Reason, Suprarational Beauty, turn to true subjectivism as explained by Sri Aurobindo Part 2 : True and False Subjectivity

 

long as we live without Self-knowledge we can do no other thing. Men and nations must live and act egoistically or perish. But subjectivism is to live so, attempt at Self-knowledge and living by true knowledge. There is no gain if we repeat the old error. True ‘I’ is not ego but divine and is emerging in us. He is not only himself but all of his kind. Vyashti and Samashti.

A[15]  society cannot crush individual for her benefit. Individual cannot disregard his fellow beings.  By helping them he also grows, his isolation stalks and diminishes. This is what subjective age teaches: we are not ego, we are all others also.

1. Our real ‘I’ is the Supreme Being and we have to discover Him.
2. This being is one in all and only by admitting our unity with others can we entirely fulfil our true self being.

   

Present human life departs from these truths nine tenth of the time. This is where the German error was. (p40) It was as follows:

Individual will be entirely subservient to collectivity -like cog in a machine or a disciplined instrument. State became collective ago all pervading, all seeing, the plus side was perfection, scientific development, adjustment of means to ends, social, intellectual efficiency. What was lost in the bargain was ‘deeper life, vision, intuitive power-force of personality, psychic sweetness,  largeness.’(p42) Secondly as State is supreme , divine, service to state is only morality, which in turn was war and success by all means as per this thought. Peace in such model is only preparation for the next war. Trade and commerce is also other kind of war. Vital and Physical are the whole of existence as per Science. Survival of the best is highest good and is through elimination of the unfit and assimilation of less fit. Culture is life governed by ideas-ideas based on truths of life and organised to bring it to the highest. All life not capable of this culture is to be eliminated.

German ideal is to be defeated not only in war but in mind of man[16] . – by less perverse honesty and equal sincerity to arrive at a better law. The prevalence of that ideal still in minds of mankind at large means ‘Germans lost battle but won in after war.’ (p45) It threatens to sweep over all Europe. German gospel has two sides :

1. Internally a cult of State; Germany secured moral victory as State is equated to Nation in most of the nations. 
2. Externally international egoism. Germany has systematised certain strong actual tendencies and principles in international action to the exclusion of all. Today State sponsored massacres of other states is seen all over the world.

‘Woe to the race if it blinds its conscience and buttresses up its animal egoism with the old justification, for the gods have shown that karma is not a jest.’ (p46)   [17] 

Germany is not just reversion to ancient barbarism, it is a new and modern gospel born of the application of a metaphysical logic to the conclusions of materialistic Science, of philosophical subjectivism to objective pragmatic positivism. The result is a bastard creed, an objective subjectivism which is miles away from the true goal of subjective age. It is not in Physical, Vital, economic and even intellectual, but in something deeper whose roots are not in ego- for good of all in the world. ‘Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinaha.’

True and false Subjectivism must be clearly distinguished and the old error of following false subjectivism must be avoided. (Ch. VI[18] )

In true sense it means liberty of me and all others.  Growth of Science created two opposite ideals[19] :

1. Exaggerated individualism vital egoism  leading to Self-Affirmation
2. Collectivism leading to Self-Abnegation

(p49) This led to a philosophy of survival of fittest and right to live even at the expense of the others. Also Science found that the Nature wants to preserve not individual but the class or type and this is done by securing individual to the type or to collectivity. This in turn led to ideal of pack, beehive or swarm as apt model for human aggregate, with no individuality or freedom for the individual. Individual was asked to sacrifice himself for the growth of the race. The new ideal appearing now is universalism. The continental cultural unity or economic unity can be seen in EU and other experiments[20] .

Objective and Subjective start from the same data. (p51) Objective view  looks from analytical reason and proposes a mechanical view world as articulate  mechanism. The aim is to find laws of nature and apply them. State is seen as an entity. Life is to be harmonised, managed, perfected by an infinite adjustment, to be a  manipulation, a machinery according to this thought[21] .

Subjective view is large and complex with more powers of knowledge and powers of effectuation. It proceeds from within and regards everything from the point of view of  a containing and developing consciousness. The law is within ourselves and life Self-creating process. Consciousness grows from subconscious to half conscious to conscious. Reason (a process in Self recognition) and Will (a process in Self affirmation) are only effective movement.  Progress is increasing Self recognition, Self-realization, and Self shaping. It works by intuition and not just reason. It sees the whole and sees in harmony and in a holistic profoundity. Subjective view is to get to the Self, to live in the Self, to see by the Self, to live out from internal as starting point to external to transcend both. ‘Atmanastu[22] ’

Individual has law of his own being, Swadharma, freedom of thought, to err, to act. He has truth of his own, independent self-realization, Universal force, being, fulfilling himself through individual in the universe. All, such own truths harmonise to make the universal truth. These two are only reverse sides of one, they meet each other on return in harmony for a richer and larger unity. Individuality and Collectivity may identify with physical beings /vital beings/mental beings/ moral beings and set as true aim of our exist. A subjective materialism, is pragmatic  and outward going is possible but cannot long linger.  Recent case of vitalism played big role and is still influencing. Subjective idealism is the new emerging idea now[23] . (p54)

It seeks fulfilment of man in satisfaction of his inmost religion, aesthetic, infinite, intellectual, ethical, --deepest sympathies and emotions and regards it as fullness of being. Physical and Vital are subject to ethical, sympathetic and emotional. Some tendency of mysticism and occultism which is new to modern life after the reign of individualism and objective intellectualism. Again Subjectivism can go further, discover the true self, greater than mind. Mind, vital and physical are only instruments in the process. Not equal in hierarchy but in necessity. The aim is not to perfect them for themselves but as fit basis and instruments for revealing in our inner and outer life of the luminous Self, the secret godhead. Who is one and still various in every being and existing thing and creature. (p55)  

The ideal of human individual and collective existence is in 1. A progressive transformation 2. Into conscious outflowering 3. Of joy, power, love and light 4. Of the Transcendent and Universal spirit[24] ..

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