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Evolution in Religion: A Study in Sri Aurobindo and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
121 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1971
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About the author
R.C. Zaehner
35 books13 followersRobert Charles Zaehner had a gift for languages and became an expert in Oriental languages. As a result, he was chosen as a British counterintelligence agent in Tehran, Persia during World War II and an MI6 agent there after the war. He returned to academia and became Spalding Professor of Eastern Religions and Ethics at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of All Souls College, writing numerous books on religion, both eastern and western.
Information adapted from Wikipedia and the back cover of The Bhagavad-Gita which he translated and authored
Information adapted from Wikipedia and the back cover of The Bhagavad-Gita which he translated and authored
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February 15, 2018
This is the second book I read from R.C. Zaehner. I thoroughly enjoyed his 'Mysticism; Sacred and Profane', but this one did not resonate to the same degree. The set up for the book is very promising, for Zaehner intends to make a comparison between the thought of great, innovative Christian mystic Teilhard de Chardin, and wonderful Sri Aurobindo, a Hindu mystic. Both men devoted their lives' work for developing ideas of religious evolution of man through processes of transcendence and self-transformation.
The first chapter titled 'Religions and Religion' explains Zaehner's approach. "Let no one think that I regard all mystical experiences as being ultimately the same. All that I have written shows that I do not; and I have not changed my mind... All I would say is that the convergence of human personalities on to the hub and felly of the divine centre is one of the main themes of mystical experience, and it is the one consistently emphasized by both Aurobindo and Teilhard." (3) Other similarities he focuses on are the obsession of both men with human evolution, and seeing spirituality at the core of the next stage of that evolution. They both also believed firmly in the existence of cosmic consciousness, and to the possibility of the individual to experience that, instead of their normal 'ego-consciousness'. Aurobindo believed yoga was a method through which the divine immaterial could connect with the material. He says: "Heaven we have possessed, but not the earth; but the fullness of the Yoga is to make... Heaven and earth equal and one." (8) Teilhard de Chardin sought mystical Christianty, and the living connection with the Christ symbol as the key to divine realms.
The second chapter called 'A world in Travail' deals with the experience of these two mystics in the contemporary world. "Man is an abnormal who has not found his own normality", said Aurobindo. (32) Neither of the men believed that institutionalized religion could help the man to free themselves, but that the liberation ought to have been internal to be effective.
In the third chapter 'The Communion of Saints' Zaehner wanders to discuss the scene in the paradise, and the book loses its focus from the work of Aurobindo and Teilhard the Chardin. The chapter deals with the idea of heavenly communion on earth, the idea that was manifested precisely in the form of Christian Community. Zaehner emphasizes the role of love at the center of individual and collective transformation, and argues that it is only love that can guide us back to the state of co-consciousness that existed in paradise in the All-man Adam.
In the last Chapter 'Unity in Diversity - Vedāntin and Christian', Zaehner seems to have completely lost the discussion of the original two characters and ends up talking generally about the role of religion, and living faith. Although I found there to be quite some good insights, I was left with a feeling that there was no cohesion towards the end. "Religion, it seems to be, is man's reaction to the human situation as it develops when Adam, the all-man, becomes 'all-men', each separated from the other and feeling himself alone and afraid. The religious reaction to this can be either 'inward' or 'outward'. The problem is how to restore the shattered harmony."
Enjoyable read nevertheless on esoteric wisdom from a Christian author.
The first chapter titled 'Religions and Religion' explains Zaehner's approach. "Let no one think that I regard all mystical experiences as being ultimately the same. All that I have written shows that I do not; and I have not changed my mind... All I would say is that the convergence of human personalities on to the hub and felly of the divine centre is one of the main themes of mystical experience, and it is the one consistently emphasized by both Aurobindo and Teilhard." (3) Other similarities he focuses on are the obsession of both men with human evolution, and seeing spirituality at the core of the next stage of that evolution. They both also believed firmly in the existence of cosmic consciousness, and to the possibility of the individual to experience that, instead of their normal 'ego-consciousness'. Aurobindo believed yoga was a method through which the divine immaterial could connect with the material. He says: "Heaven we have possessed, but not the earth; but the fullness of the Yoga is to make... Heaven and earth equal and one." (8) Teilhard de Chardin sought mystical Christianty, and the living connection with the Christ symbol as the key to divine realms.
The second chapter called 'A world in Travail' deals with the experience of these two mystics in the contemporary world. "Man is an abnormal who has not found his own normality", said Aurobindo. (32) Neither of the men believed that institutionalized religion could help the man to free themselves, but that the liberation ought to have been internal to be effective.
In the third chapter 'The Communion of Saints' Zaehner wanders to discuss the scene in the paradise, and the book loses its focus from the work of Aurobindo and Teilhard the Chardin. The chapter deals with the idea of heavenly communion on earth, the idea that was manifested precisely in the form of Christian Community. Zaehner emphasizes the role of love at the center of individual and collective transformation, and argues that it is only love that can guide us back to the state of co-consciousness that existed in paradise in the All-man Adam.
In the last Chapter 'Unity in Diversity - Vedāntin and Christian', Zaehner seems to have completely lost the discussion of the original two characters and ends up talking generally about the role of religion, and living faith. Although I found there to be quite some good insights, I was left with a feeling that there was no cohesion towards the end. "Religion, it seems to be, is man's reaction to the human situation as it develops when Adam, the all-man, becomes 'all-men', each separated from the other and feeling himself alone and afraid. The religious reaction to this can be either 'inward' or 'outward'. The problem is how to restore the shattered harmony."
Enjoyable read nevertheless on esoteric wisdom from a Christian author.
Displaying 1 of 1 review