"Supramental Consciousness and Human Evolution"
TRANSITION:
…this particular transition is unprecedented, it has never happened before in history…. the Supramental being brought directly into the physical has never been done.
Then, there is one more factor: that this particular transition is unprecedented, it has never happened before in history. Although some attempts have been made, the Supramental being brought directly into the physical has never been done.
In the Veda, Sri Aurobindo observes, the Vedic Rishis could bring down the Supramental into the mind, into the vital, but the body itself was seen as the container for this transformed inner consciousness. The body itself received the glow, reflected or bathed in the Supramental Consciousness, but remained physically inconscient - not transformed physically. It was this inability to transform the physical consciousness which was, as he says, the flaw and the limitation of the Vedic experience, which later led to the Buddhist and the Mayavadin realisations.
This transformation of the substance of Matter is unprecedented, and therefore, it has its own surprises, its own difficulties which cannot be fully anticipated. This being the nature of the transition, we must recognise that, while that which we have sensed intuitively in our own ideals is true, the truth may involve a struggle to realise.
In practical daily terms, while Auroville is the space where the human unity is meant to be realised, and will be realised, and has been realised even though in parts, in fragments, in not too stable circumstances, the process stabilising itself may take time, will take time and that’s alright, that’s part of the game, that’s part of the journey, part of the effort.
The question is: is it certain or is it still doubtful? Once the Supramental Consciousness has been established on earth, the final transformation is certain.
- Will it be here?
- Yes.
As long as we become the representative aspiration in humanity for that transformation, that’s where it will happen the earliest & most easily.
These communities are created for this purpose. We are drawn here for this purpose, and therefore, these are certainly destined to be the cradle of that transformed consciousness.
Well, just as we had our own expectations which seemed at first to be belied, so we find a similar struggle in humanity. Even in the past, in the collective consciousness of humanity, there are memories of past cycles.
In the past too, where this transition had been anticipated, it was belied, defeated perhaps, and the seeds of doubt of the possibility were sown. But there has been always a perception of something extraordinary destined to happen. In every civilisation and in every spiritual manifestation, you will find it taking certain forms.
I think it is interesting to share the perception that, how in various traditions and from various perspectives; there is a sense of something dramatic to happen. Most of us are familiar with the Mayan calendar and its end in the year 2012 - December 21st, down to a few minutes. Now, what is special about this calendar, carved in the stone many thousands of years ago is that the calendar is still accurate in predicting the eclipses down to a few seconds. This calendar - which was created by such an advanced civilisation - comes to a dead halt at a precise date and time. So, for many, it is another doomsday prophecy, as for many, the year 2000 was an end of an age or perhaps even the end of the humanity. There are similar ideas which are promoted, but it is not that which is important; it is the sense of an end of an age and the beginning of a new age which was foreseen by the ancient civilisations or their mystics.
Similarly, there is the idea of an end and a new beginning in the religious traditions too. In the Sufi tradition, for example, about a thousand years ago, there was a Sufi mystic who spoke of man stepping on the moon and that signaling the transition to a new era. He said that when the man steps on the moon, Islam will rise to its highest peak and then it will fade away.
There is a similar prophecy in the Catholic Christian tradition, where one of the very mystical popes, about five hundred years ago, wrote a series of visions in his diary, describing the future popes to come. It was discovered about 50 years ago. It seems to have been very accurate in all the descriptions, including the last two popes - the one before the last - that there would be an assassination attempt; and the earlier one which would not be from Italy; and the present one is described as the last pope and there will be no more popes.
Similarly, in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, we find the prophecy that the 14th Dalai Lama will be the last and the present is the 14th. So, in all these mystical religious traditions, one finds an inbuilt perception of their own end as religions. What after that? Nothing is clearly stated. Perhaps it could not be seen, it could not be understood in mental terms; only (perceived as) a new possibility. Perhaps, the very fact that it is the Supramental Consciousness opens out indescribable possibilities.
More recently, we find that there are others who have prophesied transitions. The one that I find worthy of respect is Edgar Cayce from America, “the sleeping prophet” as he is called, who in the mid-thirties foresaw an evolutionary change and gave dates for it, saying that between the year 1956 - 58 up to 2000…. the '56 is the interesting part… he mentions '56 or '58 as the beginning…then up to 2000; a change in human evolution as if a new step in the evolution would begin. And around the time of 2000, he said, the tilt of the earth would also change.
Now, I don’t think that has been discovered so far, but we do see that 1956 onwards - because of the Supramental descent - so much has changed.
Another more fascinating thing is the rhythms that Nature herself has set for her own fulfillment. As should be obvious when we look at large spans of time, the psychological changes in the consciousness are seen, or would be seen, to happen in certain natural rhythms. The cycle of yugas for example, is one such where Sri Aurobindo explains a rationale of that cycle; where a truth is first lived, and then, it is held by force of will. It is then organised by external organisational pressures and eventually, every attempt to hold it by artificial means gives way to creating the four natural rhythms, cycles or ages - yugas of the normal evolutionary spiral. Yes, going in circles, but each circle taking it one step higher.
So, the cycles of yugas, for example, are mapped out across so many years in a very precise mathematical timing which too Sri Aurobindo doesn’t give much importance to; he sees them more as indicative rhythms.
Still, when we look at a large span of development unfolding in Nature, the end of a cycle may not happen exactly on the year measured out in the Yuga calculation, but somewhere around that time. This in evolutionary terms could mean maybe in about a thousand years around that time. That’s good enough, that’s very precise for Nature.
