SUPERMIND; SUPRAMENTAL (TRUTH) CONSCIOUSNESS
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- Sri Aurobindo and the Discovery of Supermind
Between the lower hemisphere's highest reach, overmind, and the spiritual worlds of the Absolute lies a zone which was known to the ancient rishis (Sanskrit for "seers of truth"), and which Sri Aurobindo calls "Truth Consciousness," or to use his own phraseology, the plane of "Supermind."
The Mother was of the opinion that the power of the overmental world would serve the aim of their yoga, namely the abolition of death, falsehood and suffering in the world. Sri Aurobindo explained to her that in the overmental world Truth was not self-existent. Overmind could build a partial world of truth uniting all available truths and excluding ignorance. Should the power of this world descend on earth, a great transformation would occur, but it would still leave a base of ignorance; which means the body would be left untouched. In the Supermind, Truth is self-existent. The Truth of Supermind can penetrate ignorance and reach its basis of truth (nothing on earth can exist without a seed of Truth) and unite all such truths and build upon them.
They saw that the body and its inconscient base would not yield to the overmental force, but could not resist the onslaught of the supramental truth. The Mother saw the profundity of Sri Aurobindo's experience and gave up her preference.
In 1926 the overmental force descended into the mind, vital and very physical depths of Sri Aurobindo. After that momentous victory, he retired to make further gains in this yogic adventure; to rise and bring down the supramental consciousness into the earthly realm.
From 1926 to 1950 Sri Aurobindo lived in complete retirement and total silence, constantly raising himself to the level of the Truth Consciousness, i.e. Supermind. Even his experience while in Alipore jail, of Narayana in the hearts of everyone, was a supramental experience according to The Mother.
- What Is Supermind?
-The Supermind is a plane of consciousness that enabled the creation of the universe from out of a Divine Source.
-Supermind is the ordering mechanism that enabled the triune of Existence-Consciousness Force-Delight (Sat-Chit-Ananda) of the Absolute, to become the creation and the forms within it.
-Supermind enabled/enables the involution from the Spirit into the forms of creation.
-Supermind is the ordering mechanism of the divine. It is that which enables the manifestation, the cosmos, the universe, the One to emanate from the One, the Original Source. It is also the power in the universe that one can open to that enables us to bring in the powers of the One, the Absolute into our lives, enabling us to evolve to a higher functioning, culminating in the supramental beings and the supramental life on earth.
-Supermind is also there in the universe enabling that which was created (i.e. the universe and humanity) to evolve and connect back to its original spiritual source, fulfilling the destiny of the universe and all that is in it. Simply put it is the plane that created the universe, and it is the plane by which we fulfill in our evolution the purpose of the creation.
- How Did Supermind Come About?
In the Involution (i.e. before the creation of the known universe) the Absolute, the Divine extended itself to the triune of Existence-Consciousness Force-Delight (Sat-Chit-Ananda), and then to Supermind to make possible a manifestation of Itself.
- How Did Supermind Enable the Universe?
To begin the process of creating the universe, the Absolute, the Original Principle, the Omnipresent Reality has the Real Idea of creation. It's conception is to create a manifest universe for the purpose of extending its own Delight into infinite multiplicity of forms. By creating a manifest universe of infinite variation of forms, infinite discovery is made potential through those forms. When they (i.e. us) discover the spirit in ourselves, in life, we experience the joy of the discovery, the Delight of Being, the very reason the Absolute wished for a universe of forms from out of itself. Our delight of Being would then matches and even exceeds the delight of the Creator.
To that Goal the Absolute divides or extends itself into three aspects of itself in preparation for the creation -- as Existence, as Consciousness, and as Delight(i.e. Sat-chit-ananda). The Absolute further extends itself to further enable a manifest creation and universe it wishes to bring about. To that end it extends another plane, the plane of Truth Consciousness, or Supermind. Supermind coordinates the rendering of the Absolute, expressed as Real Ideas, into a created universe. Supermind is thus the great ordering mechanism and instrument of creation. It has the supreme Vision and Unity of Understanding of all of all attributes and will of the Supreme from "above" to order the creation in its potential of multiplicity as a universe "below." Supermind is both a Knowledge and a Power. It has the Knowledge of the Real Ideas and the intent of the Absolute to render a universe, and it has the Power to carry it out.
To that end Supermind creates the planes of (Cosmic) Mind to begin the process of objectifying the spirit of the Absolute into a manifestation, a universe. Creation must express the Timeless in the plane of Time in order to exist; i.e. to objectify itself, which requires division. To that end Supermind created the plane of Cosmic Mind to divide the Consciousness-Force. When the Consciousness-Force is split by Cosmic Mind, as agent of Supermind, Knowledge and Will are created. When the Knowledge is exhausted in the Will, the plane of Life emerges, initially as Energy at rest. When energy moves, then the energy coagulates and then forms distinct elements of matter. The distinct forms are thus the divisions required if there is to be objectification out of the Absolute. This is what Supermind has enabled. Up to the point where energy is about to move is, in essence, the Involution.
When the energy moves, the Evolution begins as this energy coagulates into the forms of creation -- beginning initially as matter (which then evolves as animus of life and mind in the universe). All forms in the universe are forms of energy. This energy is in essence the Force of Consciousness-Force, separated from its Knowledge & Consciousness.
Supermind is then the ordering extension of the Absolute that enabled the Force to be divided from the Consciousness-Force to form energy which moved and coagulated into forms.
[From here on the information on this page needs to be evaluated, scrutinized, and edited. -The Editor]
- How Does Supermind Reemerge in the Universe, in the Evolution?
At the point of the creation of matter all of the planes are hidden and are involved (i.e. embedded as potential) in Matter. The evolution is the reverse process where the reappearance of the plane of Life descends and creates life (i.e. energizes and propels all physical forms on earth and beyond), and is followed by the reappearance of the plane of Mind, which creates self-conscious beings (i.e. various life forms, including humans). In the last 75 years or so the plane of Supermind has descended, enabling humans to utilize its powers and move on the road to becoming the spiritual and supramental beings. Supermind enables us to transcend our current mental functioning. It is the plane that if opened to enables a radical transformation of the individual and the human race. It contains all of the transcendent properties of the Divine, from which the universe evolved, which can be utilized by individuals for a radical transformation of their nature, leading to supramental beings and a new supramental life on earth.
- Supermind as Intermediary Plane Between Upper and Lower Hemisphere
In the universe we can identify ascending evolutionary planes of first Matter, then Life out of Matter, and then Mind out of Life. Above Mind are the planes of Spiritualized Mind (including Higher Mind, Illumined Mind, and Intuitive Mind), and then Overmind. Supermind stands in between these "lower hemisphere" planes of the manifest universe and the upper hemisphere planes of the Divine, the Absolute (as Existence, Consciousness, and Bliss). Supermind enables the Absolute (as Existence, Consciousness, and Bliss) to manifest as Matter-Life-Mind; i.e. it enabled the upper hemisphere to manifest as the lower. Likewise the Supermind enables the evolutionary planes of the lower hemisphere, Matter-Life-Matter, to gain the powers of the upper hemisphere of the Absolute (as Existence, Consciousness, and Bliss), when humans open to the Supramental Force. Supermind thus enables the Absolute to fulfill itself in the creation, and the creation to fulfill itself by gaining the aspects of the Absolute (i.e. culminating in a divine life on earth)
- Nature of Supermind
The Supermind is the full Truth Consciousness in which there can be no place for division and ignorance. Its fundamental character is knowledge by identity, in which the knower is one with that which is known. It knows the Self, the Divine Satchitananda (the Absolute), and the whole truth of manifestation. The Supermind posses an inherent power of self-determination, self-realization, and to create in of itself, without external objects, i.e. something out of nothing (self-conception). In Supermind division ends, there is unified truth, will and knowledge are fused (i.e. one has the knowledge of the thing, and simultaneously has the will to act on it.)
- Supramental Action for Individual
When one opens to the Supramental Consciousness, i.e. the Force, one lives, experiences all its benefits. It can transform the nature, enable falsehoods to evaporate, create knowledge where there is ignorance, sets problems right, gives the full truth and knowledge, reveals solutions that create unity for multiple parties simultaneously, enables infinite possibilities, possibilities that can transcend space and time, etc.
- The Supramental Individual, Life
The supramental individual will have a harmony between his individual self and the Spiritual self, of his individual will and the Spiritual Will. He will have an integral knowledge, a revelation of light out of light. He will exist in a vast calm and a deep delight. He will live a life that reconciles freedom and order, between the expression of himself, that is one's own truth, and the universal Truth of things. These are but a few of the ways that supramental being would function. In the Supramental transformation of the individual, it will be the physical aspects that will last to change. That is, its physical structure, its sense, internal organs, and so forth. The ultimate physical capacity of the Supramental being is the individual's ability to be able to live as long as that individual wishes to.
(To read a number of ways that a new Supramental individual who has made the supramental transformation might function, please click here.)
- Supramental Life on Earth
When a number of supramental beings exist, a community or collective of such beings will develop the basis for the Supramental life on earth, culminating the purpose not only of life on earth, but the purpose of the universe.
- Supermentalization as Ultimate State of Individual, Universe
We can say that supermentalization is the ultimate, Supreme state of individual and universal transformation. It is the drawing down of the Divine, the Godhead, the Absolute, and all its properties into the individual, the society, the planet, and the universe, thereby fulfilling the purpose of creation.
- Discovery and Descent of Supermind
The Supermind and the Supramental Consciousness (also called the "Truth Consciousness)" was discovered, or shall we say rediscovered by Sri Aurobindo. He dedicated his life to understanding its functioning and properties, and bringing it down into the earthly sphere. (Since 1956 the Mother announced that it has descended in the earth's consciousness; and since 1967 in the atmosphere of world governments and institutions. Since Mother's passing (1974) we have noticed that the Force is even greater available to individuals who open to it.)
- The Life Divine
In his book The Life Divine Sri Aurobindo describes among other things, the nature of the Absolute, the Divine, Brahman; how the Supermind compelled and objectified the Absolute to manifest as the universe; how a universe was created in division and duality; how the universe and humanity was evolving upwards from the limitations of matter, life, and mind to the spiritual and supramental consciousness, enabling us to harbor the powers that are there in the Divine from which the universe came. There he also describes the potential workings of the supramental consciousness in individuals, and what a collective divine life on earth could possibly be like.
- The Divine Mother
The Divine Mother, when in her body as the woman known as the Mother (Mira Alfassa), stands as the mediatrix or intermediary Personality between the supramental force and those who aspire for its attributes in their lives. She stands as the focal point of the Supramental Consciousness gathered within herself, so that individuals who wish to ascend and evolve in their lives can open to her directly to focus the Force in a more personal way. (Some simply open directly to "The Force," the Supramental Force, consciousness the Impersonal version of the same thing.) If one opens to her, one essentially opens to the Supramental Consciousness. Followers of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother's teachings often focus their opening directly to The Mother to bring in the Force, the transforming supramental power. Their experiences of opening to this power include problems disappearing, ignorance turning into knowledge, falsehood into truth, pain into absence of pain or even pleasure, loss turning into gain, illness turning into health, all events working out perfectly, bad fortune into good fortune, endless accomplishment, success, and joy, spiritual bliss in their hearts, great energy, a feeling of unity and oneness with others and the world around them, great insight, visions, and connection to the spiritual source of creation, the Divine, among others.
- The Mother, Sri Aurobindo and The Supramental Body
The Mother was given the role of manifesting the Force into the cells of her body so she could be the harbinger of a new species. (Her personal experiences in this regard from the 1950s till her passing in 1973 are documented in The Agenda.) Sri Aurobindo said he would return with the new (Supramental) body.
ADDITIONAL POINTS:
- Ways Supramental Consciousness Enters Individual -- The descent of the Supramental Force from the plane of Supermind can come into the individual as Peace, Silence, Light, Power, Knowledge, Ananda, and in other ways. All can be experienced by the individual, and utilized to aid in the transformation of the person.
- Emergence of Supramental Individuals vs. General Collective -- Not everyone is likely to turn into supramental beings all at once. It is likely it will begin with a few, though with the further descent of the Supramental Consciousness in the earthly realm and the establishment of the supramental principle, humanity will find a greater possibility of rising into the intermediary planes between mind and Supermind, including the spiritualized planes of mind such as Higher Mind (silence-based thought), Illumined Mind (light based thought), Intuitive Mind (object of thought enters into one).
- Transformation of Body Followed By Unlimited Life Based On Will -- When the transformation of the body is complete (it will occur after the transformation of the other parts of the being first, including vital, psychological, mental), there will be the possibility of the end of being subjected to death. i.e. people can life as long as they wish.
- Descent of Supramental in Matter Enables More Rapid Transformation -- Once the supramental is established in matter, the transformation for individuals and the earth will be quite a bit easier. The hold of the Ignorance and the hostile powers who have authority in matter now would be eliminated., allowing the Light to more readily enter in the earth consciousness. The descent so far has been in the subtle physical, and perhaps in the physical to some extent.
- Supramental Descent Like Previous Descents of Life and Mind -- It is only when the life force descended from the Life plane into the material world that conscious and organized life was possible. So to it was only when mind descended from the Mind plane that the latent mind in matter awoke and was organized. So too the supramental descent is creating the same kind of opening below so that the supramental consciousness is organized in the material.
- Supermind vs. The Absolute -- Supermind is between the Absolute (Satchitananda) and the lower creation. It is the Supramental power that transforms mind, life, and body, not the Satchitananda, which supports everything. But it is by having the experience of the Absolute that makes the utilization of the Supramental more possible.
- Past Realizations vs. Supramental Realization -- The realizations of the great spiritual figures of the past were below Supermind. E.g. Buddha's was of Intuitive Mind, and Krishna's was of Overmind. Though vast achievements in the history of consciousness, they ultimately did not have the power to enable the permanent transformation of the individual and the earth. That requires the Truth Consciousness, i.e. the supramental transformation.
- Supermind vs. Supramental Consciousness -- The difference between Supermind and the Supramental Force: Supermind is a plane. Its force, when it moves into action is Supramental force. As the mind is different from mental power, or the government is distinctly different from the force of the government, these two differ.
- Planes Below Supermind Don't Have Its Full Truth Sense -- There is no complete truth below the supramental consciousness. E.g. in the plane below it, the Overmind, the Truth of Supermind which is whole and harmonious changes into a separation of parts, where truths confront one another, each moving to fulfill itself. Below the Overmind there is even more fragmentation, showing itself as falsehood, ignorance, inconscience, etc.
- Understanding Supramental Consciousness from Beyond Mind -- Only if one has the Supramental Consciousness can one fully understand the makeup and workings of the Divine. The Mind can comprehend and apprehend only so much, which is little compared to the other. (Also only as one rises higher in consciousness, beyond mind, up to the Supermind can one truly understand and experience the teachings of Sri Aurobindo, including The Life Divine)
- Understanding That Requires the Supramental Vision -- Beyond the mind's understanding is the truth that the world is a whole, God, the Divine is indivisible, Life is Complete, and all are Absolute in being relative. This man can only know by having the Supramental vision.
- Mind and Supermind
-The Absolute consists of four planes or attributes: Existence, Consciousness, and Bliss (Delight), and a fourth plane. These three higher Planes together make up the eternal, unchanging, reality, the Absolute. But this Absolute in its own transcendence could not manifest or creates anything. Hence the need for the fourth plane of the Absolute, the Supermind, which is the Truth-Consciousness that is the cause of creation.
-Though Supermind is the creator of the creation, it was hidden after creation, and is rediscovered by mental man at a point. That point is believed to be in the last fifty years. As the Supramental power settles more in the earth's consciousness man has the ability to use its infinite creative power; the same power that created the universe itself. This power will help human transformation and an opening to a new time of Supramental-based life on earth.
-In the creation everything splits into its opposites; Darkness and Light; Truth and Falsehood, etc. This occurs through what Sri Aurobindo calls the differentiation of consciousness by Supermind creates the division of consciousness by Mind into opposite values; and creates the trinities of life in the creation in the form of subject-object-experience (e.g. lover-loved-loving; knower-known-knowing, and a number of other such trinities).
-Man's best instrument, mind, is partial, and he needs to raise himself to an instrument of full vision, the Supermind to see the Truth, the Whole. Mind sees partially, and believes what he knows to be the whole truth. It takes the part for the whole. The Supermind knows the whole (truth). By gaining the full Knowledge, Unity, Truth, et al. we open ourselves to its infinite possibilities.
-In a whole made up of parts that are units, each unit is independent. In the mental plane the units collide. As a result there was the emergence of higher planes beyond mind, culminating in the Supramental plane (the Supermind). Though each part is still a separate unite in the Supermind, it is fully integrated with every other unit, unlike the mind where the units collide. In addition, this integrality enables each unit to fully benefit by the efficiency of the Whole. It enables infinite possibilities.
-The Absolute includes the One and the Many (the creation). Mind can know the One or the Many, but not both simultaneously or in relationship to one another. Supermind can know the Absolute, and therefore it can simultaneously know the One and the Many in relation to each other. That knowledge which integrates the whole and the parts is the character of the Supermind.
-When we speak of divisions and subdivisions of the Absolute and its unfolding we are understanding the creation through Mind. When we acquire the Supramental vision we see that the world is whole, God is indivisible, Life is complete and all are absolute in being relative. One sees the Absolute, the creation, the universe, the relative, life, matter, etc. as an undivided whole in different appearances.
-Creation that created the universe, and that which we are creating, comes by the Supermind.
-Supermind is the creator, not the mind.
-Supermind brings to us the infinite, the timeless, and the spaceless; the infinite potential in the finite. (which translates as infinite potential, accomplishment, possibilities, delight, joy, beauty, knowledge, perfection, etc.)
-The human being will evolve into the Supramental Being.
-Comprehending Supermind one has the triple time vision; simultaneous knowledge of past, present, and future.
-The action of the Supramental force can alter past causality and create a new present (e.g. consecration of the origins of a disease that has been carefully diagnosed as chronic or fatal has been allowed on many occasions by a physician's rediagnosis that the disease does not exist.)
Mother's Service Society provides the following table showing the difference between Mind and Supermind.
Mind
Supermind
Divides.
Unites.
Can lose itself in itself.
Being a self-existent whole, cannot thus lose itself.
Creator of Ignorance.
Possessor of Knowledge.
Acts by thought that understands by difference.
Knows by the vibration of unity, even between will and Knowledge.
Can think only of itself, incapable of knowing another.
Knows the other as itself.
Acts by idea that is a movement of the mind.
Creates by the Real-Idea that is a vibration of Being.
Knows the finite and not the infinite
Knows the finite as the frontal aspect of the infinite.
Is determined by the ego.
Has no ego.
Is on the surface being
Is in the subliminal being.
Is bound by Time and Space
Is in simultaneity of Time and the Timeless.
Is separative.
Is a whole.
Subject to quality, quantity, form.
Not subjected to them as the mind is.
Is partial, psychological; still can reach the other side.
Is a whole, non-psychological.
Uses reason and logic.
Employs intuition and the logic of the Infinite.
Can understand only in terms of name and form.
Can see the Truth beyond it, lying behind.
Incapable of conceiving the Absolute.
Can express the Absolute.
Acts through intellect.
Has integral experience.
Is obliged to Reason.
Not obliged.
Goes into trance.
Always awake.
Self-assertive.
Seeks Self-affirmation.
(PLANES OF UPPER HEMISPHERE) The Absolute The Absolute extended to Satchitananda (Existence-Consciousness Force-Bliss) |
| SUPERMIND (INTERMEDIARY PLANE) |
| (PLANES OF LOWER HEMISPHERE) Overmind Intuitive Mind Illumined Mind Higher Mind Mind Vital/Life Matter |
Additional Notes Based on Sri Aurobindo's The Life Divine:
- Supermind has Will to light and vision, and Will to power and works.
- Supermind is the means by which Mind comes from Satchitananda (the extension of the Absolute), and the means of how Mind develops back to Satchitananda. It is the link by which the inferior develops out of the superior and the means by which that which is below links back towards its source. Supermind is the intermediary, mediatrix, between the Absolute above in the One and the Mind below in the Many, the universe.
- Supermind is the starting point of all differentiation. It is the instrument of unification and harmonies. It draws out of the One its multitudes.
- Existence-Consciousness-Bliss is an understanding of Mind. Fundamentally (from a perspective beyond Mind) they are one. In the unitarian consciousness of Supermind they are one.
- Supermind conceptualizes the Real Idea of drawing the aspects of Existence-Consciousness-Bliss out of their fundamental Unity that is the Absolute. It manifests the 3 out of the 1.
- Though Supermind manifests the 3, each 1 is in union with the other 2. Thus Supermind maintains their unity. (Whereas Mind sees only their separateness.)
- Supermind has the power of involution (envelopment) and evolution (development).
- The real Idea evolves itself by its Will and consciousness of itself in inherent in the idea. This is will of creation and evolution.
- In Supermind knowledge and will are one; i.e. they are fused.
- In Supermind knowledge of the Idea and will of the Idea are one; knowledge and will are one. (A parallel to the person who has the vision and made the decision in an act or plan, who also has the total will to carry it out, which energizes, which enables results, as the energy takes form. This is the process of creation for the individual, paralleling the process of creation of the universe.) In Mind Knowledge and will are separate
- In Supermind all is One in Being, Consciousness, Will, and delight; yet it has infinite capacity to differentiate these without losing the essential unity.
- The Supermind is the nature of the being as Creator of the worlds.
- Supermind is Divine Being in its aspect of action, as creator of the worlds (as opposed to aspect of Existence of the Divine being, the Absolute.)
- Supermind is an ordering self-knowledge in the universe by which the One manifests infinite multiplicity.
- (A thought: The Real Idea evolves itself by the consciousness and will inherent in the idea. This is the secret in creation (in Supermind). The individual conceives an idea to create something anew, where there is consciousness and will to see it come about. This is our conception, which enabled personal development.)
- Supermind embraces and unifies the succession of Time and the divisions of Space. That which seems in discord to mind is part of a harmony to Supermind. It sees all such things in proper relation to one another in their unity and wholeness. (It sees unity and harmony in that which is divided in mind. There is no error as in mind.)
- Supermind sees all possibilities in Space and Time that Mind cannot fathom, without the error, groping, and confusion of mind. It perceives each potentiality in its proper force, essential necessity, right relations to the others.
- Every form is governed by an indwelling vision and power, which we are not conscious of.
- Each thing, object, living thing obeys the Real Idea of the Supermind within it.
- Knower, knowledge, know are one in Supermind.
- Supermind comprehends all things in being and static self-awareness, subjective, timeless, spaceless, therefore it comprehends all things in dynamic knowledge and governs their objective self-embodiment in Space and Time. (This is a powerful statement of how since Supermind knows the powers in Being it knows them in becoming.)
- The triple formula of the comprehensive Supermind in terms of the nature of Brahman: Brahman is in all things, all things are in Brahman, all things are Brahman.
- Existence above becomes Material/physical below; Consciousness (conscious Force) above becomes Vital/Life below; Supermind above becomes Mind below; and Bliss above becomes the Psychic Being below.
- We can say that because Supermind knows the essential unity, oneness of Being, it knows the essential unity, harmony, truth of things in the objects of the universe (i.e. Becoming) that it created.
- Consciousness's active nature is force or will.
- Delight in the universe is the motivate and object of the creation.
- Consciousness, which is Conscious Force extends to become Knowledge and Will, a step in the process of creation of energy and forms.
- To explain Satchitananda and Mind to one another and relate them to one another there is the link of Supermind, Truth consciousness (between spaceless, timeless bliss to time and space bound relations and causality.)
- Supermind is the intermediary link between Existence-Consciousness-Bliss and Mind which can explain them to each others and establish between them such a relation as will make it possible for us to realise the one Existence, Consciousness, Delight in the mould of the mind, life, and body.
- All manifestation of the universe is a play of Conscious Force.
- Consciousness extends to Force/Will to Knowledge/Will, with Supermind as the intermediary to it to the Physical, vital/Life, Mind of the creation.
- Consciousness and Force are pure Power of existence. Knowledge and Will is the form that Power takes, which governs their development.
- 3 poises of Supermind: 1. Unity of things, 2. Many in One, and One in Many (apprehending consciousness), 3. Development of individuality.
Additional Information
To read the Growth Online interview on the supramental transformation called The Future Evolutionary Individual and Collective Life on Earth, click here.
To go to the New Insights into the Life and Teachings
of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother site, click here
of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother site, click here
