Franklin Merrell-Wolff begins a series of lectures and classes to develop a theory and practice that leads to Realization. He suggests considering an image of ourselves occupying a sphere suspended in space as a symbol of the relative consciousness cut off from the superconscient vastness that surrounds us. He goes on to discuss the motivating factors that may drive one to seek to break out of the sphere and seek knowledge of the spatial consciousness. He discusses vairagya, faith, and replacing the desire for pleasure with a desire for ananda.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff continues this series of lectures and classes by discussing the limitations of conceptual cognition and the need to find integrating conceptions to reconcile apparently incompatible truths. He maintains that a distinction should be made between the psychosomatic theory of mind-body relationship and the theory of the superposition of the mental principle upon an evolving organic entity, as described in both The Secret Doctrine and the writings of Sri Aurobindo. He goes on to discuss the incommensurability between the conceptual order of cognition and the world of our experience. He then extends the notion of superposition to include the metaphysical statement of universal illusionism. He proceeds by elaborating upon the different attempts to interpret the relationship between the mental order and the mechanical order of our experience and concludes that the theory of superposition keeps open the door to the transcendent Realization.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff continues this series of lectures and classes with a discussion of the difference between the yoga oriented to Nirvana and the yoga oriented to life in this world. He reads a lengthy extract from the letters of Sri Aurobindo bearing upon this subject, and he outlines the aim of integral yoga as envisaged by Sri Aurobindo. He goes on to discuss the physical, vital, and mental obstacles to yogic Realization and the need for complete surrender to the Divine to initiate the transformative process of the nature.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff continues this series of lectures and classes by discussing the current state of the world and the need to grapple with hostile forces that are obstructing the spiritual power underlying the evolutionary drive and the impinging the descent of a spiritual energy from above. He goes on to outline the historic changes in our technological, sociological, political, and religious institutions that have occurred in the world since 1900 and asserts that this has brought enormous pressure on us to rise to another way of life, another way of valuation, and another way of conscious movement. He submits that Marxist materialism is the principal asuric force intent on routing out all spiritual light in this world. He contrasts the orientations to satyagraha represented by Mahatma Gandhi and Sri Aurobindo. He then goes on to discuss Sri Aurobindo’s interpretation of the Bhagavad Gita and emphatically restates his condemnation of the Marxist materialist’s drive toward world domination.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff continues this series of lectures and classes by considering some of the practical problems of sadhana such as diet, speech, health, and sex. He emphasizes the need to exert the will in coming to terms with these physical and vital factors, but also stresses that aspiration and an unconditional surrender to the Divine are needed for the descent of the transcendent power to transform the lower nature.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff continues this series of lectures and classes by restating some of the practical problems of sadhana from the previous lecture. He then introduces his main topic for the evening: the relation between Realization and an “inversion” of consciousness, which he represents by the formula “substantiality is inversely proportional to ponderability.” He expresses this mathematically, and compares the hyperbolic curve as oriented to infinity with the sine curve as representing periodicity. He discusses the self-analysis of Shankara as a means of isolating the subject to consciousness, and describes the complementary Realizations of the impersonal divine and the personal divine, and then offers a description of a still more comprehensive Realization that transcends these two. He also presents the notion of a dynamic aspect of the spiritual being, the Gnostic Being, and notes that this constitutes the advance of Sri Aurobindo’s yoga over the yogas that have gone before. He then recapitulates the earlier steps in Sri Aurobindo’s yoga in preparation for a discussion of the descent of the Supramental Being.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff concludes this series of lectures and classes with a discussion of the psychology of meditation and stresses the need for the descent of a higher power to take over and guide the sadhana. He again makes a distinction between the goal of the traditional yogas and the transformational, integral yoga of Sri Aurobindo, and he restates the steps along the way of this yoga of surrender that lead to the Realization of the Supramental Being. He offers a glimpse into the nature of the Supramental Being, the offices of its instrumental powers, and how they may be manifested.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff discusses three aims of yoga: an orientation to “liberation,” an orientation to “transformation,” and an orientation toward a synthesis of these two as presented by Sri Aurobindo. He analyzes an excerpt from Jung’s commentary on The Secret of the Golden Flower, and considers the metaphysical reality of unconscious psychical formations. He goes on to present four possible positions regarding the metaphysical reality of our sense experience. He concludes by further elaborating upon the significance of the three aims of yoga noted above.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff offers a critique of Jung’s interpretation of the incest wish and presents an epistemological analysis of the limitations inherent in the psychological and scientific approach to metaphysical subject matter. He goes on to state that Aurobindo affirms that there is a third function of cognition beyond sense perception or conceptual cognition that is capable of revealing metaphysical truth. He reviews the philosophic positions regarding the possibility of knowing whether or not there are real existents corresponding to our psychical states and outlines a meditative technique for detaching the consciousness from objects and realizing the Pure Consciousness not dependent upon the knower and the known.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff discusses Sri Aurobindo’s conception of the overhead levels of spiritual mind. He outlines the cognitive functions of “higher mind,” “illuminative mind,” “intuition,” and “overmind,” the Realization of which leads to the possible supramental transformation of man. (Please note that the first 15 seconds of the audio recording are inaudible; this section is, however, captured in the transcript.)

Franklin Merrell-Wolff continues this series of lectures with Dr. Waltmann by describing areas of agreement they reached in previous lectures. (Unfortunately, we do not know how many lectures were given in this series, and part 3 is the only other recording of this series of which we are aware.) He begins by defining the intuitive nature of Dr. Waltmann’s discourse and the “lightning strokes” of expression descending from a field of consciousness above the head. He goes on to outline Sri Aurobindo’s notion of the “overmind” and the “supermind” and stresses the demand for integration in our scientific specialties, in our political and social life, and in the “aesthetic” and “logoic” components of our consciousness. He then comments upon Dr. Waltmann’s statement regarding consciousness being based either on an organic or an inorganic base. He discusses these perspectives and refers to the development of the computer to raise epistemological questions regarding the ability of machines to think, learn, and demonstrate intelligence. He proceeds by explaining the problem of the “inversion” of consciousness and discusses the difficulty in transcribing the values of the integral consciousness in conceptual terms.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff begins this series of extemporaneous lectures on the Holistic by stressing the need for a supramental descent to resolve the complex problems facing the world today and encourages us to devote ourselves to this quest.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff addresses a group of university students concerning the psychology, cosmology, and ontology of Sri Aurobindo. He considers this material within the context of the philosophies of “universal illusionism,” represented by Buddha and Shankara, and “universal realism,” represented by Sri Aurobindo. He suggests that the resolution of this apparent contradiction is to be sought in an integrating Realization. He proceeds to elaborate on Aurobindo’s psychology and discusses the vital origin of sickness and of dream experiences. He goes on to outline the nature of intellectual mind, vital mind, higher mind, illuminated mind, intuitive mind, overmind, and supermind. He closes with a reference to the mathematics of the transfinite as a way of representing conceptually the function of the supramental principle.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff describes the nature of introceptual cognition and how this third function of consciousness differs from sense perception and conceptual cognition operating both alone and in combination with each other. He goes on to discuss the meaning of “illusion” when considered as the opposite of truth rather than the opposite of reality. He contends that while introceptual knowledge carries authority for him who has been so fortunate as to have had a Fundamental Realization, it by no means is authoritative for anyone who has not immediately imperienced the state for themselves.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff continues the quotation from William James’ The Variety of Religious Experience on the authority of mystical states; he notes that although such states have an authority for the mystic, non-mystics are under no obligation to accept this authority for themselves. He asserts that we cannot abandon discrimination when considering the meaning or value of mystical states; he then discusses the application of conceptual discrimination to the perceptual order, and notes that discrimination in the mystical order reveals that one level of knowledge is superseded by a still higher level of knowledge. He then opens a discussion of “universal illusionism” and “universal realism” by considering the three philosophic positions formulated by Buddha, Shankara, and Aurobindo. He suggests that we can achieve a reconciliation of these philosophical positions by examining the difference between the metaphysical notion of reality and the epistemological notion of truth.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff offers a rational reconciliation between “universal realism” and “universal illusionism” that is derived from his Realization that “reality is inversely proportional to appearance.” He elaborates the philosophic statement of illusionism presented by Sri Aurobindo, but maintains that illusionism is not the final word. To explicate the inverse relationship between appearance and reality, he employs the mathematical conceptions of the continuum and of limits. He also suggests that the ideas of the “nuclear sun” and the “Dharmakaya” lead to a profound understanding of “Sangsara” and “Nirvana” when used as limiting conceptions in the “Sangsara-Nirvana continuum.”

Franklin Merrell-Wolff continues his analysis of universal illusionism and universal realism and offers a theory of creation that is compatible with a theory of maya. He goes on to discuss the importance of logic in understanding the nature of being and in the practice of the yoga of knowledge. He then presents a critique of Aurobindo’s pejorative attitude toward logic and suggests that Aurobindo would be more accurate to substitute the terms ‘sophism’ and ‘paralogism’ in his evaluation of logic. Shifting subjects, he presents a picture of the political mind by commenting on a lengthy quote from Raymond Moley’s book, 27 Masters of Politics. He then offers a description of what is meant by deductive logic, inductive logic, and epistemological logic.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff offers his understanding of the real office of logic both as the master form of conceptuality, particularly in mathematics, and in the principle of law and equilibrium. He asserts that logic is not subjective, as Aurobindo implies, but highly objective and universal. He then goes on to discuss passages in which Aurobindo presents a more positive picture of the role of logic and reason, one that conforms more to his own view of the subject. He affirms that his own Realizations conferred a sense of an underlying orderliness and reasonableness abiding within the ultimate Consciousness. He comments on the nature of the logic of the infinite and provides an example of how the mathematics of the transfinite may aid in the understanding of the Realization of Brahman. He concludes that pure mathematics may lead to a Realization of pure metaphysics, and, therefore is a possible way of yoga.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff points out that the truth of the fundamental assumptions upon which we base our logical processes is not within the province of logical analysis, but is based upon material given immediately through sense perception or introceptual cognition. He asserts that when conceptual transcriptions from an introceptual source seem to be incompatible, they may be reconciled by ascension to a higher level of Realization. He goes on to discuss Aurobindo’s notion of a “Supreme Person” in The Life Divine and the non-theistic position of Buddhism affirmed in the The Mahatma Letters. He elaborates upon these two philosophical standpoints by contrasting the positivistic point of view expressed in Buddhism with the substantialistic position put forth by Aurobindo. He then quotes Jung regarding the difficulty imagining a consciousness without a center and suggests that one accept simply postulate the possibility of such a consciousness and see what consequences follow.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff continues his discussion of whether the Ultimate is a “being,” as Aurobindo has stated, or a “principle,” as maintained by the Buddhists. He comments on a quotation from the Bhagavad Gita and notes that Aurobindo holds a position that is a combination of pantheism and transcendentalism. He then offers an interpretation of the Bhagavad Gita that does not regard Krishna as a person at the root of all that is, but rather as a principle at the root of all that is. He goes on to point out the psychological similarity between Aurobindo’s pantheistic transcendentalism and theism, and expresses his lack of sympathy toward a view of the Transcendent that implies something essentially arbitrary at the root of all. He then comments on the Buddhistic approach to a principle as the root of all, which he considers the more adult attitude, and concludes that there can be a principle that is also a Person, but that this personality should be viewed as the crowning effect of the evolution rather than as the root of all that is.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff comments upon the iti-iti and neti-neti approaches to yoga and commends Dr. Joan Price for producing an abstract of Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy.