On Materialism The materialist has an easier field; it is possible for him by denying Spirit to arrive at a more readily convincing simplicity of statement, a real Monism, the Monism of Matter or else of Force. But in this rigidity of statement it is impossible for him to persist permanently, (p. 7) * (...) The denial of the materialist although more insistent and immediately successful, more facile in its appeal to the generality of mankind, is yet less enduring, less effective finally than the absorbing and perilous refusal of the ascetic. For it carries within itself its own cure. Its most powerful element is the Agnosticism which, admitting the Unknowable behin

Preface "Know thyself". This has been one of the great messages of the East and the West since ancient times, and yet it has not been sufficiently pursued and applied. But it appears that the crisis through which humanity is passing today can be resolved if, as a first and essential step, this message is understood in greater fullness than ever before. For it is becoming increasingly clearer that without a radical change in human consciousness, we shall not be able to take the right road that needs to be taken. We need, therefore, to understand human consciousness in its full complexity and its multiple dimensions with a central focus on self-knowledge. Fortunately, we find

ON MATERIALISM ON MATERIALISM Extracts from "The Life Divine" by Sri Aurobindo Compiled by Kireet Joshi THE MOTHER'S INSTITUTE OF RESEARCH, New Delhi in association with MIRA ADITI , Mysore THE MOTHER'S INSTITUTE OF RESEARCH 200I Excerpts taken from Sri Aurobindo Birth Centenary Library First edition, 1972 Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry Compiled by Kireet Joshi The publication or this book was facilitated by a grant received by the Mother's Institute of Research from t