The Evolution of Forms, the Evolution of Consciousness and the Destiny of the Individual

0:00 As with all things that are considered for the first time, new concepts appear difficult to grasp. Cognitive scientists have shown through studies they have done that the brain builds grooves through which thoughts flow smoothly. These grooves develop over time through repeated attempts. The concept of the evolution of consciousness goes far beyond the concept of the evolution of forms. Even the evolution of forms has taken over 150 years to have even general acceptance, and considerable holdouts remain who reject the very idea of evolution. A yet further extension is the idea that the individual psychic being the soul's projection into the external world, accumulates the essence of experiences across multiple lifetimes as it develops and gains maturity, As most people have not had the opportunity to reflect deeply on the significance of the individual and the mechanism that carries the universal manifestation forward.

1:08 Thus, when Triorobindo combines all three of these concepts into a coordinated interrelationship, it is difficult to grasp for those considering it for the first time. The Mother clearly and concisely explains the significance in her response to a disciple grappling with these concepts. A disciple inquires about the citation from the Life Divine cited in the immediately prior page. Quote. It is difficult to understand. Sweet Mother. End Quote. The Mother responds. Quote. Ah, if you take terrestrial history, all the forms of life have appeared one after another in a general plan, a general program, with the addition always of a new perfection and a greater consciousness. Take just animal forms, for that is easier to understand. They are the last before man.

2:12 Each animal that appeared had an additional perfection in its general nature. I don't mean in all the details a greater perfection than the preceding ones. And the crowning point of the ascending March was the human form, which for the moment, from the point of view of consciousness, is the form most capable of manifesting consciousness. That is, the human form at its height, at the height of its possibilities, is capable of more consciousness than all preceding animal forms. This is one of nature's ways of evolution. Sri Robindo told us last week that this nature was following an ascending progression in order to manifest more and more the divine consciousness contained in all forms.

3:02 So with each new form that it produces, nature makes a form capable of expressing more completely the spirit which this form contains. But if it were like this, a form comes, develops, reaches its highest point and is followed by another form. The others do not disappear, but the individual does not progress. The individual dog or monkey, for instance, belongs to a species which has its own peculiar characteristics. When the monkey or the man arrives at the height of its possibilities, that is, when a human individual becomes the best type of humanity, it will be finished.

3:51 The individual will not be able to progress any farther. He belongs to the human species. He will continue to belong to it. So from the point of view of terrestrial history, there is a progress, for each species represents a progress compared with the preceding species. But from the point of view of the individual, there is no progress. He is born, he follows his development, dies and disappears. Therefore, to ensure the progress of the individual, it was necessary to find another means. This one was not adequate. But within the individual contained in each form, there is an organization of consciousness which is closer to and more directly under the influence of the inner divine presence. And the form which is under this influence, this kind of inner concentration of energy, has a life independent of the physical form.

4:57 This is what we generally call the soul or the psychic being, and since it is organized around the divine centre, it partakes of the divine nature, which is immortal, eternal. The outer body falls away and this remains throughout every experience that it has in each life. And there is a progress from life to life, and it is the progress of the same individual. And this movement complements the other in the sense that instead of a species which progresses relative to other species, it is an individual who passes through all the stages of progress of these species and can continue to progress even when the species have reached the limit of their possibilities and stay there or disappear.

5:50 It depends on the case. But they cannot go any farther. Whereas the individual, having a life independent of the purely material form, can pass from one form to another and continue his progress indefinitely. That makes a double movement which completes itself, and that is why each individual has the possibility of reaching the utmost realization independent of the form to which he momentarily belongs. End Quote. Reference Srioro Bindu and the Mother. The psychic being soul, its nature, mission and evolution. Section 3.

6:34 Growth and Development of the Psychic, pages 73 to 75.