{"id":3750,"date":"2013-07-13T01:50:58","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:50:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=3750"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:50:58","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:50:58","slug":"07-the-central-being-and-the-soul-vol-01-first-series-1947","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/02-other-editions\/letters-of-sri-aurobindo\/01-first-series-1947\/07-the-central-being-and-the-soul-vol-01-first-series-1947","title":{"rendered":"-07_The Central Being and the Soul.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\n\n
\n

\n
\nThe Central Being and the Soul <\/font><\/p>\n

<\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nTHE soul, representative of the central being, is a spark of the Divine supporting all individual
\nexistence in Nature; the psychic being is a conscious
\nform of that soul growing in the evolution\u2014in the
\npersistent process that develops first life in matter,
\nmind in life, until finally mind can develop into
\novermind and overmind into the Supramental Truth.
\nThe soul supports the nature in its evolution through
\nthese grades, but is itself not any of these things. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe lower Nature, Apara Prakriti,<\/i> is this external
\nobjective and superficial subjective apparent Nature
\nwhich manifests all these minds, lives and bodies.
\nThe supreme Nature, Para Prakriti,<\/i> concealed behind
\nit is the very nature of the Divine\u2014a supreme
\nConsciousness-Force which manifests the multiple
\nDivine as the Many. These Many are in themselves
\neternal selves of the Supreme in his supreme Nature,
\nPara Prakriti.<\/i> Here in relation to this world they
\nappear as the Jivatmas supporting the evolution of
\nthe natural existences, sarva bhutani,<\/i> in the mutable
\nBecoming which is the life of the Kshara (mobile or <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 139<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nmutable) Purusha. The Jiva (or Jivatma) and the
\ncreatures, sarva bhutani,<\/i> are not the same thing.
\nThe Jivatmas really stand above the creation even
\nthough concerned in it; the natural existences, sarva
\nbhutani,<\/i> are the creatures of Nature. Man, bird, beast,
\nreptile are natural existences, but the individual Self
\nin them is not even for a moment characteristically
\nman, bird, beast or reptile; in its evolution it is the
\nsame through all these changes, a spiritual being
\n.that consents to the play of Nature. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nWhat is original and eternal for ever in the Divine
\nis the Being, what is developed in consciousness,
\nconditions, forces, forms, etc., by the Divine Power
\nis the Becoming. The eternal Divine is the Being; the universe in Time and all that is apparent in it
\nis a becoming. The eternal Being in its superior
\nnature. Para Prakriti, is at once One and Many; but the eternal Multiplicity of the Divine when it
\nstands behind the created existences, sarva bhutani,
\n<\/i>appears as (or as we say, becomes) the Jiva. Paraprakritirjivabhuta.<\/i>
\n <\/i>In the psychic on the other hand
\nthere are two aspects, the psychic existence or soul
\nbehind and in front the form of individuality it
\ntakes in its evolution in Nature. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe soul or psyche is immutable only in the sense
\nthat it contains all the possibilities of the Divine
\nwithin it, but it has to evolve them and in its evolution
\nit assumes the form of a developing psychic
\nindividual evolving in the manifestation the individual
\nPrakriti and taking part in the evolution. It is the <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 140<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nspark of the Divine Fire that grows behind the mind,
\nvital and physical by means of the psychic being until
\nit is able to transform the Prakriti of Ignorance into
\na Prakriti of Knowledge. This evolving psychic being
\nis not therefore at any time all that the soul or essential
\npsychic existence bears within it; it temporalises and
\nindividualises what is eternal in potentiality, transcendent 
\nin essence, in this projection of the spirit. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe central being is the being which presides over
\nthe different births one after the other but is itself unborn, 
\nfor it does not descend into the being but is above
\nit\u2014it holds together the mental, vital and physical
\nbeing and all the various parts of the personality and it
\ncontrols the life either through the mental being and
\nthe mental thought and will or through the psychic,
\nwhichever may happen to be most in front or most
\npowerful in nature. If it does not exercise its control,
\nthen the consciousness is in great disorder and every
\npart of the personality acts for itself so that there is no
\ncoherence in the thought, feeling or action. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe psychic is not above but behind\u2014its seat is
\nbehind the heart, its power is not knowledge but an
\nessential or spiritual feeling\u2014it has the clearest sense of
\nthe Truth and a sort of inherent perception of it which
\nis of the nature of soul-perception and soul-feeling.
\nIt is our inmost being and supports all the others,
\nmental, vital, physical, but it is also much veiled by
\nthem and has to act upon them as an influence rather
\nthan by its sovereign right of direct action; its direct
\naction becomes normal and preponderant only at a <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 141<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nhigh stage of development or by Yoga. It is not the
\npsychic being which, you feel, gives you the intuitions
\nof things to be or warns you against the results of
\ncertain actions; that is some part of the inner being,
\nsometimes the inner mental, sometimes the inner vital,
\nsometimes, it may be, the inner or subtle physical
\nPurusha. The inner being\u2014inner mind, inner vital,
\ninner or subtle physical\u2014knows much that is unknown
\nto the outer mind, the outer vital, the outer physical,
\nfor it is in a more direct contact with the secret forces of Nature. The psychic is the inmost being of all; a
\nperception of truth which is inherent in the deepest
\nsubstance of the consciousness, a sense of the good,
\ntrue, beautiful, the Divine, is its privilege. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe central being\u2014the Jivatman which is not born
\nnor evolves but presides over the individual birth and
\n.evolution\u2014puts forward a representative of himself on
\neach plane of the consciousness. On the mental plane
\nit is the true mental being, manomaya purusha,<\/i> on the
\nvital plane the true vital being, pranamaya purusha,<\/i> on
\nthe physical plane the true physical being, annamaya
\npurusha.<\/i> Each being, therefore is, so long as the
\nignorance lasts, centred round his mental, vital or
\nphysical Purusha, according to the plane on which
\nhe predominantly lives, and that is to him his central
\nbeing. But the true representative all the time is <\/font><\/p>\n

\nconcealed behind the mind, vital and physical\u2014it is the psychic, our inmost being. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nWhen the inmost knowledge begins to come, we
\nbecome 
\naware of the psychic being within us and it comes <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 142<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nforward and leads the sadhana. We become aware also
\nof the Jivatman, the undivided Self or Spirit above
\nthe manifestation of which the psychic is the
\nrepresentative here. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 143<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nJivatman, Spark\u2014Soul and Psychic Being<\/a>
\n<\/b>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nTHE Jivatman, spark-soul and psychic being are three different forms of the same reality and
\nthey must not be mixed up together, as that confuses
\nthe clearness of the inner experience. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe Jivatman or spirit, as it is usually called
\nin English, is self-existent above the manifested or
\ninstrumental being\u2014it is superior to birth and death,
\nalways the same, the individual Self or Atman. It
\nis the eternal true being of the individual. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe soul is a spark of the Divine which is not
\nseated above the manifested being, but comes down
\ninto the manifestation to support its evolution in the
\nmaterial world. It is at first an undifferentiated power
\nof the divine consciousness containing all possibilities
\nwhich have not yet taken form, but to which it is the
\nfunction of evolution to give form. This spark is there
\nin all living beings from the lowest to the highest. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe psychic being is formed by the soul in its evolution. 
\nIt supports the mind, vital, body, grows by
\ntheir experiences, carries the nature from life to life.
\nIt is the psychic or chaitya purusha.<\/i> At first it is veiled <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 144<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nby mind, vital and body, but as it grows, it becomes
\ncapable of coming forward and dominating the mind,
\nlife and body; in the ordinary man it depends on them
\nfor expression and is not able to take them up and
\nfreely use them. The life of the being is animal or
\nhuman and not divine. When the psychic being can
\nby sadhana become dominant and freely use its
\ninstruments, then the impulse towards the Divine
\nbecomes complete and the transformation of mind,
\nvital and body, not merely their liberation, becomes
\npossible. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe Self or Atman being free and superior to birth
\nand death the experience of the Jivatman and its unity
\nwith the supreme or universal Self brings the sense of
\nliberation, it is this which is necessary for the supreme
\nspiritual deliverance: but for the transformation of the
\nlife and nature the awakening of the psychic being and
\nand its rule over the nature are indispensable. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe psychic being realises its oneness with the
\ntrue being, the Jivatman, but it does not change
\ninto it. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe bindu<\/i> seen above may be a symbolic way of
\nseeing the Jivatman, the portion of the Divine; the
\naspiration there would naturally be for the opening of
\nthe higher consciousness so that the being may dwell
\nthere and not in the ignorance. The Jivatman is already
\none with the Divine in reality, but what is needed
\nis that the rest of the consciousness should
\nrealise it. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe aspiration of the psychic being is for the <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 145<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nopening of the whole lower nature, mind, vital, body to
\nthe Divine, for the love and union with the Divine,
\nfor its presence and power within the heart, for the
\ntransformation of the mind, life and body by the
\ndescent of the higher consciousness into this instrumental 
\nbeing and nature. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nBoth aspirations are essential and indispensable
\nfor the fullness of this Yoga. When the psychic
\nimposes its aspiration on the mind, vital and body,
\nthen they too aspire and this is what was felt as the
\naspiration from the level of the lower being. The
\naspiration felt above is that of the Jivatman for the
\nhigher consciousness with its realisation of the One
\nto manifest in the being. Therefore both aspirations
\nhelp each other. The seeking of the lower being is
\nnecessarily at first intermittent and oppressed by the
\nordinary consciousness. It has, by sadhana, to become
\nclear, constant, strong and enduring. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe sense of peace, purity and calm is brought
\nabout by the union of the lower with the higher consciousness. 
\nIt is usually either intermittent or else
\nremains in a deeper consciousness, veiled often by
\nthe storms and agitations of the surface, it is seldom
\npermanent at first, but it can become permanent by
\nincreased frequency and endurance of the calm and
\npeace and finally by the full descent of the eternal
\npeace and calm and silence of the higher conscious-
\nness into the lower nature. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n***<\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 146<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nThe Jiva is realised as the individual Self, Atman, the central being above the Nature, calm, untouched
\nby the movements of Nature but supporting their evolution though not involved in it. Through this
\nrealisation silence, freedom, wideness, mastery, purity,
\na sense of universality in the individual as one
\ncentre of this divine universality become the normal
\nexperience. The psychic is realised as the Purusha
\nbehind the heart. It is not universalised like the
\nJivatman, but is the individual soul supporting from
\nits place behind the heart-centre the mental, vital,
\nphysical, psychic evolution of the being in Nature.
\nIts realisation brings Bhakti, self-giving, surrender,
\nturning of all the movements Godward, discrimination 
\nand choice of all that belongs to the Divine Truth,
\nGood, Beauty, rejection of all that is false, evil, ugly,
\ndiscordant, union through love and sympathy with
\nall existence, openness to the Truth of the Self and
\nthe Divine. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n.8-1-1937 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 147<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nThe Psychic Being<\/a>
\n<\/b>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nTHE psychic is not, by definition,* that part:  which is in direct touch with the Supramental
\nplane,\u2014although, once the connection with the Supramental 
\nis made, it gives to it the readiest response.
\nThe psychic part of us is something that comes direct
\nfrom the Divine and is in touch with divine possibilities 
\nthat supports this lower triple manifestation
\nof mind, life and body. There is this divine element
\nin all living beings but<\/i> it stands hidden behind the
\nordinary consciousness, is not at first developed and,
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n_________________________<\/font><\/p>\n

\n*Someone had asked what the psychic being was, whether it.
\ncould be defined as that part of the being which is always in
\ndirect touch with the supramental. I replied that it could not be
\nso defined. For the psychic being in animals or in most human
\nbeings is not in direct touch with the supramental\u2014therefore it
\ncannot be so described, by definition.<\/i> <\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\nBut once the connection between the supramental and the
\nhuman consciousness is made, it is the psychic being that gives
\nthe readiest response\u2014<\/i>more ready than the mind, the vital or the
\nphysical. It may be added that it is also a purer response; the
\nmind, vital and physical can allow other things to mix with.
\ntheir reception of the supramental influence and spoil its truth.
\nThe psychic is pure in its response and allows no such mixture. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe supramental change can take place only if the psychic is
\nawake and is made the chief support of the descending
\nsupramental power. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 148<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\neven when developed, is not always or often in the
\nfront; it expresses itself, so far as the imperfection
\nof the instruments allows, by their means and under
\ntheir limitations. It grows in the consciousness by
\nGodward experience, gaining strength every time
\nthere is a higher movement in us, and, finally, by the
\naccumulation of these deeper and higher movements,
\nthere is developed a psychic individuality,\u2014that which
\nwe call usually the psychic being. It is always this
\npsychic being that is the real, though often the secret
\ncause of man’s turning to the spiritual life and his
\ngreatest help in it. It is therefore that which we have
\nto bring from behind to the front in the Yoga. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe word ‘soul’, as also the word ‘psychic’, is used
\nvery vaguely and in many different senses in the
\nEnglish language. More often than not in ordinary
\nparlance no clear distinction is made between mind
\nand soul and often there is an even more serious
\nconfusion, for the vital being of desire\u2014the false
\nsoul or desire-soul\u2014is intended by the words soul
\nand psychic and not the true soul, the psychic being.
\nThe psychic being is quite different from the mind
\nor vital; it stands behind them where they meet in
\nthe heart. Its central place is there, but behind the
\nheart rather than in the heart; for what men call
\nusually the heart is the seat of emotion, and human
\nemotions are mental-vital impulses, not ordinarily
\npsychic in their nature. This mostly secret power
\nbehind, other than the mind and the life-force, is
\nj the true soul, the psychic being in us. The power <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 149<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nof the psychic, however, can act upon the mind and
\nvital and body, purifying thought and perception
\nand emotion (which then becomes psychic feeling)
\nand sensation and action and everything eke in us
\nand preparing them to be divine movements. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe psychic being may be described in Indian
\nlanguage as the Purusha in the heart or the chaitya
\npurusha*<\/i> but the inner or secret heart must be understood, 
\nhridaye guhayam,<\/i> not the outer vital-emotional
\ncentre. It is the true psychic entity (distinguished
\nfrom the vital desire-mind)\u2014the psyche\u2014spoken
\nof in the page of the \u201cArya\u201d to which you make
\nreference. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n____________________<\/font><\/p>\n

\n*The chitta and the psychic part are not in the least the same.
\nChitta is a term in a quite different category in which are coordinated 
\nand put into their place the main functionings of our
\nexternal consciousness, and to know it we need not go behind
\nour surface or external nature. Category means here another
\nclass of psychological factors, tattva vibhaga.<\/i> The psychic
\nbelongs to one class\u2014supermind, mind, life, psychic, physical\u2014
\nand covers both the inner and the outer nature. Chitta belongs
\nto quite another class or category\u2014buddhi, manas, chitta, prana,
\netc.\u2014which is the classification made by ordinary Indian
\npsychology; it covers only the psychology of the external
\nbeing. In this category it is the main functions of our external
\nconsciousness only that are co-ordinated and put in their place
\nby the Indian thinkers ; chitta is one of these main functions of
\nthe external consciousness and, therefore, to know it<\/b> we need
\nnot go behind the external nature. <\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 150<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nPsychic Essence and Psychic Being<\/a>
\n<\/b>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nA DISTINCTION has to be made between the
\nsoul in its essence and the psychic being.
\nBehind each and all there is the soul which is the spark 
\nof the Divine\u2014none could exist without that. But it
\nis quite possible to have a vital and physical being
\nwithout a clearly evolved psychic being behind it.
\nStill, one cannot make general statements that no
\naboriginal has a soul or there is no display of soul
\nanywhere. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe inner being is composed of the inner mental,
\ninner vital, inner physical,\u2014but that is not the psychic
\nbeing. The psychic is the inmost being and quite
\ndistinct from these. The word psychic is indeed used
\nin English to indicate anything that is other or deeper
\nthan the external mind, life and body, anything occult
\nor supraphysical, but that is a use which brings
\nconfusion and error and we entirely discard it when
\nwe speak or write about Yoga. In ordinary parlance
\nwe may sometimes use the word psychic in the looser
\npopular sense or in poetry, which is not bound to
\nintellectual accuracy, we may speak of the soul <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 151<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nsometimes in the ordinary and more external sense or in the sense of the true psyche. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe psychic being is veiled by the surface
\nmovements 
\nand expresses itself as best it can through
\nthese outer instruments which are more governed by
\nthe outer forces than by the inner influences of the
\npsychic. But that does not mean that they are entirely
\nisolated from the soul. The soul is in the body in
\nthe same way as the mind or vital\u2014but the body
\nit occupies is not this gross physical frame only,
\nbut the subtle body also. When the gross sheath
\nfalls away, the vital and mental sheaths of the body
\nstill remain as the soul’s vehicle till these too dissolve. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe soul of a plant or an animal is not altogether
\ndormant\u2014only its means of expression are less developed 
\nthan those of a human being. There is<\/i> much
\nthat is psychic in the plant, much that is psychic
\nin the animal. The plant has only the vital-physical
\nevolved in its form, so it cannot express itself, the
\nanimal has a vital mind and can, but its consciousness
\nis limited and its experiences are limited, so the
\npsychic essence has a less developed consciousness
\nand experience than is present or at least possible
\nin man. All the same, animals have a soul and can
\n.respond very readily to the psychic in man. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe ghost is of course not the soul. It is either
\nthe man appearing in his vital body or it is a fragment
\nof his vital that is seized on by some vital force or
\nbeing. The vital part of us normally exists after the
\ndissolution of the body for some time and passes <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 152<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\naway into the vital plane where it remains till the
\nvital sheath dissolves. Afterwards it passes, if it is
\nmentally evolved, in the mental sheath to some mental
\nworld and finally the psychic leaves its mental sheath
\nalso and goes to its place of rest. If the mental is
\nstrongly developed, then the mental part of us can
\nremain; so also can the vital, provided they are
\norganised by and centred round the true psychic
\nbeing\u2014for they then share the immortality of the
\np psychic. Otherwise the psychic draws mind and life
\n‘ into itself and enters into an internatal quiescence. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n14-10-1934 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 153<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nContribution of Psychic Being to Sadhana<\/a>
\n<\/b>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nTHE contribution of the psychic being to the
\nsadhana is: (l) love and bhakti, a love not vital,
\ndemanding and egoistic but unconditioned and without
\nclaims, self-existent; (2) the contact or the presence
\nof the Mother within; (3) the unerring guidance
\nfrom within; (4) a quieting and purification of the
\nmind, vital and physical consciousness by their subjection 
\nto the psychic influence and guidance; (5) the
\nopening up of all this lower consciousness to the
\nhigher spiritual consciousness above for its descent
\ninto a nature prepared to receive it with a complete
\nreceptivity and right attitude\u2014for the .psychic brings
\nin everything right thought, right perception, right
\nfeeling, right attitude. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nOne can raise up one’s consciousness from the
\nmental and vital and bring down the power, Ananda,
\nlight, knowledge from above; but this is far more
\ndifficult and uncertain in its result, even dangerous,
\nif the being is not prepared or not pure enough.
\nTo ascend with the psychic for the purpose is by
\nfar the best way. If you are thus rising from the <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 154<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\npsychic centre, so much the better. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nWhat you say indicates that the psychic and mental
\ncentres are in communication and through them you-
\nare able to bring down things from the higher
\nconsciousness. But you have not changed your head
\ncentre for the above-head centre or for the above-head 
\nwideness. That usually comes by a gradual rising
\nof the conscious parts to the top of the head and then
\nabove it. But this must not be strained after or forced?.
\nit will come of itself. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n10-4-1936<\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 155<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nPsychicisation and Spiritual Change<\/a>
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPSYCHICISATION means the change of the
\nlower nature bringing right vision into the mind,
\nright impulse and feeling into the vital, right movement 
\nand habit into the physical\u2014all turned towards
\nthe Divine, all based on love, adoration, bhakti\u2014
\nfinally the vision and sense of the Mother everywhere
\nin all as well as in the heart, her Force working in
\nthe being, faith, consecration, surrender. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe spiritual change is the established descent of
\nthe peace, light, knowledge, power, bliss from above,
\nthe awareness of the Self and the Divine and of a
\nhigher cosmic consciousness and the change of the
\nwhole consciousness to that. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n9-7-1937 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 156<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nThe Psychic Being and the Desire Soul<\/a>
\n<\/b>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nTHE psychic being is the soul, the Purusha in
\nthe secret heart supporting by its presence the
\naction of the mind, life and body. The vital is the
\npranamaya purusha<\/i> spoken of in the Taittiriya Upanishad,<\/i>  <\/i>the being behind the Force of Life, in its outer
\nform in the ignorance it generates the desire-soul
\nwhich governs most men and which they mistake
\noften for the real soul. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe Atman is the Self or Spirit that remains above
\npure and stainless, unaffected by the stains of life,
\nby desire and ego and ignorance. It is realised as
\nthe true being of the individual, but also more widely
\nas the same being<\/i> in all and as the Self in the cosmos; it has also a self-existence above the individual and
\ncosmos and it is then called the Paramatma, the
\nsupreme Divine Being. This distinction has nothing to
\ndo with the distinction between the psychic and the
\nvital: the vital being is not what is known as the
\nAtman. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe vital as the desire-soul and
\ndesire-nature controls 
\nthe consciousness to a large extent in most men, <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 157<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nbecause men are governed by desire. But even in
\nthe surface human nature the proper ruler of the
\nconsciousness is the mental being, manomaya purusha
\nprana sharira neta<\/i> of the Upanishad. The psychic
\ninfluences the consciousness from behind, but one
\nhas to go in out of the ordinary consciousness into
\nthe inmost being to find it and make it the ruler of
\nthe consciousness as it should be. To do that is one of the principal aims of the Yoga. The vital
\nshould be an instrument of the consciousness, not its ruler. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe vital being is not the I\u2014the ego is mental,
\nvital, physical. Ego implies the identification of our
\nexistence with outer self, the ignorance of our true self above and our psychic being within us. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIn a certain sense the various Purushas or beings
\nin us, psychic, mental, vital, physical are projections of the Atman, but that gets its full truth only when we get into our inner being and know the inner
\ntruth of ourselves. On the surface, in the ignorance,
\nit is the mental, vital, physical Prakriti that acts and
\nthe Purusha is disfigured, as it were, in the action of
\nthe Prakriti. It is not our true mental being, our true vital being, our true physical being even that we are aware of; these remain behind veiled and
\nsilent. It is the mental, vital, physical ego that we take for our being until we get knowledge. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 158<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nDuality of Being<\/a>
\n<\/b>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nIN the experience of Yoga the self or being is
\nan essence one with the Divine or at least
\nit is a portion of the Divine and has all the divine
\npotentialities. But in manifestation it takes two
\naspects, the Purusha and Prakriti, conscious being and
\nNature. In Nature here the Divine is veiled, and the
\nindividual being is subjected to Nature which acts
\nhere as the lower Prakriti, a force of Ignorance,
\nAvidya. The Purusha in itself is divine, but exteriorised 
\nin the ignorance of Nature it is the individual
\napparent being imperfect with her imperfection.
\nThus the soul or psychic essence, which is the
\nPurusha entering into the evolution and supporting it,
\ncarries in itself all the divine potentialities ; but the
\nindividual psychic being which it puts forth as its
\nrepresentative assumes the imperfection of Nature
\nand evolves in it till it has recovered its full psychic
\nessence and united itself with the Self above of which
\nthe soul is the individual projection in the evolution.
\nThis duality in the being on all its planes,\u2014for it
\nis m different ways not only of the Self and the
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 159<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\npsychic but of the mental, vital and physical Purushas
\n\u2014has to be grasped and accepted before the
\nexperiences of the Yoga can be fully understood. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe Being is one throughout, but on each plane
\nof Nature, it is represented by a form of itself which
\nis proper to that plane, the mental Purusha in the
\nmental plane, the vital Purusha in the vital, the
\nphysical Purusha in the physical. The Taittiriya
\nUpanishad speaks of two other planes of the being,
\nthe Knowledge or Truth plane and the Ananda
\nplane each with its Purusha, but although influences
\nmay come down from them these are superconscient
\nto the human mind and their nature is not organised
\nhere. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n8-11-1936 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 160<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nThe Inner and the Psychic Being<\/a>
\n<\/b>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nI DID not mean by the inner being the psychic
\nor inmost being. It is the psychic being that 
\nfeels love, bhakti and union with the Mother. I was
\nspeaking of the inner mental, inner vital, inner physical; 
\nin order to reach the hidden seat of the psychic
\none has first to pass through these things. When one
\nleaves the outer consciousness and goes inside, it
\nis here that one enters\u2014some or most entering into
\nthe inner vital first, others into the inner mental
\nor inner physical. It is absolutely necessary for our
\npurpose that one should become conscious in these
\ninner regions, for if they are not awake, then the
\npsychic being has no proper and sufficient instrumentation 
\nfor its activities; it has then only the outer mind,
\nouter vital and body for its means and these are too
\nsmall and narrow and obscure. You as yet have been
\nable to enter only the outskirts of the inner vital and
\nare still insufficiently conscious there. By becoming
\nmore conscious there and going deeper one can reach
\nthe psychic\u2014the safe refuge, nirapada sthana, of<\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 161<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nwhich you speak; then you will not be disturbed by
\nthe confused visions and experiences of the inner
\nvital outskirts. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 162<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\n
\nThe Inner and the Higher Consciousness
\n<\/a> <\/font><\/p>\n

<\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nTHE inner consciousness means <\/b> the inner mind, inner vital, inner physical and behind them
\nthe psychic which is their inmost being. But the
\ninner mind is not the higher mind, it is more in touch
\nwith the universal forces and more open to the higher
\nconsciousness and capable of an immensely deeper and
\nlarger range of action than the outer or surface mind
\n\u2014but it is of the same essential nature. The higher
\nconsciousness is above the ordinary mind and different 
\nfrom it in its workings, it ranges from higher
\nmind through illumined mind, intuition and overmind 
\nupto the border line of the Supramental.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nIf the psychic were liberated, free to act in its own
\nway, there would not be all this stumbling in the
\nignorance. But the psychic is covered up by the
\nignorant mind, vital and physical and compelled to act
\nthrough them according to the law of the Ignorance.
\nIf it is liberated from this covering, then it can act
\naccording to its own nature with a free aspiration,
\na direct contact with the higher consciousness and
\na power to change the ignorant nature. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 163<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nThe Environmental Consciousness<\/a>
\n<\/b>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nEACH man has his own personal consciousness
\nentrenched in his body and gets into touch; with his surroundings only through his <\/b> body and
\nsenses and the mind using the senses. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nYet all the time the universal forces are pouring into
\nhim without his knowing it. He is aware only of
\nthoughts, feelings, etc., that rise to the surface and these he takes for his own. Really they come
\nfrom
\noutside in mind waves, vital waves, waves of feeling
\nand sensation, etc., which take particular form in
\nhim and rise to the surface after they have got
\ninside. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nBut they do not get into his body at once. He
\ncarries about with him an environmental consciousness 
\n(called by the Theosophists the Aura) into which
\nthey first enter. If you can become conscious of this
\nenvironmental self of you, then you can catch the
\nthought, passion, suggestion, or force of illness and.
\nprevent it from entering into you. If things in you
\nare thrown out, they often do not go altogether but
\ntake refuge in this environmental atmosphere and from <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 164<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nthere they try to get in again. <\/b> Or they go to a distance outside but linger on the outskirts or even perhaps
\nfar off, waiting till they get an opportunity to
\nattempt entrance. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 165<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nThe Cosmic Consciousness<\/a>
\n<\/b>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nIT is not possible for the individual mind, so long as it remains shut up in its personality,
\n<\/b>to <\/b>understand the workings of the Cosmic Will, for the
\nstandards made by the personal consciousness are
\nnot applicable to them. A cell in the body, if conscious,
\nmight also think that the human being and its actions
\nare only the resultant of the relations and workings of
\na number of cells like itself and not the action of a
\nunified self. It is only if one enters into the Cosmic
\nConsciousness that one begins to see the forces at work
\nand the lines on which they work and get a glimpse
\nof the Cosmic Self and the Cosmic Mind and Will. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n1-2-1937<\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 166<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nPsychic Mind and Spiritual Mind<\/a><\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nWHEN the mind is turned towards the Divine and the Truth and feels and responds to that
\nonly or mainly, it can be called a psychic mind\u2014it is
\nsomething formed by the influence of the psychic
\nbeing on the mental plane. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe spiritual mind is a mind which, in its fulness,
\nis aware of the Self, reflecting the Divine, seeing and
\nunderstanding the nature of the Self and its relations
\nwith the manifestation, living in that or in contact
\nwith it, calm, wide and awake to higher knowledge,
\nnot perturbed by the play of the forces. When it
\ngets its full liberated movement, its central station is
\nvery usually felt above the head, though its influence
\ncan extend downward through all the being and out-ward <\/font><\/p>\n

\nthrough space. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 167<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nThe Higher Mind<\/a>
\n<\/font>
\n\t\t\t<\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nTHIS must be the psychicised higher mental being\u2014the position above the head points to
\nthat. In other words, you have become aware of
\nyour higher mental being which is in contact at once
\nwith the Divine above and with the psychic behind
\nthe heart and is aware of the Truth and has the
\npsychic and spiritual insight and view into things. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nAbove the head extends the higher consciousness
\ncentre, sahasradala padma.<\/i> But usually there is
\npartial working of the forehead centre also when the
\nsahasradala<\/i> opens. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe ordinary mind is at its highest the free intelligence,  receiving perhaps intuitions and intimations
\nfrom above which it intellectualises. It is on the surface  and sees things from outside except in so far as
\nit is helped by intuition and other powers to see a
\nlittle deeper. When this ordinary mind opens within
\nto inner mind and psychic and above to higher mind
\nand higher consciousness generally, then it begins to
\nbe spiritualised and its highest ranges merge into the
\nspiritual mind-consciousness of which this higher <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 168<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nmind can be a beginning. This merging is part of the
\nspiritual transformation. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nFor the mind there are many centres: (l) the
\nsahasradala<\/i> which centralises spiritual mind, higher
\nmind, intuitive mind and acts as a- receiving station
\nfor the intuition proper and overmind, (2) the centre
\nin the forehead for inner thought, will and vision,
\n(3) the throat centre for the externalising or physical
\nmind. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 169<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nFour Parts of the Vital Being<\/a>
\n<\/b>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nTHERE are four parts of the vital being\u2014first, the mental vital which gives a mental expression
\nby thought, speech or otherwise to the emotions,
\ndesires, passions, sensations and other movements
\nof the vital being; the emotional vital which is the seat
\nof various feelings such as love, joy, sorrow, hatred,
\nand the rest; the central vital which is the. seat of the
\nstronger vital longings and reactions, e.g. ambition, pride, fear, love of fame,
\nattractions and repulsions,
\ndesires and passions of various kinds and the field
\nof many vital energies; last, the lower vital which is
\noccupied with small desires and feelings, such as make
\nthe greater part of daily life, e.g. food desire, sexual
\ndesire, small likings, dislikings, vanity, quarrels, love
\nof praise, anger at blame, little wishes of all kinds\u2014
\nand a numberless host of other things. Their respective  seats are (i) the region from the throat to the
\nheart, (2) the heart (it is a double centre, belonging
\nin front to the emotional and vital and behind to the
\npsychic), (3) from the heart to the navel, (4) below
\nthe navel. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 170<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nThe Emotional and the Higher Vital<\/a>
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nTHE point about the emotional and the higher vital is a rather difficult one. In the classification
\nin which the mind is taken as something more than
\nthe thinking, perceiving and willing intelligence, the
\nemotional can be reckoned as part of the mind, the
\nvital in the mental. In another classification it is
\nrather the most mentalised part of the vital nature.
\nIn the first case, the term higher vital is confined to
\nthat larger movement of the conscious life-force
\nwhich is concerned with creation, with power and
\nforce and conquest, with giving and self-giving and gathering from the world for
\nfurther action and expenditure  of power, throwing itself out in the wider
\nmovements of life, responsive to the greater objects
\nof Nature. In the second arrangement, the emotional
\nbeing stands at the top of the vital nature and the
\ntwo together make the higher vital. As against them
\nstands the lower vital which is concerned with the
\npettier movements of action and desire and stretches
\ndown into the vital physical where it supports the
\nlife of the more external activities and all physical <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 171<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nsensations, hungers, cravings, satisfactions. The term
\nlower must not be considered in a pejorative sense; it refers only to the position in the hierarchy of the
\nplanes. For although this part of the nature in earthly
\nbeings tends to be very obscure and is full of perversions, \u2014lust, greed of all kinds, vanity, small ambitions,  petty anger, envy, jealousy are its ordinary
\nguests,\u2014still there is another side to it which makes
\nit an indispensable mediator between the inner
\nbeing and the outer life. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIt is not a fact that every psychic experience
\nembodies itself in a purified and rightly directed
\nvital current; it does that when it has to externalise
\nitself in action. Psychic experience is in itself a
\nquite independent thing and has its own characteristic
\nforms. The psychic being stands behind all the
\nothers; its force is the true soul-power. But if it
\ncome? to the front, it can suffuse all the rest; mind,
\nvital, the physical consciousness can take its stamp
\nand be transformed by its influence. When the nature
\nis properly developed there is a psychic in the mental,
\na psychic in the vital, a psychic in the physical. It
\nis when that is there and strong, that we can say of
\nSomeone that he evidently has a soul. But there are
\nsome in whom this element is so lacking that we
\nhave to use faith in order to believe that they have
\na soul at all. The centre of the psychic being is
\nbehind the centre of the emotional being; it is the
\nemotional that is nearest dynamically to the psychic
\nand in most men it is through the emotional centre <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 172<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nthat the psychic can be most easily reached arid
\nthrough the psychicised emotion that it can be most
\neasily expressed. Many therefore mistake the one for
\nthe other; but there is a world of difference between
\nthe two. The emotions normally are vital in their
\ncharacter and not part of the psychic nature. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIt must be remembered that while this classification  is indispensable for psychological self-knowledge
\nand discipline and practice it can be used best when
\nit is not made too rigid and cutting a formula. For
\nthings run very much into each other and a synthetical
\nsense of these powers is as necessary as the analysis.
\n.Mind for instance is everywhere. The physical mind
\nis technically placed below the vital and yet it is a
\nprolongation of the mind proper and one that can
\nact in its own sphere by direct touch with the higher
\nmental intelligence. And there is too an obscure
\nmind of the body, of the very cells, molecules, corpuscles.  Haeckel, the
\nGerman materialist, spoke
\nsomewhere of the will in the atom, and recent science,
\ndealing with the incalculable individual variation in
\nthe activity of the electrons, comes near to perceiving
\nthat this is not a figure but the shadow thrown by
\na secret reality. This body-mind is a very tangible
\ntruth; owing to its obscurity and mechanical clinging
\nto past movements, and facile oblivion and rejection
\nof the new, we find in it one of the chief obstacles
\nto permeation by the Supermind Force and the
\ntransformation of the functioning of the body. On
\nthe other hand, once effectively converted, it will <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 173<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nbe one of the most precious instruments for the
\nstabilisation of the Supramental Light and Force in
\nmaterial nature. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n3-9-1930 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 174<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nThe Vital Mind<\/a>
\n<\/font>
\n\t\t\t<\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nTHERE is a part of the nature which I have called the vital mind; the function of this
\nad is not to think and reason, to perceive, consider
\ni find out or value things, for that is the function
\nthe thinking mind proper, buddhi,\u2014<\/i>but to plan
\ndream or imagine what can be done. It makes formations for the future which the will can try to
\ncarry out if opportunity and circumstances become
\nfavourable or even it can work to make them favourable.  In men of action this faculty is prominent
\nand a leader of their nature; great men of action always have it in a very high measure. But even if
\none is not a man of action or practical realisation
\nor if circumstances are not favourable or one can
\ndo only small and ordinary things, this vital mind
\nis there. It acts in them on a small scale, or if it
\nneeds some sense of largeness, what it does very
\noften is to plan in the void knowing that it cannot
\nrealise its plans or else to imagine big things, stories,
\nadventures, great doings in which oneself is the hero
\nthe creator. What you describe as happening in <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 175<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nyou is the rush of this vital mind or imagination-
\nmaking its formations; its action is not peculiar to
\nyou but works pretty much in the same way in most
\npeople\u2014but in each according to his turn of fancy,
\ninterest, favourite ideas or desires. You have to
\nbecome master of its action and not to allow it to
\nseize your mind and carry it away when and where it wants. In sadhana when the
\nexperiences begin to come, it is exceedingly important not to allow this
\npower to do what it likes with you, for it then. creates false experiences
\naccording to its nature and
\npersuades the sadhaka that these experiences are true
\nor it builds unreal formations and persuades him
\nthat this is what he has to do. Some have been
\ntaken away by this misleading force used by
\npowers of Falsehood who persuaded them through it 
\nthat they had a great spiritual, political or social
\nwork to do in the world and led them away to disappointment  and failure. It is rising in you in order
\nthat you may understand what it is and reject it.
\nFor there are several things you had to get out of
\nthe vital plane before the deeper or greater spiritual
\nexperiences could safely begin or safely continue.
\nThe descent of the peace is often one of the first
\nmajor positive experiences of the sadhana. In this
\nstate of peace the normal thought-mind (buddhi)
\nis<\/i> apt to fall silent or abate most of its activity and
\nwhen it does, very often either this vital mind can
\nrush in, if one is not on one’s guard, or else a kind of
\nmechanical physical or random subconscient mind <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 176<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\ncan begin to come up and act; these are the chief disturbers  of the silence. Or else the lower vital mind can
\ntry to disturb; that brings up the ego and passions and
\ntheir play. All these are signs of elements that have to
\nbe got rid of, because if they remain and other of the
\nhigher powers begin to descend. Power and Force,
\nKnowledge, Love or Ananda, those lower things may
\ncome across with the result that either the higher
\nconsciousness retires or its descent is covered up and
\nthe stimulation it gives is misused for the purposes
\nof the lower nature. This is the reason why
\nmany sadhakas after having big experiences fall into the clutch of a magnified
\nego, upheavals, ambition,
\nexaggerated sex or other vital passions or distortions.
\nIt is always well therefore if a complete purification
\nof the vital can either precede or keep pace with the positive experience\u2014at
\nleast in natures in which the
\nvital is strongly active. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n24-6-1935<\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 177<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nThe Physical Consciousness<\/a>
\n<\/b>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nEACH plane of our being\u2014mental, vital, physical has its own consciousness, separate though
\ninterconnected and interacting; but to our outer mind
\nand sense, in our waking experience, they are all
\nconfused together. The body, for instance, has its
\nown consciousness and acts from it, even without any
\nmental will of our own or even against that will, and
\nour surface mind knows very little about this body
\nconsciousness, feels it only in an imperfect way, sees
\nonly its results and has the greatest difficulty in
\nfinding out their causes. It is part of the Yoga to
\nbecome aware of this separate consciousness of the
\nbody, to see and feel its movements and the forces
\nthat act upon it from inside or outside and to learn
\nhow to control and direct it even in its most hidden
\nand (to us) subconscient processes. But the body-consciousness itself is only part of the individualised
\nphysical consciousness in us which we gather and build out of the secretly conscious forces of universal
\nphysical Nature. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThere is the universal physical consciousness of <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 178<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nNature and there is our own which is a part of it,
\nmoved by it, and used by the central being for the
\nsupport of its expression in the physical world and
\nfor a direct dealing with all these external objects and movements and forces.
\nThis physical consciousness-plane  receives from the other planes their powers
\nand influences and makes formations of them in its
\nown province. Therefore we have a physical mind as
\nwell as a vital mind and the mind proper; we have a
\nvital-physical part in us\u2014the nervous being\u2014as well
\nas the vital proper; and both are largely conditioned
\nby the gross material bodily part which is almost
\nentirely subconscient to our experience. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe physical mind is that which is fixed on physical
\nobjects and happenings, sees and understands these
\nonly, and deals with them according to their
\nown nature, but can with difficulty respond to the
\nhigher forces. Left to itself, it is sceptical of the
\nexistence of supraphysical things, of which it has no
\ndirect experience and to which it can find no clue; even when it has spiritual experiences, it forgets them
\neasily, loses the impression and result and finds it
\ndifficult to believe. To enlighten the physical mind
\nby the consciousness of the higher spiritual and
\nSupramental planes is one object of this Yoga, just
\nas to enlighten it by the power of the higher vital
\nand higher mental elements of the being is the
\ngreatest part of human self-development, civilisation
\nand culture. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe vital physical, on the other hand, is the vehicle <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 179<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nof the nervous responses of our physical nature; it
\nis the field and instrument of the smaller sensations,
\ndesires, reactions of all kinds to the impacts of the
\nouter physical and gross material life. This vital
\nphysical part (supported by the lowest part of the
\nvital proper) is therefore the agent of most of the
\nlesser movements of our external life; its habitual
\nreactions and obstinate pettinesses are the chief
\nstumbling-block in the way of transformation of the
\nouter consciousness by the Yoga. It is also largely
\nresponsible for most of the suffering and disease of
\nmind or body to which the physical being is subject
\nin Nature. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nAs to the gross material part, it is not necessary
\nto specify its place, for that is obvious; but it must
\nbe remembered that this too has a consciousness of
\nits own, the obscure consciousness proper to the
\nlimbs, cells, tissues, glands, organs. To make this.
\nobscurity luminous and directly instrumental to the
\nhigher planes and to the divine movement is what we mean in our Yoga by making
\nthe body conscious,
\n\u2014that is to say, full of a true, awake and responsive awareness instead of its
\nown obscure, limited half-subconscience.  <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThere is an inner as well as an outer consciousness
\nall through our being, upon all its levels. The ordinary man is aware only of
\nhis surface self and quite unaware  of all that is concealed by the surface. And
\nyet what is on the surface, what we know or think
\nwe know of ourselves and even believe that that is <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 180<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nall we are, is only a small part of our being and far
\nthe larger part of us is below the surface. <\/b> Or,<\/b> more
\naccurately, it is behind the frontal consciousness,
\nbehind the veil, occult and known only by an occult
\nknowledge. Modern psychology and psychic science have begun to perceive this
\ntruth just a little. Materialistic  psychology calls this hidden part the Inconscient,  although practically admitting that it is far
\ngreater, more powerful and profound than the surface
\nconscious self,\u2014very much as the Upanishads called
\nthe superconscient in us the Sleep-self, although
\nthis Sleep-self is said to be an infinitely greater
\nIntelligence, omniscient, omnipotent, Prajna, the
\nIshwara. Psychic science calls this hidden conscious-
\nness the subliminal self, and here too it is seen that
\nthis subliminal self has more powers, more knowledge,
\na freer field of movement than the smaller self that
\nis on the surface. But the truth is that all this that
\nis behind, this sea of which our waking consciousness
\nis only a wave or series of waves, cannot be described
\nby any one term, for it is very complex. Part of it
\nis subconscient, lower than our waking consciousness,
\npart of it is on a level with it but behind and much
\nlarger than it; part is above and superconscient to us.
\nWhat we call our mind is only an outer mind, a
\nsurface mental action, instrumental for the partial
\nexpression of a larger mind behind of which we are
\nnot ordinarily aware and can only know by going
\ninside ourselves. So too what we know of the vital
\nin us is only the outer vital, a surface activity partially <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 181<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nexpressing a larger secret vital which we can only
\nknow by going .within. Equally, what we call our
\nphysical being is only a visible projection of a greater
\nand subtler invisible physical consciousness which is
\nmuch more complex, much more aware, much wider in
\nits receptiveness, much more open and plastic and free.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nIf you understand and experience this truth, then
\nonly you will be able to realise what is meant by the
\ninner mental, the inner vital, the inner physical
\nconsciousness. But it must be noted that this term
\ninner is used in two different senses. Sometimes it
\ndenotes the consciousness behind the veil of the outer
\nbeing, the mental or vital or physical within, which
\nis in direct touch, with the universal mind, the universal
\nlife-forces, the universal physical forces. Sometimes,
\non the other hand, we mean an inmost mental, vital,
\nphysical, more specifically called the true mind, the
\ntrue vital, the true physical consciousness which is
\nnearer to the soul and can most easily and directly
\nrespond to the Divine Light and Power. There is no
\nreal Yoga possible, still less any integral Yoga, if we
\ndo not go back from the outer self and become aware
\nof all this inner being and inner nature. For then
\nalone can we break the limitations of the ignorant
\nexternal self which receives consciously only the outer
\ntouches and knows things indirectly through the outer
\nmind and senses, and become directly aware of the
\nuniversal consciousness and the universal forces that
\nplay through us and around us. And then only too
\ncan we hope to be directly aware of the Divine in <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 182<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nus and directly in touch with the Divine Light and
\nthe Divine Force. Otherwise we can feel the Divine
\nonly through external signs and external results and
\nthat is a difficult and uncertain way and very occasional  and inconstant, and it leads only to belief and
\nnot to knowledge, not to the direct consciousness and awareness of the constant presence. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nAs for instances of the difference, I may give you
\ntwo from the opposite poles of experience, one from
\nthe most external phenomena showing how the inward
\nopens to the awareness of the universal forces, one
\nof spiritual experience indicating how the inward
\nopens to the Divine. Take illness. If we live only
\nin the outward physical consciousness, we do not
\nusually know that we are going to be ill until the
\nsymptoms of the malady declare themselves in the body. But if we develop the
\ninward physical consciousness,  we become aware of a subtle environmental
\nphysical atmosphere and can feel the forces of illness
\ncoming towards us through it, feel them even at a
\ndistance and, if we have learnt how to do it, we can
\nstop them by the will or otherwise. We sense too
\naround us a vital physical or nervous envelope which
\nradiates from the body and protects it, and we can
\nfeel the adverse forces trying to break through it
\nand can interfere, stop them or reinforce the nervous
\nenvelope. Or we can feel the symptoms of illness,
\nfever or cold for instance, in the subtle physical
\nsheath before they are manifest in the gross body and
\ndestroy them there, preventing them from manifesting<\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 183<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nin the body. Take now the call for the Divine
\nPower, Light, Ananda. If we live only in the outward
\nphysical consciousness, it may descend and work
\nbehind the veil, but we shall feel nothing and only
\nsee certain results after a long time. Or at most we
\nfeel a certain clarity and peace in the mind, a joy in
\nthe vital, a happy state in the physical and infer the
\ntouch of the Divine. But if we are awake in the
\nphysical, we shall feel the light, power or Ananda
\nflowing through the body, the limbs, nerves, blood,
\nbreath and, through the subtle body, affecting the
\nmost material cells and making them conscious and
\nblissful and we shall sense directly the Divine Power
\nand Presence. These are only two instances out of a thousand that are possible and can be constantly
\nexperienced by the sadhaka. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n*** <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe individual is not limited to the physical body
\n\u2014it is only the external consciousness which feels
\nlike that. As soon as one gets over this feeling of
\nlimitation, one can feel first the inner consciousness
\nwhich is connected with the body, but does not
\nbelong to it, afterwards the planes of consciousness
\nabove the body, also a consciousness surrounding the
\nbody, but part of oneself, part of the individual
\nbeing, through which one is in contact with the
\ncosmic forces and with other beings. The last is what
\nI have called the environmental consciousness. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 184<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nThe Subconscient<\/a>
\n<\/b>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nTHE subconscient is not the whole foundation of the nature; it is only the lower basis of the Ignorance
\nand affects mostly the lower vital and physical exterior
\nconsciousness and these again affect the higher parts
\nof the nature. While it is well to see what it is and
\nhow it acts, one must not be too preoccupied with
\nthis dark side or this apparent aspect of the instrumental  being. One
\nshould rather regard it as something  not oneself, a mask of false nature imposed on
\nthe true being by the Ignorance. The true being is
\nthe inner with all its vast possibilities of reaching
\nand expressing the Divine and especially the inmost,
\nthe soul, the psychic Purusha which is always in its
\nessence pure, divine, turned to all that is good and; true and beautiful. The exterior being has to be
\ntaken hold of by the inner being and turned into an
\ninstrument no longer of the upsurging of the ignorant
\nsubconscient Nature, but of the Divine. It is by
\nremembering always that and opening the nature
\nupwards that the Divine Consciousness can be
\nreached and descend from above into the whole <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 185<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\ninner and outer existence, mental, vital, physical,
\nthe subconscient, the subliminal, all that we overtly or
\nsecretly are. This should be the main preoccupation.
\nTo dwell solely on the subconscient and the aspect of
\nimperfection creates depression and should be avoided. One has to keep a right
\nbalance and stress on the 
\npositive side most, recognising the other but only to
\nreject and change it. This and a constant faith and
\nreliance on the Mother are what is needed for the
\ntransformation to come. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n14-7-1936 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPS. It is certainly the abrupt and decisive breaking
\nthat is the easiest and best way for these things\u2014
\nvital habits. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n*** <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe subconscient is a concealed and unexpressed
\ninarticulate consciousness which works below all our
\nconscious physical activities. Just as what we call the
\nsuperconscient is really a higher consciousness above from which things descend
\ninto the being, so the subconscient  is below the body consciousness and things
\ncome up into the physical, the vital and the mind-nature  from there. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nJust as the higher consciousness is superconscient
\nto us and supports all our spiritual possibilities and
\nnature, so the subconscient is the basis of our
\nmaterial being and supports all that comes up in the
\nphysical nature. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 186<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nMen are not ordinarily conscious of either of these
\nplanes of their own being, but by sadhana they can become aware. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe subconscient retains the impression of all our
\npast experiences of life and they can come up from
\nthere in dream forms: most dreams in ordinary sleep
\nare formations made from subconscient impressions. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe habit of strong recurrence of the same things
\nin our physical consciousness so that it is difficult
\nto get rid of its habits is largely due to a subconscient
\nsupport. The subconscient is full of irrational habits. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nWhen things are rejected from all other parts of
\nthe nature, they go either into the environmental
\nconsciousness around us through which we communicate  with others and with universal Nature and try
\nto return from there or they sink into the subconscient
\nand can come up from there even after lying long
\nquiescent so that we think they are gone. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nWhen the physical consciousness is being changed,
\nthe chief resistance comes from the subconscient.
\n<\/b>It <\/b>is constantly maintaining or bringing back the inertia,
\nweakness, obscurity, lack of intelligence which afflict
\nthe physical mind and vital or the obscure fears,
\ndesires, angers, lusts of the physical vital, or the
\nillnesses, dullnesses, pains, incapabilities to which the body-nature is prone. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIf light, strength, the Mother’s consciousness is
\nbrought down into the body it can penetrate the
\nsubconscient also and convert its obscurity and resistance. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 187<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nWhen something is erased from the subconscient
\nso completely that it leaves no seed and thrown out
\nof the circumconscient so completely that it can return
\nno more, then only can we be sure that we have finished
\nwith it for ever. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n*** <\/font><\/p>\n

\nAbout the subconscient\u2014it is the sub-mental
\nbase of the being and is made up of impressions,
\ninstincts, habitual movements that are stored there.
\nWhatever movement is impressed in it, it keeps. If
\none impresses the right movement in it, it will keep
\nand send up that. That is why it has to be cleared of
\nold movements before there can be a permanent and total change in nature. When
\nthe higher consciousness  is once established in the waking parts, it goes
\ndown into the subconscient and changes that also,
\nmakes a bedrock of itself there also. Then no further
\ntrouble from the subconscient will be possible. But
\neven before that one can minimise the trouble by
\nputting the right will and the right habit of reaction
\nin the subconscient parts. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n3-12-1936 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nJust as one can concentrate the thought on an
\nobject or the vision on a point, so one can
\nconcentrate will on a particular part or point of the
\nbody and give an order to the consciousness there.
\nThat order reaches the subconscient. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n1-12-36. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 188<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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