"Supramental Consciousness and Human Evolution"
GUIDANCE:
In relating to the Supramental Consciousness, there are two approaches one can take: one is to view it as a vast impersonal cosmic power that is here working in everything, through every form as directly as it can, that the form can bear.
… The other way to relate to it - which makes it much more direct - is to know the Supramental Consciousness as the conscious Shakti of the Divine. The Divine Mother herself as the Supramental Shakti meets us directly and, to know her in the form of the Mother - whom we adore - is then the most intimate relationship we can have.
In all these, particularly for us here, the recognition of the Supramental Consciousness as an active force and power, making this happen, assisting and guiding it, is of great importance. In the rest of the world, these changes are seen almost as a social or accidental process, but for us there is this difference: that there is a Consciousness that is making it, actively leading it - it makes a difference.
It makes a difference because we can open to that Consciousness deliberately. In the rest of the world, where this awareness is not there, there are still a few individuals who sense this new Consciousness. They speak of a “new age”, but the idea of new age is: there is an age waiting to happen. It is sensed indirectly, but the reality of it is not known, therefore, the mind’s active participation - submitting to it consciously - is not possible so easily. For us it is. And, that’s why it is here that the most important and most rapid change can be made most smoothly.
In relating to the Supramental Consciousness, there are two approaches one can take: one is to view it as a vast impersonal cosmic power that is here working in everything, through every form … as directly as it can, and as the form can bear. A finite form meeting the infinity of the Supramental would not be able to bear it, it would burst apart. The earth itself could have shattered if this descent had taken place too soon, and therefore, it needs an intermediate support, sometimes of one or two layers, for that action to be diminished and diluted, before it can act on finiteness.
The intermediate levels are what Sri Aurobindo calls the Overmental and the Intuitive. So, it is only through the Overmind, or the Intuition, that the Supermind can acts on things as they are. But it is acting! We can relate to it … allow it to build in us these two intermediate levels of Intuition and the Overmind. This is the way you would normally be able to see it when you see it as a cosmic power.
The other way to relate to it, - which makes it much more direct - is to know the Supramental Consciousness as the conscious Shaktiof the Divine. The Divine Mother herself as the Supramental Shakti meets us directly. To know her in the form of the Mother, whom we adore, is then the most intimate relationship we can have.
In, ‘The Mother', the little booklet, Sri Aurobindo describes how the four powers of the Mother –
Mahalakshami and
Mahasaraswati - form in us, establish in us and fuse into one movement in which the Supramental Mahashakti herself descends and works in us.
This is the key: if we begin by relating to her as the conscious embodiment of the Supreme, as the Supramental Shakti, our hearts flow out to her in gratitude,… in love… in self-giving and devotion. Our minds know her as one who is so close to us, who in fact is the One to whom we surrendered…who has called us here…who has created this space for us and who presides over all that happens here. Our actions in life can then flow most easily in service and consecration to her. To know her not only as the Divine Mother, as the Divine Shakti, but as a Supramental Divine Shakti, is the means by which we can feel ourselves closest to the Supramental Consciousness. Whichever way we find ourselves more naturally relating to, the idea is to enter into that relation as quickly and as completely as possible.
Again, this can take many forms - a form of concentrated meditation, a form of relation and devotion of heart, a form of work and expression in service - but by whatever means, to feel the closeness of the idea or of the feelings and to allow that closeness to gradually spread to fill the whole being: this is the way by which we place ourselves in touch with that Supramental Consciousness. And to the extent that we are able to do that, all the change necessary in us is done rapidly.
To put it in extreme terms, there is a letter that someone wrote to Sri Aurobindo saying: “I was told that if I put myself wholly in the hands of the Mother, then the transformation in me can be done instantly.”
Sri Aurobindo wrote back saying, “Yes, that is true; the condition is you have to put yourself wholly in her hands, with nothing resisting. And then, of course, the transformation is instant.”
The point is: the parts in us which are open and give ourselves without resistance, are the ones which are transformed instantly. But unfortunately, not all of us are so conscious and so giving, without resistance. That’s why there is a process, that’s why it takes time. But to the parts which are given to her in this way, the change is instant.
The problem is, even as I give myself and the part of me - that is in my mind or in my heart - most open, most conscious, there is a habit in that part; a habit that tends to bring back that persistence, recurrence and resistance. And, if I give that habit itself, then even the habit is changed by her.
So, starting with whichever part in us is most conscious, most naturally surrendering, we should begin. As she changes that part, her consciousness seeps into the other parts, and seeping into them, extends the range of awareness. It will be a common experience for all of us that, as we persist, we become more conscious of things within us we didn’t know existed: tendencies, habits or even aspirations. We were not conscious of those parts. As we proceed, we become more conscious within us, and even as that happens, those parts change.
