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The Indian Mind
Sri Aurobindo has said that when the Indian Mind takes up a subject it
goes to the very end. Philosophers call this analysis understanding an
issue from the first principles. We function from the human mind. Above
it is the mind of silence of the Muni; it is followed by the mind of
illumination of the Rishi.
The yogi is the next level. He is of intuition. Beyond that is the world
of the Gods, called by Sri Aurobindo the Overmind. Lord Krishna is an
avatar from this plane.
According to Sri Aurobindo, Supermind created the world. The Overmind
takes the potentialities of the Supermind and follows them to their
uttermost possibility, where each becomes Unique. As Lord Krishna is
from this plane, the Indians have the ability to go to the very end of
any subject they choose. Winston Churchill, in his History of the
English Speaking People said that the enunciation of the first
principles has always been an anathema to the English mind.
The material success of the West, particularly the English, is largely
due to this practical bent of mind focussing on the practical use of
things. It prevents them from inquiring into the fundamental nature of
things. Hence the limitation of Science. That way Science will level off
into technology. Oddly enough, this great endowment of the Indians,
coupled with the poverty of the 19th and 20th centuries, prevented them
from exercising their minds on practically usable results.
But the endowment of Indians is a vast foundation of a knowledge that is
superior to the analysis from first principles. That knowledge will
enable man to discover practically usable results that are basically
sound in theory. Such discoveries cannot produce negative effects of any
description. Indians must pay heed to their heritage. They should be
ORIGINAL and should not seek secondary inspiration. The nation’s soil is
saturated with knowledge of the highest description. It is not for them
to look for lesser inspiration wherever it comes from.
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