Sri Aurobindo and Integral consciousness

[williamsrmail]

The Life Divine is a deeply profound and unprecedented work. And your search sounds very much like my own. You should study the compilation called "The Integral Yoga". It seems to put his work and ideas in simpler terms allowing those less educated in the work of Aurobindo to grasp his ideas. Thank You for sharing this, keep it up.

[matthewadamsemil]

If there is a God then there is a division, godless philosophies are fair and valid where we can reach unprecedented heights of realisation without submission to some entity always superior then us.

[matthewadamsemil]

Western Philosophy is objective centric and Eastern Philosophy is subjective centric...

[haddytube1]

Iam glad to see you read THE LIFE DIVINE....

His understanding is deep and explains in detail... You have chosen the best...Good luck for your spiritual understanding...

[drshepass]

"By that hunger mysticism profits and new religions arise to replace the old that have been destroyed or stripped of significance by a scepticism which itself could not satisfy because, although its business was inquiry, it was unwilling sufficiently to inquire. " -Sri Aurobindo ♥.•* ☀¨`*•♫.•´*.¸☀.•´♥

[nshaalla]

Thanks for bringing this important work to youtube. One humble request--Aurobindo is THICK stuff and for average minds like mine, needs slower reading to capture more of its quality! Can you slow it down and highlight important parts?

[MiriamSPia]

I had heard of Sri Aurobindo - in grad school in a Western phil programme but don't know his work. This is a nice sampling of it; thank you so much.

[vidhisdalal]

I am surprised that someone in the West is actually reading Sri Aurobindo. My life changed since I started going to Pondicherry in 2006.

[rickdangerwood]

just stopping by to watch this again, still love it. Just awesome someone post

this, this book Rocks so very , very hard- Auribindo is a classic- Reading him is like sipping fine wine, omg, nothing like him and makes you feel so good and relaxed unlike so much else literature out there- Auribindo is the best

[Delulalila]

this was actually a great video and i found it very helpful to my specific point in my story. i was skeptical at first b/c it looked like this might be a case of a kid trying to bite off more than he can chew, but this vid was truly awesome. keep truckin you have my support!

[ddastoor]

@giovannistefanio : Well, It's how one would define "dead". Pondi is a hustling bustling city in it's own right. In a sense, the ashramites of before are all "advanced" exponents but and they very much live in the thick of life. They may not interact in the normal sence, but they definitely have very active lives.

As your probably aware, Sri Aurobindo's philosophy discourages asceticism !!!

[killintymm]

congratulations to break free from any restrictions and prisons. explore east and west and wish you all the best in your explorations.

[Denzic56]

Red light Rocket STUNNING!!! A+++

[ddastoor]

hey man.. this is great... consider visiting Pondicherry, India to talk to Sri Aurobindo exponents like Sraddhalu Ranade, Alok Pandey for earnest seekers like urself.

Also search these names on UTube itself.

[Monolith1618]

Thanks for the name dropping. I didn't know of these people before now. Though it's not for me, I hope to take the advice : )

[ddastoor]

@Monolith1618 np. Im a Sri Aurobindo follower myself. Also Google "aurobindo mother".

[giovannistefanio]

@ddastoor many people told me that Pondichery is dead. That there are only people living their life without looking for no contacts among human being?

What do you think about it? I'd like to have your experience. Thank you a lot. Omnamobagavate Saraswati

[adderbrain5]

beware schizophrenia my young friend

[MaBu888]

Increase your discerning abilities and/or scientific literacy. You need to expand on what you mean.

[adderbrain5]

My comment was meant to be interpreted in whatever way suits you. I give no explanation.

[MaBu888]

Which renders that comment disconnected from any and all inquiry, in a way.

[adderbrain5]

so be it.

[1PostPoMoMaN1]

That's actually nice! :)

Here's my other account.

You are welcome to view my latest video.

[ddastoor]

@adderbrain5 schizophrenia ? huh? what are u talking about? are u referring to a earnest seeker trying to reconcile the east and west?

[Denzic56]

@adderbrain5 Did you get to go to school? The number 5 is bad math added to the end of anything alone Bible Codes.. DuAAAHHHHH

[cardellacole2]

spoken with such passion

[devarsi]

well that is the process of attaining God, which gives definite results, initially the direct personal experience of the impersonal Brahman. In science also, first you have a theory and then you get the result is it not? If the result fits the theory, then you have proof. So why then do you want proof before practising the theory? We say here is the way to understand, we all got the result as promised, we say there is proof, so why don't see for your self?the mind is incapable to see for itself.

[devarsi]

Jnanis and karmis depend on direct sense perception for their knowledge.Karmis never agree to accept anything not directly perceived, and the jnanis put forth only hypotheses.Vaisnavas, the devotees of the Lord, do not follow the process of direct sense perception or mental speculation.They are loving servants of the Supreme Lord and receive knowledge directly from the Supreme Personality of Godhead as He speaks it in the Bhagavad-gita, or as He imparts it from within as the caittya-guru.

[DarkestDragonNL]

Well this discussion has continued long enough by now.

I would think someone would need good knowledge and proof of something before they can be deeply devoted to something.

A book or a line of teachings can be no proof by itself and i can't see how someone could discover a thing or being such as Krishna by introspection or extrospection .

Whereas the "experience" of being and consciousness are always present in the now, this to me is a crucial difference.

Please PM me if you wish to respond.

[devarsi]

mattah parataram nanyat

kincid asti dhananjaya

mayi sarvam idam protam

sutre mani-gana iva

O conqueror of wealth, there is no truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread.

Krishna Bhagavad Gita 7.7.

Free PDF Gita download on my main page

[DarkestDragonNL]

Perhaps if you would read another book your vision of reality wouldn't be so one-sided.

Christians etc. do the same with their books everything the think they justify with one book...

Thinking is allowed in here..

Tell me what good could this so called "Krishna consciousness" do, that normal insight into your true nature wouldn't reveal ?

[devarsi]

I have over 108 translations of many Vedic texts, the Bhagavad Gita is just one of them and is considered to be the one to read for the beginner,so I quote mostly from the Gita. You are saying I am one sided but in reality, I know that nondual is not the answer, whereas you think it is.KC is being 100% cognizant via direct perception/experience of ones eternal spiritual self giving freedom from birth old age disease and death and normal insight,will not reveal KC, only the maya of non-dualism.

[DarkestDragonNL]

You think Nondualism is maya, to me the belief in an anthropomorphic being like Krishna is a form of illusion.

If someone would have talked about Krishna in the understanding of it as an symbol for the absolute, i would have no problem with this.

Many religions make many strong claims and i think most of these claims are barriers to the truth instead of pointers.

[DarkestDragonNL]

Only if one can see the symbolic nature of many of the teachings and doesn't view the written forms as sacrosanct.

They can guide the faithful to the truth.

See at the core of our difference lies not only our different views of Absolute reality, but the emphasis on Bhakti or Jnana.

[DarkestDragonNL]

Because manifested life is a form of Lila, there is much joy and creativity in this process.

But let's keep in mind that we are like microbes trying to figure out Quantum Mechanics, there is much here that is hard to understand for us.

Concepts like Nirguna Brahman, Maya, Lila are just symbols trying to grasp an unnameable reality.

Much of the illusion can be explained by understanding the human body and mind, it is here where the real illusions of ignorance and seperation start..

[DarkestDragonNL]

And think of the old philosophical question you might know;

"Is your god so powerful he can create a rock he cannot lift up?"

Now clearly this is a paradox, for how can a limitless and infinite being be limited ?

That would be impossible, the way this can be done is by forming a creature that can be mislead and has limited power.

[DarkestDragonNL]

In the same way we humans can forget our real identity.

For example just by the material fixations of our senses, it's hard for many to think of deeper levels of reality.

[TobiramaSenju]

Do you happen to have any kind of powers by any chance?

[DarkestDragonNL]

:) Besides a very strongly developed intuition, and the normal powers of rationality i would not claim to have special powers ;).

But you make me curious, why do you wonder this ?

[TobiramaSenju]

I was just curious. :)

[devarsi]

Lord Krishna "When a perfect yogis attention is no longer attracted to the by-products of mystic powers, which are manifestations of the external energy, his progress towards Me becomes unlimited, and thus the power of death cannot overcome him."source Srimad Bhagavatam

[TobiramaSenju]

Here death means ignorance.Because anyone who has Kaya siddhi has overcome death.

[devarsi]

True, Krishna says: The material body of the indestructible, immeasurable and eternal living entity is sure to come to an end; For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain. "

[devarsi]

In this way death is just a transition, there is a saying, as a ship leaves one harbour and people wave good by, on the other side of the ocean there are those who wait for its arrival.

[TobiramaSenju]

Yes

[devarsi]

that is alright, but if your identity was formless and impersonal from the start, you could not have forgotten yourself at all, because from the start,you did not have a personality or identity to forget. So lets say you had personality from begin with and If it was so easy for you "The Absolute" to fall into this condition of suffering birth old age disease and death, how come you guys have to struggle so hard to get out of it again, especially when you wish you could?

[devarsi]

Krishna can create a rock of tremendous size, but, since He is all-powerful, He will always be able to lift it. He is able to do anything He wants to, and nothing He wants to do, is difficult for Him to accomplish. This is the true meaning of omnipotence. Krishna displayed a pastime lifting the Govardhana Hill in Vrindavan India, with His left hand for seven days like an umbrella,and playing His flute with the other hand and right now by His tremendous energy all planets are held in orbit.

[devarsi]

How can the formless impersonal energy suddenly manifest forms, being overwhelmed by chemicals which make up the physical body? let me assure you Brahman, maya, lila and so on are quiet real, if they where not, what is the point of using them as symbols, they are certainly not symbols for those who experience the Brahman effulgence and therefore know the workings of illusion maya. Lila refers to Krishnas high pastimes of beauty not the experiences of entities living in this world. We are not God

[DarkestDragonNL]

I am not saying Brahman, maya etc. aren't real, i am saying they are human concepts trying to understand realities that cannot properly be comprehended by concepts..

The Absolute formless base of reality is the only identity, but i do not attribute it with a personality.

Who is this "you guys struggling" ?, i am not struggling to get anywhere, i embrace life.

This lila is a very interesting pastime .

[devarsi]

You wrote "Philosophy isn't reality, it's just a tool to understand it." By mere philosophy one can never understand the Absolute Reality because philosophy or dry knowledge on its own, does not provide entrance into the realm of the Absolute Truth. For this practice is required & meditation on The Absolute, simply from reading books, without higher guidance is simply imagination and illusory. First work, then samadhi.

[DarkestDragonNL]

I would not disagree with much you have written in this case.

Although again my emphasis would be somewhat different.

Of course like i wrote before, philosophy is just a pointer.

But like you did above; philosophy can just simply acknowledge that the absolute level of reality is currently and probably always beyond it's grasp.

To me it can be the proverbial "Showing of the door" which one always has to go through by itself.

In daily life though it is a very important tool to raise awareness.

[devarsi]

Of course you can try and learn how to open the door, but in due course you will find that there is a door keeper who has the key. Without his mercy you can not enter, this is the genuine Guru who also had a guru and so on into the deep distant past. This chain of genuine masters is the connection everyone needs to be linked to the Absolute, it exists and is real. It is extremely rare to be that person who is serious enough to take that step, maybe one in a million. The rewards are phenomenal.

[DarkestDragonNL]

I can't agree and consider it a cultural myth.

To me the door is simply open.

But of course for a lot of people it is easier to have someone show them the path.

But there are no keys, no "sit back and watch someone else do it for you" methods.

It's fine you are part of a system and endorse this, but you should really realize there are many ways to Rome, and yours isn't the only way.

[DarkestDragonNL]

Plus we live in a rapidly changing world, people are more qualified to explore reality and understand abstract concepts.

Modern man doesn't desire to be taken by the hand and be guided ahead step by step.

The day and age where people sat down under a tree and learned from a teacher are somewhat gone.

I'm not saying it wouldn't work for a lot of people or is a valid way.

It's more that i want to say that the axioms of days gone by, aren't perfectly suited for today's world.

[DarkestDragonNL]

Everything changes and evolves, including spiritual paths and ways to truth.

The only thing that doesn't change and evolve is the supporting level of reality; the absolute truth.

My personal insight of my true nature was spontaneous and almost effortless.

Why would or should it be any different for any other human ?

[devarsi]

the way to Krishna is only one, no other, this is exclusive to Krishna Consciousness. Your path will not get you to Krishna, it will get you somewhere but not to Krishna.If you simply go on the bus and hope it will go to Rome you have to be pretty lucky if it does.

[TobiramaSenju]

Devarasi,do you happen to have any powers?

[devarsi]

Nope

[devarsi]

Now i like you to answer me a question.

If everything is one, and formless impersonal Nirguna Brahman is the sum total of the Absolute, then explain to me how come that it was possible for it to be covered by illusion, experiencing an existence of separateness from its formless nature, in millions of different life forms and as personalities with different characters minds and intellects in total forgetfulness about n brahman, all acting & experiencing life separately from each other?

[devarsi]

The Vedas accept only 4 sampradayas and this one is not one of them. The original ancient sampradayas are the Brahma-sampradaya, Rudra-sampradaya, Kumara-sampradaya and Lakshmi-sampradaya. And if we do not take either of these sampradayas in disciplic succession, then our attempt to advance in spiritual life will be failure. One cannot manufacture ones own philosophy, one has to follow the footprints of the mahajanas.

[DarkestDragonNL]

Philosophy isn't reality, it's just a tool to understand it.

If one had to follow footprints without exceptions, life would be a very weak and in the end poor phenomenom..

It can be convenient to do so, but absolute existence is not an exclusive good, but an inherent reality accessible to all, everywhere, anytime.

Free your mind, my friend

[devarsi]

and all your ideas sprung from your own mind? i doubt it, you read books and you take on ideas from other personalities and mix it with your own thoughts, so you are also following. But because you are basically atheistic you like taking from buddhist Nisargadatta and others which complement your own predisposition. This is a faulty process, because the basis of it is predefined by internally rejecting God from the start and not a genuine sincere search for The Absolute, ps. no offence intended.

[DarkestDragonNL]

Where have i claimed to be an atheïst ?

I would not think my words point in that direction.

I just try to explain how humans project their level of understanding upon a level of reality that is probably impossible to conceptualize in a proper manner.

Btw i am curious how Nisargadatta would think about being called a Buddhist, although i understand why you would call him this.

[DarkestDragonNL]

My words point in the direction of Pantheïsm and related philosophies, by all means i am no atheïst.

Although i do think the common conception of "God"  is very inadequate.

And yes obviously "i" as a human am part of a bigger system of ideas and philosophies which have influenced me.

But again i claim that the summum bonum of truth is always available to the entity regardless of philosophy (because Tat Tvam Asi)

Philosophy can just help to point the way.

ps. no offense taken ;)

[devarsi]

the philosophy you r subscribe to is called covered atheism. Oh this question is easy, we are chanting Hare Krishna and engage in Bhakti Yoga as it is prescribed inthe Bhagavad Gita and all the other ancient texts. In the beginning this gives the result of Brahman realization (the first stage) by directly perceiving the blissful nature of Brahman. It is achieved by practising Bhakti (by pleasing Krishna He gives it) under the guidance of a genuine spiritual master, one who has seen the Truth.

[devarsi]

one can not really accept commentaries by people like Nisargadatta because the Vedas state categorically that this knowledge comes down via disciplic succession (Spiritual master to disciple) and the major rule of such a succession, is that nothing at all is changed from the original instructions given by Krishna millions of years ago. There are only 4 such successions and the Brahma Sampradaya is currently the prominent one. Non of these include Advaita Vedanta, it is not found in the Vedas.

[devarsi]

From The Vedic perspective such unauthorized independent commentaries mislead innocent persons to belief that everything is one or that they are God. Such a thing is not found in the Vedas at all and any person well versed with these ancient Sanskrit texts, can not be taken in by such word jugglery. For exc. in one scripture it says the the supreme Lord has no material legs and hands, but the impersonalist will say, "oh the Absolute is formless" he is not able to see the truth of this statement.

[devarsi]

it is well known, that impersonalists will ultimately become frustrated in their attempts to become one with the Supreme, because no matter how hard they try, it always remains elusive and something that exists only in their philosophy, but never manifest to them in reality, not in this life or the next. Short experiences of  what people think resembled oneness, can not be counted as such, since no dissolving of ego took place and material activities centred around I and me, replaced the exp.

[DarkestDragonNL]

Devarsi, it seems you firmly believe in your convictions.

To me truth is universal and inherent, succession is good for emphasis on certain principles but it has the inherent risk of dogmatizing certain beliefs

I also don't believe a book or teaching can be truly sacrosanct, this goes for the Vedas too.

Nisargadatta was indeed part of a successive line of teaching; Navnath Sampradaya.

In the end i don't care for lineage, Gautama Buddha and others showed that truth is accessible here and now.

[mpeacebird]

Hi,

East or West, I think the essence of spiritually will always be the same, and Sri Aurobindo has given us so much  in terms of understanding the process of spiritual development.

[kanfala]

Hey - He is Sri Aurobindo NOT Aurobindo

[srilanka1975]

on the right track my friend....check out sai baba...the path of truth is the most difficult...

[devarsi]

Aurobindo thought he was God and that is certainly not vedic, because in all the Vedas Lord Krishna is described as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He took the knowledge of the Gita and presented it without Krishna, who is actually the Speaker of the Bhagavad Gita. Reject God and make yourself supreme that is his illusion of illusions. Free pdf Gita download on my main page

[swing2727]

Lack of knowledge is talking here. Aurobindo said a devotee can reach anything at the feet of Krishna. He said as well though that the divine is transcending itself constantly. There is no contradiction at all.

[devarsi]

You obviously dont read the vedas or the bhagavad gita, where it is stated over and over by Sri Krishna Himself that the soul or Jiva is not God and can never become God. Throughout the Vedas, Lord Krishna is declared to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead the source of everything, no where is it stated that the soul is God, rather it is pointed out that the soul is part and parcel of God and His eternal servant.

[amplify1492]

he thought that the Self is God, not the personality

[devarsi]

I am talking about the self, the self (Jiva) is always described as an individual spiritual soul and it is described by Krishna that the souls are numberless and distributed all over the creation. Also we the souls are described as Sat Cid Ananda Vigraha "eternal, full of bliss & knowledge" We are one with God in quality only, but not in quantity. His independence is not restricted, ours is minute.We are inconceivably one and different (individual) in the same time, but we can never be Krishna

[devarsi]

Lord Krishna declares that in order to preserve this knowledge unadulterated and pure, it has to come down via the medium of an authorised disciplic succession of genuine spiritual masters. He Himself has created 4 such successions at the begin of creation, it can never be properly explained by someone who is not an authorised Acarya coming from within the authorised parampara (succession) Impersonal (you r God)gurus & commentaries are condemned by the real spiritual masters as mayavadi cheaters

[devarsi]

Lord Krishna Bhagavad Gita 15.7 "The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind."

[devarsi]

Bhagavad Gita 2.24 Lord Krishna "This individual soul is unbreakable and insoluble, and can be neither burned nor dried. He is everlasting, unchangeable, immovable and eternally the same." Krishna Bhagavad Gita 2.22 "As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones."

[devarsi]

it is this individual spirit soul, you and I, that animates the individual bodies making it look alive. In truth the body is just a bunch of chemicals. God is The Lord of all souls which are His eternal parts, Like sunshine and the sun. The sunshine can not claim to be its source the sun, but it is eternally connected with the sun. Similarly we are one and different in the same time with God. Our problem is that we have forgotten this and now falsely think that we are or can become God

[DarkestDragonNL]

It is pretty useless to think of the sun without sunshine.

The difference between rays of light and the sun is only conceptual.

In other words they are both one system, where there is a sun there is sunshine and where there is sunshine there will be a sun.

From a human and dualistic perspective your words would seem to be true, but nondual insight will render these distinctions obsolete

[devarsi]

The theological tenet of achintya-bheda-abheda tattva reconciles the mystery that God is simultaneously "one with and different from His creation". Just oneness on its own is never supported in the Vedas, because it leaves the Absolute incomplete. In this sense Vaishnava theology is not pantheistic as in no way does it deny the separate existence of God (Vishnu) in His own personal form. However, at the same time, the 'cosmic manifestation') is never separated from God.

[devarsi]

"One who knows God knows that the impersonal (oneness) conception and personal conception are simultaneously present in everything and that there is no contradiction. Therefore Lord Caitanya established His sublime doctrine: acintya bheda-and-abheda-tattva -- simultaneous oneness and difference. For example both the sun and sunshine are part of the same reality, but there is a great difference between having a beam of sunshine in your room, and being in close proximity to the sun itself.

[devarsi]

Qualitatively the Sun and the Sunshine are not different, but as quantities they are very different. This analogy is applied to the living beings and God - the Jiva being of a similar quality to the Supreme being, but not sharing the qualities to an infinite extent, as would the Personality of Godhead himself. Thus there is a difference between the souls and the Supreme Lord.

[DarkestDragonNL]

Well see the thing is you can make a philosophy out of everything.

Personally i think the "personal" soul is an illusion.

Also i do not believe in an anthropomorphised God or personal God.

To me Krishna or Vishnu or name some other anthropomorphised principle are simply just that; symbolized depictions of an almost ungraspable underlying reality.

For the untrained mind it is hard to understand the significance of a concept like nirguna brahman, so in these cases metaphore can have it's place.

[devarsi]

nirguna brahman only proponents can not properly explain the many life forms, activities, individual consciousness and indeed why the "brahman" is covered by ignorance of itself, illusion. They fail to give satisfactory answers to these questions. How can illusion can take away the memory of itself? Then illusion must be higher then Brahman in quality? That is where it does not add up. About form...whatever is in the effect is also in the source. This hard to understand for the untrained mind

[devarsi]

What you can not see, is the deep enviousness nirguna brahman illusionists have inside. They themselves have form, personality, activities and so on, but they deny the fact that The Absolute Truth also has form, Absolute can not be called Absolute unless Form is included.

[devarsi]

Lord Krishna says in The Bhagavad-gita (9.4):

maya tatam idam sarvam

jagad avyakta-murtina

mat-sthani sarva-bhutani

na caham teshv avasthitah

"By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them." It is explained by Krishna Himself that the all pervading Brahman effulgence ( unmanifested ) is "simply" an extension of His billions of energies and not the ultimate goal.

[DarkestDragonNL]

I suppose we should conclude that "Truth is one, but the sages perceive it in many ways"

To me all these details are trivial in comparison to the magnificence of the totality of reality.

Ofcourse the real absolute contains the unmanifested as well the manifested.

But form is transient whereas the formless is everlasting by definition.

[DarkestDragonNL]

Form can only exist by the grace of formlessness.

But even the form itself is an appearance in and of Brahman.

Only when you remove all that is transient you will end with the vacuous space of infinite formless potential.

I think one should call this Nirguna Brahman.

[devarsi]

material form is surely transient whereas spiritual form isn't. The ancient Sri Isopanisad states the following.

[devarsi]

Sri Isopanisad invocation

om purnam adah purnam idam

purnat purnam udacyate

purnasya purnam adaya

purnam evavasishyate

The Personality of Godhead is perfect and complete, and because He is completely perfect, all emanations from Him, such as this phenomenal world, are perfectly equipped as complete wholes. Whatever is produced of the Complete Whole is also complete in itself. Because He is the Complete Whole, even though so many complete units emanate from Him, He remains the complete balance.

[devarsi]

Realization of impersonal Brahman is realization of His sat feature, or His aspect of eternity, and Paramatma realization is realization of His sat and cit features, His aspects of eternity and knowledge. But realization of the Personality of Godhead is realization of all the transcendental features—sat, cit and ananda, bliss. When onerealizes the Supreme Person, he realizes these aspects of the Absolute Truth in their completeness. Vigraha means "form." Thus the Complete Whole is not formless

[devarsi]

In an essay entitled "Surrender and Opening," sri Aurobindo writes:Radha is the personification of absolute love for the Divine, total and integral in all parts of Her being, from the highest spiritual to the physical, bringing the absolute self-going and total consecration of all being and calling down into the body and the most material nature the supreme Ananda. .....Here sri Aurobindo has pointed in the right direction. Radha is the eternal consort of Lord Krishna.

[devarsi]

Also Sri Aurobindo states the following..."To seek after the impersonal is the way of those who want to withdraw from life. Usually such impersonalists try by their own effort and not by opening themselves to the superior power, or by the way of surrender, for the impersonal is not something that guides or helps but something to be attained, and it leaves each man to attain it according to the way and capacity of his nature. "cont"

[devarsi]

cont. Aurobindo said.."On the other hand, by opening and surrendering to the Mother, one can realize the Impersonal and every other aspect of truth also....

Impersonalists can not understand that the Absolutes personality is as permanent as His impersonal energy. the Truth being that whatever is within the creation is also within the original source.The source of everything is not impersonal or transient, but everlasting and always fresh. Where do people think their own forms originate from?

[DarkestDragonNL]

Again i don't believe in a personality for the Absolute level of existence, the idea by itself seems just so illogical.

About the existence of form and even personalities, one could think that in the absolute state of formless potential;

all forms and even all possible personalities are present and real, but they are not manifested.

But you must see it is of no use to discuss this endlessly.

Truth is something "to be" or to experience, conceptions are not so good if you are aiming at the truth

[devarsi]

okay, as a last word i like to add that those wonderful forms are certainly manifested as eternal spiritual forms with eternal pastimes, characters and so on. It is said in the Vedas that this material manifestation is like a perverted reflection of the spiritual world. It is written, that within the Brahman effulgence ( the glaring light emanating from Krishna ) are innumerable & unlimited spiritual planets, personalities pastimes & so on. This is the information given by the ancient Vedas.

[devarsi]

by desiring to merge into the formless Brahman one will certainly go there but not to Krishnas abode to take part in His pastimes. The information given is that because we r individual spiritual souls, merging or becoming one, does not take place & one can not stay there, because after a long long time, the desire for activity and variety rises again and as a result one falls down again into the ocean of birth old age disease and death.

[DarkestDragonNL]

It all depends on perspective, like Nisargadatta points out "There is no chaos in the world, except the chaos which your mind creates. It is self-created in

the sense that at its very centre is the false idea of oneself as a thing different and separate from

other things. In reality you are not a thing, nor separate. You are the infinite potentiality; the

inexhaustible possibility. Because you are, all can be. The universe is but a partial manifestation of

your limitless capacity to become."

[lostinthought2008]

Alex the African Grey parrot has been shown to use language.

Pirocheetah makes an important comment, some modern Westerners who are doing important work are Patricia Sun and in terms of justifying the concepts intellectually--Zohar-who wrote SQ, describing something beyond IQ and EQ.

When language is complex, I prefer hearing reading very slowly. Western mystic Rudolf Steiner discouraged reading in favor of telling, which does give a living quality.

[HAMSAfiles]

Sorry for the multiple posts here - im a total newbie at these comment strips, and you guys reading have probably commented on half the posts on here... so my apologies for being so wordy - this stuff's still fresh and invigorating so i guess im testing it out a bit while its still new and dynamic

[HAMSAfiles]

THis critical bridge of East and West is what I find most compelling though. it seems relatively recent development in humanity that these broad distinctions of Eastern Traditions, as formulated by Sri Aurbiondo, or else in Buddhism and Dharma practice (which I admittedly need to explore further), have only recently come into dialogue with Abrahamic Monotheism, as expressed in Judaism, Islam, Chrisitanity. Merging these partial truths into a broad tapestry of co-existent roadmaps may b next step

[HAMSAfiles]

We know that we exist inside of nature (as verified by virtually every branch of science), we are animals, but as you say, capable of higher degrees of abstraction and greater faculties of awareness - but then beyond this, we are simultaneously implicitly aware of the Divine that exists inside us, via a Soul, a unique manifestation of the Universal SPIRIT that Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Bahaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc, etc, etc try and access and describe.

[HAMSAfiles]

Brilliant - I need to read more of this guy

[tabularasa108]

Aurobindo is awesome. If you can get through all of THE LIFE DIVINE, I give you mad props. Aurobindo often talked about western philosophy as mental gymnastics,which I agree to an extent.

[MaBu888]

Integral - all that can be known, detected, carefully, developmentally, spiritually, individually, collectively, internally and externally, knowingly of evolution and involution.

[Purnayogin]

very good work! thank you

[mickalene]

it says it's playing but it's not....

[robelicit]

well, 'steveemig' had good insight about books- yet i don't feel we should be extreme in saying wisdom is found 'beyond' books-that books lead to complicated "dog chasing it's tail" kind of reasoning.

Communicating allows us to grow/evolve our search in combining ideas/wisdom/experiences WITH each other- a good thing so long as we don't get caught in debate-games;). INTEGRAL approaches seem to say, "hey, lets learn from/WITH each other' kowledge-experience; sounds like good wisdom to me. =][=

[april19731973]

I have been in your place when I was younger. My humble advice...pl maintain a balance between normal day to day life and spirituality. Secret- spiritualiy is in inner practice and not in books....if you leave the inner process for the future too long...you will in time become cynical and dead and purposeless.

[steveemig]

You are young and curious. If you are fortunate, one day you will drop the books and find a path to the jewel that all humanity yearns for but few people attain. No one has ever reached enlightnement through reading books; many have after realizing books gave them nothing.

[GPack17]

Sri Aurobindo read many books. The idea that one must choose between books and contemplative practice is silly. Books are good for the intellect. Meditation develops the soul and spirit. Used together, each path can facilitate the other. One must be a whole human.

[MaBu888]

I agree with GPack17. I think meditating can be a way to proove to oneself what one reads in books, to put it simply, as there is a possibility of self deception, but one'd have to be very very tupid to self-deceive oneself like that.

[MaBu888]

Sri Aurobindo's advice, exactly... I agree, of course, transcend and include the duality between spirituality and books wisely and thereby create healing and something genuine is revealed.

[leezus83]

I disagree with your sentiment about animals. I think animals are fully aware of their ecological role on this planet and have no delusions about what they are. It's humans who run away from their true nature... which is fundamentally spiritual, surely to experience and learn is our purpose. We are blinded by our perceptions, and our experience of each others imagination. Every thing I experience in the material world is a product of another man's mind. Animals do not live in the illusion.

[dreaminginnoother]

well isn't the search for meaning that separates us somewhat a product of abstraction? If other animals had the ability of abstraction, they might be religious too.

[redliterocket4]

maybe it is a product of wanting to see past our abstractions.

[hollis454]

Your comments at the front reminded me so much of my own turn toward the East many years ago. You are on the right track.

[connecthedot]

and doing so by not ignoring what lies under the material surface and the concious that correlates with the empirical

[saswata98]

Those who find no or almost no difference between Sri Aurobindo and the rest know nothing about his spirituality...

[MaBu888]

Therefore I know a little at least about his spirituality, because I see him to be quite different from other integral philosophers. I gotta read Aurobindo's books sometime, it would be iinteresting... I agree Aurobindo was wise beyond his time. Integral consciousness is actually about 100 years old, but the more fresher versions of it emerged 30 and 50 years ago, and I believe Aurobindo would or has contributed to and should even more, to what now is called integral ontology. Max respect.

[MaBu888]

Most importantly, with my limited but wide perspecive(s) I see Aurobindo as quite radically diifferent from all other mystics. He is more integral than Siddharta Gautama, more jucier than Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj... LOL

[TheObnubilators]

i don't know man, nisargadatta is pretty damn juicy

[MaBu888]

Agreed.

[tonycolton]

hi there, it's great that you are reading, perhaps, one of the most amazing men of the 20th century-but I would like to know more about you-you seem quite advanced for one so young(or is that a disguise?)

[sonasinghgill]

yes, you touched something right.

[Domsta333]

aurobindo is the best...i'm reading savitri, there's something incredible he's brought to us...I've read a life divine as well..great stuff and very deep...

[rumple81]

Are practising integral yoga? I think aurobindo is amazing.

[Simaahh]

It would be my sincere suggestion to read Parmahansa Yogananda's 'Autobiography of a Yogi'. A life-changing book, it builds the pillars of a spiritual life and is easy to understand. Yogananda wrote this book while living in the US. He is also the founder of the Self Realization Society based in California. If there was only one spiritual book I would read before I die, it would be this. Best wishes and happy journey to self discovery.

[VaSavoir2007]

For those who this interested and considering the state of our lives and the world, please view all the Eckhart Tolle and Barry Long videos you can bear (all of them?) on this site. Also read their books. Byron Katie will please fewer people and is _perhaps_ less fundamental but may interest with her videos and books as well. Love, A.

[rumple81]

Very useful, I find Aurobindo very hard to understand at times. I have a deep interest in western psychopathology. Aurobindos work gives me a different perspective on that

[spiritofnow]

Thanks for this video. Sri Aurobindo and the Mother are by far the most versatile and all-inclusive teachers I've found so far. They unite matter and Spirit as nobody else before them did, and their marvelous lack of religious or mythical distortion is a huge benefit to students. Of course we would expect nothing less of modern-day spiritual synthesizers.

[SmileyIndian]

Hi Folks, I feel that without the actual experience of the self, discussion of knowledge is invain. We just use the mind, which is an instrument of the spirit, to understand the spirit! This is why after pursuing Sri Aurobindo's writings a few years ago, I called out to the Universe and experienced my cosmic consciousness many times in the Art of Living courses run by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Also found great clarity in the book, Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. Thx for this clip, though.

[maharsi]

Mathew, that's great stuff. Aurobindo's really cool, especially when he talks about the psychic being. I noticed you have a zaadz profile. You might be interested in the I-I Zaadz pod. There are people there who would love to discuss Gebser, Aurobindo, of course Wilber, and many others.

[bartlbette]

Thanks for all the information it is great to see people who read aurobindo and try to understand him and The mother.

[aurosanjay]

hi , try searchforlight(DOT)org for sri Aurobindo and the Mother's works and some nice multimedia presentations.

[ask158]

Nice reading redliterocket4! Human Aspiration is one of my favorite chapters from Life Divine. I came in contact with Sri Aurobindo's works about 8 years ago and since then trying to go deep into his Philosophy. Did you try reading his "Savitri"? It was his poetical masterpiece written in blank verse. Anyways, keep up the good work. My appreciations for the post.

[redliterocket4]

I have not read "Savitri" yet, but I found it posted in its entirety online... so I'll give it a look! Thanks.

[ask158]

BTW, just in case you may be interested, the whole oeuvre of Sri Aurobindo's works are available from this not-so-well-known site sriaurobindoashram ddot info

Access his work from the side panel: <E-library> --> <Works of SriAurobindo>

Keep in touch!

[ask158]

replace ddot by '.' and add three 'w's as prefix to the site address listed in my previous message. Apologies, youtube does not accept URL or email IDs in post; fair enough!

[redliterocket4]

thanks ask, I just bookmarked the page.