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Namah Sri Aurobindo’s Prevision of a Greater Psychology

science and metaphysical knowledge (24).” non-physical; it is a direct observation of mental
operations by mind without any regard to their
He continued, “A complete psychology physiological meaning, support, substratum or
must be a complex of the science of mind, its instrumentation (26).”
operations and its relations to life and body with
intuitive and experimental knowledge of the References
nature of mind and its relations to supermind
and spirit (25).” 1. Giorgi A. Psychology as a Human Science. New
York: Harper & Row; 1970.
“A physical science is a knowledge of physical
processes which leads inevitably to action and 2. Welwood J (ed). The Meeting of the Ways.
use of physical processes. The scientist may Explorations in East/West Psychology. New York:
only regard scientific truth and not utility; but Schocken Books; 1979, p. 224.
he can find only truth of the process of things,
not truth of the nature of things. His discoveries 3. Ornstein R (ed). The Nature of Human
bring about inevitably a utility for action; for all Consciousness. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman; 1973.
truth of process is a utility for action. Even when
not the aim of science, process and utility are 4. Sri Aurobindo. The Complete Works of Sri Aurobindo,
the soul and body of physical science. Matter Volume 12. Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram
itself is only a utility of Spirit or Nature for Trust; 1997, pp. 316-17.
physical process and action. Material energy
is an instrumental dynamis which has no 5. Ibid., p. 305
other sense of its operations. We get beyond
to a higher sense only when [we] get beyond 6. Sri Aurobindo. Complete Works, Volume 23-24;
material to mental, psychical and spiritual 1999, p. 611.
energy, to mind, soul and spirit.
7. Sri Aurobindo. Complete Works, Volume 28;
“Debatable it is whether if we knew the real 2012, p. 44.
essence of Matter and the basic, not only the
apparent, relations of mind, soul and spirit 8. Sri Aurobindo. Complete Works, Volume 23-24,
to matter and material operations, we could p. 627.
not arrive at an infinitely more potent use of 9. (Recorded by) Purani AB. Evening Talks with
physical process and operations. But in any case Sri Aurobindo. 2nd Impression. Pondicherry:
these things cannot be discovered by physical Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust; 1995, p. 405.
science; it has its limits and cannot exceed its
limits. 10. Sri Aurobindo. Complete Works, Volume 23-24,
p. 421.
“Psychology may begin as a natural science, but
it deals already with supraphysical and must 11. Ibid., p. 475.
end in a metaphysical enquiry. If one side of
the process it studies and its method of enquiry 12. Ibid., p. 628.
is physical; the other and more important is

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