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From the Editors
Vol. 51, No. 2
Glimpses of Emergence in a Darkening Future
One of the salient features of Integral Yoga is its evolutionary framework. However, a closer examination of evolutionary processes indicates that, both on the individual and collective levels, evolution of consciousness is not always synonymous with continuous, linear progress. It may involve up-cycles and down-cycles, as well as periods of stagnation or acceleration. A key question before us at the moment is what signs and indications should we look for to help us understand where we are in the larger landscape of evolution?
The current world situation brought to us relentlessly by the news and social media presents a dire scenario. Humankind faces challenges such as climate disruption, political divisions, genocides, and the erosion of a shared sense of reality. The future of our species and the web of life itself appear to be in peril. But, at the same time, counterpoints and instances of light and positive direction are emerging beyond the glare of mainstream communications.
Since the middle of the 20th century we have seen a resurgence of interest in traditional spiritual traditions and practices such as yoga, meditation, and other mind-body disciplines and holistic practices emphasizing unity consciousness, love, compassion, mindfulness, and intuition. Some believe that we are currently on the threshold of an unprecedented breakdown of old paradigms, in anticipation of a major breakthrough in evolution of consciousness.
As bad as things may appear, are we simply in one of those momentary down-spirals where the forces of evil and unconsciousness happen to have the upper hand? Is this hopefully the darkest hour before a new dawn in evolution of consciousness? For this issue we invited writers and artists to share a more hopeful glimpse of the future, looking for real world examples and descriptions of these emerging potentials and possibilities.
In “Discovering Integral Yoga in Unexpected Places,” Don Salmon advocates sharing the essence of Integral Yoga in ways that are easily accessible to everyone. He suggests that without losing sight of what is unique about Integral Yoga, we can also be sensitive to other ways in which the integral vision is emerging in the world. He refers to the work of child and adolescent psychiatrist Dan Siegel known as “The Wheel of Awareness” practice, as an example, which is an application of mindfulness practice allowing us to develop our awareness with a calm and nonjudgmental equanimity. This practice helps us “integrate our outer experience with the love, compassion, and spaciousness of our essential Being,” which is what “the Mother was referring to when she said we should integrate all the movements of our nature around the psychic center of our being.”
The next article, “Embodying Integral Yoga in the Garden,” is an account of Sangeetha Sriram’s life journey which she describes as a search for ways she has aspired to serve as a midwife to the emerging “New World.” Before living as an Aurovilian she spent decades in collective communities advocating for animal rights, civil action, and social and environmental justice, among other activities. However, although learning many skills, she still felt limited and incomplete. After arriving in Auroville she faced many more challenges and responsibilities, including serious mental and medical challenges. She writes: “It was during this period that surrender ceased to be a mere philosophical idea. It became my lifeline. The only way I could go on was to offer myself moment by moment, asking the Mother to carry me through the next breath, the next hour.”
In the next article titled “Yet Another War … A Post-Materialist Meditation on the Nature of War in the Light of Sri Aurobindo,” Marco Masi invites us to move beyond our current material and commercial mindset to be able to see that “disappearance of war cannot be achieved merely through political arrangements, economic interdependence, or technological progress. True and lasting peace requires something deeper: an inner evolution of human consciousness itself.”
“Collective Community in Minneapolis” by Kaia Svien draws on what Joanna Macy, renowned Buddhist scholar, deep ecologist, and environmental activist, called the “Great Unraveling.” Kaia gives a detailed account of collective practices, intersubjective connections and actions taken by some people in Minnesota to help others in the aftermath of raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. This has resulted in the emergence of a “beautiful, delicate and strong, clear and very present awareness that many of us—immigrants, other BIPOCs (black, indigenous, and people of color) and protectors—are participating in a potent, new level of trust and connection that weaves relatively easily much of the time through our various cultures.”
“From Darkness to Truth, from Fear to Power,” by Anju Arya invites us to examine where darkness may still dwell within each of us and how each person, knowingly or unknowingly, contributes to the collective falsehood. The author stresses that “while community action is one way to serve the light, an individual may have equal if not greater impact by turning inward. When falsehood is brought into awareness, it begins to lose its unconscious hold, allowing both the individual and society to evolve.”
David Mitchell’s article, titled “A Brief Explanation for the Rapid Decline of Social Harmony and a Potential Remedy,” draws on the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita to trace the apparent decline in the social and political climate of the United States in recent decades to the root causes of desire, attachment, and anger, leading to clouding of judgment and bewilderment of memory culminating in destruction of intellect. For a remedy, the author suggests activities that can help us restore the link between our outer consciousness and the soul (psychic being) such as “solar practices” involving the descent of light through the crown chakra, by which a yogi can become a more effective channel of divine consciousness to the collective consciousness.
Our last essay is an imaginative story by Yogine Maji, who was 11 years old at the time of writing! In this story the protagonist is presented the choice between power and kindness. Although initially the protagonist contemplates the path of power and worldly success, through Divine intervention he is drawn towards the path of sincerity and kindness. Our editors were delighted by this story, and even more so by the young author himself who is a beacon of light for the future of humankind.
For source materials we have selected a small sample of writings by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother pertinent to the theme of this issue. “The Yoga of Integral Knowledge” is an excerpt from The Synthesis of Yoga in which Sri Aurobindo gives a summary of three steps of evolution, from division and coercion and subjection—our current stage of darkness—to the stage of relation, reconciliation, and harmony in the gnosis between the purusha (conscious being) and prakriti (nature); and finally to the stage of unity in the “tops of the gnosis and in the Ananda.” In “Identifying the Signs of Spiritual Progress,” the Mother reminds us that most of the progress in spiritual life—especially in the earlier phases—is worked out behind the curtain of our surface consciousness. She also gives practical advice about how to deal with certain difficulties and resistances.
Our poetry collection for this issue includes three short selections from Savitri: “The Secret Knowledge” (inside front cover), “The World of Falsehood,” and “The Dream Twilight of the Ideal”; two sonnets: “The Call of the Impossible” and “The Ways of the Spirit”; and a brief excerpt from Letters on Poetry and Art titled “The Poet and the Poem.”
In addition, we have several poems submitted by various authors specifically for this issue. These include an untitled poem by Angelo Salerno; “The Response” by Earl Blauner; “The Mother’s Words” by Jenny Gillespie Mason; “A Nascent Longing” by Julia Murphey; and “the Secret Fire” by Richard Catalano.
We hope that these offerings can help us better situate our current evolutionary challenges in the larger, more positive context of evolution of consciousness, and help us strengthen our faith in humanity and aspiration for the Divine.
— Bahman A. K. Shirazi, for the Collaboration editorial team
