Dr. Beloo Mehra, Editor of Renaissance, was invited by Antioch University, Ohio, USA, to deliver this lecture on on June 18, 2022. The focus here is on the significance of the yogic work of the Mother.
Dr. Mehra begins her talk by pointing out that April 24, 1920 marks a very special date in the spiritual history of the earth. This is when The Mother arrived in Pondicherry to be always with Sri Aurobindo and collaborate in the Supramental Yoga to bring down a new consciousness on the earth. Referring to Sri Aurobindo’s comment that “it is only by a change of consciousness that the true basis of life can be discovered,” she points out that this change of consciousness, at the cosmic level, is about the change from Mind to Supermind as the founding principle of all creation, all manifestation.
Since most of audience members were relatively new to the Mother and her tremendous spiritual work – though some may have heard about Sri Aurobindo especially as the world is today celebrating his 150 years – Dr. Mehra patiently walks the audience through a brief history of the Vedic and Tantric lines of spiritual quest and realisation, before introducing them to what is unique about Integral Yoga and its aims.
She adds that before we can get to exploring a bit about Supermind, it is necessary to have a bit of background information about the spiritual history of mankind, particularly as it played out in India – that grand laboratory chosen by the evolving spirit in humanity when it comes to deeper quest and seeking on matters of the spirit. Dr. Mehra also takes a few minutes to explain what is understood by the Divine Shakti or Divine Mother in the Indian tradition.
Sri Aurobindo’s Integral Yoga, Dr. Mehra points out, is a synthesis of both the Vedic-Vedantic and Tantric spiritual realisation but also transcends them both by bringing in the element of Transformation. She further elaborates upon this point in her talk. Through her patient and specific elaboration, Dr. Mehra takes the audience to the point where she speaks about the evening of 29 February 1956, when during a collective meditation with the Mother in the Ashram playground a stupendous event happened which opened the gateway for the next future of the earth-consciousness. The manifestation of the Supramental in the earth consciousness was achieved.
Dr. Mehra also speaks about the Mother’s description of the significance of this great spiritual event as the beginning of a new world. Such colossal work required the advent of the dual avatāra– of Ishwara and Shakti – on the earth, Dr. Mehra adds. This is the real significance of the collaborative supramental yoga of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. Dr. Mehra concludes her talk with a few relevant lines from Savitri, and reading out an important letter from Sri Aurobindo where he described the Mother’s work in his yoga.
Listen to the full lecture here:
About the speaker:
Dr. Beloo Mehra is Senior Academic Mentor at AuroBharati, a vertical of Sri Aurobindo Society, Pondicherry, focusing on research and studies in Indian Culture. She edits the Society’s monthly online journal, Renaissance.
She has a PhD in Education from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA, and a Master’s in Economics from Delhi School of Economics. She also has an M.Ed. from Annamalai University. She worked as a professor for a decade in the US until 2007 when she decided to move to Pondicherry to work in the area of Sri Aurobindo Studies. She has extensive experience in curriculum development, undergraduate and post-graduate teaching and academic research in US and India, and has several academic publications and presentations to her credit.
Author of books titled ‘Understanding Contemporary India in the Light of Sri Aurobindo’ (2022) and ‘ABC’s of Indian National Education’ (2014), Dr. Mehra regularly writes for various publications on topics related to Education, Culture and Society.