Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s9.t9.9

v1.c7.s9.t9.9

In Aurobindo’s view, the evolution of the whole world is the self-descending and self-rising of the spiritual entity Bráhman, which is the process from the pure spirit state transformed to be matter, then from matter restored to pure spirit state. Aurobindo’s description of the process of Bráhman’s descending to the nature is quite similar to the process of “absolute spirit” transforming from a logical phase to the natural phase in Hegel’s philosophy. For Hegel, the “absolute spirit” is externalised or transformed to be nature, in nature the “absolute spirit” wears the material covering set by itself, and becomes the thought or concept with a wrapping shell, it is hidden behind a natural matter but manipulates the change and development of natural phenomena. For Aurobindo, Bráhman, as a “cosmic spirit”,