Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Shedding off the body-based egoism, individual as well as collective

Sri Aurobindo recognises the importance of body; but simultaneously he reminds us that this body should not be confused with the self, the innermost nature of man. In other words, the body-based subjectivity is false. The true subjectivity is spiritual, which takes due note of the body but does not get lost in it.

While Sri Aurobindo is not seeking the Kantian ideals of the transcendental self and autonomous will, he is clear about the advisability of withdrawing from man’s material environment, without, however, rejecting it totally. The true law of social development requires of man and nation to act and think universalistically, not egoistically, shedding off the body-based egoism, individual as well as collective…

True subjectivism is a confluence of transcendental self-affirmation and identification of self with all others in the world…Only by admitting and realising our unity with others can we entirely fulfil our true self-being. [p.286, Sri Aurobindo and Karl Marx: Integral Sociology and Dialectical Sociology by D. P. Chattopadhyaya]

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