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The Evolution of Forms, the Evolution of Consciousness and the Destiny of the Individual · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  As with all things that are considered for the first time,
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  new concepts appear difficult to grasp.
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  Cognitive scientists have shown through studies they have done
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  that the brain builds grooves through which thoughts flow
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  smoothly. These grooves develop over time
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  through repeated attempts. The concept of the evolution of
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  consciousness goes far beyond the concept of the evolution of
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  forms. Even the evolution of forms has
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  taken over 150 years to have even general acceptance, and
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  considerable holdouts remain who reject the very idea of
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  evolution. A yet further extension is the
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  idea that the individual psychic being the soul's projection into
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  the external world, accumulates the essence of experiences
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  across multiple lifetimes as it develops and gains maturity, As
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  most people have not had the opportunity to reflect deeply on
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  the significance of the individual and the mechanism
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  that carries the universal manifestation forward.
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  Thus, when Triorobindo combines all three of these concepts into
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  a coordinated interrelationship, it is difficult to grasp for
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  those considering it for the first time.
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  The Mother clearly and concisely explains the significance in her
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  response to a disciple grappling with these concepts.
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  A disciple inquires about the citation from the Life Divine
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  cited in the immediately prior page.
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  Quote. It is difficult to understand.
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  Sweet Mother. End Quote.
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  The Mother responds. Quote.
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  Ah, if you take terrestrial history, all the forms of life
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  have appeared one after another in a general plan, a general
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  program, with the addition always of a new perfection and a
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  greater consciousness. Take just animal forms, for that
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  is easier to understand. They are the last before man.
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  Each animal that appeared had an additional perfection in its
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  general nature. I don't mean in all the details
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  a greater perfection than the preceding ones.
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  And the crowning point of the ascending March was the human
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  form, which for the moment, from the point of view of
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  consciousness, is the form most capable of manifesting
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  consciousness. That is, the human form at its
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  height, at the height of its possibilities, is capable of
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  more consciousness than all preceding animal forms.
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  This is one of nature's ways of evolution.
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  Sri Robindo told us last week that this nature was following
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  an ascending progression in order to manifest more and more
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  the divine consciousness contained in all forms.
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  So with each new form that it produces, nature makes a form
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  capable of expressing more completely the spirit which this
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  form contains. But if it were like this, a form
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  comes, develops, reaches its highest point and is followed by
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  another form. The others do not disappear, but
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  the individual does not progress.
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  The individual dog or monkey, for instance, belongs to a
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  species which has its own peculiar characteristics.
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  When the monkey or the man arrives at the height of its
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  possibilities, that is, when a human individual becomes the
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  best type of humanity, it will be finished.
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  The individual will not be able to progress any farther.
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  He belongs to the human species. He will continue to belong to
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  it. So from the point of view of
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  terrestrial history, there is a progress, for each species
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  represents a progress compared with the preceding species.
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  But from the point of view of the individual, there is no
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  progress. He is born, he follows his
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  development, dies and disappears.
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  Therefore, to ensure the progress of the individual, it
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  was necessary to find another means.
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  This one was not adequate. But within the individual
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  contained in each form, there is an organization of consciousness
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  which is closer to and more directly under the influence of
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  the inner divine presence. And the form which is under this
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  influence, this kind of inner concentration of energy, has a
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  life independent of the physical form.
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  This is what we generally call the soul or the psychic being,
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  and since it is organized around the divine centre, it partakes
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  of the divine nature, which is immortal, eternal.
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  The outer body falls away and this remains throughout every
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  experience that it has in each life.
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  And there is a progress from life to life, and it is the
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  progress of the same individual. And this movement complements
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  the other in the sense that instead of a species which
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  progresses relative to other species, it is an individual who
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  passes through all the stages of progress of these species and
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  can continue to progress even when the species have reached
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  the limit of their possibilities and stay there or disappear.
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  It depends on the case. But they cannot go any farther.
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  Whereas the individual, having a life independent of the purely
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  material form, can pass from one form to another and continue his
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  progress indefinitely. That makes a double movement
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  which completes itself, and that is why each individual has the
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  possibility of reaching the utmost realization independent
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  of the form to which he momentarily belongs.
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  End Quote. Reference Srioro Bindu and the
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  Mother. The psychic being soul, its
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  nature, mission and evolution. Section 3.
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  Growth and Development of the Psychic, pages 73 to 75.