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

THE VISION AND THE SOUL Earth needs a place where men can live away from all national rivalries, social conventions, self-contradictory moralities and contending religions; a place where human beings, freed from all slavery to the past, can devote themselves wholly to the discovery and practice of the Divine Consciousness that is seeking to manifest. Auroville wants to be this place and offers itself to all who aspire to live the Truth of tomorrow. 20.9.1969 * Auroville: At last a place where one will be able to think only of the future. At last a place where one will be able to think only of progressing and transcending onese

AUROVILLE CHARTER 1)Auroville belongs to nobody in particular. Auroville belongs to humanity as a whole. But to live in Auroville one must be the willing servitor of the Divine Consciousness. 2)Auroville will be the place of an unending education, of constant progress, and a youth that never ages. 3)Auroville wants to be the bridge between the past and the future. Taking advantage of all discoveries from without and from within, Auroville will boldly spring towards future realisations. 4)Auroville will be a site of material and spiritual researches for a living embodiment of an actual Human Unity. 28.2.1968* * Greetings from Aurov

Synthesis of Cultures ... the unity of the human race can be achieved neither through uniformity nor through domination and subjection. A synthetic organisation of all nations, each one occupying its own place in accordance with its own genius and the role it has to play in the whole, can alone effect a comprehensive and progressive unification, which may have some chance of enduring. And if the synthesis is to be a living thing, the grouping should be done around a central idea as high and wide as possible, and in which all tendencies, even the most contradictory, would find their respective places. That idea is to give man the conditions of life necessary for preparing

Relation with Villagers Those who are in contact with the villagers should not forget that these people are worth as much as they are, that they know as much, that they think and feel as well as they do. They should therefore never have an attitude of ridiculous superiority. They are at home and you are the visitors. + 1969 * To the inhabitants of Aspiration: A relationship that is not only cordial but friendly with the inhabitants of the neighbouring village is absolutely indispensable. For the realisation of Auroville the first step is to establish a true human fraternity—any shortcoming in this regard is a grave mistake whic