The Supermind

My mission for the next day was clear. Although I had managed to get a handle on much of Sri Aurobindo's evolutionary vision, and at least the rudiments of Integral Yoga, somehow what the supramental was all about had continued to elude me. In the many conversations I had had so far, I had heard numerous references to a "new consciousness" that those who live in the ashram feel to be an animating presence in their collective spiritual life. And while I had some sense that this was somehow related to what Sri Aurobindo had referred to as "the supramental consciousness," I couldn't quite be sure. And then there was this enigmatic event called the "supramental descent" or, at times, the "supramental manifestation" that seemed to occupy such a central place in the community's history. I had to find out what it was and, more importantly, why it mattered.

Throughout the day, in conversations first with my hosts, Richard Pearson and Kailash Jhaveri, and then later with a rising star on the Indian lecture circuit, Sraddhalu Ranade, I would have the chance to explore all of my questions. And by the end of the day, I had a much clearer sense of why, in the Integral Yoga community, the supramental is spoken of with such reverence. To Sri Aurobindo and to the Mother, I would learn, it was this extremely high and powerful level of consciousness that held the key to humanity's collective evolutionary potential. By the time my evening phone call came, I was eager to tell my colleagues what I had learned. But Carter had other plans.

Before I could get a word in edgewise, he launched straight in, "Hey, I think The X-Files just found some serious competition. Have you read Georges Van Vrekhem's book Beyond the Human Species?!"

"Part of it." I wondered where this was leading.

"Did you happen to read this part about Sri Aurobindo and the Mother fighting World War II with their psychic powers?" he continued. "Van Vrekhem says, without the slightest equivocation, that both Sri Aurobindo and the Mother had a huge influence on the outcome of the war by putting their spiritual force on the side of the Allies."

"I must have missed that part. Actually, I spent more time reading Peter Heehs's biography. He never mentions anything like that."

Carter was enjoying this. "For example, it says here that Sri Aurobindo used to psychically influence Churchill's thinking. He was actually the one behind those inspiring speeches. And he influenced the military strategy, too."

"You've got to be kidding," Andrew said with a touch of exasperation. "Did Sri Aurobindo really say that?"

"Well, not exactly. It sounds like Van Vrekhem is inferring quite a bit," Carter reassured us. "But you haven't heard the half of it. According to him, Hitler's every move was being guided by a demon that used to appear to him in his room. Well, one night the Mother temporarily subdued this demon on the occult planes and then appeared to Hitler disguised as the demon and instructed him to attack Russia, a critical mistake that, as we all know, weakened the Western front and ultimately cost him the war."

"Hey, I once read something in a book about how that decision was made," Amy added. "I can't remember the details, but it sounded like something really spooky happened that night—like Hitler was really out of his mind."

"That's an understatement," Andrew remarked.

"Well, what I want to know," Elizabeth broke in, "is how this all fits in with Sri Aurobindo and the Mother's extraordinary evolutionary vision, or for that matter, with Integral Yoga. Controlling people's thoughts and vanquishing demons? I mean, maybe it's just me, but I'm finding it a little hard to put this all together."

"I actually think it's pretty simple," Carter announced. "Look, the Mother was interested in the occult from day one, so it's no big shock that she was still into these things at the ashram. I mean a lot of spiritual people are fascinated by the paranormal. Look how many of your spiritual friends went to see The Sixth Sense or Phenomenon. And as for Sri Aurobindo, well, he was Indian. He was into yoga. Isn't that just part of the whole yoga tradition? The idea that we can develop these supernormal powers or siddhis? I don't know if they're true or not, but these kinds of stories are rampant around Indian gurus. I mean, have you ever read Autobiography of a Yogi?"

"I agree," I jumped in. "Anyway, if you did have powers, I can't imagine what better cause they could be used for than saving the world from Hitler."

"Oh, and one more thing," Carter went on. "It also says in here that the war was actually started by evil forces attempting to block the 'supramental manifestation' that Sri Aurobindo and the Mother were trying to bring about through their yoga."

"That's it," said Andrew. "No more X-Files for you guys."

"Wait a minute. Let me get this straight." Elizabeth paused. "Do you mean to tell me that the rise of Hitler was a sort of satanic response to what they were doing down there in a little ashram in southern India?"

"I'm only telling you what the book says," Carter replied.

"All I can say is I guess it's a good thing they stopped the war then, since apparently they were the ones responsible for it in the first place," Andrew concluded, laughing.

Amy tried to get us back on track. "Didn't you say something about a supramental manifestation?"

"Yeah, Craig, did you ever manage to find out what the supramental was all about?" Carter asked. "Van Vrekhem talks about the supramental manifestation quite a bit in his book, and to be honest I can see why you were a little lost on that one."

"I thought you'd never ask," I replied. "I've been speaking to people about it all day, and I think I'm finally starting to get it. It's powerful stuff."

"Great. Enlighten us." Andrew sounded relieved to be changing topics.

"Okay. Well it might seem a little complex because I feel like I'm only starting to get a handle on it, but basically the first thing you have to understand is that for Sri Aurobindo, and for the Mother, this Supermind was really everything. I mean, the supramental manifestation was the main event of everything they were trying to make happen. It was this, they felt, that would really open the door for the divine life on earth to come into being."

"This being what exactly?" Carter asked. "What was it that they were trying to do?"

"Okay, well, first you have to understand the Supermind itself. Then we'll get to the 'manifestation.' Remember Sri Aurobindo's experience back in the jail cell? Well, apparently what I read to you was just the beginning of a whole series of experiences that occurred over the course of the year he spent there. During that time, he began to explore what he called the higher realms or planes of consciousness that exist above the mind. He said that there was a series of what he called 'overhead planes,' progressing from Higher Mind to Illumined Mind to Intuitive Mind to Overmind. And at the top of all these planes or levels of consciousness was a level he called 'the Supermind' or 'the supramental consciousness.' Now, the thing is, and I think this is the intriguing part, this Supermind was not the same thing as the infinite, empty, static, Absolute undifferentiated pure consciousness that most mysticism points to as the highest level. It was one step down from that. Or rather, it was a sort of link plane, or bridge, between that Absolute consciousness and the whole realm of manifestation and diversification below it."

"Did you say a 'link plane?'" asked Elizabeth. "I mean, conceptually I can kind of get it, but do you have any idea what that really means?"

"Well, I don't know if I get exactly what 'link plane' means either, and I don't know whether Sri Aurobindo actually ever used that term himself," I continued. "What was important about this idea of a link or bridge, though, was that in some very significant sense, this level of consciousness brought together what was above it and what was below it. In other words, the Supermind is that which, while being fully conscious of the undivided, unmanifest Ground of Being, also perceives the fullness and richness and multiplicity of the manifest reality without there being any contradiction between the two. It sees the Ultimate Unity of all in diversity itself. It has a vision of perfect wholeness, and in that, it unifies everything.

"The reason this is so interesting, particularly in terms of evolution, is that in addition to speaking about the Supermind as that which sees the unity within diversity, Sri Aurobindo also spoke about it as a Conscious Power. So, you see, this was not a sort of passive divine state of being. It was an immense, conscious, unifying power, which contained an unimaginable transformative potential. And that, I think, was the big key because he really felt that this power, if it could be 'brought down' into the physical world, could transform life as we know it. That's what the 'supramental manifestation' was all about. He and the Mother worked to bring that down."

"And 'bring it down' means?" Carter asked.

"Well, that's the question nobody seems to be able to answer. What I do know is that in 1926, after he had a big yogic breakthrough that he called 'the descent of the Overmind'—which apparently is one plane below the Supermind—he withdrew into seclusion for the rest of his life, so that he could dedicate himself completely to bringing this highest power down into 'the earth consciousness.' The important thing to understand here is that he wasn't just trying to do it for himself. He said that if he had just been trying to bring it down into himself, it would have been easy. No, whatever he was doing in that room of his for all those years was something he felt would have transformative implications for the entire race, the entire world. It's hard to know for sure exactly how he thought it would happen, but one way or another, it was going to change the consciousness, and even the very substance, of everyone on the planet."

"Was this what the focus on the body was all about?" Andrew asked. "And the idea of immortality?"

"That definitely seems to have been part of it. I mean he really thought this supramental consciousness would change everything, right down to the cellular level, even down to the very structure of matter itself. We're talking no limitation on every level imaginable."

"Wow," Carter said. "Talk about transformation. No wonder he was calling this the emergence of the superman."

"So, what happened in the end?" Elizabeth persisted. "Did he do it? Did Sri Aurobindo bring down the supramental?"

"Nope."

"No?" Amy sounded disappointed. "How anticlimactic can you get? Thanks for the big buildup, Craig."

"Wait, I wasn't finished. He didn't do it. But according to everyone here, the Mother did."

"The Mother?!" they said as one voice.

"Yes. But with his help. According to her, he could have kept living, but he died on purpose so that he could go and work from the other side, leaving her behind to work from here, and the two of them together, six years later, made the big event happen."

"So, what happened?" Carter asked.

"Sorry, I don't actually know. I wish I had pursued it a little more, but I think I was so excited to finally be comprehending this thing that I missed a few obvious points. But I still have one more interview. It's with Peter Heehs, the historian who wrote that great biography of Sri Aurobindo. I'm sure he'll be able to give me the whole story."