The Human Cycle and The Ideal of Human Unity: revisited and used for modern age issues

 

The Human Cycle and The Ideal of Human Unity:

 

Society- Stages of Its Evolution

 

The tendency of the modern Science, which is obsessed with the greatness of its physical discoveries and the idea of the sole existence of Matter is base even study of mind and consicousness based on physical law is proving increasingly inadequate. Even though no model or theoretical representation can fully represent the fluid, flexible and zig zag curving progress of Nature of of human civilization, still some model helps to start the discussion and so The theory of Human cycle and stages in it as per the German Theorist Lamperecht is used by Sri Aurobindo.

It was necessary to take support of such model for understanding human evolution.

The need and importance of symbols in early age, there is live examples of Surya’s marriage, Purusha, Prakriti, and Chaturvarnya in the context of symbolic age.

it us interesting to see how it led to treating everything as sacrosanct.

The Typal Age is next.The typal stage creates the great social ideals which remain impressed upon the human mind even when the stage itself is passed.   

The conventional age is when the conventional age is born and the tendencies of the dominate and we must know its gripping iron cages ‘For always the form prevails and the spirit recedes and diminishes’

The men of heroic mould rebel against these dead conventions and seek a new interpretation of truth and new expression of their spirit. that is The age of reason

The champions of old order are right when they see him as obstacle and try to finish Him but he is Rudra and the destruction of old lifeless forms is his mission.

However the reason also then culminates in making another though more rational prisons which equally suffocate human soul and the laws and conventions they found are laws of herds, beehive and not organic holistic model.

Both pursuit of good and pursuit of beauty tend to pierce often to the beyond and reason can never give them the needed depth or height.  Then needed is a turn to subjective age, a suprarational age and here we need to be careful of true and false subjectivism.

 

Infrarational, Rational and Supra-rational Age :

 

Aboriginal way of life all over the world had same common features. The common features of infra rational all over the world..Animism, Shamanism,

Conventions also become infrarational after a while and then there is a the march from carved path to suffocating bond as Individuals start loosing the capacity to think and live infrarationally. Civilization and barbarism are not as far away from each other as we think.Earlier people use to kill each other, now they cheat each other as Swami Vivekananda said, this way there is not much progress. Tiger in masks can only derive but cannot be called civilized. Even Highly technological world can be devoid of reason.

 

Age of reason : Rational Age

 

Men of intellectual power rise as swallowers of formulas. Science in individual and rational age challenged conventional age papal authority. Science and materialism: the service done by materialism. Unrestrained use of individual reason can be perilious. Science triumphed due to satisfaction of some psychological wants

Ancient shastrakara was replaced by economic or scientific advisor or consultant.

Age of Reason is now drawing an end, novel ideas sweeping – will to live by Nitschez, Intuition by Bergson, Suprarational by German,…Success of individual and rational with respect to new typal but subjective. East is awakened from its slumber, latter is breaking down from old conventions but will not repeat west’s individualism.  East will follow its own bent may be of practical spirituality.           A revolutionary reconciliation of religion, philosophy, science, art and society is the last inevitable outcome of the individual age.    

The office and limitations of Reason have to be listed and studied closely to know that reason is a good instrument, effective explorer and obedient servant but it is a very bad master and can be a tyrant ruler is left to itself without guidance and control.by higher faculty.

 

Suprarational age :

 

The journey of human reason reaching its pinnacle has been the essence of modern age but now what is needed is the jump from the summits of reason.

In the quest of the truth in self and in the world one has to be at some.time face to face with the soul in himself and in the world.         The effect of this is the need of deeper knowledge felt by an individual. It was this knowledge which ancients sought to express through religion and symbolism. The term and signs of Intuitionalism  and the steps to subjectivism have to be understood for this much needed passage upwards and to avoid relapse in lower grades and even fall in abyss of barbarism.

 

Towards a Spiritual society :

 

Any permanent reformation needs reconstruction. Casting and recasting of machinery does not bring about change. We must understand that man lives laws of his source I.e. Swabhava and not of shastra. We can see very glaring examples around how emphasis on system has ruined education, religion, and almost all.

One way was to curb the lower nature and have free play of higher urges. : the danger of it rebelling and pulling all down.

 

All our idealism will be infructuous unless we shift our intuition to other foundation. For our ideals are mental formations. Out of Physical, Vital and Mental, the three adharas, Vital holds the key. Physical and Mental can only mould Vital to the extent it is allowed by inherent law of Vital.The key therefore is Transcending of Physical, Vital and Mental. Thus the need to mould by patterns which is not mental, emotional, idealism but a pattern of spiritual idealism. The need of complete spiritual regeneration. A new structure of his soul and substance.

 

The Divine nature alone can permanently reform the vital nature that is ours.

      

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True and false subjectivism

 

Nation has body, an organic life, moral and aesthetic temperament. But behind it all it is soul, it is not having soul, it is soul. The subconscient power of the group soul comes to the surface that the nations start entering into possession of their subjective selves they set about getting however vaguely or imperfectly at their souls.’           

 

Why and how to distinguish between true and false subjectivism

 

‘We exhaust and corrupt ourselves in the dangerous attempt to live by destruction and exploitation of others. Only that which lives in its own self existence can endure.’ 

The present human life deviates from fundamental psychological truth of Self knowledge. The German error which resulted in world wars is a striking example of this false subjectivism and deviation from fundamental psychological truth.

 

The ideals created by the growth of Science and the ideal of subjective idealism are to be seen parallelly, the one dominant, other desired, there can be apparent intersection of or even clash of both curves which need to be harmonised.

Here we get to another power of our being which is different from the ethical, aesthetic, rational and religious, that is ..The Suprarational ultimate of life    

The spiritual aim of life gets clear and also the necessity of spiritual transformation.

Then the conditions for coming of the spiritual age and       The advent and progress of the spiritual age.

 

The Ideal of Human Unity

 

Turn towards the ideal of human unity can be seen clearly and we can also see its necessity and dangers. Individual and Aggregates are two factors having interdependence and yet aspiring for sole independence. We need to see Imperfection of past Aggregates and amkng them especially Inadequacy of the state idea. Also needed to be seen are Nation and the empire idea : earlier experiments and present status. The efforts towards world /human unity and the enormous difficulties in the process.. The emergence of UN according to Sri Aurobindo is a major positive sign in the intention of Nature. Appearance of an ideal, even if it fails or is only partly or ornamentally successful means that is going to be part of Her plan in future. UN, EU, NAM, UNESCO and SAARC etc…need to be seen in this context in spite of their failures and limitations.The problem of Uniformity and Unity. Nature’s law in our progress is peculiar and nonlinear. Thus the Ideal solution is free grouping of the mankind under a brotherhood thread of minimum governance and ethical chord with autonomy and respective self expression be the principle.