A science of exceeding Man's mental consciousness

Sanjay R. Desai [ Central Page Journal Main Page ]
"Sri Aurobindo Darshan: The University of Tomorrow " February 2006 Volume VII Issue I

Sri Aurobindo … A nationalist? A politician? A Vedantic monk? A new-age guru? A mystic? Who is Sri Aurobindo? What is he to us? More importantly, why should we bother raising this issue in the first place? The lines that follow offer a modest attempt to decipher this amazing awesome maze...

Sri Aurobindo is not just another brand of mystic philosophy, nor is he an exercise in abstract critical thought. His life is the record of a discipline, a methodology, a science of exceeding Man's mental consciousness—contingent on a set of finite terrestrial senses—to realise the truth of his being and expanding it into a cosmic, universal, spiritual delight of existence. His yoga equips us with the roadmap to be followed to contact and bring down that force without which the ascension to superseding the mind cannot be effected. He delivers to us that formula, that mantra which otherwise the physical thinking mind cannot conceive of. His documented spiritual experiences reveal to us not only the presence of regions that lie beyond the mind but also how these can be journeyed to. He is the solid shining mirror of truth wherein we are compelled to ask:

• Do we truly know ourselves?
• Has man conquered all the domains of knowledge or are there other worlds yet to be explored?

Sri Aurobindo provides us with the tools with which we proceed to pierce open our evolutionary consciousness further onto extra-terrestrial regions of a liberated intelligence. Sri Aurobindo could fashion these ideals for he did bring down and craft these higher gradations of consciousness here on earth in a physical body. And he did so to make them realisable to an aspiring humanity! His integral yoga is the blueprint made available for every individual to manifest his body's soul. His is a life taken to demonstrate that the supramental consciousness cannot only be attained but be brought down and be made a permanent part of the earth-consciousness to effect a divine transfiguration of the human race!

Above all, to me personally, Sri Aurobindo is the master of the Divine Game; an idealistic explosion reverberating through the cosmos; a volcanic prophecy beginning to erupt; an intellectual revolutionary tempest that knocks beyond the frontiers of human knowledge; a material envelope that defied the laws of death; a decree straight from the Divine! I end with this quote from the Mother: "What Sri Aurobindo represents in the world's history is not a teaching, not even a revelation; it is a decisive action direct from the Supreme." (Dr. Sanjay R. Desai from Vadodara, Gujarat, has a Doctorate in Management Studies)