Reach a large number of audiences by presenting purely the intellectual power of Sri Aurobindo’s thought

DEVELOPMENT OF SACAR:A STORY OF OUTER AND INNER JOURNEYS
A Conversation with Dr. Ananda Reddy
Beloo Mehra

While discussing the academic framework of SACAR, Ananda says that it is possible to keep one’s personal devotion separate from a purely intellectual approach to enter the thought and vision of Sri Aurobindo. He describes how in many of his talks at different places he has been able to reach a large number of audiences by presenting purely the intellectual power of Sri Aurobindo’s thought. He explains, “Sri Aurobindo’s is a vision and a thought, He survives powerfully as a thought, as a consciousness. The thought is so inclusive that the listeners get to see the truth in the thought.”

Taking a long view Ananda adds that Sri Aurobindo’s thought and vision will surely capture the intellectual mind-space in the future. And this wide reach of Aurobindonian integral vision on an intellectual level is much more important for the world’s future than the devotional aspect of the devotees for Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. He explains, “World will be conquered by His thought, which will open the minds of more and more people, and facilitate the working of the Supermind. Through this intellectual spread of His thought, Sri Aurobindo is preparing a new mind which will be eligible for the new consciousness. This will be the real contribution to mankind. A few will turn to become sadhaks and that will be the start of a New Race. But on the world level, a change in mental consciousness will come as a result of the intellectual thought of Sri Aurobindo taking over the imagination of more and more people, and this changed mental consciousness will be open to supramental consciousness. That is my reading of the future of Sri Aurobindo’s vision and thought.”

He explains that the world requires and will continue to require different spiritual approaches and different spiritual teachers, which in the future will reflect some aspect of Sri Aurobindo’s vision of the world. Therefore, it is important to emphasise that Sri Aurobindo can still be approached and understood on an intellectual level by those who may look elsewhere for spiritual or devotional purposes.

What Sri Aurobindo offers to the world at large is that “He is preparing another kind of mind, Mind of Light, which will capture the mind of the elite of humanity, and this can serve as a bridge between mind and Supermind … Multiple expressions of spirituality will always be there … but in the future, the wide reach of Sri Aurobindo Consciousness will bring a synthesis, a unity in diversity.” It is this “bold vision” that permits Ananda to approach and present Sri Aurobindo on an intellectual level for his students and those participating in his seminars and talks. “On reading him, the mind sizzles, thrills with his ideas — that is more than enough. That experience will surely turn the individual to Sri Aurobindo,” he adds.