3 The Sunlit Path There are two paths, Sri Aurobindo used to say, the path of effort and the sunlit path. The path of effort is well known. It is the one that has presided over our entire mental life, because we try to reach for something we do not have or think we do not have. We are full of wants, of painful holes, of voids to be filled. But the void never gets filled. No sooner is it filled that another one opens up, drawing us into yet another pursuit. We are like an absence of something that can never find its presence, except in rare flashes, which vanish immediately and seem to leave an even greater void. We may say that we lack this or that, but we really lack

Acknowledgments We wish to extend our gratitude and sincere appreciation to The Foundation for World Education, which has made the printing of this book possible. The Foundation was created by the late Mrs. Eleanor Montgomery, who was a friend and a devotee of the Mother. Our sincere thanks also to Eric Hughes, whose careful and professional proofreading of the manuscript and his love of the work have given the English polish this book deserves. Page-194

Man is a transitional being; he is not final. The step from man to superman is the next approaching achievement in the earth's evolution. It is inevitable because it is at once the intention of the inner Spirit and the logic of Nature's process. —Sri Aurobindo ON THE WAY TO SUPERMANHOOD OTHER BOOKS BY SATPREM Mother, a biography in 3 volumes: 1.The Divine Materialism (1980) 2.The New Species (1983) 3.The Mutation of Death (forthcoming) The Mind of the Cells, essay (1982) Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, essay (1984) MOTHER'S AGENDA 1951-1973

2 The Great Process The secret of a circle is in the very next circle, as the secret of the arrow is in the goal it pursues, and if we could retrace our steps to the Master Archer, we would have the secret of secrets, the central point that determines this circle and all circles, the goal of all goals. But the pursuit is said to be a long one, and we must go back one step at a time, from the tool to the Hand that guides the tool, since we ourselves started out by being that tool: a little vital antenna groping around a self of life before discovering itself as a moth or a millipede, a little mental antenna quivering inexplicably around a nimble self before discoveri

11 The Change of Power BUT, in truth, this Harmony of the new world is not expressed by great music or ecstatic joys. It is far more discreet and far more efficient-maybe we should say far more demanding. There is but one Harmony, as there is one Consciousness and one earthly body, which are those of the greater Self, but this Harmony and Consciousness are unveiled a little at a time, as we grow and the scales fall from our eyes, and their effects are different, depending at what level we grasp them. Harmony chants high above, and it is grand and sublime, but it has chanted for millenia and ages without changing much in the world and the hearts of men. And

The Philosophy of Love Everyday I awake a philosopher. I look at the state of the world and the ages. Today I awoke with the philosophy of Love. Love Love for the sea Love for music Love for beauty Love for Mother Divine Love I feel great pity for these poor men, who are what, who love what ? This world was created for love And it is by love we live. Page-7 It is the first instinct of life. And then... what ? The plant loves the sun, seeks the sun The small green alga coils round the rock to drink in life And the whole of life touches and feels around to take its prey lovingly or (so it seems) c

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SATPREM A sailor and a Breton, though born in Paris in 1923. A member of the French Resistance, Satprem was arrested by the Gestapo when he was twenty and spent a year and a half in concentration camps. Devastated, he journeyed first to Upper Egypt, then to India, where he served in the French colonial government of Pondicherry. There he discovered Sri Aurobindo and Mother. Their Message—"Man is a transitional being"— struck a deep chord. He resigned his post and left for Guiana, where he spent an adventurous year in the middle of Amazonian jungle, then wandered on to Brazil, Africa.... In 1953, at thirty, Satprem returned to India for good to be near Her who was in search of the

Neanderthal Looks On Satprem MIRA ADITI Mysore

Neanderthal Looks On Satprem MIRA ADITI Mysore This book was originally published in French under the title Néanderthal Regards © Editions Institut de Recherches ÉVOLUTIVES, Paris, 1999. Neanderthal Looks On. English translation by Michel Danino © Institut de Recherches ÉVOLUTIVES, Paris, 1999. Information addresses : - in Asia: MIRA ADITI CENTRE 62 'Sriranga', 2'"'Main, 1" Cross T. K. Layout, Saraswatipuram MYSORE - 570 009, INDIA - in America : INSTITUT DE RECHERCHES ÉVOLUTIVES, CANADA CP41 CHAMBLY OC J3L4B1 CANADA - in Europe : INSTITUT DE RECHERCHES ÉVOLUTIVES 142 boulevard du Mon