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The Mind, the Spirit and the Deeper Knowledge and Power That Can Know and Master the Universal Creation · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  We can observe all around us the steps the mental force is taking
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  to take charge of both physical and vital nature.
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  While much of this takes place through the development of
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  technological tools, it is nevertheless an achievement of
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  the mind that makes these things possible.
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  We may debate the appropriateness or safety of
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  some of the developments, such as the liberation of energy from
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  matter in the form of nuclear bombs, or the use of such
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  capabilities as gene editing and cloning to upgrade and improve
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  upon the natural formations of plant, animal, and man.
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  Yet even if we debate the suitability of these steps, we
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  cannot deny that mind is reaching out to gain mastery
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  over nature. What is less visible and much
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  less understood are the capacities of the mind and the
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  mental force to act upon physical and vital nature
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  directly without developing technological tools to do so.
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  Yet in this realm, modern science is beginning to explore
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  areas that in the past have been the province of rishis, sages
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  and yogins, namely the understanding of the full
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  capabilities of the entire human instrument, body, life, mind and
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  our spiritual nature. Central to this quest is the
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  development of the yogic trance Samadhi, which allows the seeker
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  to explore inner space and begin to both know and experience
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  states of awareness not usually recognized by the external
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  mental consciousness, the rishis.
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  Through use of the hidden capacities of the human
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  consciousness, we're able to tap into a wider domain of
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  consciousness and thereby understand and describe things
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  which were long held to be fantasy, but are now understood
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  to actually describe principles and processes of the manifested
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  universe. While we rely on technological
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  innovation to discover these things, the Rishis used a state
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  of spiritual consciousness to discover these things.
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  A recent example relates to the astronomical phenomenon known as
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  The Big Bang. This has been held by Western
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  astronomers to be the start of the universe without any
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  explanation from their side as to where and how this initiating
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  event occurred. The Rishis described a cycle of
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  creation and dissolution of the universe, and thus The Big Bang
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  is not the beginning of everything, but one point in a
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  cycle of creation that was preceded by a former universe
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  that was eventually dissolved. Today, Western scientists are
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  discovering residues that appear to validate the existence of a
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  former universe and out of the dissolution of which our
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  universe eventually arose. Sri Aurobindo writes in his epic
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  poem Savitri, A Legend and a symbol quote.
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  Mind is a mediator divinity. Its powers can undo all nature's
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  work. Mind can suspend or change
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  Earth's concrete law, a franchise from Earth habits.
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  Drowsy seal the leaden grip of matter.
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  It can break indifferent to the angry stare of death.
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  It can immortalize a moment's work, a simple Fiat of the
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  thinking force. The casual pressure of its
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  slight ascent can liberate the energy, dumb and pent within its
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  chambers of mysterious trance. It makes the body sleep.
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  A poisoned arm holds still the breath, the beatings of the
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  heart, while the unseen is found.
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  The impossible done communicates without means the unspoken
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  thought. It moves events by its bare
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  silent will, acts at a distance without hands or feet.
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  This giant ignorance, this dwarfish life, it can illumine
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  with a prophet's sight, invoke the backache rapture the furies,
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  goad in our body, arouse the demon or the God, call in the
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  omniscient and omnipotent, awake, a forgotten almightiness
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  within, in its own plain, a shining emperor.
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  Even in this rigid realm, mind can be king.
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  End Quote. Reference Sri Robindo and the
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  Mother Powers within, Chapter 18, Mind, pages 141 to 142.