Sri Aurobindo’s Theory of Spiritual Evolution

The problem of evil is the philosophical problem of how to resolve the conceptual tension between two beliefs: firstly, that the universe is created by a God who is both omnipotent and perfectly benevolent, and secondly, that the universe contains evil. The problem is how the good God can allow that which is the direct opposite of His nature to exist. Sri Aurobindo adopts a fresh approach to this ever-baffling problem. He avoids the extreme views of absolute denial or complete affirmation of evil, but accepts the reality of evil, without allowing it any absolute status. According to Aurobindo evil is only an accidental characteristic of the world. The world as such is not evil, and it is only in the middle stage of the world-evolution that there is the possibility of evil. There are two types of evil, namely, physical evil or pain, and moral evil or sin. Physical evil is a cosmic experience common to both animal and man. Since animals have only the consciousnesss of pain and not of sin, they do not have moral evil. It is man who has moral consciousness and, therefore, it is he who suffers from evil. Evil does not exist in saccidananda. It is the mind that is the seat of evil. The contradictions of the world and of human life are due to the fact that the Absolute has not yet manifested itsef fully in the world. The world is still ruled by the principles of inconscience and ignorance which are the cause of Pain and evil. They will be eliminated in the higher stages of evolution. The world is not destined to be ruled by ignorance and inconscience forever, and there will be the transformation of consciousness. Thus Sri Aurobindo offers the principle of evolution as an integral solution to the problem of evil. In this regard, the present article deals with comparing and contrasting the views of Aurobindo with those of Vedantic, Upanishadic and Stoic thinkers

of what I consider to be key points in gaining a general understanding. In so doing I will reflect the ways that each of these movements built upon the revelations of the movements that preceded them, I will also -where relevant -draw attention to the light which Sri Aurobindo shed upon the importance of these movements. Finally I will turn my attention towards the Integral Yoga itself; in this section I will begin by situating this approach in terms of the information provided about preceding movements and will then go on to briefly describe some of the key aspects of the approach.

2018

Sri Aurobindo's Topography of Consciousness Sri Aurobindo's Integral Yoga aimed not only at what he called the realization of the Divine, but also at an integral transformation of human nature under Divine influence. For this exceptionally wide aim, he developed an exceptionally deep and comprehensive frame for understanding human nature. His concepts, as discussed in this paper, must be understood on their own terms, which are often different from meanings attributed in the conventional language of Western psychology. This paper provides a detailed account of Sri Aurobindo's conceptualization of the various centers of identity and of the vertical and concentric dimensions he used to describe the structure of the personality. It explains the importance Sri Aurobindo gave to the location where one places one's consciousness, and indicates why he argued that consciousness is not only awareness, but also force. Finally, this paper describes how Sri Aurobindo visualized the still ongoing evolution of consciousness and humanity's role in it.

Religious Studies 59, pp. 67–81, 2023

This article outlines and defends an 'Integral Advaitic' theodicy that takes its bearings from the thought of three modern Indian mystics: Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda, and Sri Aurobindo. Their Integral Advaitic theodicy has two key dimensions: a doctrine of spiritual evolution and a panentheistic metaphysics. God has created this world as an arena for our moral and spiritual evolution in which evil and suffering are as necessary as good. The doctrine of spiritual evolution presupposes karma, rebirth, and universal salvation. The doctrines of karma and rebirth shift moral responsibility for evil from God to His creatures by explaining all instances of evil and suffering as the karmic consequence of their own past deeds, either in this life or in a previous life. The doctrine of universal salvation also has important theodical implications: the various finite evils of this life are outweighed by the infinite good of salvation that awaits us all. After outlining this Integral Advaitic theodicy, I address some of the main objections to it and then argue that it has a number of comparative advantages over John Hick's well-known 'soul-making' theodicy.

In Ayon Maharaj (ed.),The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Vedānta (London, Bloomsbury), pp. 309–340 , 2020

This chapter examines the Bengali philosopher-mystic Sri Aurobindo’s highly original and sophisticated commentary on the Īśā Upaniṣad—which was first published in 1924—and brings him into dialogue with both traditional and modern commentators. Militating against the reductive view that he simply read his own mystical experiences into the Īśā Upaniṣad, the author argues that Sri Aurobindo consciously strove to avoid eisegesis by adopting a “hermeneutics of mystical immanence.” According to Sri Aurobindo, the fundamental principle of the Īśā Upaniṣad is the reconciliation of opposites. This chapter makes the case that Sri Aurobindo’s distinctive reading of the Īśā Upaniṣad in the light of this principle provides new ways of resolving numerous interpretive puzzles and difficulties that have preoccupied commentators for centuries. Drawing on the hermeneutic insights of Hans-Georg Gadamer and Francis X. Clooney, the author demonstrates that Sri Aurobindo combines a traditional commitment to the transformative power of scripture with a historico-philological method favored by recent scholars. On this basis, the author contends that Sri Aurobindo’s unduly neglected commentary on the Īśā Upaniṣad deserves a prominent place in contemporary scholarly discussions.

Integral Musings

Sri Aurobindo is a versatile spiritual genius, who is not only a Master-Yogi with profound spiritual realizations, but also a great scholar and thinker who wrote extensively on various topics ranging from politics to yoga. His writings shine with a penetrating spiritual insight which brings out the deeper, psychological and spiritual dimensions of the human, terrestrial and cosmic life. In this article, we present a brief and synoptic overview of the contents of Sri Aurobindo’s major works.

Sri Aurobindo's main aim was to make the Life Divine for everybody. He never believed in individual salvation, rather in collective salvation. Individual life has many faults and we have to overcome it by achieving Mukti or Moksha. However Indian philosophical concept of Mukti is not admissible to him. In Indian philosophy, Mukti has to be gained by only individual, be it Jivan Mukti, Videha Mukti of the Samkhya philosophy or Sarupyo Mukti, Salokyo Mukti, Sajujyo Mukti of the Vedanta philosophy. But his notion of Mukti is the way to call the Supermind upon the Earthen level and to make the lives of other people the perfect instances of the Life Divine like that of the Yogi himself. In this present article I want to show how Sri Aurobindo showed the hidden touch of spirituality even behind his politics and educational theories.

The relevance of the Veda for the Future of Mankind in the light of Sri Aurobindo , 2023

The title of today’s paper is The Importance of Aurobindo for the Contemporary Study of Religion and it reflects the general direction taken by my thesis. However, instead of making a general presentation about how the Aurobindonian texts make a significant contribution to present debates within the academic study of religion, I will make visible this direction by presenting a section from one of the chapters of the thesis that expressively illustrates it. But diving straight into this chapter would obfuscate rather than reveal its role in the overall argument of the thesis. Hence this presentation adopts a tripartite structure in order to not only capture the tenor of my overall project but also to locate the section that I am presenting today within this larger whole. The three parts could, therefore, be seen as a meditation on three titles: The first part would be a brief exposition of my thesis title which would offer a glimpse into my overall research project. The title being – Embodied Spirit: A Hermeneutical Reading of Aurobindo’s Integral Philosophy with Implications for the Study of Religion. In this part, I offer a brief introduction to Aurobindo and how a study of his texts fits into my larger research project. The second part would be a brief exposition of the title of the Chapter from which the section I am presenting today is taken. The title is – The Synthesis of Yoga: Action, Yoga and Tradition. In this part, I will focus in particular on an aspect of the debate within the study of religion that is being addressed by this chapter. The third part would be a section of the abovementioned chapter. The title of this part, which would also technically be the subtitle of this entire presentation, is – Interpreting Aurobindo’s reading of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras as Yogic Action Performing Tradition.

Religions, 2021

This article proposes to examine in detail Aurobindo’s searching—and often quite original— criticisms of Advaita Vedānta, which have not yet received the sustained scholarly attention they deserve. After discussing his early spiritual experiences and the formative influence of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda on his thought, I outline Aurobindo’s philosophy of “realistic Adwaita”. According to Aurobindo, the sole reality is the Divine Saccidānanda, which is not only the static impersonal Brahman but also the personal, dynamic Cit-Śakti (Consciousness-Force), which manifests as everything in this universe. At various points in his corpus, Aurobindo criticizes Advaita Vedānta on three fronts. From the standpoint of spiritual experience, Aurobindo argues that Śaṅkara’s philosophy is based on a genuine, but partial, experience of the Infinite Divine Reality: namely, the experience of the impersonal nondual Absolute and the corresponding conviction of the unreality of everything else. Aurobindo claims, on the basis of his own spiritual experiences, that there is a further stage of spiritual experience, when one realizes that the impersonal-personal Divine Reality manifests as everything in the universe. From a philosophical standpoint, Aurobindo questions the logical tenability of key Advaitic doctrines, including māyā, the exclusively impersonal nature of Brahman, and the metaphysics of an illusory bondage and liberation. Finally, from a scriptural standpoint, Aurobindo argues that the ancient Vedic hymns, the Upaniṣads, and the Bhagavad-Gītā, propound an all-encompassing Advaita philosophy rather than the world-denying Advaita philosophy Śaṅkara claims to find in them. This article focuses on Aurobindo’s experiential and philosophical critiques of Advaita Vedānta, as I have already discussed his new interpretations of the Vedāntic scriptures in detail elsewhere. The article’s final section explores the implications of Aurobindo’s life-affirming Advaitic philosophy for our current ecological crisis.