Sri Aurobindo's Integral Model of Consciousness, the Seven Planes
Sri Aurobindo places consciousness as the most fundamental thing in existence. Everything else has emerged out it. He has done extensive research in consciousness and his method of research is fundamentally different from the modern scientific methods of research; his method was yogic which is Knowledge by Identity (KI). Here I will not be going into explaining the process of research but only sharing the outcome.
Consciousness is a fundamental thing, it is the fundamental thing in existence — it is the energy, the action, the movement of consciousness that creates the universe and all that is in it — not only the macrocosm, but the microcosm is nothing but consciousness arranging itself. *1
Consciousness is the great underlying fact, the universal witness for whom the world is a field, the senses instruments. *2
To me, for instance, consciousness is the very stuff of existence and I can feel it everywhere enveloping and penetrating the stone as much as man or the animal. *3
I consider Sri Aurobindo to be one of the most comprehensive and scrupulous cartographers of consciousness and he has left behind a detailed model of consciousness that is yet to be fully understood and used especially in its fine nuances. His model is integral, covering both static and dynamic side of consciousness including both individual and collective, inner and outer or subjective and objective and what is timeless and what is evolving in time.
The Integral Model
The integral model in its simplest form can be seen as a sphere or as an egg. Sri Aurobindo divides his spherical model into two haves, the upper hemisphere (parārdha) and the lower hemisphere (aparārdha), also referred to as higher Nature and lower Nature. Each of these hemispheres is subdivided into three planes each and both of them are linked together by a middle plane.
He writes:
A separation, acute in practice though unreal in essence, divides the total being of man, the microcosm, as it divides also the world-being, the macrocosm. Both have a higher and a lower hemisphere, the parārdha and aparārdha of the ancient wisdom. The higher hemisphere is the perfect and eternal reign of the Spirit; for there it manifests without cessation or diminution its infinities, deploys the unconcealed glories of its illimitable existence, its illimitable consciousness and knowledge, its illimitable force and power, its illimitable beatitude. The lower hemisphere belongs equally to the Spirit; but here it is veiled, closely, thickly, by its inferior self-expression of limiting mind, confined life and dividing body. *4
Upper Hemisphere or Higher Nature (Parārdha)
The upper hemisphere of consciousness transcends both Time and Space and therefore it is called transcendental. It is not evolutionary but eternal, timeless and spaceless. For practical and analytical purposes it is divided into three planes of consciousness Sat, Chit and Ananda or Existence, Consciousness and Delight. Together these three planes are referred to as Sachchidananda, one trinity, as it is undifferentiated oneness with three aspects.
Lower Hemisphere or Lower Nature (Aparārdha)
The lower hemisphere is composed of three planes of consciousness referred to as Mind (manas), Vital (prana) and Physical (annam) and these are the worlds of form unfolding as Time and Space. The mental plane is the world of ideas, the vital plane is the world of life-energy and the physical plane is the world of matter or the material universe known to our outward turned senses.
The Link, Supermind or Truth-consciousness (Vijnana)
The two hemispheres are linked by a plane Sri Aurobindo refers to as the Supermind or Truth-Consciousness (Vijnana or Mahas). According to Sri Aurobindo, this plane is the creator of the world of forms below it. Understanding the role of the superman is central to understand Sri Aurobindo’s work.
7 Planes of Consciousness
As a whole Sri Aurobindo’s integral model consists of 7 planes and each plane has its corresponding state of consciousness. This is the vertical hierarchy of planes of existence. We live in the physical plane.
Sri Aurobindo also divides the model horizontally which we will cover the next.
References
- https://incarnateword.in/cwsa/28/sachchidananda-existence-consciousness-force-and-bliss
- https://incarnateword.in/cwsa/21/the-two-negations-the-refusal-of-the-ascetic
- https://incarnateword.in/cwsa/27/general-comments-on-some-criticisms-of-the-poem
- https://incarnateword.in/cwsa/23/the-ladder-of-self-transcendence
