PART TWO It is no longer the transmutation through a new bodily organism which must precede the change of consciousness, but the reverse; consciousness by its mutation will necessitate whatever mutation is needed for the body. Man is a doubly involved being: below mind, a subliminal consciousness or subconscience; above mind, a spiritual superconscience. Consciousness is the central secret, life the outward indication. Evolving soul or psychic being: a higher evolution of manifested consciousness. The foundation of the pure spiritual consciousness is the first object in the evolution of the spiritual man. Evolution of mind to its greatest possible range. Each gradation contains the poss

PART FIVE Mind in its origin is a principle of light, an instrument put forth from the Supermind. Overmind, Intuitive Mind, Illumined Mind, Higher Mind - these and other levels of a spiritualised and liberated mentality are a result of the new evolutionary order. A new humanity is a race of mental beings with a perfected mind, a mind of light. The Mind of Light is a transitional passage from Supermind and superhumanity to an illumined humanity. There are two stages in the birth and ascension of the Mind of Light. A Mind of Light is a mind capable of living in the truth, capable of being truth-conscious and manifesting a direct knowledge. At its highest it would be capable of passing i

                                                                                                                          At the Crossroads: The Evolution of the Spiritual Being A compilation from Sri Aurobindo's writings At the Crossroads: The Evolution of the Spiritual Being A compilation from Sri Aurobindo's writings AUROVILLE First Published 1994 (Typeset in 11/13 New Times Roman) Compiled by Paulette Hadnagy Sri Aurobindo Ashram T

PART FOUR The spiritual change begins by an influence of the inner being and the higher spiritual mind assimilating the higher influences. In each change the inner being follows more readily; the outer being limps after. When the higher descends into the lower consciousness it alters the lower - but it is also modified and diminished by it, and vice versa. Below our most obscure physical consciousness is a sub-conscious being of immense potency. Behind our mind, life and conscious physical there is a large subliminal consciousness: innermental, inner vital, inner more subtle physical, supported by an inmost psychic existence. There lies a mass of pre-existent personalities which ar

FOREWORD     The present study is the outcome of research done on Sri Aurobindo's texts on the occasion of the UNESCO sponsored seminar, "Humanity at the crossroads: the evolution of Consciousness" to be held in Auroville in February 1994.     I have divided this research into two volumes. This first volume, "At the crossroads: the evolution of the spiritual being" is a more general approach to Sri Aurobindo's perspective on evolution. The second volume, "The next stage of evolution: genesis of the supramental being" will deal more directly with the practice of integral Yoga.     The summary is a "condensation" of Sri Aurobindo's

PART ONE Involution/evolution: Spirit concealed in Matter. The electron and the atom, eternal somnambulists: an outer absorbed form - consciousness. A stupendous Intelligence, a secret Consciousness - Force. Consciousness is the essential evolutionary principle. Soul and Nature, Purusha and Prakriti: two eternal lovers. Evolution: outrolling of a manifold Power coiled up in Matter; there is a parallel in the Yogic experience of the Kundalini. The Force: the Chit- Tapas or Chit-Shakti of Vedanta. The seven gradations of the manifesting consciousness. Supermind is the secret supporter of all creation. It is that which makes the emergence of consciousness possible and certain.

PART SIX In the cryptic verses of the Veda is concealed the gospel of the Supermind. The Supermind has the infinite power of a free self- determination; it puts forward only what is needed at each stage of an evolution. The manifestation of the Supermind and of its Truth- Consciousness is inevitable. The evolutionary processes are the action of the supreme, universal Consciousness-Force. It is an evolution in the Light in which the evolving being is a conscious co-operator. A gnostic Consciousness and Power will shape a race of gnostic, spiritual beings. The law of the Supermind is unity fulfilled in diversity; therefore there would be an infinite diversity in the manifestation of t

APPENDIX The three layers of the Supermind: Interpretative Supermind, Representative Supermind, Imperative Supermind. The seven suns of the Supermind. The divine superman. The Supermind     There are three layers of the Supermind corresponding to three activities of the intuitive mind: 1. Interpretative Supermind First is what I call Interpretative Supermind, corresponding to Intuition, I call it interpretative, because what is a possibility on the mental plane becomes a potentiality on the supramental plane and the Interpretative puts all the potentialities before you. It shows the root cause of events that may become true on the phys

INTRODUCTION YOGA, THE ACCELERATING FACTOR OF EVOLUTION Can evolution stop at man, the thinking animal? Man is a transitional being, a middle term of evolution. A pygmy and a dwarf, man is an infrarational animal whose evolution has just begun. The evolution from man to divine man is an even more momentous event than the evolution from animal to thinking animal. And the moment is NOW. Civilisations, nations, societies, socio-political organisations, clashing socio-economic patterns are undermined by a global crisis which is the transition to a new era. Humanity is facing the shattering of all traditional values, all conventions. Established patterns of b

PART THREE Necessity of the triple transformation; psychic transformation and spiritual transformation are preliminary to the supramental transformation. The consent and participation not of the Purusha only, but of the Prakriti as well. At each step of the transition the assent of the Purusha is needed. All the parts of our being must surrender to the law of the Spirit, to the Divine Power in the members. There is a spiritual consciousness, a spiritual being in us; once liberated it can develop in mind the higher states of being that are its own natural atmosphere and bring down the supramental energy and action. The spiritual evolution obeys the logic of a successive unfolding; a co