Integral knowledge Upanishad Philosophy Mentality AbbreviationsĪU: Aitareya Upanishad IU: Isha Upanishad KU: Katha Upanishad KeU: Kena Upanishad MU: Mundaka Upanishad CWSA: Complete Works of Sri Aurobindo. In this paper, I will outline these operations of knowledge and discuss the processes by which Sri Aurobindo sought to bridge our human "rational ignorance" (Avidya) to the integral knowledge (Vidya) spoken of in the Upanishads. Looking for the operations of absolute Knowledge in the Vidya that translate to operations of relative knowledge in the Avidya, he located four forms of intuition that could be cultivated and normalized towards the end of preparing such an intuitive consciousness and leading ultimately to an integral consciousness foundational to a divine collective life on earth. He has referred to this knowledge project as "building an intuitive mentality," a transformative process based on Vedantic knowledge and leading more to an integral consciousness than what we would call a mentality. Whereas such a transcendentalism had been idealized even within the counter-movements of the Enlightenment as "the Eastern Enlightenment," Sri Aurobindo sought traces of an intuitive mediating consciousness which would enable a new kind of worldly knowledge based in Truth-Seeing (darshan) and Hearing (sruti). In his reading of the Upanishads, he saw a fundamental division between Knowledge (Vidya) and Ignorance (Avidya) and a practical tradition (yoga) which negotiated this division by rejecting worldly or relative knowledge (Avidya) for a Knowledge-by-identity (Vidya). Looking to the discursive and experiential traditions of India, particularly those of the Upanishads (Vedanta) he sought for hermeneutic keys to address the human possibilities of knowledge. Sri Aurobindo Ghosh (1872-1950) was an Indian thinker who was schooled in England and arrived at a cosmopolitan grasp of modernity, including the ideals of the Enlightenment and its limitations. This has led to our technological age but has also spawned counter philosophies critiquing the limits of reason and the epistemic possibilities of experience and intuition. Audio also available as a Podcast.Post-Enlightenment philosophy, which is largely creative of and dominates the modern consciousness, has defined humanism in terms of rationality and its control over the irrational. In September 2012, Thomas spoke for the prestigious lecture series, Mind, and Supermind, which is run by Santa Barbara City College.ĭiscussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group. Thomas has taught his book, Living the Paradox of Enlightenment: Spiritual Awakening in Simple, Clear English, as a class for the Center for Lifelong Learning, which is a part of Santa Barbara City College, the highest-ranked community college in the United States. Thomas teaches in plain English, yet much of what he says would be recognized by people familiar with Advaita, Buddhism, or Hinduism. (By the way, Timothy Conway was guest number 28 at Buddha at the Gas Pump way back in July of 2010.) Timothy woke up when he was only 16 and he later was fortunate enough to meet several enlightened masters, such as Sri Nisargadatta, Annamalai Swami, and others among Sri Ramana Maharshi’s immediate followers. The first time Thomas heard this nondual wisdom was in 2005 when he attended one of Timothy Conway’s satsangs and Thomas has continually attended these weekly meetings since they provide the foundation for all his work. Thomas easily digs deeply into the core of this wisdom to reveal both its essential truth and the heartfelt compassion that all true sages embody when they are genuinely engaged in the world without being entangled by it. Thomas Razzeto is one of the newest and freshest voices among the teachers of our balanced, ancient nondual wisdom.
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