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Moving Beyond Good and Evil · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  Friedrich Nietzsche held that the superior man could not be
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  bound by ordinary morality or ethical concerns about abiding
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  by what is considered good versus what is considered evil
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  by society. His view was that the customary
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  definitions were developed to control the mass of humanity,
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  but that they could not apply to those who had a superior insight
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  and understanding. He touched upon an important
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  truth. It was, however, misapplied to
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  the egoistic personality rather than to the true spiritual self
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  which sees the truth of existence.
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  His philosophy was construed, particularly at the time of the
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  Third Reich in Germany, as supporting the declaration of
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  supremacy that treated other people as animals and justified
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  their destruction in the name of uplifting the human race.
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  The Holocaust was one result of this misapplication.
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  This same mistake as repeated in other circumstances as well.
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  Fyodor Dostoevsky, in his novel Crime and Punishment, explored
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  this concept from the point of view of an individual who took a
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  similar stance, asserted to himself his superiority, and
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  thereby justified his actions to steal and eventually kill an
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  individual to achieve his own financial support needs.
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  The individual, however, soon found that he was actually still
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  bound by the ordinary morality considerations.
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  He became mentally disturbed and physically I'll from his attempt
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  to escape the pangs of conscience that arose after he
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  committed his heinous crimes. Morality, and the conscience
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  that enforces it, is defined within the framework of a
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  particular society and thus is neither universal nor perfect in
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  its application. In one society, morality is
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  defined by certain dress codes. In another society it may be
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  defined by sexual preferences. In yet another, those who have
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  acquired wealth and status are considered above normal
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  considerations and are treated vastly differently than everyone
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  else. Concepts such as might makes
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  right, all's fair in love and war, discrimination against one
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  group or another, or the treatment of women as property,
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  and the excusing of immoral means of acquiring wealth and
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  power through deceit or through enforcement by brute force
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  illustrate the limits of traditional framing of morality.
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  What is considered moral or ethical also tends to change
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  over time. Slavery, once considered moral
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  and ethical, is now generally condemned as abhorrent.
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  Morality more often than not becomes a weapon to control a
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  populace rather than the application of a universal
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  truth, and the concepts of morality in any particular
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  society program the conscience that applies in that society.
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  For those who are not under the guidance of the voice of the
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  soul, a framework that defines good and evil is generally
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  better than having a society governed by brute force,
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  violence, and self dealing at the expense of everyone else.
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  Morality, ethics, and conscience have a positive role to play in
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  the development of human relationships and society,
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  particularly if they try to bring about results that mirror
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  those that the soul and its spiritual linkage favors.
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  The concept of moving beyond good and evil finds its truth
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  only when it is not attached to the ego personality but to the
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  psychic being which automatically knows the truth,
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  the right, the vast and responds to that.
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  This does not justify the violation of morality or ethics
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  for the needs and desires of the ego for self aggrandizement or
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  advancement of any sort. The soul has no need for these
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  guardrails of behaviour simply because it would not consider
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  those actions in the 1st place. A disciple asks.
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  Sweet Mother, Sri Robindo says that the voice of the ordinary
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  conscience is not the voice of the soul.
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  What is it then? The Mother responds, quote.
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  The voice of the ordinary conscience is an ethical voice,
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  a moral voice which distinguishes between good and
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  evil, encourages us to do good, and forbids us to do evil.
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  This voice is very useful in ordinary life until 1 is able to
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  become conscious of 1's psychic being and allow oneself to be
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  entirely guided by it. In other words, to rise above
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  ordinary humanity, free oneself from all egoism, and become a
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  conscious instrument of the divine will.
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  The soul itself, being a portion of the Divine, is above all
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  moral and ethical notions. It bathes in the divine light
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  and manifests it, but it can truly govern the whole being
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  only when the ego has been dissolved.
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  End Quote Reference Srioro Bindu and the Mother the psychic being
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  soul, its nature, Mission and evolution.
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  Section 1. Meaning and Nature of the
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  Psychic Being, pages 32 to 33.