The Development and Progression of the Supramental Force in Human Activity

The imposition of the external world on our mind and senses is so powerful that we don’t pay attention to the vast universe of galaxies and stars. In former times, before the world was widely illuminated by lighting at night, there was at least some opportunity for people to be outside at night, and see the broad array of stars, and wonder about what it all meant. In today’s world, however, one would have to go to a remote location, or to a place that had no electrification, to even see the stars most of the time. Daylight obscures the entire vast cosmos from our view in any case, so that we become fixated, during our active daily lives, on what we experience around us.

A similar thing happens with respect to our perception of various planes or levels of consciousness. Our attention is riveted firmly by the needs of the body, the desires and activities of the vital being and the perceptions and thoughts we experience in our minds. It is rare that we can shift our focus away from the overpowering influence of the body-life-mind complex to even attempt to look for or become receptive to another form or power of consciousness. This is complicated further by the vibrational range of that higher consciousness that falls beyond the normal limits of our sense organs.

There is also a mechanism and a process involved. As with everything, first individuals take up the effort, and as they begin to get results, the capacity gets anchored into the larger set of humanity. This is an extrapolation of what is called the ‘100th monkey’ phenomenon. When a certain critical mass of humanity acquires this power of knowledge and action, it begins to proliferate more swiftly. This is done through subtle influence, energetics, and the ability of people to copy or mimic the actions of others until it becomes part of their repertoire directly.

The Mother observes: “… this material world as it actually, visibly is, is so powerful, so absolutely real for the ordinary consciousness, that it has engulfed, as it were, this supramental force and consciousness when it manifested, and a long preparation is necessary before its presence can be even glimpsed, felt, perceived in some way or other. And this is the work it is doing now.”

“How long it will take is difficult to foresee. it will depend a great deal on the goodwill and the receptivity of a certain number of people, for the individual always advances faster than the collectivity, and by its very nature, humanity is destined to manifest the Supermind before the rest of creation.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, The Hidden Forces of Life, Ch.6 Hidden Worlds and Evolutionary Forces, pp. 154-155