To understand the invisible forces working in nature

"The Ideal We Must Keep Before Us" -- The Mother's Talk
by RY Deshpande on Wed 27 Dec 2006 06:18 AM PST Permanent Link

Under the title Instruments of Knowledge and Post-Human Destinies there has been during the last few weeks a good deal of presentation of various view points, enriched by extensive quotations mostly from the writings of Sri Aurobindo. Reference may be made to the following:

by Rich on Wed 27 Dec 2006 11:56 AM PST Profile Permanent Link
Well let me start by posting a passage from the Chapter the Divine Body in the Supramental manifestation which the Mother is commenting on. Earlier in the chapter Sri Aurobindo speaks of the necessity of the organic form of the body to remain, in order to fulfill the promise of the spiritualization of matter.So this tells me 1) Sri Aurobindo's vision of the future body is embodied and it will not be brought to us on an intel platform, nor will human consciousness be uploaded into a machine as the trans-humanist would have it. Now here is the passage:

In this passage we find the stress on the process of internalizing the evolutionary transformation. For example perhaps the subtle energy fields of the chakras will perhaps be tapped to rejuvenate the body and even replace internal organs. My thoughts here as well as what might be my reckless speculation, is that it is quite impossible at present to measure the success of such an occult internal transformation on the organic being undergoing physical evolution. Although admittedly even some science can accept the extraordinary feats of some yogis who can stop their hearts and cease breathing. Whether or not this is influencing the course of physical evolution on the planet is at best undetermined.

I might add it we take Karl Popper's falsification thesis seriously we also can not discount whether this phenomena is occurring or not, because we could never sample every human being to determine the collective effects of their practice. However, what is quite clear is that science is influencing the evolution of the body. Preventive medicine and life style changes brought about by scientific understanding has remarkably increased the life expectancy of an average person on the planet dramatically. Moreover, due to new methods of physical training brought about by scientific understandinghuman beings are running faster, jumping higher, and swimming farther than ever before.The ability of science to now intervene on a genetic level means that some maladies of the human condition may be permanently removed. For example in genetic pre-screening a father and mother can now screen an embryo for up to 1300 genes which can if activated cause all manner of disease and suffering later on for the baby to be born in question.(of course there are some real ethical issues here, but I wont go into those now, nor will I go into the very real possibility that science may manufacture a human pathogen which might end life as we know it on the planet, such as Bill Joy warns us of in his article Why the Future Does not need US in the April 2000 issue of Wired magazine) But aside from this, what I am getting at is that if one understands the Mother's embrace of physical science here, and in other statements (I believe there is also from a talk in 1957, I am on the road and must paraphrase here) when she exclaims that science and spirituality are two poles of the same reality, then I think we have to consider seriously that science may be a vehicle which the evolutionary nature has at present judged superior for the task at transforming the physical nature of humanity.

I believe what we have here again is another example of what was previously thought to be occult forces which have been tapped and outered by science and technology. But, I dont think this presents a challenge to Sri Aurobindo's initial vision. (although science may begin to tap the subtle energy fields of the chakras) but it does seem for me to continue a certain trend in the evolution of humanity since recorded times namely, the exteriorization of what previously had been internal human processes. Whether it is the oral word to the printed page, or the subtle body into the physical organism we seem to be ever more exponentially turning ourselves inside out. rc

by rakesh on Wed 27 Dec 2006 08:47 PM PST Profile Permanent Link
science is giving an oppurtunity now to understand the invisible forces working in nature. If man investigates more on these lines he might discover subtle material forces and exploit them for longevity and health. Or he might go deeper and try to understand the mind-body relationship and then may be the spirit. Is this not more like the tantric way of discovering the spirit? We have just started manipulating with the genes to eradicate diseases. On the level of DNA, there are a number of enzymes,receptors etc that regulate a gene functioning. There is a great possibility that our understanding of genes can prevent a lot of diseases still the task is dependent on innumerable interdependent factors. The supramental force, i think, can modify the body for its purpose more effectively than any of the primitive efforts of science can envisage. The plasticity in the body will come with its touch.