The Vedantic Vision, the Historical Christ and Soul-Evolution       Thus the ancient Vedantic vision is inclusive of all possible aspects of divinity and can harmonise the diverse currents of thought running through Teilhard's philosophy. Even the idea of the Incarnation the historical Christ-figure, can be a part of it; for the Avatar stands out in the Bhagavad Gita, a development of the Ishwara-aspect. But, of course, the uniqueness, so dear to the Christian, of Christ's avatarhood would be set aside. Instead, we would have a divine phenomenon repeating itself at several stages of human history, a guiding companionship of

Christian Pantheism, Panpsychism, Omega Point, the Cosmic Christ         Teilhard makes no bones about his "deepest 'pantheist' aspirations"1 nor does he hesitate to speak of "the essential religious tendency which impels man towards some sort of 'pantheism'."2 In the same vein he mentions "the sense of the whole, which is the life-blood at all mysticism"3 and asks: "what in truth is the 'cosmic sense' from which germinates the whole organism of my faith but precisely this same faith in the universe which animates modern pantheisms?"4   But time and again he qualifies such statements by an assertion like: "I

-005_Faith in the world,the concept of omega,the vision of Christ's Parousia.htm Faith in the World, the Concept of Omega, the Vision of Christ's Parousia       Perhaps the champions of Christian Orthodoxy will bring up the confession Teilhard makes in the Phenomenon of Man when, towards the close of the book, he considers "The Christian Phenomenon", The confession is apropos of his concept of Omega.   We may first summarise this concept. According to Teilhard, evolution produces, in the course of time, systems ever more complex in the sense that a larger and larger variety of elements are organised around a more and more distinct centre: the atom, the mega-molecule, the virus, th

-008_Teilhard's Christianity and the Ancient Vedanta.htm Teilhard's Christianity and the Ancient Vedanta       Our task of comparison will be all the more interesting because one of the cross-purposes in Teilhard's life was just that he found himself simultaneously attracted by and at variance with old Indian thought. As he has explained in his essay, How 1 Believe,1 he recognised in this thought "an abundant sense of the Whole", which chimed with his own faith, but he saw in it (1) a suppression of the individual and the rich dynamism of life in a "homogeneous unity" and (2) a vision of matter as "dead weight and illusion". If anything in the modern Orient struck him as a sign of hope, it was

Part One THE REAL RELIGION OF TEILHARD       DE CHARDIN His Version of Christianity and Sri Aurobindo's Expose of the Ancient Vedanta           Roman Catholicism and Pantheism       The Roman Catholic Church has shown deep concern over the real religion behind the scientific-spiritual philosophy of the Jesuit priest and palaeontologist Teilhard de Chardin. Apropos of some declarations of his, a very disturbing question has arisen for it: "Was Teilhard a pantheist?"   According to pantheism, the universe is a single infinite Being manifesting all that is phys

II What is Basic Teilhardism? What Place has his Christianity in it?       (1)       In Rideau's book we have found from his Teilhard-quota-tions that Teilhard's Christianity has no vital concern for any traditional dogmas of the Roman Catholic Church but concentrates solely on preserving "Christ on the scale of and at the head of creation".1 According to Teilhard, such an exclusive regard is "the most essential aim and criterion of Christian orthodoxy"2 and, "since St. John and St. Paul, the fundamental rule of theology".3 The divine power so figured is the Cosmic or Universal Christ and, naturally, his

Supplementary Note       We may press some further statements of Teilhard into service of our contention that he subscribes to panpsychism not only in the sense that life is present in all matter even where it is not apparent but also in the sense that one single life, an identical vital presence, is active in various degrees throughout the universe - a sense which would be a natural and logical step towards pantheism.   A pronouncement at some length in our support meets us on pp. 98-100 of The Vision of the Past (Collins, London, 1966). The article where it occurs is called "The Transformist Paradox" and refers to "the new perspectives of discontinuity and p

Pantheistic Christianity and Panentheism       The issue over the equation of the natural Omega with a natural Christ being settled, we may move on to the other -namely, that, like Pantheos, Teilhard's Cosmic Christ is a World-God who precedes his own particular concentrated historical manifestation known as Jesus. In short, what Teilhard is announcing is a genuine pantheism sub specie Christi. And such a thesis emerges if we rightly gauge several of his pronouncements:   "The concentration of the Multiple in the supreme organic unity of Omega represents a most arduous task. Every element, according to its degree, shares in this laborious

-40_Little Known Facets of the  Immortal Diamond.htm Little Known Facets of the Immortal Diamond IF THE term "myriad-minded" could be applied to anybody with justice, Amal richly deserves it. It is not uncommon to find jacks of all trades with a kind of shallow omniscience.  To be a first-rate poet uttering overhead notes, a superb critic with a mastery over "the heart and art of poetry", a rare type of historian with imagination and insight, a keen student of scientific thought and for some time even a commentator on the contemporary political scene is to be only in the truest sense of the term an Aurobindonian. On the occasion of his ninetieth birthday it is good t

The Legend of Amal Kiran FROM the time I came to Pondicherry as a small boy in the year 1946, I had heard the name of Amal Kiran together with that of Harindranath Chattopadhyaya, of Dilip Kumar Roy, Arjava and a few others as the poets inspired and moulded by Sri Aurobindo himself. Those were indeed the halcyon days of the Ashram at least as far as the Arts and Culture were concerned, for then it was a case of turn but a corner and start a poet. One could not take a step without brushing against a famous poet or painter or musician or thinker or scholar. Nolinikanto, Nishikanto, Dilip Kumar, Bhismadev, Sahana Devi, Monod-Herzen, Sanjivan,