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Acronyms used in the website

SABCL - Sri Aurobindo Birth Centenary Library

CWSA - Complete Works of Sri Aurobindo

CWM - Collected Works of The Mother

Resource name: /E-Library/Disciples/Satprem/English/The Adventure of Consciousness/Independence from the Physical.htm
CHAPTER 8 Independence from the Physical After the mind and vital, the physical--the third instrument of the spirit in us--plays a special role in Sri Aurobindo's yoga, since without it no divine life is possible on this earth. We will only discuss now some points of preliminary experience, the very ones Sri Aurobindo discovered at the beginning of his yoga; indeed, the yoga of the body necessitates a far greater development of consciousness than the one we have envisioned up until now, for the closer we come down to Matter, the higher the powers of consciousness required, because the resistance increases in proportion. Matter is the place of the greatest spi
Resource name: /E-Library/Disciples/Satprem/English/The Adventure of Consciousness/REFERENCES.htm
REFERENCES Most quotations refer to the complete edition of Sri Aurobindo's works in 30 volumes (The Centenary Edition). Figures in bold indicate the volume number. Other quotations are taken from the following editions and books. Sri Aurobindo: Essays on the Gita (1959) Sri Aurobindo: On Yoga II, Tome 2 (1958) Sri Aurobindo: The Riddle of the World (1951) Sri Aurobindo: Letters, 3rd series (1949) Sri Aurobindo: Poems Past and Present (1952) Sri Aurobindo: The Human Cycle (1949) Sri Aurobindo: On the Veda (1956) Sri Aurobindo: The Life Divine (1960) Sri Aurobindo: The Ideal of the Karmayogin (1950) A. B. Purani: Evening Talks with Sri Aurobindo (1959) A. B. Purani: Life of Sr
Resource name: /E-Library/Disciples/Satprem/English/The Adventure of Consciousness/An Accomplished Westerner.htm
CHAPTER 1 An Accomplished Westerner Humanly speaking, Sri Aurobindo is close to us, because once we have respectfully bowed before the "wisdom of the East" and the odd ascetics who seem to make light of all our fine laws, we find that our curiosity has been aroused but not our life; we need a practical truth that will survive our rugged winters. Sri Aurobindo knew our winters well; he experienced them as a student, from the age of seven until twenty. He lived from one lodging house to another at the whim of more or less benevolent landladies, with one meal a day, and not even an overcoat to put on his back, but always laden with books: the French symbolists, Mall
Resource name: /E-Library/Disciples/Satprem/English/The Adventure of Consciousness/Consciousness.htm
CHAPTER 5 Consciousness A disciple once had to make a critical decision. He wrote to Sri Aurobindo for advice and was quite puzzled when he was told to make his decision from the "summit" of his consciousness." He was a Westerner and wondered what on earth this could mean. Was this "summit of consciousness" a special way of thinking very intensely, a sort of enthusiasm produced when the brain warms up? For this is the only kind of "consciousness" we know in the West. For us, consciousness is always a mental process: "I think, therefore I am." Such is our own particular bias; we place ourselves at the center of the world and bestow the gift of consciousness upon all those who sha
Resource name: /E-Library/Disciples/Satprem/English/The Adventure of Consciousness/Introduction.htm
INTRODUCTION There once was a wicked Maharaja who could not bear to think that anyone was superior to him. So he summoned all the pandits of the realm, as was the practice on momentous occasions, and put to them this question: "Which of us two is greater, I or God?" The pandits began to tremble with fear. Being wise by profession, they asked for time; they were also concerned for their positions and their lives. Yet, they were worthy men who did not want to displease God. As they were lamenting their predicament, the oldest pandit reassured them: "Leave it to me. Tomorrow I shall speak to the Prince." The next day, the whole court was gathered in a solemn durbar when the old pa
Resource name: /E-Library/Disciples/Satprem/English/The Adventure of Consciousness/The Transformation.htm
CHAPTER 17 The Transformation The manifestation of the Spirit in a supramental consciousness and in a new body, a new race, is something as inevitable as was the advent of Homo sapiens after the primates. The only real question now is whether this new evolution will take place with us or without us. This is how Sri Aurobindo expressed the dilemma: If a spiritual unfolding on earth is the hidden truth of our birth into Matter, if it is fundamentally an evolution of consciousness that has been taking place in Nature, then man as he is cannot be the last term of that evolution: he is too imperfect an expression of the spirit, mind itself a too limited form and instrument
Resource name: /E-Library/Disciples/Satprem/English/The Adventure of Consciousness/The End Which Ever Begins Again.htm
CONCLUSION The End Which Ever Begins Again* The realization of the Vedic rishis has become a collective one. The Supermind has entered the earth-consciousness, descending right into the physical subconscient, at the last frontiers of Matter. There remains only one final bridge to cross for the connection to be established. A new world is born, said the Mother. At present, we are in the midst of a transitional period in which the two are intermingled: the old world hangs on, still very powerful, still controlling the ordinary consciousness, but the new one is slipping in, so modest and unobtrusive that, externally, it doesn't change too much, for the momen
Resource name: /E-Library/Disciples/Satprem/English/The Adventure of Consciousness/The Supramental Consciousness.htm
CHAPTER 15 The Supramental Consciousness It is quite difficult to define the supramental consciousness in mental terms, for it is nonmental by definition, and it defies all our three-dimensional laws and perspectives. The word itself may mislead us, because it is not an epitome of human consciousness, but another type of consciousness. We might try to approach it by distinguishing two aspects, one of consciousness or vision, and one of power. But this means becoming caught in the mental trap again, because these two aspects are inseparable; this consciousness is power, an active vision. Often, when Sri Aurobindo and Mother tried to describe their experience,
Resource name: /E-Library/Disciples/Satprem/English/The Adventure of Consciousness/The Psychic Center.htm
CHAPTER 7 The Psychic Center We are not the mind, since all our thoughts come from a universal Mind vaster than ours; we are not the vital, or our feelings or actions, since all our impulses come from a universal Vital larger than ours; and we are not this body either, for its parts are made of Matter, which obeys universal laws greater than ours. What, then, is the element in us that is not our environment, not our family, not our traditions or marriage or job, that is not the play of universal Nature in us or of circumstances, yet gives us a sense of self, even if everything else collapses--and especially when everything else has collapsed, at our hour of truth? In the c
Resource name: /E-Library/Disciples/Satprem/English/The Adventure of Consciousness/The Silent Mind.htm
CHAPTER 4 The Silent Mind Mental Constructions The first stage in Sri Aurobindo's yoga, and the major task that opens the door to many realizations, is mental silence. Why mental silence, one may ask? Clearly, if we wish to discover a new country within us, we must first leave the old one behind; everything depends upon our determination in taking this first step. Sometimes it can happen in a flash. Something in us cries out: "Enough of this grinding!" We at once are on our way, walking forth without ever looking back. Others say yes then no; they vacillate endlessly between two worlds. Let us emphasize here that the aim is not to amputate from ourselves any painfully acqu