Spiritual History of India In the Light of Sri Aurobindo - Trailer
Channel: Evolution Fast-forward
Date: 2022-08-10

Release date: 15 August 2022

This film traces the spiritual evolution of India over 4000 years, seen through an original Indic perspective based on Sri Aurobindo’s research. 

Sri Aurobindo’s Letter - CWSA V28

In the India of Vedic times we have the record left of the other line of achievement, that of spiritual self-discovery; occult knowledge was there but kept subordinate. We may say that here in India the reign of Intuition came first, intellectual Mind developing afterwards in the later philosophy and science. [...] If we analyse the spiritual history of India we shall find that after reaching this height there was a descent which attempted to take up each lower degree of the already evolved consciousness and link it to the spiritual at the summit.

The Vedic age was followed by a great outburst of intellectual philosophy which yet took spiritual truth as its basis and tried to reach it anew, not through a direct intuitive or occult process as did the Vedic seers, but by the power of the mind’s reflective, speculative, logical thought; at the same time processes of Yoga were developed which used the thinking mind as a means of arriving at spiritual realisation, spiritualising this mind itself at the same time.

Then followed an era of the development of philosophies and Yoga processes which more and more used the emotional and aesthetic being as the means of spiritual realisation and spiritualised the emotional level in man through the heart and feeling.

This was accompanied by Tantric and other processes which took up the mental will, the life-will, the life of sensations and made them at once the instruments and the field of spiritualisation.

In Hathayoga and in the various attempts at divinisation of the body there is also a line of endeavour which attempts to arrive at the same achievement with regard to living matter; but this still awaits the discovery of the true characteristic method and power of spirit in the body. [...]

Our Yoga is in its principle a taking up and summarising and completing of this process, an endeavour to rise to the highest possible supramental level and bring down its consciousness and powers into mind, life and body.  
-  Letters on Yoga - I

This film is an elaboration of the above letter based on extensive research into the following books:
- The Renaissance in India
- Early Cultural Writings
- Letters on Yoga - I to IV
- Vedic and Philological Studies
- The Secret of the Veda
- Hymns to the Mystic Fire
- Isha Upanishad
- Kena and Other Upanishads
- Essays on the Gita
- The Synthesis of Yoga - I & II
- The Human Cycle

This is the fourth film in the Evolution Fast-forward series on the vision and work of Sri Aurobindo.

Duration: 66 min
Type: Motion graphics animation
Research, Script & Direction: Manoj Pavitran - Auroville
Animation: Hemant Shekhar - Auroville
Music: Arnab B. Chowdhury and team - Sri Aurobindo Ashram
Voice Over: Ravi Shankar - Puducherry

Made with grants from Sri Aurobindo Internatioanl Institute of Educational Research (SAIIER) and Ministry of Culture, Gov. of India.