Supermind, in Sri Aurobindo's philosophy of Integral yoga, is the dynamic manifestation of the Absolute, and the intermediary between Spirit and the manifest world, which enables the transformation of common being into Divine being.
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Description
By 'Supermind,' Sri Aurobindo means several things:
- Supermind is a plane between the "upper hemisphere" of pure being-consciousness, and the "lower hemisphere" of life in the universe (mind, life, and matter). This plane enables the Real Ideas of the Supreme to manifest as forms of that force in creation. It is the power that enables creation, by dividing the Force into the forms, forces, and powers in the universe.
- Supermind is a plane of perfect knowledge, that has the full, integral truth of anything. It is a plane that Man can rise to, above his current limited mentality, and have perfect understanding through revelations of that truth.
- Supermind is a force and power that is leaning down on the earth's consciousness. We can open to it, in order to transform the various aspects of our being, as well as set right the conditions of life, creating sudden good fortune ("instantaneous miraculousness") for the person opening to it.
Supramentalisation and the Gnostic being
According to Sri Aurobindo, full yogic development consists of two parts: the standard yogic goal of ascent into a formless and timeless self, and the descent and establishment of the supramental consciousness into Earthly life. Through integral yoga one actualises the Supermind. The Supramental consciousness transforms the entire being, and leads to the divinisation of the material world.
This supramental transformation gives rise to a new individual, the Gnostic being, which is fully formed by the supramental power. Division and ignorance are overcome, and replaced with a unity of consciousness. The physical body will be transformed and divinised. The gnostic being sees the spirit everywhere in the world, and in every other person. This awareness eliminates the usual separation between man and life, and between people. One sees that all existences are various forms of the divine Reality. Every individual existence in life plays a role in the unfolding of existence. The Gnostic beings can work together to create a new common life. This new life is superior to the present way of being. A critical mass of such "gnostic individuals" can create the foundation of a new social life and order. This will lead to a greater unity, mutuality, and harmony.
The Supramental Descent
On February 29, 1956, Sri Aurobindo's co-worker the Mother, announced, "The manifestation of the Supramental upon earth is no more a promise but a living fact, a reality. It is at work here, and one day will come when the most blind, the most unconscious, even the most unwilling shall be obliged to recognize it."
On January 1, 1969, the Mother (at age 90) announced the 'arrival' of the 'superman consciousness' – 'the intermediary between man and the supramental being'.
Similarities with Teilhard de Chardin
Beginning with the Catholic theologian R.C. Zaehner, a number of scholars have pointed out parallels between the respective spiritual evolutionary philosophies of Sri Aurobindo and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Both describe a progression from inanimate matter through life and mind to a future consummation and Divinisation of humanity and the Earth as Supermind at Omega Point/God-Omega. Neither seems to have been aware of the other's work. A scientific basis for Pierre Teilhard de Chardin's and Sri Aurobindo's panentheistic Omega point philosophies was provided in 1994 by the physicist Frank J. Tipler's promulgation of his Omega Point Theory.