Monday, May 12, 2008
Sri Aurobindo and Integral Consciousness
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I am no more a vassal of flesh,
- Sri Aurobindo
The poem below was written by Sri Aurobindo, famous early Indian political figure and then renowned mystic. He was one of the first to posit the notion of the evolution of consciousness through what he termed "integral consciousness." He was extremely prolific, virtually channeling volume after volume of esoteric theory pertaining to spiritual transformation.
The ashram which he founded in Pondicherry, India, still exists and is a prime destination of many of today's pilgrim's.
(I am always intrigued by the connections between the earlier and contemporary proponents of evolution of consciousness. Gregg Bradon, Rupert Sheldrake, Terence McKenna and the like were preceded by many advanced thinkers of earlier eras.)
Here is what Wikipedia has to say about Sri Aurobindo.
Sri Aurobindo (Bengali:)
(August 15, 1872–December 5, 1950) was an Indian/Hindu nationalist, scholar, poet, mystic, evolutionary philosopher, yogi and guru. After a short political career in which he became one of the leaders of the early movement for the freedom of India from British rule, Sri Aurobindo turned to the development and practice of a new spiritual path which he called the integral yoga.
The aim of the integral yoga was to further the evolution of life on earth by establishing a high level of spiritual consciousness, which he called the Supermind, that would represent a divine life free from physical death. Sri Aurobindo wrote prolifically in English on his spiritual philosophy and practice, on social and political development, on Indian culture including extensive commentaries and translations of ancient Indian scriptures, and on literature and poetry including the writing of much spiritual poetry.
The aim of the integral yoga was to further the evolution of life on earth by establishing a high level of spiritual consciousness, which he called the Supermind, that would represent a divine life free from physical death. Sri Aurobindo wrote prolifically in English on his spiritual philosophy and practice, on social and political development, on Indian culture including extensive commentaries and translations of ancient Indian scriptures, and on literature and poetry including the writing of much spiritual poetry.
It fills my members with a might divine:
I have drunk the Infinite like a giant’s wine.
Time is my drama or my pageant dream.
Now are my illumined cells joy’s flaming scheme
And changed my thrilled and branching nerves to fine
Channels of rapture opal and hyaline
For the influx of the Unknown and the Supreme.
I am no more a vassal of flesh,
A slave to Nature and her leaden rule;
I am caught no more in the senses’ narrow mesh.
My soul unhorizoned widens to measureless sight,
My body is God’s happy living tool,
My spirit a vast sun of deathless light.
- Sri Aurobindo
Note: This poem is a sonnet (fourteen lines following a prescribed rhyme scheme.) Although the language and use of rhyme makes it seem quite archaic to us, if you look closely at the content, it appears to be describing something akin to kundalini awakening, particularly in its references to joy and channels of rapture. Clearly he was a man well ahead of his time.
(Image from Wikipedia)
