SOURCE: "Sri Aurobindo's Interpretation of Spiritual Experience: A Critique," in International Philosophical Quarterly, Vol. IV, No. 4, December, 1964, pp. 581-94.

In the following essay, Deutsch seeks to determine whether the three principle tenets of Aurobindo's theory of spiritual evolution—ascent, integration, and descent—can be verified by experience.

Outline of His Thought

Sri Aurobindo's philosophy consists, for the most part, of an organization and interpretation of various types of spiritual experience from the point of view of a "metaphysical" theory of evolution. This theory seeks to answer two fundamental questions: (1) What is the nature of man and the universe which makes spiritual experience possible? and (2) Under what conditions can a sustained, higher mentality and spirituality be effected for mankind?

According to Aurobindo, man is essentially spiritual. He is essentially at-one with an eternal spiritual Being—which is the true self of all beings. Accepting the Upanishad formulae "Thou art...