With each stage of evolutionary development, new powers of awareness, responsiveness and action come into play. The plant adds the ability to convert sunlight into life-energy as well as responsiveness to stimuli. The animal adds a basic level of mental power and capacity for communication and planning as well as locomotion. The human being adds advanced powers of speech, extensive use of tools, and mental capacities that make possible a wide variety of changes tot he material and vital levels of existence. It would therefore be reasonable to assume that with the development of the next evolutionary phase, the supramental nature, that additional new powers of knowledge and action would become manifest. In fact, there would not be any easily identifiable rationale for a next stage of evolutionary development if it did not bring with it such enhancements.
We can already observe some of these powers in a very rudimentary state as the appear sometimes in various individuals under varying circumstances. The “flash” of sudden insight, as well as the ability to move the consciousness outside of the physical body and experience events at a distance, potentially other experiences we tend to dismiss as “psychic” phenomena may be part of the mix that becomes normalized. Of perhaps greater interest would be the ability to use the new standpoint of awareness and bring the universal standpoint forward in such a way that the mind can accept its view and act upon it, thereby starting to deal with unintended consequences of mental action, as well as bringing about harmony that has eluded the mental framework under which humanity operates today.
Sri Aurobindo observes in The Life Divine: “An evolution of innate and latent but as yet unevolved powers of consciousness is not considered admissible by the modern mind, because these exceed our present formulation of Nature and, to our ignorant preconceptions founded on a limited experience, they seem to belong to the supernatural, to the miraculous and occult; for they surpass the known action of material Energy which is now ordinarily accepted as the sole cause and mode of things and the sole instrumentation of the World-Force. A human working of marvels, by the conscious being discovering and developing an instrumentation of material forces overpassing anything that Nature has herself organised, is accepted as a natural fact and an almost unlimited prospect of our existence; an awakening, a discovery, an instrumentation of powers of consciousness and of spiritual, mental and life forces overpassing anything that Nature or man has yet organised is not admitted as possible. But there would be nothing supernatural or miraculous in such an evolution, except in so far as it would be a supernature or superior nature to ours just as human nature is a supernature or superior nature to that of animal or plant or material objects. Our mind and its powers, our use of reason, our mental intuition and insight, speech, possibilities of philosophical, scientific, aesthetic discovery of the truths and potencies of being and a control of its forces are an evolution that has taken place: yet it would seem impossible if we took our stand on the limited animal consciousness and its capacities; for there is nothing there to warrant so prodigious a progression. But still there are vague initial manifestations, rudimentary elements or arrested possibilities in the animal to which our reason and intelligence with their extraordinary developments stand as an unimaginable journey from a poor and unpromising point of departure. The rudiments of spiritual powers belong to the gnostic Supernature are similarly there even in our ordinary composition, but only occasionally and sparsely active. It is not irrational to suppose that at this much higher stage of evolution a similar but greater progression starting from these rudimentary beginnings might lead to another immense development and departure.”
Sri Aurobindo, The Future Evolution of Man, Chapter Nine, The Divine Life Upon Earth, pp. 127-128
Sri Aurobindo Studies 