Having determined that the duality that leads to falsehood and evil is not inherent in the inconscient mechanical energy and formations of Matter, Sri Aurobindo proceeds to identify the origin of this duality: “The duality begins with conscious life and emerges fully with the development of mind in life; the vital mind, the mind of desire and sensation, is the creator of the sense of evil and of the fact of evil. Moreover, in animal life, the fact of evil is there, the evil of suffering and the sense of suffering, the evil of violence and cruelty and strife and deception, but the sense of moral evil is absent; in animal life there is no duality of sin or virtue, all action is neutral and permissible for the preservation of life and its maintenance and for the satisfaction of the life-instincts. The sensational values of good and evil are inherent in the form of pain and pleasure, vital satisfaction and vital frustration, but the mental idea, the moral response of the mind to these values are a creation of the human being.”
Having determined the origination of the duality, it remains to interpret its significance and meaning, as well as to find a standpoint that supports the evolutionary process which it supports. This shall be the subject of the next post in this series.
Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine, Book 2, Part I, Chapter 14, The Origin and Remedy of Falsehood, Error, Wrong and Evil, pp. 607-608
Sri Aurobindo Studies 