As with every species, man evolves in himself as well. And as he evolves, he acquires new roles and sets new goals. A dacoit turns to write an epic, and a fiery communist such as Professor Manoj DAs turns into an Aurobindonian, on the Mother's call.

An inspired DAs visited the Aurobindo Ashram at Pondicherry where he met the Mother who asked the then lecturer of English to start teaching at the ashram's school. Impressed by the Mother, he readily agreed.

But how did DAs turn to communism in the first place? "As a child," he recalls, "I saw my birthplace, Balasore in Orissa, India, devastated by a cyclone. The extent of human misery was shocking. I grew up searching for a remedy for human suffering and at that age, my idealistic young mind accepted communism as the final solution. But as I grew up, I realized that economic problems are not the only cause for human suffering."

From here a transformation began. "I realized that suffering is a problem of consciousness. In due course, I started reading Sri Aurobindo's works and finally found answers to the problems that had bothered me from childhood."

Prof Das recently visited Delhi, India, to deliver a lecture on 'Preface To The Future' at Sri Aurobindo Centre. Here are some excerpts from his speech:

"Today's man is so preoccupied with his present that the future remains behind the curtain of his vision. He is not ready to ponder over the future because he feels it is very uncertain, and even a little inward thought digs out memories of a past burdened with agonies and woes.

"The 20th century had begun with a hope that science and technology will establish a paradise on earth, and that the great ideals of democracy and socialism will abolish the enslavement of man. But today we see that most of these hopes have not been fulfilled and man still remains as unhappy as before. In fact, man's search for happiness leads him to newer needs, which are being created by merchants who make money by promoting their goods and eventually by selling dreams. The old proverb that 'necessity is the mother of invention' has been transformed into 'invention is the mother of needs'.

"Sri Aurobindo says in Life Divine: 'All human activities can be grossed under four heads: To know what is God, to realize light (knowledge), to attain freedom and bliss, and to become immortal.' But we see that our craving for knowledge has been reduced to hunger for gathering more information, and our pursuit for bliss has led us into a state of anarchic freedom. So what is it that is sabotaging human aspiration?

"The 20th century has seen more momentous events taking place than all the previous centuries. It witnessed the collapse of imperialism, colonialism, feudalism and monarchy. The 1980s saw a dreaded disease threatening mankind—AIDS, and then came the upsurge of terrorism. Amidst all this, one thing that has grown over the years is freedom. And the growth of freedom of the spirit is what the divine has planned as the next step in evolution.

"The Mother says: 'At one point of human history, the ego was the helper, but now the ego has become the barrier.' So if humanity is to transcend the present limited boundaries, consciousness has to leap beyond the ego. There was a time when humanity was benefited by the ambitions of Alexander, for without him the East and the West could not have met. But now the ego is more obstructing the divine plan than supporting it.

"In these changing times, we have to revise our value systems, as most of us have seen them failing to solve the problems of modern times. But above all, we have to firmly believe that amidst all the apparent chaos and confusion, there lies a divine plan trying to evolve us further into better beings."