"Supramental Consciousness and Human Evolution"
THE GOLDEN LID:
This fine distinction between the highest part of the Overmind and the Supermind proper….was in fact suggested in the Veda, when it is said that the face of Truth is covered by a Golden Lid.
…She (the Mother) found herself in a form, a body larger than the whole universe, and before the gate that had to be broken to release the Supramental Consciousness. And it is this which we can relate to in the Vedic description “the face of Truth is covered by a Golden Lid”.
So, this fine distinction between the highest part of the Overmind and the Supermind proper, he said, was in fact suggested in the Veda, when it is said that the face of Truth is covered by a Golden Lid. So, this covering, which being a Golden Lid itself appearing to be of the nature of the Truth, seems to be the Truth itself. He explained how, in the earlier times, whenever this ascent to the Supermind was attempted, it was this distinction which was missed. Even by most of the great Rishis of the Vedic period and later.
In the Tantric phase, there was again an attempt to realise the Supermind, coming very close to this distinction, but not realising it entirely. “That was the result,” he said, “because the descent of the Overmind was seen as being as good as the Supermind, and yet the Overmind could not overcome the extreme resistance of Inconscience."
Therefore, it was concluded that: Matter cannot be changed, therefore, it was seen that the world was unreal and had to be abandoned. This fine distinction he said was the key to the transformation of Matter itself. And it was that highest working of the pure one Supermind, the Gnostic Consciousness that Sri Aurobindo was bringing down during that later phase. It was that which was established in his mind, vital and the subtle-physical. And the transformation of the most gross physical was the final challenge left.
Sri Aurobindo speaks of the formation of the Mind of Light as part of this process, which in his own being he had realised, which he transferred into the Mother’s physical body at the time that he left his own physical body. A series of events had taken place by then, which made it necessary for him to leave the physical body in order to work from above and the Mother from below, in the physical world, to create a bridge and to bring down the Supramental Consciousness as an active force in evolution.
When this took place in 1956, you will recall - and most of you would have read the Mother’s description - she says how she found herself in a form, a body larger than the whole universe, and before the gate that had to be broken to release that Supramental Consciousness. And it is this which we can relate to in the Vedic description “the face of Truth is covered by a Golden Lid”.
In his letters, Sri Aurobindo had written earlier that, unless this lid, this gap is broken, the direct action of the Supramental on the physical consciousness is not possible - but of that we cannot speak now. This was what he had written in his letters, I believe, in the late thirties. It was that lid, that barrier which the Mother broke in a single movement of Knowledge and Will as she describes there. And that Light and Power came flowing down on Earth. Earth here means not only the physical earth, but earth-consciousness and with its impact on the whole universe.
What was surprising to her was that, while she expected everybody present around her to be flattened by the intensity of that consciousness, she found most people almost entirely unaware that something significant had happened. She said only four people knew that something had happened. Four people in the whole Earth … and she said one of them was in Africa. You can see how, in her cosmic consciousness, she knew exactly what was happening in each one.
This fourth person came later to the Ashram and he narrated what was his experience. He said he was in Africa and looking out towards the sunset. Suddenly, he had this feeling that a new world was born and he saw the whole sky becoming gold and orange. This magnificent light and view stayed for a while and then as the sun set, the colours faded; but at that point he knew that a new world was born and he wrote of it to the Mother.
This event of 1956 was effectively the completion of the work for which Sri Aurobindo and the Mother took birth on earth in a physical form. Everything after that can be seen as an additional gift of their Grace to humanity.
The Mother, after 1956, actively began the spreading of this consciousness through the 'forms of life'; the whole direction of things changed. She began to encourage people to form centres and to spread the knowledge and the works of Sri Aurobindo. Before that, as you know, the Ashram was kept in extreme isolation so that nothing of the normal world or the old world would intrude into this space of concentrated Supramental Force.
It was soon after, that when she would be driving on what is now the East Coast Road and every time she would cross a certain area; she would stop for a while. Sometimes she would step out of the car and look towards the west from the road. One of her attendants asked her what it is that she was looking at. She said, “One day there will be a great city here.” That is Auroville.
Of course, she had the perception of what was to come. It took a while before the human instruments were gathered and the things could take a more concrete shape. That is how Auroville began.
In order to bring this Supramental Consciousness into a direct working in human life - we must recognise here the distinction between the establishment of the Ashram and the establishment of Auroville and their relationship. There have been many casual comments on the past, the future, etc., which are not accurate.
The Ashram was established in the beginning to create a concentrated space to bring down that Higher Consciousness. Once it was established and was active in the humanity as an evolutionary principle, it was necessary to create the framework of life in which it could more and more directly manifest its truth.
The Ashram had limitations, not only in terms of space but also in its primary focus. Therefore, the necessity of a separate framework with a different objective was declared, and that’s why Auroville.
But between the two, there continues to be a complementary relationship at an occult and spiritual level. The Ashram still remains a focal point for the realisation of that consciousness within. Auroville still remains the focal point for the realisation of that consciousness in the forms of life. Therefore, even in the Charter of Auroville, there is more emphasis on the manifestation of forms of life. Everything here is to be built from scratch, along the lines that Consciousness chooses. That consciousness, the Supramental itself, is not a fixed, rigid mental framework, but a multifaceted, infinitely rich possibility, expressive of a single Oneness.
