Originally posted on sciy.org by Ron Anastasia on Tue 28 Jun 2005 07:32 PM PDT
Date: Tue, 28 Jun 2005 19:31:42 -0700 (PDT)
From: Debashish Banerji
Subject: The Post AUM 05 discussion list
To: scienceandspirit@sriaurobindocenter-la.com
A vision statement for this forum has been written up, mostly by Rich
Carlson, with minor interventions from Rod Hemsell and myself. This now
follows.
AUM Shanti,
Debashish Banerji
——————————————————————————-
I. Vision
In our world of ignorance, omniscience is stepped down from its
spiritual poise to be expressed as a quest for knowledge which is
embodied by science and omnipotence is stepped down from its original
source to be articulated in technology as a will to power. The intent
of the post-AUM list is to explore the exponential evolution of the
species as it is driven by both efï¬cient and deï¬cient forms of
knowledge as well as efï¬cient and deï¬cient forms of power. The meaning
assigned to the term efï¬cient refers to those forces which facilitate
the spiritual evolution of consciousness as envisioned by Sri
Aurobindo. The term deï¬cient refers to those forces driving culture and
science which appear to impede the progression of the spiritualization
of consciousness.
Some questions which might be asked at the outset to address the
reasons for engaging in a conversation on this theme are as follows:
Can a community which considers itself on the vanguard of the evolution
of consciousness simply withdraw from an ever increasingly integrative
world body into itself and claim to be a yoga of the world? Would the
world community in its current process of exponential evolution beneï¬t
from the insights of a small community founded on the vision of the
future evolution of mankind? If the globalization of culture is driven
by a will to economic power, technological determinism and a scientiï¬c
enterprise intent on discovering that occult knowledge which leads to
the manufacture of novel life forms - and is in fact already tottering
on the precipice of creating its own new humanoid species while
outstripping the ability of the rational ethical mind to keep pace with
its new creations - is it not critical for the emerging planetary
culture to also become aware of an alternative future? By an alternate
future we mean the promise of the future given to us by Sri Aurobindo
and the Mother which is a radically different vision than one in which
a new race is fashioned according to atheistic values and the
materialist alchemy of modern science driven by a will to proï¬t.
In exploring the emerging planetary culture and the latest
innovations in science and technology special consideration will be
given to those novel discoveries and innovations which may impact the
course of the future evolution of species. Another fundamental question
implicit in these explorations will be: do the new innovations in
science and technology help at least - if only on the material level -
to facilitate a spiritual track in the evolution of consciousness or
are they helping to lead humanity in quite a different direction? A
further question that may be implied is whether or to what extent the
spiritual and material tracks of evolution are separable?
A sample of agendas which will be explored will depend on what we
all ï¬nd of interest. However, the following concerns, challenges, and
considerations would certainly ï¬t within the scope of our exploration:
the psychic being in the evolution of consciousness, the supramental
manifestation, the emerging planetary culture, bio-technology,
communication technology, computer technology, biotics (e.g. the
interface of human and machine), indigenous and green technologies, the
emergence of the virtual class, the globalization of the economy, the
militarization of the new world order, emerging forms of planetary
artistic expression, the need to create integral communities of the
future, the role of Auroville in the global village, and of course the
importance of integral education in fashioning our collective future.
II. Challenges
During the AUM panel discussion on science and spirituality there
was unanimous agreement among all who spoke that given the magniï¬cation
of power with which science and technology endow humanity, the integral
yoga could do well to offer a guiding light to these endeavors. A
caveat was voiced from some that if such a dialog with science and
culture were to occur, there was a risk that the message of Sri
Aurobindo could become diluted. Another caution was put forward that
because words have power we must be very careful in substituting words
taken from the vocabulary of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother in their
descriptions of reality when engaging with the secular discourse
associated with global culture and science. Finally, there was voiced a
concern that such discussions, if they should take place, should do so
within the family, e.g. our community.
While recognizing the fact that Sri Aurobindos message has been diluted
by academics and others who quote him to afï¬rm their own explanatory
systems or social constructions, we believe that we can avoid such
dilution by approaching the theme in the proper spirit of reverence for
their texts, in which ï¬nal authority is always deferred to Sri
Aurobindo and the Mother. In so doing we should perhaps remain
tentative in our conclusions which we extrapolate from their writing
and when confusion arises remain open for the light of their
inspiration. With these concerns in mind we also believe that Mother
herself has in some instances suggested appropriate language which can
be used in discourse when one comes into contact with more secular
parts of the culture. Moreover, if the Sri Aurobindo community itself
does not engage in ï¬nding appropriate language for discourse with the
wider world, a danger arises that the integral yoga will be deï¬ned in
the world by those commentators who have less concern with ï¬nding
proper language or with the authenticity of the message of Sri
Aurobindo and the Mother.
In these conversations however, we must also agree to own up to our
opinions on matters of culture and society which have transpired since
1973. This simply means that we should not use the forum as a pretext
to further socio-political or economic agendas we personally hold nor
to gain authority for our own opinions, thoughts or ideas, by
attempting to disguise them as direct teachings of Sri Aurobindo and
the Mother. While the conclusions we reach regarding the emerging
global village may indeed have
socio-political and economic overtones, the main impetus for the
conversation is to remain open to the free flowing spirit of truth. This
is to say that although we all inevitably bring our own historical and
cultural interpretations to the table, we should be prepared to suspend
our opinions and attempt to synthesize perspectives with others, and in
the spirit of integrality embrace difference in the unity of the truth
consciousness.
As such, part of the conversation will be an attempt to uncover
appropriate language when we are at loss for the proper means of
expression given to us in light of the yoga. Finally, we agree that
this discussion should be kept within the family until such time as we
ï¬nd consensus among us that the meaning which emerges from our
conversation would be of positive use to the broader culture in which
we ourselves are situated.
Another challenge of exploring the emerging planetary culture and
its instrumentation of science and technology in the light of Sri
Aurobindo and the Mother is that this is fairly unexplored territory.
Although they do provide guidance to us in their teachings and we can
in many instances draw conclusions simply based on their teachings
themselves, in some instance we may also have to rely on extrapolating
theses teachings to apply to the novel contexts which have only become
apparent in the year 2005.
To extrapolate the meaning of their teaching to apply to current events
is certainly no easy task. To do this requires openness, aspiration,
sincerity, and a profound understanding of our limitations as readers
and aspirants. Moreover, it also requires that we expect no deï¬nite
conclusions or certainty in the answers or points of view which may
arise. The very fact that Sri Aurobindos yoga bids us to eschew simple
moralizing, or rationalizing neat conclusions but rather calls on us to
take a supra-moral, or supra-rational position indeed adds another
layer of complexity to the endeavor with which most other groups or
organizations who explore similar themes do not have to contend.
Therefore, in the conversation which emerges we need to be aware of
these most important caveats, e.g. that we are not seeking to reach any
ï¬rm or ï¬xed conclusions or attempting to supply one dimensional or
dogmatic answers to the problems which confront us in the world today,
but rather we are seeking to explore these issues as fellow aspirants
of integral yoga in order to identify and determine if there are
certain trends at work in the world which either appear to be at odds
with or appear to enhance the forming of integral communities and
furthering the lines of a spiritual evolution of the species.
When confronting the Integral Yoga as a yoga of the world and asking
how indeed it acts in the world the following questions arise:
1) Is it enough to preside over the vanishing or our own individual
egos?
2) Is some form of occult transfer of knowledge from our community to
the global culture sufï¬cient to make the necessary changes?
3) Is more activism required, for example, to advocate for change on a social or political level?
4) Can we offer to the wider world a greater gift, for example in the form of an authentic integral education?
We start with the premise that we haven't really got a clue as to
the exact answer to these questions but defer to the action which Sri
Aurobindo and Mother took at another crisis period of history which may
serve as an example. When confronted by the horrors of the Third Reich
marching like a juggernaught over Europe, they at once took action on
an occult plane, using their spiritual force to confound the Asura -
which was driving the Nazis - while at the same time acting on the
surface social and political level by raising funds to support and
sustain the armies of the allies who were physically confronting the
threat.
Of course their actions were directed against a different threat in
the 1940s than are present in the world today. The current risks to the
world are much less obvious, but although they are more subtle, they
are perhaps just as formidable, in that their outcome could also pose a
threat to the continued evolution of consciousness. Let us again read
the statement of Sri Aurobindo which was supplied by Matthijs:
In modern times, as physical Science enlarged its discoveries and
released the secret material forces of Nature into an action governed
by human knowledge for human use, occultism receded and was ï¬nally set
aside on the ground that the physical alone is real and Mind and Life
are only departmental activities of Matter. On this basis, believing
material Energy to be the key of all things, Science has attempted to
move towards a control of mind and life processes by a knowledge of the
material instrumentation and process of our normal and abnormal mind
and life functioning and activities; the spiritual is ignored as only
one form of mentality. It may be observed in passing that if this
endeavor succeeded, it might not be without danger for the existence of
the human race, even as now are certain other scientiï¬c discoveries
misused or clumsily used by a humanity mentally and morally unready for
the handling of powers so great and perilous; for it would be an
artiï¬cial control applied without any knowledge of the secret forces
which underlie and sustain our existence.
The following paragraph lists a few of the dangers which confront
us by virtue of the magniï¬cation of power given to humanity by science
and technology:
The dangers which confront us by new innovations in science and
technology which magnify the power of humanity in novel ways are many
and include: pathogens released by self-replication of nano-technology
which could reduce the biosphere to a gray goo in days; biological
organisms created in laboratories which could mutate into forms of
super germs which could outstrip the ability of anti-bodies to contain
them; the cloning of human beings or the mixing of genes across species
to create a new class of human organism; the destruction wrought by
nuclear weapons which could effectively end life as we know it; the
annihilation of indigenous species of plants and agriculture in favor
of huge sterilized mono-cultures which reduce the ability of millions
of small farmers to survive; the growing imbalance of the haves and the
have-nots in the world; the disappearance of childhood or human
communication into electronic environments which can lead to alienation
and new forms of psycho-pathologies.
The above list of dangers is not meant to be exhaustive nor to be taken
as any indication that we should fear science and technology. We could
have easily provided a list with the great beneï¬ts of science and
technology, such as longer life spans, ease of travel, comfort and
efï¬ciency, rather than the danger list which demonstrates that along
with the advances of material civilization and the facilitation of the
well-being of the world population which science and technology make
possible, there is in accordance with the laws of the material world a
karmic dimension that does not allow us to dig for the gold without
risking the collapse of the mine shaft.
III. Tentative Methodologies
Participation in the dialog will be through conversation
facilitated by the medium of email. At the outset we must all remember
the famed expression by communications theorist Marshall McLuhan that
the medium is the message. What this means is that the manner in which
information comes to us impacts our appreciation of the information.
The medium structures our comprehension of the message. So in email
conversations we have to remember that subtle connotations of messages
often do not come through, and that the course of email exchanges
proceeds in linear fashion in which the
multi-dimensionality of the communication is often not expressed.
There is also a tendency when email posts are being viewed not only
between those having the conversation but by third parties viewing the
exchange, for one to become defensive when disagreements arise. As such
it must be remembered that the context of this list is to provide a
sanctuary for all of us fellow aspirants to safely express ourselves
with the tacit understanding that we are doing so within a wider
family. A family not determined by birth but by spiritual inclination.
Another problem implicit in email conversations is that endemic to
all small talk or short commentary, which is that they leave the larger
body of assumptions in a person's context of understanding unspoken. In
net dialog too this is often the cause for communication lapses and the
waste of multiple iterations and arguments to bridge them. The solution
here would point in the direction of larger bodies of text which can be
circulated and archived and reviewed/engaged with selectively. Audio
versions of talks and panel discussions will soon be available to AUM
participants. Moreover, our wish is to transcribe these talks and panel
discussions and post/archive them on the list, so that these can form
topics for further engagement. In the process, apart from questioning
and commenting on these texts, participants are encouraged to post
texts of their own or readings they feel pertinent.
It also is our view that we should all take whatever opportunities
that arise to meet with one another to embody the meanings we seek to
presence in our electronic forum within the aesthetics of real physical
spaces. This is to say we wish to avoid having our discourse just
vanish into the cyber-ether of virtual space, and so whenever the
occasion arises be it at AUMs or elsewhere perhaps clusters of us can
manage to coalesce and continue the conversation in real time.
Moreover, if there are certain themes that become foregrounded in the
process or if certain individuals or groups feel the need to explore
certain themes more intensively, smaller seminars or conferences may be
organized around these.
IV. Goals
The goals are simple, namely to see if we all can begin to parse
the myriad of possible futures emerging with the planetary culture to
ascertain which of those possibilities appear to facilitate the
evolution of consciousness envisioned by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother,
and which of those possibilities appear contrary to their vision of the
spiritual evolution of consciousness . In short we are making an
attempt to enlighten ourselves to the promise and perils of the future
both as they affect us as individuals and as a community.
V. Organizational Structure
Except for the person who performs a technical function in managing
the list the organizational structure here is one of distributive
intelligence in which every individual periphery is also central to the
action of the community as a whole.
- Richard Carlson
- Debashish Banerji
- Rod Hemsell
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