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श्री पुष्करमुनि अभिनन्दन ग्रन्थ : नवम खण्ड
different point of view. But neither the mind nor the intellect can penetrate deep into the heart of Reality. Sri Aurobindo rightly points out that as long as we remain in the domain of the intellect only, an impartial pondering over all that has been thought and sought after a constant throwing up of all the possible ideas, and the formation of this or that philosophical belief, opinion or conclusion is all that can be done.
Thus, according to Sri Aurobindo, all mental, intellectual, rational and logical thinking suffers from its inherent limitations, and all of them prove to be inadequate for the understanding of spiritual truths. Therefore the modern Western way of mentalising, intellectualising and conceptualising the real spiritual truths is bound to prove inadequate, insufficient and futile for reaching in the real sense the spiritual experience, which ought to be the base of the new way of
life.
Spiritual Transformation
Sri Aurobindo advocates a radical change in the consciousness of man, and he describes it as 'Transformation'. In regard to the spiritual transformation which he advocates, he says that by transformation he does not mean some change of the nature like sainthood or ethical perfection or Yogic siddhis (like the Tantrik's) or a transcendental body. He used transformation in a special sense ; it is a change of consciousness radical and complete and of a certain specific kind, which is so conceived as to bring about a strong and assured step forward in the spiritual evolution of the being of a greater and higher kind, and of a larger sweep and completeness than what took place when a mentalised being first appeared in a vital and material animal world. He makes the idea of transformation more clear and says that there must be a descent of the light not merely into the mind or part of it but into all the being down to the physical and below before a real transformation can take place. A light in the mind may spiritualise or otherwise change the mind or part of it in one way or another, but it need not change the vital nature ; a light in the vital may purify and enlarge the vital movements or else silence and immobilise the vital being, but leave the body and the physical consciousness as it was, or even leave it inert or shake its balance. And the descent of Light is not enough, it must be the whole higher consciousness, its Peace, Power, Knowledge, Love, Ananda. Moreover, the descent may be enough to liberate, but not to perfect, or it may be enough to make a great change in the inner being, while the outer remains an imperfect instrument, clumsy, sick or unexpressive. Finally, transformation effected by the sādhanā cannot be complete unless it is a supermentalisation of the being. Psychicisation is not enough, it is only a beginning, spiritualisation and the descent of the higher consciousness is not enough, it is only a middle term ; the ultimate achievement needs the action of the supermental consciousness and force. Something less than that may very well be considered enough by the individual, but it is not enough for the earth-consciousness to take the definitive stride forward, it must take at one time or another. The idea of spiritual transformation is quite new and unique, and it is the original contribution of Sri Aurobindo to Yoga. By spiritual transformation he means something dynamic and not merely liberation of the self or realisation of the one which can very well be attained without any descent. It is a putting on of the spiritual consciousness, dynamic as well as static, in every part of the being down the subconscient. That cannot be done by the influence of the Self leaving the consciousness fundamentally as it is with only purification, enlightenment of the mind and heart, and quiescence of the vital. The Special Mission of the Integral Yoga
It means a bringing down of the Divine consciousness, static and dynamic, into all these parts and the entire replacement of the present consciousness by that. Sri Aurobindo believes that such a spiritual transformation can be brought about, and the supramental consciousness can and does descend in the whole nature, top to bottom, to transform the entire being of man.
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