSS)   Action of the Force in Shaping Spiritual and Similar Movements -It is the descending Force that is making all spiritual and similar movements possible -- from the hippies to The Secret to Life Response to the environmental movement and to every other form of human unity emerging in the world. It is this Force that we are unconsciously opening to and expressing through our own individual and collective creative capacities that is enabling the further evolution of life on earth. -The Force is thus serving the universal and transcendent needs through the action of the individual and various collectives. The Negative Life that Has Now Become Potential Positive Can Be Invoked through Spirit Life was NEGATIVE in Shakespeare's time. Therefore, his best works were tragedies. After 1956 when the Supramental Force has descended into the subtle atmosphere of the earth, life has become positive in potential. The positive nature of life is not there on its surface as a Power of Life for us to readily draw upon. One who invokes the Spirit converts the potential into actual power. (MSS, slight modification)   The Great Result We Now Receive from a Good Act Taken The Divine Mother said that life since WWII (especially since 1956) has now changed. For a small GOOD act, life gives you a very big award. It is a radical change in the way of life. We now see it in the lives of so many people. For a small, good act there is a great reward, as people rise meteorically. She also says for a small slip, one crashes down. (Paraphrase of MSS)   Supramental Force and Life Response By opening to the (supramental) Force that is powerfully there in the atmosphere since 1956, and applying it in the details of life, one will be able to experience instantaneous miraculousness of life response; enabling the infinite to rush into the finite in terms of material abundance, rich social existence, true insight and knowledge, joy and delight of being, etc.   The Power and Force that is Moving the World There is an irresistible Power, that is a Will that expresses a Vision, directing everything; the world, national events, relations between nations, terrestrial circumstances, things, people, everything. It is all powerful, irresistible, and acting regardless of our movements on the surface and the hubbub of our lives. It is a Force and Power of perfect harmony, in which each thing is in its place; where It organizes everything perfectly. (Paraphrase of the Mother; from the Agenda, Volume 7; July 6, 9 1966) Resolution of Great Social Problems by One Individual availing the Force Mankind aspires for a pollution-free world. While the disposal of nuclear waste is no mean accomplishment, plans are afoot to set up four hundred nuclear power projects in Asia in the coming decade. Some people in such movements are anxious to get rid of such dangerous moves. One man’s perfection can save the world is what Sri Aurobindo laid down. Whatever the problem, if one man in any such field can aspire for that Force to come into his own Perfect Work, that problem will be solved for the world, be it poverty or unemployment or radioactive fallout. This is the spiritual possibility the Force has made available to all men since 1956. When people succeed in such ventures, Mother says it is not announced by the beat of drums. (MSS)  See Entries on "The Great Secret" of Opening to the Force; i.e. Consecration The Advent of the Supramental Force in Life After 1926 Sri Aurobindo was engaged in the yogic adventure of raising his being to the supramental world, and bringing the power of that world into the earth through the instrumentation of his own body. He accomplished this feat fully before 1950. His yoga was realized. The highest aspect and realization of the Divine had been reached. Now the Truth Consciousness, the Supramental Force was ready to move from its origin, descend on earth, abolish death and suffering, transform life on earth, and enable a new divine life on earth. Sri Aurobindo saw at this point that the transformation of the earth presupposed one other condition. When he left the blue light of the overmind, he envisioned the Golden Light of the supramental world. If the Golden Light were to remain on earth forever after the descent, he saw that it would require about ten followers to fully have the Supramental Consciousness. In other words even if power of Supermind descended through the accomplishment of Sri Aurobindo, that light could not remain on earth without other's collaboration. Unfortunately no one was able to help him in his attempt to bring down the Truth consciousness further.  He thus spoke to The Mother and said one of them had to leave the earth and continue the yoga from the subtle plane [the non-material plane] to expedite the Advent of the Supramental Consciousness and Force on earth. The Mother offered to go; i.e. to leave her body. However Sri Aurobindo showed her that the unique constitution of her body could enable her to accomplish the supramental transformation at the physical level. Thereafter he decided to withdraw, and continue his work from the subtle plane. In 1950, he had offered his own body to the descending supramental light as a fit receptacle. At the time he left his body, the Golden Light invaded it and remained there for three full days. All the other yogic powers he had gathered within, he deposited in The Mother before he withdrew from his body. In six years, Sri Aurobindo's work prepared the Earth Consciousness as a whole to receive the supramental force, power and light.  In 1956, Sri Aurobindo's work from the subtle plane bore fruit. During the meditation in the playground on February 29, 1956, The Mother saw Her subtle body enlarging to the size of the universe and becoming golden. Before her appeared a massive golden door and beside her was an equally massive golden hammer. With one blow The Mother smashed the door, the curtain between earth and the golden supramental realms. Floods of living light of golden color poured down onto earth. Earth had thus realized the Supermind, the Supramental Truth Consciousness. Instantaneously, the inertia of the earth rose up in equally great floods and swallowed up the descending Force and Grace.  Following this great event, Divine Love descended on earth in 1962. The Supramental Force advanced further in 1967 by manifesting itself in the earth consciousness. At that point The Mother saw that the consciousness was now available to any of the governments of the world. Again on January 1st, 1969 the Force further evolved and became an individualized Superman consciousness and appeared before The Mother.  The Mother says that since its advent in 1956, the Force is effectively determining the course of earthly events. The diffusion of the Cuban crisis and simultaneous inexplicable withdrawal of the Chinese from the Indian border when invasion was immanent occurred because of the presence of this Force. She also says children born after 1962 have greater receptivity to this Force. (Paraphrase of MSS)   Descent of the Force Sri Aurobindo and The Mother had experiences in which they perceived the Supramental, truth consciousness was becoming more firmly fixed in the universe. In 1956, 1962, and in others years that followed she experienced the first firm descent of the Supramental consciousness, the Force, into the earthly realm, into human consciousness, into her own body, and in other ways. Descent of the Force In 1956 on February 29th, while Mother was in meditation at the playground with all the sadhaks [spiritual aspirants, followers], She saw a golden door and a golden hammer. She broke that door with the hammer. A Golden Light, the Supramental Light, flooded the earth. Up rose the earth’s tamas [resistance, inertia] and swallowed the descending Force. (MSS) Descent of the Force into Earth's Atmosphere The Mother, the partner of Sri Aurobindo, said that this Power, this supramental Power and Force had vastly increased in intensity on the earth since 1956. Small efforts of opening to and using this Power (i.e. consecrating all of our events in our lives) will create enormous results, defying normal notions of cause and effect, and space and time. We have the Power before us; thus we should avail of that Opportunity. It is in that way the Hour of God, where we are given the opportunity in this golden moment to seize it. See Entries from Mother's Agenda from 1956 on Descent of Supramental Force Sri Aurobindo's Method of Enabling a New Divine Life on Earth 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 (the very same consciousness that was instrumental in the creation of the universe), then we can change life as we know it; change our own lives, change the lives of the community, the society, and life on earth.  If we learn how to open to this Force, we can begin to live in an astounding new way, a way that has no precedence in human history; where every conceivable problem could be solved; where all our life activities and circumstances play out in perfect harmony, in perfect execution; where all of life cooperates; and where we gain access to infinite possibilities for creation, accomplishment, success, and joy.  Things that we perceived as limited in scope -- whether a business transaction, scientific research, a research project, or a great work of art -- are now seen and understood to have infinite scope. Past limitations turn into great multiples and infinities. Our perceptions of quantity and quality change, our perceptions of space and time become different, the nature of cause and effect is altered. The Descent of the Supermind The descent of the Supermind [the supramental truth consciousness] is a long process, or at least a process with a long preparation, and one can only say that the work is going on sometimes with a strong pressure for completion, sometimes retarded by the things that rise from below and have to be dealt with before further progress can be made. The process is a spiritual evolutionary process, concentrated into a brief period - it could be done otherwise (by what men would regard as a miraculous intervention) only if the human mind were more flexible and less attached to its ignorance than it is. As we envisage it, it must manifest in a few first and then spread, but it is not likely to overpower the earth in a moment. It is not advisable to discuss too much what it will do and how it will do it, because these are things the Supermind itself will fix, acting out of that Divine Truth in it, and the mind must not try to fix for it grooves in which it will run. Naturally, the release from subconscient ignorance and from disease, duration of life at will, and a change in the functionings of the body must be among the ultimate elements of a supramental change; but the details of these things must be left for the supramental Energy to work out according to the truth of its own nature. (Sri Aurobindo) The Force Compels World Unity The Divine Force is compelling the world toward world unity. World unity is a movement toward greater and greater connectedness, oneness, which is a property of spirit. The evolutionary spiritual Force is the power and spirit behind the movement of globalization. Utilizing Creative Action of the Force in World Scene The opening to the Force and its Creative Action enabled the stalemate of the Cold War to dissolve through the personality of one individual, Gorbachev. It can be invoked again to enable Its Creative Action to overcome obstacles of the post Cold War period. But that will likely require another such individual in power to be the instrument. Evolution Due to Its Aspirations, Spiritual Determinants, Evolutionary Intention The social life of the collective is continuous evolving under pressure of its own aspiration to manifest greater powers of life. It is also evolving under the influence of higher-level spiritual determinants working behind the scenes to express higher powers of consciousness. This evolutionary intention expresses subconsciously as the will of the society. This collective will expresses through the actions of individual members of the society pursuing their own interests and aspirations. (MSS)   Force Moving through US and India The Force is moving through technology in the US. Rather than moving directly from spirit-oriented India, the Force has taken an unexpected path, moving through the emerging subtle technology of Internet in the US, which extends in collaborative service work with India, where the Force returns to meet its true earthly Source. Then together these two nations can enable the infinite to emerge in the finite, not just in the material plane, but in all planes.   Movement of Force in US and India The reason the Force has moved through the US rather than directly from its source India to the world is that the US needs to brings its practical organization, including the infinite attracting Internet, to energize, focus, and make practically real the lessons of spirit.   The Force Driving Technology The Supramental Force of 1956 is organising itself and taking possession of Technology as well as social, subtle organisation, having moved from the governments it possessed in 1967. (MSS) One's Spirit Connecting to Society's Spirit Enables Boom When a writer or the leader or other skilled individual has touched the Spirit in his own inspiration in his field, it touches the Spirit of the population also. This individual Spirit calling the social Spirit creates a live ever-increasing movement, a boom, e.g. of sales or popularity. Anyone who is patient enough to invoke the Spirit in his own life, who acts on his own faith in Spirit rather than his own individual capacities to succeed, will witness such a boom in his own life. How far it will rise depends upon how far he is in tune with the Spirit of the Times. With the spiritual Force ever-increasing in the atmosphere, this phenomenon of interrelated Spirit is ever-more likely to burst out into boom. (Paraphrase of MSS)   Also See Thoughts on the Supramental Plane We Can Rise To   LIMITATIONS OF RELIGION  vs. SPIRITUALITY (top)   Beyond Religion to Spirituality