Supermind in Integral Yoga - Problem of Ignorance Bondage, Liberation and Perfection - Introduction

Introduction

The new synthesis of the Yoga of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother has come to be known as the Integral Yoga¹. This yoga has, as its first basis, the Vedantic realization of Existence-Consciousness-Bliss (Sachchidananda) as the ultimate reality and the ultimate foundation of the universe and all that is in the universe. However, the world that we see is the world of divided mentality which does not appear to be a direct manifestation of Sachchidananda. The divided mentality and the life and body, in which we exist on the earth, and the material existence which is governed by the divided mentality, must be, therefore, a development from that which originally manifests directly from the Sachchidananda. There must be an intermediate link between the Sachchidananda, on the one hand, and the divided mentality, on the other, and this link must be able to explain the relationship of each other and establish between them such a relation as will make it possible for us to realize the one Existence, Consciousness, Delight in the mould of the mind, life and body. Such an intermediate link must be found, if the ultimate reality is Sat-Chit-Ananda, one without the second².

According to Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, that intermediate link exists, and that link is evidenced by the loftiest experience and realization of the Ultimate Reality, eternal and infinite and indeterminable. That intermediate link is the Supermind, and Sri Aurobindo calls it the Truth-Consciousness, because it is a principle superior to mentality

and exists, manifests, acts and proceeds in the fundamental truth and unity of things and not like the mind in their appearances and phenomenal divisions. Sri Aurobindo defines the Supermind as "at once the self-awareness of the Infinite and Eternal and a power of self-determination inherent in that self-awareness; the first is its foundation and status, the second is its power of being, the dynamis of its self-existence."³

The supramental Truth-Consciousness is the conscious power that manifests the timeless eternity and Spaceless infinity of the Supreme Sat-Chit-Ananda in Time-Eternity and Space-Infinity. The Supreme is not a rigid Indeterminable and all-negating Absolute. It is Indeterminable⁴ in the sense that no determinations proceeding from It can limit It and exhaust It. All that is called creation is in reality a self-manifestation of the Spaceless and Timeless Reality by its own power that is inherent in it as the self-awareness of the Infinite and Eternal. That power is the supramental power having in it endless powers of being and energy.

Supermind is not merely what we can infer, but it is a principle of active Will and Knowledge that can be realized in experience. As Sri Aurobindo points out:

"We may by a progressive expanding or a sudden luminous self-transcendence mount up to these summits in unforgettable moments or dwell on them during hours or days of greatest superhuman experience. When we descend again, there are doors of communication which we can keep always open or reopen even though they should constantly shut. But to dwell there permanently on this last and highest summit of the created and creative being is in the end the supreme ideal for our evolving human consciousness when it seeks not self-annulment but self-perfection."⁵