Finding Auroville

In previous posts of this blog we have gone through Sri Aurobindo’s conception of humans as mental beings. This means that the mental and intellectual faculty in humans has developed to an extent that has not been seen before in the evolutionary process on Earth, and is (currently) the defining feature of humans in material nature. This faculty is responsible for the extremely complex material world that humanity exists in presently, with its technology, science, art, philosophy etc. However, this mental faculty is still under the control of our vital emotions, our desires, attachments, fears and insecurities. In most cases, the human vital dictates the actions of our mind, leading to selfish and self-centered behavior, which constantly thwarts any attempt by humanity to move towards a harmonious, equitable and united existence.

Along with being mental beings, humans are also a transitional being, and so along with the animalistic vital we also have access to the Divine consciousness that resides in us as the jivatman or atman. As transitional beings between material nature and the Divine, the purpose of our sophisticated mental faculty is to be the bridge that takes us from material nature to the Divine. The role of spirituality and Yoga is to make that transference, to make us see that the true self is not the material self with its physical, vital and mental faculties, but rather the Divine self in humans, the jivatman. With this realization, the control of our mental thoughts and actions gets transferred from the vital to the Divine self. This process is known as the transformation of consciousness. Our actions in the material world then become completely selfless, and we work wholly for the betterment of humanity, and for the movement of humanity towards the Divine. The identification with the material self is called the ego, and so the central action of Yoga is the dissolution of the ego and identification with the Divine in us.

So we have in us conceptions of two selves: a conception of the material self, which is our material physical, vital and mental; and the potential of identifying with the Divine self in us, which is an individuated part of the universal and transcendent Divine consciousness. It is our mental faculty that first allows us to intellectually conceptualize this framework of being, and it is this mental faculty that leads us to the doorstep of the realization that it is with the transference of our identification from our material self to the Divine self in us that our unhappiness and suffering can come to an end, at both the individual as well as collective levels. It is this mental faculty that allows us to deconstruct the motivations of our actions in the material world, and makes us understand and realize that ultimately these motivations arise from our vital emotions, and this is what leads to unhappiness and suffering. Once this realization is progressively attained, our mental faculty continues to be operational in the material world, but it is not the vital that controls its actions, but rather the ananda of the Divine consciousness.

Our mental intelligence is therefore an extremely important part of the transformation of consciousness, as an initiator of the process, and after one achieves self-realization, the mental continues the critical role of continuing to function in the material world to help move humanity towards the Divine. However, what I want to briefly dwell upon in this post is another aspect of our complex mental faculty when it comes to its relationship with spirituality. Because our mental faculty is so sophisticated and has been honed to such an extent, it can map out to a great level of detail the intricacies of the path of spirituality. And it can do this without the vital ever letting go of the mental faculty. This means that the mind and intellect can, if it is so inclined and if it is useful to it, comprehend and explain to an intricate detail the path of the dissolution of the ego, while the ego is still extremely robust in that same individual. So the fact that someone can interpret and describe the details of the dissolution of the ego, of the spiritual path, does not mean that they themselves have been able to let go of their ego. Their vital might still very much be in control of their mind and being. This is how powerful the mental faculty is in humans, and how potent the grip of the vital ego is on that mental faculty. The mind can describe in copious and inspiring detail something that the being has not actually been able to do, or is actively resisting doing.

The only way to assess if someone has been able to shed the control of their vital is by observing how self-centered or selfless their actions are in actuality, which takes time and effort. As they say, actions speak louder than words. And the best if not the only way to assess if someone’s actions are self-centered or selfless is by the observer themselves being as selfless as possible. It is only by making progress on the path of the dissolution of the ego that one can assess how much progress another person has been able to make. A person who is mired in their vital ego’s desires, attachments, fears and insecurities cannot really assess if another is also so mired or not.

Ultimately, the central factor turns out once again to be about true sincerity towards the path of transformation. In the larger scheme of things, it does not really matter if one individual or another turns out to be insincere in their aspiration, because the fundamental Truth of the dissolution of the ego, the transformation of consciousness and of self-realization (which are different ways of describing the same process) as the key to the transformation of humanity is not dependent on this or that person’s insincerity or lack of progress on the path to transformation. Once this fundamental Truth has been understood as being such, it does not require validation. The insincerity of a million people is not a concern. The path is very difficult to pursue, and the commitment to it has to be complete and true. What is fundamentally important for humanity is that more and more individuals reach the realization that the path to self-realization is the only true way forward for humanity if we are to aspire for a fundamentally, transformatively more compassionate, loving, harmonious, egalitarian and united future, and to make an absolute and compete commitment to the path. What is needed is to focus on sincerity, not insincerity.

Both the human mind and the vital ego are extremely powerful instruments of material nature. The task before humanity is to rid the mind of the control of the vital, so that it can come under the influence of the Divine consciousness. And the vital will use whatever tactics it can, including utilizing the mind itself, against this goal. This is how Sri Aurobindo described the vital (he specifies it as the lower vital) to a disciple in a letter:

The difficulty in the lower vital being is that it is still wedded to its old self and in revolt against the Light; it has not only not surrendered either to a greater Truth or to myself and the Mother, but it has up to now no such will and hardly any idea even of what true surrender is. When the lower vital assumes this attitude, it takes its stand upon a constant affirmation of the old personality and the past forms of the lower nature.
Every time they are discouraged, it supports and brings them back and asserts its right to freedom—the freedom to affirm and follow its own crude and egoistic ideas, desires, fancies, impulses or convenience whenever it chooses. It claims, secretly or in so many words, the right to follow its nature,—its average unregenerate human nature, the right to be itself,—its natural, original, unchanged self with all the falsehood, ignorance and incoherence proper to this part of the being. And it claims or, if it does not claim in theory, it asserts in practice the right to express all this impure and inferior stuff in speech and act and behaviour. It defends, glosses over, paints in specious colours and tries to prolong indefinitely the past habitual ways of thinking, speaking and feeling and to eternise what is distorted and misformed in the character. This it does sometimes by open self-assertion and revolt, branding all that is done or said against it as error or oppression or injustice, sometimes behind a cover of self-deception or a mask of dissimulation, professing one thing
and practising another. Often it tries to persuade itself and to convince others that these things are the only right reason and right way of acting for itself or for all or even that they are part of the true movement of the Yoga.

Sri Aurobindo, The Lower Vital Being, Letters on Yoga – IV

The mind is the instrument that can take us to the doorstep of self-realization, but it can also be used by the vital to arrest progress on the path. It is ultimately only complete commitment and sincerity to the transformation of consciousness that can overcome the potency of the vital in holding on to the old being and the identification with the material self. And while it is fundamentally important to understand and be able to identify the difference between sincerity and insincerity, our focus should be more on striving for our own sincerity and encouraging sincerity in others whenever possible, rather than on dwelling on insincerity. Sincerity is much more important to focus on than insincerity, since insincerity is rampant in the world, while complete sincerity and commitment are the key to success on the path of transformation.