"Supramental Consciousness and Human Evolution"
OM, OM, OM, OM, OM
SRI AUROBINDO:
Having passed through a series of experiences, including the experience of Brahman and of the Immanent Divine in the world, he was given a series of revelations of the nature of further development in human evolution. It became obvious that unless there was a radical change of consciousness, human evolution itself, would not succeed in making the next leap.
About one hundred years ago, Sri Aurobindo withdrew from active politics in order to pursue a line of development that he realised was far more important for humanity. Having passed through a series of experiences, including the experience of Brahman and of the Immanent Divine in the world, he was given a series of revelations of the nature of further development in human evolution. It became obvious that unless there was a radical change of consciousness, human evolution itself, would not succeed in making the next leap.
Dedicating himself entirely to that pursuit over the early years of his sadhana, in Pondicherry, joined by the Mother soon thereafter, he pursued this line and realised in himself that Higher Consciousness; which he refers to in his writings as the Supermind - that Higher Consciousness which is necessary for the next step in human evolution.
He wrote during that period, in the Arya, completing at least six or seven of his most major works, simultaneously. They were all written from his experience and his realisations, including the realisation of the Supermind and the transformation of his own mind by that Higher Consciousness which was in a process of development and stabilisation.
In 1926, there was a capital step in this effort; when the Overmental consciousness was brought down into the physical body of Sri Aurobindo and established in the material world. In him, first.
This is to be understood in the larger context of the whole process that he was pursuing and only then we can better understand what was happening, and then what is happening today.
The realisation of a Higher Consciousness can be had in its own level. For example, the consciousness can rise into the Intuitive Consciousness or in the Overmind or the Supermind, and know it in its own level and then return, leaving the mind and the rest of the life largely unchanged. Or it is possible to bring down that Higher Consciousness into the lower - first as an influence, then as a direct, more and more direct action - and eventually to establish that Higher Consciousness in the lower as the dominant power transforming the lower by that Higher.
This process of transformation involves at first a series of descents and a time needed to assimilate and to stabilise the transformation. But the realisation of the Higher Consciousness itself can take place much sooner. This Overmental Consciousness had already been realised by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. The struggle was to bring it down and to establish it in the lower ranges, which was the focus of their effort during that time.
The Overmental was established in their mind, the mental consciousness, in the life-force, the subtle-physical body and then eventually, in the gross physical itself. This was a capital step in the whole evolutionary effort, because unless the Overmental Consciousness is established, the Supramental Consciousness could not come down in its purity and direct action.
In 1926, the Mother noticed the presence of Sri Krishna hovering around Sri Aurobindo for some time, for a few days. There was a special presence in the air, in the whole community of the Ashram, a presence of delight, preparing, intensifying. Then one day, she said she saw this form of Sri Krishna enter Sri Aurobindo physically. She went and commented to him. He simply nodded.
But that was the capital step: the establishment of the Overmental in the physical, which was the assurance that eventually, the Supramental would also be established in the physical.
That was the point where Sri Aurobindo formally withdrew from direct personal contact with the sadhaks, in order to dedicate his entire concentration to bringing down the Supramental into the physical. The Mother was given formal responsibility of all the sadhaks and their sadhana in the Ashram and outside the Ashram.
I remember a narration of one of the very old sadhikas in the Ashram. Her name is Swarnadi. She was one of the earliest sadhak who came to Sri Aurobindo and the Mother - even before she visited Pondicherry. At that time, she was a housewife in Bengal and she was in touch with Sri Aurobindo through correspondence. He used to guide her. Of course, there was the direct action of his help on her sadhana.
She described how she had - sitting in Bengal - a series of experiences which she did not understand. It was only when she wrote to Sri Aurobindo, that his explanations would come. One that she described was such: while she was swinging the child in the cradle, she would go into meditation and sometimes into trance. Once, she had the sudden awareness of the whole subtle being, a subtle body, and she saw the seven chakras within herself and the rising flow of Kundalini energy and the channels of Ida, Pingala, Sushumna, which are the things that we all read about and see pictures of in books, but she experienced that within herself. Not knowing what it is, but trusting that she was being led, she wrote to Sri Aurobindo for an explanation.
