Overmind

“The Supermind is the One Truth deploying and determining the manifestation of its Powers — all these Powers working as a multiple Oneness, in harmony, without opposition or collision, according to the One Will inherent in all. The Overmind takes these Truths and Powers and sets each working as a force in itself with its necessary consequences — there can be harmony in their action, but the Overmind’s harmonies are synthetic and partial rather than inherent, total and inevitable and, as one descends from the highest Overmind, separation, collision and conflict of forces increase, separability dominates, ignorance grows, existence becomes a clash of possibilities, a mixture of conflicting half-truths, an unsolved and apparently unsolvable riddle and puzzle.”

(Medhananda:) “It is neither outside us nor above us, but part of our psychological makeup. But it is only accessible by a widening and intensification of our ordinary consciousness.
         When we really take possession of this domain of consciousness in its fullness, which the Hindus call vijñana, the multiplicity continues to exist but ceases to veil the Oneness. We attain illumination.”

“The distinction [between the Supermind and the Overmind] has not been made in the Arya because at that time what I now call the Overmind was supposed to be an inferior plane of the Supermind. But that was because I was seeing them from the Mind. The true defect of Overmind, the limitation in it which gave rise to a world of Ignorance, is seen fully only when one looks at it from the physical consciousness, from the result (Ignorance in Matter) to the cause (Overmind division of the Truth). In its own plane Overmind seems to be only a divided, many-sided play of the Truth, so can easily be taken by the Mind as a supramental province. Mind also when flooded by the Overmind lights feels itself living in a surprising revelation of divine Truth. The difficulty comes when we deal with the vital and still more with the physical. Then it becomes imperative to face the difficulty and to make a sharp distinction between Overmind and Supermind — for it then becomes evident that the Overmind Power (in spite of its lights and splendours) is not sufficient to overcome the Ignorance because it is itself under the law of Division out of which came the Ignorance. One has to pass beyond and supramentalise Overmind so that mind and all the rest may undergo the final change.”

“Indeed, for passing into the supramental being it isn’t necessary to pass though the overmind ...

I don’t understand.

I mean that for contacting or reaching this SUPRA-mental consciousness or being, it is not necessary to pass through the overmental being.

What do you call ‘overmental being’?

What Sri Aurobindo calls ‘overmind’.

Oh, no! No.

I see. Not necessary.

What Sri Aurobindo called overmind is the realm of the gods.

So it isn’t necessary to pass through that.

Oh, no, the realm of the gods ... stands apart. I don’t think it has much to do with the earth’s problems. Only sometimes those gods enjoy meddling in earthly affairs. But they don’t have much in common with the great Movement of transformation.

Yes, quite so.

They are immortal, aren’t they, they are free (to a large extent, they are free and immortal). They have taken part in the earth’s development only out of curiosity, as a sort of pastime!

Yes.

They may have helped humanity to understand that there is something beyond earth-life.
         That was their usefulness.
         At one time (laughing), I was very close to all these beings, they used to manifest in me, they would – well, they enjoyed it! And I enjoyed it, too! I was interested; but I never considered it as something essential.”

“One has to know about Overmind and Supermind but there should be no ambition to reach them — it should be regarded as a natural end of the sadhana which will come of itself. The concentration should be all on the immediate step — whatever is being done at the time. So have the working of the Power and let it work all out step by step.”

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See also

• Gods