The simple imagery that comes to mind for me is that of a child's "slinky" toy. Creation is in motion, always unfolding along a spiraling path. At times along the way, the overall spiral may sometimes bend downward, such that the apparent direction of movement seems to be descending. But the lines of evolution will inevitably carry all things upward to the intended goal.
Nothing is truly wasted, nothing is really ever lost. But this is an extremely difficult thing to grasp, and the open expression of such notions are easy fodder for mockery, alas.
It would be interesting to know what his thoughts would be today, with the perspective of the last hundred or so years. His language is understandably cautious. Would he have looked out of the window to see the flames rising and still say “it may very well be”?
Obviously though, this is all just a ripple in the ocean.
I leave with a word of what humanity is missing from him today, and who has taken his place in the modern world.
“He [Sri Aurobindo] decisively answers those who say that Indian spirituality has nothing to contribute to modern humanity and insists that Indian spiritual traditions are fully capable of entering into the modern world of science and historical development. He shows the necessity of a spiritual interpretation of the higher human process if it is to have any final significance.” (Thomas Berry, Traditional Religion in the Modern World, 1972, p.15)
“As influence, power, and authority in our society pass, as they are passing, from philosophers and theologians into the hands of those who call themselves ‘human engineers’ whether they happen to be functioning as lawmakers, publicists, teachers, psychologists, or even advertising managers, it is passing from those who were at least aware of what value judgments they were making to those who are not; passing into the hands of men who act on very inclusive and fateful judgments while believing that they are acting on self-evident principles immune to criticism. They do not know what they are making us into and refuse to permit us even to ask. Moreover, in so far as their attempt to ‘condition’ the human beings on whom they practice their techniques are successful, they make it less and less probable that their fateful assumptions will ever be questioned.” (J. Wood Crutch, The Measure of Man, 1953, p.91-92)
[Of course, this last paragraph just predicts the already known fact that the arrival of AI was antedated by society as such, and therefore is not a novelty at all. It has already happened.]
The simple imagery that comes to mind for me is that of a child's "slinky" toy. Creation is in motion, always unfolding along a spiraling path. At times along the way, the overall spiral may sometimes bend downward, such that the apparent direction of movement seems to be descending. But the lines of evolution will inevitably carry all things upward to the intended goal.
Nothing is truly wasted, nothing is really ever lost. But this is an extremely difficult thing to grasp, and the open expression of such notions are easy fodder for mockery, alas.
Is there a difference between asking The Mother and Sri Aurobindo for guidance versus asking the divine for guidance?
It would be interesting to know what his thoughts would be today, with the perspective of the last hundred or so years. His language is understandably cautious. Would he have looked out of the window to see the flames rising and still say “it may very well be”?
Obviously though, this is all just a ripple in the ocean.
I leave with a word of what humanity is missing from him today, and who has taken his place in the modern world.
“He [Sri Aurobindo] decisively answers those who say that Indian spirituality has nothing to contribute to modern humanity and insists that Indian spiritual traditions are fully capable of entering into the modern world of science and historical development. He shows the necessity of a spiritual interpretation of the higher human process if it is to have any final significance.” (Thomas Berry, Traditional Religion in the Modern World, 1972, p.15)
“As influence, power, and authority in our society pass, as they are passing, from philosophers and theologians into the hands of those who call themselves ‘human engineers’ whether they happen to be functioning as lawmakers, publicists, teachers, psychologists, or even advertising managers, it is passing from those who were at least aware of what value judgments they were making to those who are not; passing into the hands of men who act on very inclusive and fateful judgments while believing that they are acting on self-evident principles immune to criticism. They do not know what they are making us into and refuse to permit us even to ask. Moreover, in so far as their attempt to ‘condition’ the human beings on whom they practice their techniques are successful, they make it less and less probable that their fateful assumptions will ever be questioned.” (J. Wood Crutch, The Measure of Man, 1953, p.91-92)
[Of course, this last paragraph just predicts the already known fact that the arrival of AI was antedated by society as such, and therefore is not a novelty at all. It has already happened.]