Sri Aurobindo: The Last Avatar w/ Neelesh Marik | TCM #33 (Part 1)

Neelesh Marik joins Bernhard Guenther to talk about Sri Aurobindo and the Integral Yoga on this episode of the Cosmic Matrix Podcast. Neelesh shares about the concept of the “avatar”, the life and different phases of Sir Aurobindo's ascension journey, the intensifying battle of dark and light during the Kali Yuga, the different stages of spiritual evolution, the trap of the over-riding mental guard/skeptic, the animal nature and the divine nature within human beings, the resistance of humanity and the refusal to rise to become “spiritualized”, the gnostic being of the future, and more. In the second hour, Neelesh shares the key principles of Integral Yoga, the process of Involution and Evolution, the emergence of the psychic being within, the difference and interrelationship between Soul (Purusha) and Nature (Prakriti), and the necessity to establish the inner witness. Furthermore, Neelesh talks about the difference between rejection and suppression/repression, Sri Aurobindo's concept of “aspiration, rejection, & surrender”, the difference between the forces of nature, the occult adverse forces, and the occult hostile forces and how they show up in our lives and in the collective (along with their teaching function), the concept of the warrior from the Integral Yoga perspective during this time of upheaval, spiritual activism, and much more. Suggested Reading: * Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness by Satprem * The Life Divine by Sri Aurobindo * The Synthesis of Yoga by Sri Aurobindo * Letters on Yoga by Sri Aurobindo * Savitri - A Legend and a Symbol by Sri Aurobindo * The Practice of The Integral Yoga by Jugal Kishore Mukherjee Video: Show Notes Part 1: * The concept of the avatar * The nature of the play of cosmic forces * The battle of dark and light has become fiercer * The Kali Yuga * The necessity of the incarnation/manifestation of the Supreme Force * The difference between Sri Aurobindo/The Mother and other teachers/masters that have come before them * Sir Aurobindo's upbringing and early life as a political revolutionary * The Ascension journey of Sri Aurobindo and different phases of his work * Experiencing Nirvana was just the beginning and not the end of Sri Aurobindo's "awakening", taking his work beyond the individual liberation * The resistance of humanity and refusal to rise to become spiritualized * The philosophical foundation of Sri Aurobindo's work * The passive and active side of consciousness * Sat-Chit-Ananda * Knowledge is power from a yogic perspective * Incomplete teachings * Whenever there are gaps/inconsistencies in a teaching (despite well-meaning intentions), the hostile forces can come in and distort/hijack it. * The necessity for Faith * The trap of the over-riding mental/intellectual skeptical guard * Mental/intellectual understanding mistaken for higher spiritual experiences * The mental consciousness is a necessary phase which needs to be dropped/opened after its full development * No stages on the path of spiritual evolution can be skipped * The Individual, the Universal, and the Transcendent * The necessity of having developed a healthy ego and Individualized self, separating itself from the group/hive mind before engaging in spiritual esoteric work and tryi...