Abstract
At the most mundane and basic level, the purpose of religion is to link human consciousness to the Divine. Yet it is that religion creates division, makes wars, gives rise to conflicts between people, and magnifies polarization. Sri Aurobindo’s visionary philosophy envisages a trans-religious world, a supra-religious global system, where the spiritual core of religion shall be preserved, and the ‘non-essential casket’ may be discarded. His emphasis is on the esoteric side of religion, the essential truth, the making of spiritual religion, when divisions cease, egoism erodes, the soul ascends to liberation. This shall be achieved on a cosmic scale, making a permanent base for human unity. From religion as a preparation for spiritual life and experience, a point shall be reached in the journey of evolution where the ‘religious’ man culminates in the ‘spiritual’ man. As prophesied by the visionary Sri Aurobindo, the final aim and achievement of religion is spiritual liberty, a sense of oneness with all, a transcendence and a rise to higher consciousness. The only hope is a ‘spiritual religion of humanity’. My paper explores how religion is a prelude and an aid to global spiritualization which may leave us in a state of perfect and everlasting peace, unity and harmony, sans conflicts and chaos, even sans religion.
Presenters
Madhumita DuttaAssociate Professor in English, Humanities, Vidyasagar College for Women, West Bengal, India
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Religion, Unity, Spiritualization, War, Harmony
