Sri Aurobindo Ashram does have considerable uplifting and harmonising effect on the society at large

Action R & D on Body, Consciousness and Their Interactionin a Framework of Integrated Living

The difficulties encountered in research in consciousness and the transformation of human nature get complicated by the fact that the normal avenues for expressing scientific information are not suitable for sharing this kind of inner knowledge. This is so because the knowledge of the inner realm is of a different type from knowledge that science deals with, because, being experiential and implicit, it cannot be adequately expressed in explicit statements. Teachers through the ages have, moreover, warned against premature sharing of personal experiences, as this tends to distort and disrupt the very subtle and fragile process of inner growth and transformation. However, all this does not mean that the work on transformation of consciousness cannot be shared, though in a subtle manner. In fact, there is a constant stream of visitors to the Ashram who return home with answers to their specific personal and professional problems that help them to deal with their life and work in a more inspired, harmonious and enlightened manner. Though difficult to quantify, anecdotal evidence is so massive that the conclusion that Sri Aurobindo Ashram does have considerable uplifting and harmonising effect on the society at large is inescapable.

There is hope that the gulf between modern science and the rigorous and systematic study and development of consciousness as developed in Sri Aurobindo Ashram will be bridged at least to some extent in the near future. There is a growing awareness in the emerging inter-disciplinary field of Consciousness Studies that the existing methods of objective science can, intrinsically, study only the physical correlates of consciousness, not consciousness itself. Till more concrete work is done in this direction we have to limit our report to the more traditional fields of research in which the Ashram is involved. It needs however to be kept in mind that all activities in the Ashram, recognisable or not as academic research, are done with the aim of development and transformation of consciousness in the direction envisaged by Sri Aurobindo and this type of work forms the major contribution of Sri Aurobindo Ashram to India and the world.

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