{"id":2671,"date":"2013-07-13T01:43:08","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=2671"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:43:08","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:43:08","slug":"14-the-psychic-being-vol-28-letters-on-yoga-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/03-cwsa\/28-letters-on-yoga-i\/14-the-psychic-being-vol-28-letters-on-yoga-i","title":{"rendered":"-14_The Psychic Being.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\n\n
<p align="center" style="line-height: 150%; <\/p>\n

 Chapter Three <\/font><\/b>
\n\t<p align="center" style="line-height: 150%; <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Psychic Being
\n <\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Psychic and the Divine
\n <\/a>
\n <\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

They [the psychic being and the Divine Presence in the heart<\/i>] are
\nquite different things. The psychic being is one’s own individual soul-being. It is not the Divine, though it has come from the
\nDivine and develops towards the Divine. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

It [the psychic<\/i>] is constantly in contact with the immanent Divine
\n\u2014the Divine secret in the individual. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

It is the psychic that is in direct relation with the transcendent
\nDivine and leads the nature upwards towards the Supreme. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

The Divine is always in the inner heart and does not leave it. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

The psychic is not, by definition,1 that part [of the being<\/i>] which is in direct touch with the supramental plane,
\n\u2014although, once <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

    1 Someone had asked what the psychic being was, whether it could be defined as that
\n part of the being which is always in direct touch with the supramental. I replied that
\nit could not be so defined. For the psychic being in animals or in most human beings is not in direct touch with the supramental
\n\u2014therefore it cannot be so described,
\nby<\/i>
\ndefinition.<\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\t     But once the connection between the supramental and the human consciousness is
\nmade, it is the psychic being that gives the readiest response <\/i>\u2014more ready than the mind, the vital or the physical. It may be added that it is also a purer response; the mind,
\nvital and physical can allow other things to mix with their reception of the supramental influence and spoil its truth. The psychic is pure in its response and allows no such
\nmixture. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\t     The supramental change can take place only if the psychic is awake and is made the
\nchief support of the descending supramental power.<\/font>  <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tPage <\/font>\u2013
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\n

\n\t<p align="left" style="line-height: 150%; 103<\/i> <\/p>\n

the connection with the supramental is made, it gives to it the readiest response. The psychic part of us is something that comes
\ndirect from the Divine and is in touch with the Divine. In its origin it is the nucleus pregnant with divine possibilities that
\nsupports this lower triple manifestation of mind, life and body. There is this divine element in all living beings, but it stands
\nhidden behind the ordinary consciousness, is not at first developed and, even when developed, is not always or often in
\nthe front; it expresses itself, so far as the imperfection of the instruments allows, by their means and under their limitations.
\nIt grows in the consciousness by Godward experience, gaining strength every time there is a higher movement in us, and,
\nfinally, by the accumulation of these deeper and higher movements there is developed a psychic individuality,
\n\u2014that which
\nwe call usually the psychic being. It is always this psychic being that is the real, though often the secret cause of man’s turning
\nto the spiritual life and his greatest help in it. It is therefore that which we have to bring from behind to the front in the
\nYoga. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe word "soul", as also the word "psychic", is used very vaguely and in
\n\tmany different senses in the English language. More often than not in
\n\tordinary parlance no clear distinction is made between mind and soul and
\n\toften there is an even more serious confusion, for the vital being of desire
\n\t\u2014the false soul or desire-soul \u2014is intended by the words "soul" and
\n\t"psychic" and not the true soul, the psychic being. The psychic being is
\n\tquite different from the mind or vital; it stands behind them where they
\n\tmeet in the heart. Its central place is there, but behind the heart rather
\n\tthan in the heart; for what men call usually the heart is the seat of
\n\temotion, and human emotions are mental vital impulses, not ordinarily
\n\tpsychic in their nature. This mostly secret power behind, other than the
\n\tmind and the life-force, is the true soul, the psychic being in us. The
\n\tpower of the psychic, however, can act upon the mind and vital and body,
\n\tpurifying thought and perception and emotion (which then becomes psychic
\n\tfeeling) and sensation and action and everything else in us and preparing
\n\tthem to be divine movements. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tPage <\/font>\u2013
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\n

\n

The psychic being may be described in Indian language as the Purusha in the heart or the
\nCaitya purusa<\/i>;2 but the inner or
\nsecret heart must be understood, hrdaye guhayam<\/i>, not the outer .<\/i>
\nvital-emotional centre. It is the true psychic entity (distinguished from the vital desire-mind)
\n\u2014the psyche \u2014spoken of on the
\npage of the Arya <\/i>to which you make reference. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

The psychic is the soul, the divine spark animating matter and life and mind and as it grows it takes form and expresses itself
\nthrough these three touching them to beauty and fineness \u2014it works even before humanity in the lower creation leading it up
\ntowards the human, in humanity it works more freely though still under a mass of ignorance and weakness and coarseness and
\nhardness leading it up towards the Divine. In Yoga it becomes conscious of its aim and turns inward to the Divine. It sees
\nbehind and above it \u2014that is the difference. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

The psychic is the spark of the Divine involved here in the individual existence. It grows and evolves in the form of the psychic
\nbeing \u2014so obviously it cannot have already the powers of the Divine. Only its presence makes it possible for the individual to
\nopen to the Divine and grow towards the Divine Consciousness and when it acts it is always in the sense of the Light and the
\nTruth and with the push towards the Divine. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

   
\n\t2 The chitta and the psychic part are not in the least the same. Chitta is a term in a
\nquite different category, something from which are thrown up to be combined and set in action the main movements of our external consciousness, and to know it we need
\nnot go deep behind our surface or external nature. Category means here another class
\nof psychological factors, tattva-vibhā<\/font>ga<\/i>. The psychic belongs to one class or category
\n\u2014supermind, mind, life, psychic, physical \u2014which covers both the inner and the outer
\nnature. Chitta belongs to quite another class or category \u2014buddhi, manas, chitta, prana etc.
\n\u2014which is the classification made by ordinary Indian psychology; it covers only the
\npsychology of the external being. In this category it is the main functions of our external consciousness only that are coordinated and put in their place by the Indian thinkers;
\nchitta is one of these main functions of the external consciousness and, therefore, to know it we need not go behind the external nature.
\n   <\/font> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tPage <\/font>\u2013
\n\t\t\t104<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

<p align="center" style="line-height: 150%; 105<\/i> <\/p>\n


\n\tThe Self or Spirit and the Psychic or Soul
\n\t<\/a>
\n\t<\/b>
\n\t<p align="center" style="line-height: 150%; 105<\/i> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Spirit is the consciousness above mind, the Atman or self,
\nwhich is always in oneness with the Divine \u2014a spiritual consciousness is one which is always in unity or at least in contact
\nwith the Divine. <\/p>\n

The psychic is a spark come from the Divine which is there
\nin all things and as the individual evolves it grows in him and manifests as the psychic being, the soul seeking always for the
\nDivine and the Truth and answering to the Divine and the Truth whenever and wherever it meets it. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

All contact with the Divine through the essential substance of
\nthe consciousness is spiritual and it is that consciousness in the essential substance
\n\t\u2014what is called self \u2014that is the spiritual
\nconsciousness. The soul or psychic being is a spark of the Divine that grows and evolves through successive lives and leads the
\nrest towards the Divine. The spirit or self is the same always. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

The self feels always its unity with the Divine and is always the same. The soul is a portion of the Divine that comes down
\ninto the evolution and evolves a psychic being more and more developed through experiences of successive lives until it is ready
\nfor the divine realisation here. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

There is no distinction between the Self and the spirit. The psychic is the soul that develops in the evolution
\n\u2014the spirit is the
\nSelf that is not affected by the evolution, it is above it \u2014only it is covered or concealed by the activity of mind, vital and body.
\nThe removal of this covering is the release of the spirit \u2014and it is removed when there is a full and wide spiritual silence. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

\n\tThe soul in evolution is only a power for the evolution, it <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tPage <\/font>\u2013
\n\t\t\t105<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n

contains everything in potentiality; but that can only be worked out by the psychic being. It is quite different from the condition
\nof the self. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

There is a difference between the psychic and the self. The self is the Atman above which is one in all, remains always wide, free,
\npure, untouched by the action of life in its ignorance. Its nature is peace, freedom, light, wideness, Ananda. The psychic (antaratma<\/i>) is the individual being which comes down into life and
\ntravels from birth to birth and feels the experiences and grows by them till it is able to join itself with the free Atman above. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

The psychic being is concealed in the depths behind the heart\u2013<\/font>centre. <\/p>\n

The Self has no separate place
\n\t\u2014it is everywhere. Your self
\nand the self of all beings is the same. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Love, joy and happiness come from the psychic. The Self gives peace or a universal Ananda. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Atman, the Jivatman and the Psychic
\n\t<\/a> <\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Jiva is realised as the individual Self, Atman, the central
\nbeing above the Nature, calm, untouched by the movements of Nature but supporting their evolution though not involved in
\nit. Through this realisation silence, freedom, wideness, mastery, purity, a sense of universality in the individual as one centre
\nof this divine universality become the normal experience. The psychic is realised as the Purusha behind the heart. It is not
\nuniversalised like the Jivatman, but is the individual soul supporting from its place behind the heart-centre the mental, vital,
\nphysical, psychic evolution of the being in Nature. Its realisation brings Bhakti, self-giving, surrender, turning of all the movements Godward, discrimination and choice of all that belongs   <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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\n

\n\t<p align="left" style="line-height: 150%; 107<\/i> <\/p>\n

to the Divine Truth, Good, Beauty, rejection of all that is false, evil, ugly, discordant, union through love and sympathy with all
\nexistence, openness to the Truth of the Self and the Divine. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

The psychic is a spark of the Divine
\n\u2014but I do not know that it can be called a portion of the Jivatma \u2014it is the same put
\nforward in a different way. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

The bindu <\/i>of which you speak is not the psychic being, but the soul or spark of the Divine which supports each existence; the
\npsychic being is usually seen in form as a Purusha. The psychic being is the soul or spark of the Divine developing a form of itself
\nin the evolution which travels from life to life. The Jivatma and the soul are the same, but in two different statuses. The Jivatma
\nis the Ansha of the Divine standing above the consciousness as the individual self and unchanged by the evolution
\n\u2014the
\nsoul is the same descended into the evolution and developing its consciousness from life to life until in the opening of knowledge
\nthe psychic being realises its oneness with the self above. <\/p>\n

The ego is quite different
\n\t\u2014it is a creation of Prakriti and
\npart of Prakriti, which centralises the thoughts, desires, passions etc. of the nature and is involved in them entirely. The ego is not
\na real and eternal existence, but only a formation of Nature. It has to disappear by the coming of knowledge and be replaced
\nby the true psychic and spiritual self. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

The psychic is the soul in evolution; the Atman is the self above the evolution. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

There is always a part of the mind, of the vital, of the body which
\nis or can be influenced by the psychic; they can be called the psychic-mental, the psychic-vital, the psychic-physical. According to the personality or the degree of evolution of each person,   <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tPage <\/font>\u2013
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\n

\n

this part can be small or large, weak or strong, covered up and inactive or prominent and in action. When it acts the movements
\nof the mind, vital or physical accept the psychic motives or aims, partake of the nature of the psychic or follow its aims but with
\na modification in the manner which belongs to the mind, vital or physical. The psychic-vital seeks after the Divine, but it has
\na demand in its self-giving, desire, vital eagerness the psychic has not, for the psychic has instead pure self-giving, aspiration,
\nintensity of psychic fire. The psychic-vital is subject to pain and suffering, which there is not in the psychic. <\/p>\n

Atma is not the same as psychic
\n\u2014Atma is the self which is one in all, calm, wide, ever at peace, always free. The psychic
\nbeing is the soul within that experiences life and develops with evolving mind and life and body. The psychic does not suffer
\nlike the vital or body, it has not pain or anguish or despair; but it has a psychic sorrow which is different from these things. It
\nhas a kind of quiet sweet sadness of yearning which it feels when things go against the Divine, when the obscurity and obstacles
\nare too heavy, when the mind, vital and physical follow after other things, when evil and falsehood and darkness seem to be
\ntoo strong for the Light. It does not despair, but feels that these things ought not to be and the psychic yearning for it to be
\notherwise becomes so intense that it is felt as if something akin to sadness. <\/p>\n

As for the psychic not being in front, that cannot be brought about all at once; the other parts of the being must be prepared
\nfor the change and the veil between must become thinner and thinner. It is for that experiences come and there is the working
\non the inner mind and vital and physical as well as on the outer nature. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

What do you mean by a personal vital? What people call personality is a formation. There is no unchangeable vital personality. There is a Presence called the Purusha, something projected by
\nthe Self or Atman, which supports on each plane the formation of the personalities on that plane, but the Purusha is not a
\n   <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tPage <\/font>\u2013
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\n

\n\t<p align="left" style="line-height: 150%; 109<\/i> <\/p>\n

personality and it has no name or form. But it is best for you not to speculate too much about these subtle things at present; you
\nhave not sufficient experience to grasp correctly the complexity of the truth. The one thing you are concerned with is that you
\nhave a soul, a psychic being, which stands for your centre of existence, a part of the Divine. Become aware of that and put all
\nyour mental, vital and physical nature in relation to it, in order that they may become purified, harmonised, divinised, and the
\nsupramental being and nature may descend and be manifested in you \u2014for until this is done, this conscious linking and relation
\nwith the psychic centre, there can be no supramental descent. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Words “Soul” and “Psychic"
\n<\/a>
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The European mind, for the most part, has never been able to go beyond the formula of soul + body
\n\u2014usually including mind
\nin soul and everything except body in mind. Some occultists make a distinction between spirit, soul and body. At the same
\ntime there must be some vague feeling that soul and mind are not quite the same thing, for there is the phrase “This man has
\nno soul”, or “he is a soul” meaning he has something in him beyond a mere mind and body. But all that is very vague. There
\nis no clear distinction between mind and soul and none between mind and vital and often the vital is taken for the soul. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Psychic is ordinarily used in the sense of anything relating to the
\ninner movements of the consciousness or anything phenomenal in the psychology; in this case I have made a special use of it,
\nrelating it to the Greek word psyche meaning soul; but ordinarily people make no distinction between the soul and the mental-vital
\nconsciousness; for them it is all the same. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

“Psychic” in the sense in which it is used commonly by people has no definite meaning
\n\u2014it is applied to anything non-physical
\nor supraphysical. In the language of our Yoga it refers always to  <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tPage <\/font>\u2013
\n\t\t\t109<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n

the inner soul. Therefore the use of the words “psychic significance” is incorrect here. One can say “occult significance” or
\n“symbolic significance” or “inner significance”. “Psychic significance” we can say only of experiences belonging to the psychic
\nas opposed to the mental, vital and physical planes. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Psychic or Soul and Traditional Indian Systems
\n\t<\/a>
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It appears the Maharshi at the time supposed that by the psychic being I meant the enlightened ego! But people do not understand
\nwhat I mean by the psychic being, because the word psychic has been used in English to mean anything of the inner mental, inner
\nvital or inner physical or anything abnormal or occult or even the more subtle movements of the outer being, all in a jumble
\n\u2014
\nalso occult phenomena are often called psychic. The distinction between these different parts of the being is unknown. Even
\nin India the old knowledge of the Upanishads in which they are distinguished has been lost. The Jivatman, psychic being (puruṣ<\/font>o<\/i>
\n\tantarā<\/font>tmā<\/font><\/i>), the manomaya
\n\tPurush<\/font>a<\/i>, the prā<\/font>ṇ<\/font>amaya
\n\tPurush<\/font>a
\n<\/i>are
\nall confused together. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The antarā<\/font>tman <\/i>is the soul, the portion of the Divine that is
\nat the inmost basis of the evolving individual and supports the mind and life and body which are the instrumental parts of
\nnature through which it tries to grow from the material Inconscience towards the divine Light and Immortality which are its
\nproper being. The limitations of its instruments impose upon it an acceptance of the lower movements and a compromise
\nbetween soul and nature which retard this movement even while it gets its means of advance from that interchange. The psychic
\nbeing is the soul-form or soul-personality developing through this evolution and passing from life to life till all is ready for the
\nhigher evolution beyond the Ignorance. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

The psychic being is the Soul, the Purusha in the secret heart   <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tPage <\/font>\u2013
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\n

\n\t<p align="left" style="line-height: 150%; 111<\/i> <\/p>\n

supporting by its presence the action of the mind, life and body. The vital is the Pranamaya Purusha spoken of in the Taittiriya
\nUpanishad \u2014the being behind the Force of Life; in its outer form in the Ignorance it generates the desire soul which governs
\nmost men and which they mistake often for the real soul. <\/p>\n

The Atma is the Self or Spirit that remains above, pure and
\nstainless, unaffected by the stains of life, by desire and ego and ignorance. It is realised as the true being of the individual, but
\nalso more widely as the same being <\/i>in all and as the Self of the cosmos; it has also a self-existence above the individual and
\ncosmos and it is then called the Paramatma, the supreme Divine Being. This distinction has nothing to do with the distinction
\nbetween the psychic and the vital; the vital being is not what is known as the Atma. <\/p>\n

The vital as the desire-soul and desire-nature controls the consciousness to a large extent in most men because men are
\ngoverned by desire. But even in the surface human nature the proper ruler of the consciousness is the mental being, the
\nmanomayạ Purusạ prāṇa-śarīra-netā
\n<\/i>of the Upanishad. The psychic influences the consciousness from behind, but one has
\nto go out of the ordinary consciousness into the inmost being to find it and make it the ruler of the consciousness as it should
\nbe. To do that is one of the principal aims of the Yoga. The vital should be an instrument of the consciousness, not its
\nruler. <\/p>\n

The vital being is not the I
\n\t\u2014the ego is mental, vital, physical. Ego implies the identification of our existence with outer self, the ignorance of our true self above and our psychic being
\nwithin us. <\/p>\n

In a certain sense the various Purushas or beings in us,
\npsychic, mental, vital, physical, are projections of the Atma, but that gets its full truth only when we get into our inner being
\nand know the inner truth of ourselves. On the surface in the Ignorance, it is the mental, vital, physical Prakriti that acts and
\nthe Purusha is disfigured, as it were, in the action of Prakriti. It is not our true mental being, our true vital being, our true
\nphysical being even that we are aware of; these remain behind,  <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tPage <\/font>\u2013
\n\t\t\t111<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n

veiled and silent. It is the mental, vital, physical ego that we take for our being until we get knowledge. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

The psychic being in the old systems was spoken of as the
\nPurusha in the heart (the secret heart \u2014hṛ<\/font>daye guhā<\/font>yā<\/font>m<\/i>) which
\n.<\/i> corresponds very well to what we define as the psychic being
\nbehind the heart centre. It was also this that went out from the body at death and persisted
\n\t\u2014which again corresponds to our
\nteaching that it is this which goes out and returns, linking new life to former life. Also we say that the psychic is the divine
\nportion within us \u2014so too the Purusha in the heart is described as Ishwara of the individual nature in some places. <\/p>\n

The word soul is very vaguely used in English
\n\u2014as it often refers to the whole non-physical consciousness including even
\nthe vital with all its desires and passions. That is why the word psychic being has to be used so as to distinguish this divine
\nportion from the instrumental parts of the nature. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

I
\ndo not know what is exactly meant by this phrase.3 It is too vague and limited
\nfor a description of the psychic. Antahkarana usually means the mind and vital
\nas opposed to the body \u2014 <\/i>the body being the outer instrument and manaḥ<\/font>-prā<\/font>ṇ<\/font>a <\/i>the inner .<\/i>
\ninstrument of the soul. By psychic I mean something different from a purified mind and vital. A purified mind and vital are the
\nresult of the action of the awakened and liberated psychic being but it is not itself the psychic. <\/p>\n

Again it depends on what is meant by Ahambhava. But the psychic is not a “bhava”; it is a being, a Purusha. Ahambhava is a
\nformation of Prakriti, it is not a being or a Purusha. Ahambhava can disappear and yet the Purusha will be there. <\/p>\n

By liberated psychic being, I mean that it is no longer obliged to express itself under the conditions of the obscure and ignorant
\ninstruments, from behind a veil, but is able to come forward,<\/p>\n

\n     3 The correspondent’s letter is not available to identify the phrase. \u2014Ed.<\/i>
\n  
\n<\/font> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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\n

\n\t<p align="left" style="line-height: 150%; 113<\/i> <\/p>\n

control and change the action of mind and vital and body. Purified and perfected are not epithets that can properly be applied
\nto the psychic \u2014the psychic is always pure and has no positive imperfection. The thing that has to be perfected is its control
\nover the instruments. If it is perhaps sometimes spoken of as purified or perfected, what must be meant is the psychic action
\nin the mind, vital and physical instruments. A purified inner being does not mean a purified psychic, but a purified inner
\nmental, vital and physical. The epithets I used for the psychic were “awakened and liberated”. <\/p>\n

Spiritual individuality is rather a vague term and might be variously interpreted. I have written about the psychic being that
\nthe psychic is the soul or spark of the Divine Fire supporting the individual evolution on the earth and the psychic being is the
\nsoul-consciousness developing itself or rather its manifestation from life to life with the mind, vital and body as its instruments
\nuntil all is ready for the union with the Divine. I don’t know that I can add anything to that. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

The mental being spoken of by the Upanishad is not part of
\nthe mental nervous physical composite \u2014it is the manomaya<\/i>̣ Purusạ
\n\tprāṇa-śarīra-netā<\/i>, the mental being leader of the life
\nand body. It could not be so described if it were part of the composite. Nor can the composite or part of it be the Purusha,
\n\t\u2014for the composite is composed of Prakriti. It is described as manomaya
\n<\/i>by the Upanishad because the psychic being is
\nbehind the veil and man being the mental being in the life and body lives in his mind and not in his psychic, so to him the
\nmanomaya Purush<\/font>a <\/i>is the leader of the life and body, \u2014of the
\npsychic behind supporting the whole he is not aware or dimly aware in his best moments. The psychic is represented in man
\nby the Prime Minister, the manomaya<\/i>, itself being a mild constitutional king; it is the
\nmanomaya <\/i>to whom Prakriti refers for
\nassent to her actions. But still the statement of the Upanishad gives only the apparent truth of the matter, valid for man and
\nthe human stage only \u2014for in the animal it would be rather the   <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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\n

\n prā<\/font>ṇ<\/font>amaya
\nPurush<\/font>a <\/i>that is the net<\/i>, leader of mind and body. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Purusha Prakriti is the Kshara Purusha
\n\t\u2014standing back from it
\nis the Akshara Purusha. <\/p>\n

Ego-sense and Purusha are two quite different things
\n\t\u2014
\nego-sense is a mechanism of Prakriti, Purusha is the conscious being. <\/p>\n

The psychic being evolves, so it is not the immutable. <\/p>\n

The psychic being is especially the soul of the individual
\nevolving in the manifestation the individual Prakriti and taking part in the evolution. It is that spark of the Divine Fire that grows
\nbehind the mind, vital and physical as the psychic being until it is able to transform the Prakriti of Ignorance into a Prakriti
\nof Knowledge. These things are not in the Gita, but we cannot limit our knowledge by the points in the Gita. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Soul and the Psychic Being
\n \t<\/a>
\n <\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A distinction4 has to be made between the soul in its essence and
\nthe psychic being. Behind each and all there is the soul which is the spark of the Divine
\n\t\u2014none could exist without that. But it
\nis quite possible to have a vital and physical being supported by such a soul essence but without a clearly evolved psychic being
\nbehind it. <\/p>\n

There is indeed an inner being composed of the inner mental,
\ninner vital, inner physical, \u2014but that is not the psychic being. The psychic is the inmost being of all and quite distinct from
\nthese. The word psychic is indeed used in English to indicate anything that is other or deeper than the external mind, life and
\nbody or it indicates sometimes anything occult or supraphysical; but that is a use which brings confusion and error and we have
\nalmost entirely to discard it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t4 The original text of this letter was revised by Sri Aurobindo on two different<\/i>
\noccasions. As the two revised versions differ considerably at places, both of them are<\/i>
\npublished here, one after the other. \u2014Ed.<\/i>
\n  
\n<\/font> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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\n

\n\t<p align="left" style="line-height: 150%; 115<\/i> <\/p>\n

The psychic being is veiled by the surface movements and expresses itself as best it can through the three outer instruments
\nwhich are more governed by the outer forces than by the inner being or the psychic entity. But that does not mean that they are
\nentirely isolated from the soul. The soul is in the body in the same way as the mind or vital
\n\u2014but the body is not this gross
\nphysical body only, but the subtle body also. When the gross body falls away, the vital and mental sheaths of the body still
\nremain as the soul’s vehicle till these too dissolve. <\/p>\n

The soul of a plant or an animal is not dormant
\n\t\u2014only its
\nmeans of expression are less developed than those of a human being. There is much that is psychic in the plant, much that
\nis psychic in the animal. The plant has only the vital-physical elements evolved in its form; the consciousness behind the form
\nof the plant has no developed or organised mentality capable of expressing itself,
\n\t\u2014the animal takes a step farther; it has a vital
\nmind and some extent of self-expression, but its consciousness is limited, its mentality limited, its experiences are limited; the
\npsychic essence too puts forward to represent it a less developed consciousness and experience than is possible in man. All the
\nsame, animals have a soul and can respond very readily to the psychic in man. <\/p>\n

The “ghost” of a man is of course not his soul. It is either the man appearing in his vital body or it is a fragment of his vital
\nstructure that is seized on by some force or being of the vital world for its own purpose. For normally the vital being with its
\npersonality exists after the dissolution of the physical body for some time only; afterwards it passes away into the vital plane
\nwhere it remains till the vital sheath dissolves. Next one passes in the mental sheath, to some mental world; but finally the soul
\nleaves its mental sheath also and goes to its place of rest. If the mental is strongly developed, then the mental being can remain
\nand so also can the strongly developed vital, provided they are organised by and centred around the true psychic being
\n\u2014they
\nthen share the immortality of the psychic. But ordinarily this does not happen; there is a dissolution of the mental and vital
\nas well as the physical parts and the soul in rebirth assumes a   <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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\n

\n

new mind, life and body and not, as is often supposed, a replica of its old nature-self. Such a repetition would be meaningless
\nand useless and would defeat the purpose of rebirth which is a progression of the nature by experience, an evolutionary growth
\nof the soul in nature towards its self-finding. At the same time the soul preserves the impression of what was essential in its past
\nlives and personalities and the new birth and personality are a balance between this past and the soul’s need for its future.5 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

A distinction has to be made between the soul in its essence and
\nthe psychic being. Behind each and all there is the soul which is the spark of the Divine
\n\t\u2014none could exist without that. But
\nit is quite possible to have a vital and physical being without a clearly evolved psychic being behind it. Still, one cannot make
\ngeneral statements that no aboriginal has a soul or there is no display of soul anywhere. <\/p>\n

The inner being is composed of the inner mental, inner vital, inner physical,
\n\u2014but that is not the psychic being. The psychic is
\nthe inmost being and quite distinct from these. The word psychic is indeed used in English to indicate anything that is other or
\ndeeper than the external mind, life and body, anything occult or supraphysical, but that is a use which brings confusion and error
\nand we entirely discard it when we speak or write about Yoga. In ordinary parlance we may sometimes use the word psychic
\nin the looser popular sense or in poetry, which is not bound to intellectual accuracy, we may speak of the soul sometimes in
\nthe ordinary and more external sense or in the sense of the true psyche. <\/p>\n

The psychic being is veiled by the surface movements and expresses itself as best it can through these outer instruments
\nwhich are more governed by the outer forces than by the inner influences of the psychic. But that does not mean that they are <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t5 There are cases in which there is a rapid rebirth of the exterior being with a continuation of the old personality and even the memory of its past life, but this is exceptional
\nand happens usually when there is a frustration by premature death and a strong will in the vital to continue its unfinished experience.
\n   <\/font> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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\n

\n\t<p align="left" style="line-height: 150%; 117<\/i> <\/p>\n

entirely isolated from the soul. The soul is in the body in the same way as the mind or vital
\n\u2014but the body it occupies is not
\nthis gross physical frame only, but the subtle body also. When the gross sheath falls away, the vital and mental sheaths of the
\nbody still remain as the soul’s vehicle till these too dissolve. <\/p>\n

The soul of a plant or an animal is not altogether dormant
\n\t\u2014only its means of expression are less developed than those of a human being. There is much that is psychic in the plant,
\nmuch that is psychic in the animal. The plant has only the vital physical evolved in its form, so it cannot express itself; the animal
\nhas a vital mind and can, but its consciousness is limited and its experiences are limited, so the psychic essence has a less
\ndeveloped consciousness and experience than is present or at least possible in man. All the same, animals have a soul and can
\nrespond very readily to the psychic in man. <\/p>\n

The ghost is of course not the soul. It is either the man
\nappearing in his vital body or it is a fragment of his vital that is seized on by some vital force or being. The vital part of us
\nnormally exists after the dissolution of the body for some time and passes away into the vital plane where it remains till the vital
\nsheath dissolves. Afterwards it passes, if it is mentally evolved, in the mental sheath to some mental world and finally the psychic
\nleaves its mental sheath also and goes to its place of rest. If the mental is strongly developed, then the mental part of us can
\nremain; so also can the vital, provided they are organised by and centred around the true psychic being
\n\t\u2014for they then share the
\nimmortality of the psychic. Otherwise the psychic draws mind and life into itself and enters into an internatal quiescence. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

There is the divine spark from the beginning, the soul, in all
\nthings, but it takes a long time and a long evolution for it to arrive at a conscious expression and form of manifested being
\n\t\u2014what we call the psychic being. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

The soul is described as a spark of the Divine Fire in life and  <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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\n

\n

matter, that is an image. It has not been described as a spark of consciousness. <\/p>\n

There is mental, vital, physical consciousness
\n\u2014different from the psychic. The psychic being and consciousness are not
\nidentical. <\/p>\n

When the soul or “spark of the Divine Fire” begins to develop a psychic individuality, that psychic individuality is called the psychic being. <\/p>\n

The soul or spark is there before the development of an organised vital and mind. The soul is something of the Divine
\nthat descends into the evolution as a divine Principle within it to support the evolution of the individual out of the Ignorance into
\nthe Light. It develops in the course of the evolution a psychic individual or soul individuality which grows from life to life, using
\nthe evolving mind, vital and body as its instruments. It is the soul that is immortal while the rest disintegrates; it passes from life
\nto life carrying its experience in essence and the continuity of the evolution of the individual. <\/p>\n

It is the whole consciousness, mental, vital, physical also, that has to rise and join the higher consciousness and, once the
\njoining is made, the higher has to descend into them. The psychic is behind all that and supports it. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

The soul is always pure, but the knowledge and force in it are
\ninvolved and come out only as the psychic being evolves and grows stronger. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

The psychic being is the soul evolving in the course of birth and
\nrebirth and the soul is a portion of the Divine \u2014but with the soul there is always the veiled Divine. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

The psychic being is the developing soul consciousness manifested for the created being as it evolves. At first, the soul is something essential behind the veil, not developed in front. In
\n   <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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\n

\n\t<p align="left" style="line-height: 150%; 119<\/i> <\/p>\n

front there is only the body, life, mind. In the evolution the soul consciousness develops more and more in the created being until
\nit is so developed that it can come entirely in front and govern mind, life and body. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

The difference [between one psychic being and another<\/i>] is one
\nof evolution. The psychic being is more developed in some, but the soul-principle is the same in all. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

The soul and the psychic are the same
\n\t\u2014only as there is a vital
\nbeing supported by the vital and expressing itself through it, so there is a growing psychic being supported on the psychic and
\nexpressing itself through the soul-nature. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

But, hang it all, the psychic is part of the human nature or of ordinary nature,
\n\u2014it has been there even before the human
\nbegan. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Form of the Psychic Being
\n\t<\/a>
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Formed souls enter only into formed organisms
\n\u2014in the protoplasm etc. it is only the spark of the Divine that is there, not the
\nformed soul. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

As there is in us a mind which one does not see in form but is aware of and as there is at the same time a mental being which
\none can see in form, so there is a soul and a psychic being. The soul is the same always, the psychic being is what it develops in
\nthe evolution. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

The soul is not limited by any form, but the psychic being puts out a form for its expression, just as the mental, vital and subtle
\nphysical Purushas do \u2014that is to say, one can see or another person can see one’s psychic being in such and such a form. But
\n   <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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\n

\n

this seeing is of two kinds
\n\u2014there is the standing characteristic form taken by this being in this life and there are symbolic forms,
\nsuch as when one sees the psychic as a newborn child in the lap of the Mother. If the sadhak in question really saw his psychic
\nin the form of a woman it can only have been a constructed appearance expressing some quality or attitude of the psychic. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Yes, the psychic being has a form. But that does not appear
\nfrom the photo [of a person<\/i>]; for the psychic has not always or usually a form closely resembling that of the physical body, it is
\nsometimes even quite different. When looking at the photo [with<\/i> Yogic vision<\/i>] what is seen is not a form, but something of the consciousness that either is expressed in the body or comes through somehow; one perceives or feels it there through the photo. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Psychic Being and the Intuitive Consciousness
\n \t<\/a>
\n <\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

No, the intuitive self is quite different [from the psychic<\/i>], or
\nrather the intuitive consciousness \u2014that is somewhere above the mind. The psychic stands behind the being
\n\t\u2014a simple and
\nsincere devotion to the Divine, single-hearted, an immediate sense of what is right and helps towards the Truth and the
\nDivine, an instinctive withdrawal from all that is the opposite are its most visible characteristics. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Psychic Being and the External Being
\n\t<\/a> <\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What you experience is the first condition of the Yogic consciousness and self-knowledge. The ordinary mind knows itself only as an ego with all the movements of the nature in a jumble
\nand, identifying itself with these movements, thinks “I am doing this, feeling that, thinking, in joy or in sorrow etc.” The first
\nbeginning of real self-knowledge is when you feel yourself separate from the nature in you and its movements and then you see
\nthat there are many parts of your being, many personalities each acting on its own behalf and in its own way. The two different
\n   <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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\n

\n\t<p align="left" style="line-height: 150%; 121<\/i> <\/p>\n

beings you feel are
\n\u2014one, the psychic being which draws you towards the Mother, the other the external being mostly vital
\nwhich draws you outward and downwards towards the play of the lower nature. There is also in you behind the mind the being
\nwho observes, the witness Purusha, who can stand detached from the play of the nature, observing it and able to choose.
\nIt has to put itself always on the side of the psychic being and assent to and support its movements and to reject the downward
\nand outward movement of the lower nature, which has to be subjected to the psychic and changed by its influence. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Psychic or Soul and the Lower Nature
\n\t<\/a> <\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

All belongs to Nature
\n\t\u2014the soul itself acts under the conditions
\nand by the agency of Nature. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

The moral of the condition you describe is not that Yoga should not be done but that you have to go on steadily healing the
\nrift between the two parts of the being. The division is very usual, almost universal in human nature, and the following of
\nthe lower impulse in spite of the contrary will in the higher parts happens to almost everybody. It is the phenomenon noted by
\nArjuna in his question to Krishna, “Why does one do evil, even though one wishes not to do it, as if compelled to it by force?”,
\nand expressed sententiously by Ovid, “video meliora proboque,<\/i> Deteriora sequor<\/i>“.6 By constant effort and aspiration one can
\narrive at a turning point when the psychic asserts itself and what seems a very slight psychological change or reversal alters the
\nwhole balance of the nature. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Every soul is not awake and active; nor is every soul turned directly to the Divine before practising Yoga. For a long time <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

 
\n\t     6 “I see the better and approve of it, I follow the worse.” <\/i>Metamorphoses
\n\t<\/font>
\n7.20 \u2014Ed.<\/font><\/i>
\n   <\/p>\n

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\n

\n

it seeks the Divine through men and things much more than directly. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

In the ordinary consciousness in which the mind etc. are not<\/i>
\nawakened, the psychic acts as well as it can through them, but according to the laws of the Ignorance. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

These things, love, compassion, kindness, bhakti, Ananda are
\nthe nature of the psychic being, because the psychic being is formed from the Divine Consciousness, it is the divine part
\nwithin you. But the lower parts are not yet accustomed to obey or value the influence and control of the psychic for in men
\nthe vital and physical are accustomed to act for themselves and do not care for what the soul wants. When they do care and
\nobey the psychic, that is their conversion \u2014they begin to put on themselves the psychic or divine nature. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

The psychic is the support of the individual evolution; it is
\nconnected with the universal both by direct contact and through the mind, vital and body. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

It may be said of the psychic that it is that [the luminous part of<\/i>
\nour being<\/i>], because the psychic is in touch with the Divine and a projection of the Divine into the lower nature. But the inner
\nmind, vital and physical are a part of the universal and open to the dualities \u2014only they are wider than the external mind,
\nlife and body and can receive more largely and easily the divine influence. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

The psychic is deep within in the inner heart-centre behind the
\nemotional being. From there it stretches upward to form the psychic mind and below to form the psychic vital and psychic physical, but usually one is aware of these only after the   <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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\n

\n\t<p align="left" style="line-height: 150%; 123<\/i> <\/p>\n

mind, vital and physical are subjected and put under the psychic influence. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Psychic Being or Soul and the Vital or Life
\n \t<\/a>
\n <\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The soul and the life are two quite different powers. The soul is a
\nspark of the Divine Spirit which supports the individual nature; mind, life, body are the instruments for the manifestation of the
\nnature. In most men the soul is hidden and covered over by the action of the external nature; they mistake the vital being for the
\nsoul, because it is the vital which animates and moves the body. But this vital being is a thing made up of desires and executive
\nforces good and bad; it is the desire-soul, not the true thing. It is when the true soul (psyche) comes forward and begins first to
\ninfluence and then govern the actions of the instrumental nature that man begins to overcome vital desire and grow towards a
\ngreater divine nature. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

We are concerned with the growth of the soul out of the Ignorance, not its plunge into it. The lower nature is the nature of the
\nIgnorance, what we seek is to grow into the nature of the Truth. How do you make out that when the soul has looked towards
\nthe Truth and is moving towards it, a pull-back by the vital and the ego towards the Ignorance is a glorious action of the soul and
\nnot a revolt of the lower nature? I suppose you are floundering about in the confusion of the idea that the “desire-soul” in the
\nvital is the true psyche of man. If you like \u2014but that is no part of my explanation of things; I make a clear distinction between
\nthe two, so I refuse to sanctify the revolt of the lower nature by calling it the sanction of the soul. If it is the soul that wants to
\nfail, why is there any struggle or sorrow over the business? It would be a perfectly smooth affair. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

The psychic being is not the fulfiller of desires
\n\t\u2014it is the spark
\nof the Divine in all things manifested here that grows into the  <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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\n

\npsychic being and supports the evolution. It is that which survives the dissolution of the vital and physical sheaths and returns
\nto birth again. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

The two feelings you have are that of two different personalities or parts in the being, one which has the feeling of service is in
\nthe vital, the other which has the feeling of the child and of the self-giving is psychic. In the progress of the sadhana these
\ndifferent parts or personalities get developed or transformed and harmonised with each other
\n\u2014all becoming parts of the ultimate
\nperfection of the being in the Mother’s consciousness. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Psychic Being and the Ego
\n\t<\/a>
\n<\/b> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tThere is individuality in the psychic being but not egoism. Egoism goes when
\n\tthe individual unites himself with the Divine or is entirely surrendered to
\n\tthe Divine.<\/p>\n

                                                                                                                 
\n\t* <\/p>\n

It is the psychic inmost being that replaces the ego. It is through love and surrender to the Divine that the psychic being becomes
\nstrong and manifest, so that it can replace the ego. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Psychic World or Plane
\n<\/a>
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There is a psychic world
\n\u2014a sort of Heaven of peace and beauty and harmony. It is also a place of rest for the soul between
\ntwo incarnations in which it absorbs its past experiences and becomes ready for another birth. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

What you describe [lying calmly in a realm of peace, joy and<\/i>
\noneness<\/i>] is what we mean by the psychic being in its own plane of existence, for the psychic plane is like that. The psychic stands
\nbehind the rest of the being supporting it with its own purity, truth and joy.
\n   <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

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<p align="center" style="line-height: 150%;  Chapter Three <p align="center" style="line-height: 150%;   The Psychic Being   The Psychic and the Divine   They [the psychic being…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-28-letters-on-yoga-i","wpcat-53-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2671\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}