According to Sri Aurobindo, the ascending levels of awareness are as above. I have decoded these levels with the help of Subject Clearing as follows.
INCONSCIENT
The state of Total Unawareness associated with inert matter. It is the ultimate condensed knowledge.
SUBCONSCIENT
The state of awareness in terms of impressions only. Knowledge appears as automatic replay of impressions.
PHYSICAL
The state of awareness of the body. Knowledge appears as complex activity with automatic programming.
VITAL
The state of awareness which is expressed as a spectrum of emotions.
MIND
The state of awareness expressed as a spectrum of reflection, imagination, conceptualization and reasoning.
HIGHER MIND
This is the state of awareness of oneness and anomalies accompanied by thinking.
ILLUMINED MIND
At this level a person is advancing into looking instead of thinking. The anomalies resolve with flashes of realizations.
INTUITIVE MIND
At this level a person is becoming aware of the postulates, principles and laws underlying reality.
OVERMIND
At this level a person is becoming aware of oneness among the postulates in different areas of activity.
SUPERMIND
At this level all awareness is completely continuous, consistent and harmonious. There is total oneness of knowledge.
SAT-CHIT-ANANDA
Sat is the all knowing state. Chit is total awareness in this state. Anand is the bliss of total oneness of awareness.
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Seven Quartets
(From Perplexity AI)
Aurobindo suggests a grand program called Sapta Chatushtaya (seven quartets) to aid this evolution. It is a structured, comprehensive program for yogic and spiritual development revealed to Sri Aurobindo. This system organizes the aspirant’s sadhana (spiritual practice) into seven key areas, each with four elements or goals. The scheme forms a core basis of his early yogic diaries and much of his synthesis of Yoga.
Overview of the Seven Quartets
1. Shanti Chatushtaya (Peace Quartet):
- Focused on equanimity, inner peace, spiritual happiness, and joyful acceptance (equality, peace, inner happiness, soul’s laughter).
- The goal is total freedom from disturbance, sorrow, and dissatisfaction, and the cultivation of unwavering gladness and contentment.
2. Shakti Chatushtaya (Power Quartet):
- Cultivation of forces and capacities—physical, emotional, mental, spiritual—so the divine Shakti (power) can work in all parts.
- Involves development of strength, energy, faith, and dynamism in body, feelings, and mind, transforming weaknesses into strengths.
3. Vijnana Chatushtaya (Knowledge Quartet):
- Realization and application of true knowledge.
- Cultivates the higher intuitive and supramental faculties to perceive truth directly and act from spiritual wisdom, surpassing the ordinary operations of mind.
4. Sharira Chatushtaya (Body Quartet):
- Perfection of the physical body, its purification, transformation, and harmonization.
- Aims for health, endurance, purity, and the ability to hold spiritual forces within matter.
5. Karma Chatushtaya (Divine Work Quartet):
- Action and will become divinized, with work done in the world as an expression of divine realization.
- Focuses on aligning will, reception, effectivity, and success to become a true instrument for divine action.
6. Brahma Chatushtaya (Being Quartet):
- Realization of four aspects of the Divine (Brahman): pure existence (sat), pure consciousness (chit), pure bliss (ananda), and infinite nature (anantam).
- The sadhak realizes unity with all existence and abides in the divine poise.
7. Siddhi Chatushtaya (Perfection Quartet):
- Concerns the complete integration and perfection of the whole being.
- Encompasses all other quartets and perfects purification, liberation, realization, and enjoyment (shuddhi, mukti, siddhi, bhukti).
Purpose and Process
- Each quartet contains four elements, totaling 28 yogic objectives guiding seekers systematically toward integral transformation.
- Sri Aurobindo received this as a detailed inner revelation and saw its fulfillment not just as personal progress, but as a model for the Yoga of the future, suitable for integrating all aspects of spiritual life with the world.
- The sapta chatushtaya’s structure represents a uniquely comprehensive, experimental approach, reflecting Aurobindo’s synthesis of traditional Indian yogas with a forward-looking, evolutionary vision.
Context in Sri Aurobindo’s Writings
- The sapta chatushtaya forms the backbone of his private “Record of Yoga,” predating and informing his later major works like “The Synthesis of Yoga.”
- The “Quartets” scheme illuminates his broader yogic psychology, which aspires to balance and perfect all dimensions of being, from inner peace to outer action and the transformation of nature.
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