Man and his Destiny : Few Philosophical Reflections MA 3rd Sem Philosophy of Sri Aurobindo 3rd Paper(Optional) Varanasi. by Dr Nandini Singh Assistant Professor(Philosophy) Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith Varanasi

“Life I know not, what thou art, But know that I and thou must part, And where and how and why we met, Is to me a secret yet.” - Anonymous “I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea – shore while the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.” - Isaac Newton

Some Philosophical Questions- Who am I? Am I a machine? What is my reality? What is Consciousness? Can Consciousness be explained? Is there any life after death? What is the purpose of my life? What is my Destiny? etc

Who am I? “Know Thyself.” - Socrates “I know that I know nothing” - Socrates “Aatmaanamviddhi” “Atmaddipobhav” “Erwin Schrodinger, father of Quantum -wave- machines declared that the one and only task of science is to answer the one philosophical question , “who are we?”- The Speaking Tree, The Times of India, 25-11-02

An Integral view of our existence The multiple essence of man… The layers of our personality Physical Vital Mental Supra Mental Divine Nature Biological Social Moral etc So man is a multi dimensional being who should be treated integrally in all his aspects.

Consciousness and its Metaphysics: Is Consciousness Physical? Or Non-Physical? Or it has some other status? What are the hard and Easy questions of Consciousness? Dose Consciousness mean only Cognition? Is there any hierarchy of consciousness? Where from comes the concept of Self? Is Artificial Intelligence possible?

What is the purpose/ meaning of life? Nor Salvation or Mukti but fulfillment, perfection is the aim. Perfection is a growing movement: the maximum harmonization of all the elements present in a situation at a moment. But Perfection is relative. So the aim of life is to work for Perfection at every moment in every situation. Hence, maximum co-ordination and maximum harmony should be the aim of life.

Man and his Destiny - Savitri, Sri Aurobind “A blind God is not destiny's architect, A Conscious power has drawn the plan of life, There is a meaning In each curve and line.” , “…one is here because something to be done and this something is not anything…..since I am here it means that I have a mission to fulfill. Since I have been endowed with a consciousness, it is that I have something to do with that consciousness- what is it?” “But not for a changeless and littleness were you meant, Nor for vain repetition were you built, Almighty powers are shut in Natures cells, A greater destiny awaits you in your front, The life you lead conceals the light you are.” - Savitri, Sri Aurobind

Thank you