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Addressing the Fallacy of an Individual Perfection in the Absence of Collective Progress · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  We start from the ego consciousness, and we treat
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  ourselves from that standpoint as independent, separate and
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  walled off from all other beings interacting with them, from our
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  insulated status. When we then turn to spiritual
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  growth and development from this standpoint, we start by looking
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  at it as something that the individual can accomplish
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  regardless of the status of the rest of humanity or the world as
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  a whole. As long as we remain active in
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  the world, we are inevitably part of the vital interchange
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  that takes place, and we receive vibrations from all those around
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  us, and we send out vibrations similarly to others.
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  There is no way to avoid this. The ascetic approach seeks to
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  minimize this interchange, focus the entire being on liberation,
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  and involves essentially an attempt to disconnect the
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  individual from the rest of human existence.
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  Even this turns out to be fallacious.
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  No matter how isolated 1 seeks to be, when the ascetic takes up
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  the begging bowl to go into society, he is involving himself
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  in that interchange. Even if he lives entirely
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  secluded, he still carries with him the sum scars of his birth
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  and past lifetimes, as well as the basic subtle energetic
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  connection to all life around him.
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  Even at a considerable distance, the impacts from the vital
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  interchange in the world still reach him.
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  It may be possible to take this interchange down to a bare
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  minimum and thereby undertake to eventually drop the body and
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  liberate the spirit from the body, but this is not part of
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  what may be called mastery, but rather a form of avoidance.
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  There is a role to play for the sannyasin, the ascetic following
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  his spiritual path with one pointed concentration, of
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  course, and we can honor their commitment to the quest.
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  In a world steeped in materialism and a fixation with
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  the purely external, the sanyasin provides a needed
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  balance. An individual may make
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  considerable progress within the framework of current
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  possibilities. Of course, there have always
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  been individuals who have focused their lives on spiritual
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  development and who have become great seers, rishis, sages,
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  yogis or spiritual leaders. And there may be exceptions to
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  the general rule, particularly in the case of individuals who
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  have taken birth for the express purpose of ushering in a focus
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  on the next phase of development, a process which has
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  been called avatar hood by some spiritual paths.
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  Generally, however, their focus is on the next step, so they are
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  based within the current capacity and framework of the
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  society, even if out on the upper edge of that capacity.
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  Complete mastery can only come when the seeker is able to
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  handle all of the vital interactions and process them in
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  a way that maintains his spiritual focus regardless.
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  That is one of the core messages we find in the Bhagwad Gita.
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  Avoidance of the role in society is not the answer to achieve
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  mastery. Rather, yoga is skill in works,
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  and other statements make it clear the road to mastery lies
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  through the interactions and not through avoidance.
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  This brings us then to the relationship between individual
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  progress and the general status of human progress.
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  The individual may lead the way, but without some amount of
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  preparation and general development, progress eventually
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  reaches a point of stagnation or standstill.
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  Srioro Bindo refers to a process of ascent and integration, where
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  the ascent brings the connection to the spiritual force that is
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  evolving and the integration brings it down into the life and
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  makes it real at the level of human existence.
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  This process works both for the individual satna and for the
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  general process of evolution of the society.
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  The general progress creates a more receptive field within
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  which the individual can grow and develop.
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  There is a greater readiness, there is less general opposition
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  or friction, and as the general capacity grows, the individual
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  can use that as a platform for his further progress.
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  As the individual grows, his influence back into the society
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  helps the society achieve a further status of readiness and
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  preparation for its own development.
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  The 100th monkey phenomenon that has been widely described
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  represents this interactive process of the individual
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  leading the way, influencing others, and eventually creating
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  a new capacity within the society, which presumably opens
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  the door to next steps available to the individuals who are
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  aspiring toward greater progress.
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  A disciple asks, does an individual mastery over desire
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  suffice, or is a general collective mastery necessary?
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  The mother notes quote. Ah, there we are.
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  Is it possible to attain a total personal transformation without
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  there being at least a correspondence in the
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  collectivity? This does not seem possible to
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  me. There is such an interdependence
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  between the individual and the collectivity that unless one
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  does what the ascetics have preached, that is, escapes from
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  the world, goes out of it completely, leaves it where it
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  is, and runs away, selfishly leaving all the work to others.
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  Unless one does that, and Even so, I have my doubts.
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  Is it possible to accomplish a total transformation of one's
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  being so long as the collectivity has not reached at
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  least a certain degree of transformation?
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  I don't think so. Human nature remains what it is.
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  One can attain a great change of consciousness that yes, one can
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  purify one's consciousness, but the total conquest, the material
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  transformation, depends definitely to a large extent on
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  a certain degree of progress in the collectivity.
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  Bhuta said with reason that as long as you have in you a
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  vibration of desire, this vibration will spread in the
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  world and all those who are ready to receive it will receive
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  it. In the same way, if you have in
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  you the least receptivity to a vibration of desire, you will be
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  open to all the vibrations of desire which circulate
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  constantly in the world. And quote reference Sri
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  Aurobindo and the Mother, The Hidden Forces of Life, Chapter
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  Eight Life, a Mass of Vibrations, page 186.