{"id":934,"date":"2013-07-13T01:31:21","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:31:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=934"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:31:21","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:31:21","slug":"07-transformation-of-the-subconscient-vol-24-letters-on-yoga-volume-24","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/01-sabcl\/24-letters-on-yoga-volume-24\/07-transformation-of-the-subconscient-vol-24-letters-on-yoga-volume-24","title":{"rendered":"-07_Transformation of the Subconscient.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n

\nS<\/font>ECTION<\/font>
\nF<\/font>IVE<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

 
\n
\nTransformation of the Subconscient and the Inconscient<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

     
\n<\/b><\/font>S<\/font><\/b>O
\nLONG<\/font> as there is not the supramental change down to the subconscient, complete
\nand full, the lower nature has always a hold on some part of the being.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The subconscient difficulty is
\nthe difficulty now − because the whole struggle in the general sadhana is
\nnow there. It is in the subconscient, no longer in vital or conscious physical
\nthat the resistance is all massed together.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The inner being does not depend
\non the subconscient, but the outer has d epended on it for thousands of lives
\n− that is why the outer being and physical consciousness’s habit of
\nresponse to the subconscient can be a formidable obstacle to the progress of
\nthe sadhana and is so with most. It keeps up the repetition of the old movements,
\nis always pulling down the consciousness and opposing the continuity of the
\nascent and bringing the old nature or else the tamas (non-illumination and
\nnon-activity) across the descent. It is only if you live wholly and dynamically
\nin the inner being and feel the outer as a quite superficial thing that you can
\nget rid of the obstruction or minimise it until the transformation of the outer
\nbeing can be made complete.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The subconscient is a dark and
\nignorant region, so that it is natural that the obscurer movements of the
\nNature should have more power there. It is so indeed with all the lower parts
\nof the nature from the lower vital downwards. But it does send up <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1593<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

good things also though more
\nrarely. It has in the course of the sadhana to be illumined and made a support
\nof the higher consciousness in the physical nature instead of a basis of the
\ninstinctive lower movements.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The subconscient is to be
\npenetrated by the light and made a sort of bed-rock of truth, a store of right
\nimpressions, right physical responses to the Truth. Strictly speaking, it will
\nnot be subconscient at all, but a sort of bank of true values held ready for
\nuse.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The work [of sadhana in the
\nsubconscient] is of a general nature, not individual, but necessarily everyone
\nhere is to some extent affected by it. If consciousness and light is not
\nbrought into the subconscient, then there can be no change. For it is in the
\nsubconscient that there are the seeds of all the old lower vital instincts and
\nmovements and however much they may be cleared in the lower vital itself, they
\nmay sprout up again from below. Also the subconscient is the secret basis of
\nthe bodily consciousness. The subconscient must admit into itself the higher
\nconsciousness and the Truth light.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is only if the mind is silent
\nthat the subconscient can be empty. What has to be done is to get all the old
\nignorant un yogic stuff out of the subconscient.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If the subconscient is emptied,
\nit would mean that you have got beyond the ordinary consciousness and the
\nsubconscient itself is prepared to be an instrument of the Truth. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1594<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

[First effects of the light
\npenetrating and changing the subconscient:]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1. The
\nsubconscient begins to show more easily what is in it.<\/p>\n

2. Things
\nrising from there come to the awareness of the mind before they can touch or
\naffect the consciousness.<\/p>\n

3. The
\nsubconscient becomes less the refuge of the ignorant and obscure movements and
\nmore an automatic response of the material to the higher consciousness.<\/p>\n

4. It gives
\nless covert and less passage to the suggestions of the hostile forces.<\/p>\n

5. It is more easy to be
\nconscious in sleep and to have higher forms of dream experience. Hostile dreams
\n− e.g. sex-suggestions can be met and stopped in the dream itself and any
\nresult like emission prevented.<\/p>\n

6. A waking
\nwill put on the dream state before sleeping becomes more and more effective.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The conscious parts have to be
\nprepared first − impossible to deal successfully with the subconscient
\ntill then, except in points and details. Just as the musician has first to
\nlearn the right principle and execution of his music with his mind and vital
\n(aesthetic) perception and will − and teach his fingers to execute it
\n− afterwards the subconscient in his fingers will learn its work and do
\nthe right thing of itself − e.g. touching the right keys without his eyes
\nhaving to follow.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is because the subconscient
\nbeing just below the physical, the enlightened physical can act on it directly
\nand completely in a way in which mind and vital cannot and by this direct
\naction can help to liberate the mind and vital also.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is not a fact that formless
\nthings can have no power − all <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1595<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

that is necessary is that they
\nshould have a force in them. The subconscient influences the body because all
\nin the body has developed out of the subconscient and all in itself still is
\nonly half conscious and much of its action can be called subconscious. It is
\ntherefore much more easily influenced by the subconscious than by the conscious
\nmind and conscious will or even the vital mind and vital will except in those
\nthings in which a conscious mental or vital control has been established and
\nthe subconscious itself has accepted it. If it were not so, man’s control of
\nhis actions and physical states would be complete, there would be no illness or
\nif there were, it would be immediately cured by mental action. But it is not
\nso. For that reason the higher consciousness has to be brought down, the body
\nand the subconscient enlightened by it and accustomed to obey its control.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What you write is correct. When
\nthe physical consciousness has to be changed it is of course essential to work
\nin the subconscient, as it has a great influence on the physical which is very
\ndependent on it. The loss of consciousness comes naturally at first when the
\nsubconscient is being worked upon. You have to be careful that it does not
\nbecome habitual. If you react with a will for the change of this tendency (no
\nstruggle is needed) it will pass in time.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It [the subconscient
\nvital-physical] is not in touch with the psychic at all. It is full of
\nobscurity, not conscient, entirely ignorant.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The material is for the most part
\nsubconscient − it depends upon the subtle parts for its waking
\nconsciousness. <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1596<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

It is good. Emptiness and silence
\nof the consciousness prepare the being to live within with the outer
\nconsciousness only as a means of communication and action on the physical world
\ninstead of living in the external only. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As there is a
\nsuperconscient (something above our present consciousness) above the head from
\nwhich the higher consciousness comes down into the body, so there is also a
\nsubconscient (something below our consciousness) below the feet. Matter is
\nunder the control of this power, because it is that out of which it has been
\ncreated\u2014that is why matter seems to us to be quite unconscious. The material
\nbody is very much under the influence of this power for the same reason; it is
\nwhy we are not conscious of what is going on in the body, for the most part.
\nThe outer consciousness goes down into this subconscient when we are asleep,
\nand so it becomes unaware of what is going on in us when we are asleep except
\nfor a few dreams. Many of these dreams rise up from the subconscient and are
\nmade up of old memories, impressions etc. put together in an incoherent way.
\nFor the subconscient receives impressions of all we do or experience in our lives
\nand keeps these impressions in it, sending up often fragments of them in sleep.
\nIt is a very important part of the being, but we can do nothing much with it by
\nthe conscious will. It is the higher Force working in us that in its natural
\ncourse will open the subconscient to itself and bring down into it its control
\nand light.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nnot-speaking mind is all right. It helps usually at this stage the
\nconcentration of the being.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The dream you had was really a
\nrising up of past formations or impressions from the subconscient. All that we
\ndo, feel or experience in life leaves an impression, a sort of essential memory
\nof itself in the subconscient and this can come up in dreams even long after
\nthose feelings, movements or experiences have ceased in the conscious
\nbeing,\u2014still more when they have been recent and are only now or lately thrown
\naway from the mind or vital. Thus long after one has ceased to think of old
\nacquaintances or <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1597<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

relatives dreams about them go on
\ncoming up from this source. So too when sex or anger no longer troubles the
\nconscious vital, dreams of sex or dreams of anger and strife can still rise. It
\nis only when the subconscient is cleared that they cease; meanwhile they are of
\nnot much importance (provided one understands what they are and is not
\naffected) so long as the old movements are not allowed to recur or remain in
\nthe waking state.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It [insincerity in the
\nsubconscient vital] can only be dangerous if the waking mind accepts it. All
\nthe same, so long as it remains in the subconscient, it keeps a seed of
\npossibility − so it must be got out altogether.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What is happening just now is
\nthat there is a great uprush of the subconscient in which are the seeds or the
\nstrong remnants of the habitual difficulties of the nature. But its character
\nis a confusion and obscurity without order or clear mental or other arrangement
\n− <\/b>it is a confused depression,
\ndiscouragement, inability to progress − a feeling of what are we doing?
\nwhy are we here? how can we go on? will anything ever be attained? and along
\nwith it old difficulties recurring in a confused and random but often violent
\nand distressing fashion. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You cannot
\n\u201cbegin\u201d again; it would be too difficult a thing in this confusion. You have to
\nget back to the point at which you deviated. If you can get back to the Peace that
\nwas coming and with it aspire to the freedom and wideness of the Purusha
\nconsciousness forming a point<\/i> d’appui<\/i> of detachment and separation
\nfrom all this confusion of the subconscient Prakriti, then you will have a firm
\nground to stand upon and proceed. But for that you must make your choice firmly
\nand refuse to be upset at every moment and diverted from it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There is always a great deal to
\ndo in the subconscient. But if <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1598<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

you especially feel it [the need
\nof clearance in the subconscient] it must be that the time for clearing it has
\ncome. If the other parts keep open and responsive this should not give too much
\ntrouble.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

All that is probably things that
\nrise from the subconscient − or perhaps the subconscient itself is being
\nworked upon to arrive at a state of light and peace. It sometimes enters into a
\nhappy condition, sometimes into a neutral one, sometimes it raises up a
\ncauseless sorrow. The movements of the subconscient take place even without
\nreason, of themselves, owing to the inherent habit in Nature, that is why the
\ngrief is without discoverable cause. It is only because it is in the
\nsubconscient that you cannot locate it. When the grief comes, you must
\ndissociate yourself from it and reject it, not taking it as your own, until it
\nceases to come and call down the Mother’s peace and Ananda in its place.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is good; we will certainly
\nhelp you in the way you ask us. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As for the mood
\nthat came on you, it comes up from the subconscient, where things of the old
\nnature sink when they are rejected. When moods come up like that, you have to
\nremain quiet and call the Mother till it is gone. After a time this power of
\nmechanical repetition without reason from the subconscient gets worn out and
\ndisappears − then these moods come no more.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is most probably something
\nthat has come from outside and covered. This happens at this stage when the
\nworking is in the physical and subconscient − for that is the nature of
\nthese parts, to live in the external with the inner being covered up by a sort
\nof natural veil of obscurity. Therefore when one makes the opening through this
\nveil, it has a tendency to come back. When that happens, one has to remain
\nundisturbed and call down the Force and Light from above to remove the
\nobstacle. This must <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1599<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

be done till the opening is
\npermanent and complete and no covering is possible.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is always so with the
\nimpressions left in the subconscient physical. One day they come as pale and
\ndistant things, with no life in them, another they seem to get a certain force.
\nIt depends on whether they are caught up by a current of force from the
\nuniversal or rise up of themselves with no force except what is left in them
\nfrom the past.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What must have happened was that
\nas the physical consciousness is now being worked upon, all the past
\nimpressions (which usually remain in the subconsciousness and rise up from time
\nto time and meanwhile influence the thought and action and feelings without
\nbeing noticed) rose up in a mass and threw themselves on the consciousness.
\nThis usually happens in order that the sadhak may see and reject them and get
\nliberated entirely (in the subconscious as well as the conscious parts) from
\nhis physical past. That is why you felt afterwards the sense of release. The throat
\nis the centre of the externalizing mind (physical mind).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is most probably from the
\nsubconscient. When these memories arise, they should be treated on the basis
\nthat they have arisen in order to be dissolved and dismissed, so that by their
\npersistent dissolution one may not be tied by the impressions in the
\nsubconscient to the past (that is the machinery of Karma) but free for the
\nspirit’s unbound future.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The best is
\nwhen you can get the true knowledge about it, why it happened and what purpose
\nit served; then it goes easily.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This review of the past is a very
\ngood sign, for it usually comes <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1600<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

when there is a preparation of
\nthe physical consciousness and subconscient for change. One has not to regret
\nthe stumbles of the past but look with a quiet eye and understand, for all came
\n− the stumbles included − as part of the necessary experience by
\nwhich the being learns and advances through error to the Light and through the
\nimperfections of Nature towards the divine perfection.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What you describe seems to be in
\nits nature an uncontrolled rushing up of the subconscient taking the form of a
\nmechanical recurrence of old thoughts, interests or desires with which the
\nphysical mind is usually occupied. If that were all, the only thing would be to
\nreject them, detach yourself and let them pass till they quieted down. But I
\ngather from what you write that there is an attack, an obscure force using
\nthese recurrences to invade and harass the mind and body. It would be helpful
\nif you could give an exact description of the main character of the thoughts
\nthat come, what things and ideas they are concerned with etc. But in any case
\nthe one thing to do is to open yourself to the Mother’s force by aspiration,
\nthought of the Mother or any other way and let it drive out the attack. We
\nshall send Force continually till this is done. It will be better to let us
\nknow every three days or so how you go on, for that will help to make the
\naction of the Force more precise.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

These cravings and desires are
\nold habits of the physical which came to it from the universal Nature and which
\nit accepted and took as part of itself and its life. When these things are
\nrejected by the waking consciousness they try to take refuge in the
\nsubconscient or else in what may be called the environmental consciousness and
\nfrom there they press upon the consciousness trying to recover their hold or
\nsimply to recur for a time. If they are in the subconscient they come up most
\nusually in dreams, but they may also surge up into the waking consciousness. If
\nthey <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1601<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

come from the environment they
\ntake the form of thought-suggestions or impulses or a vague restless or
\ndisturbing pressure. It is probably this environmental pressure that you feel.
\nWhen the body is full of the new consciousness, Peace and Power at the same
\ntime, then this outward pressure is felt but can no longer disturb and finally
\nit recedes to a distance (no longer pressing immediately on the physical mind
\nor body) and either gradually or rapidly disappears. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By
\nenvironmental consciousness I mean something that each man carries around him,
\noutside his body, even when he is not aware of it, − by which he is in
\ntouch with others and with the universal forces. It is through this that the
\nthoughts, feelings etc. of others pass to enter into one − it is through
\nthis also that waves of the universal force − desire, sex, etc. come in
\nand take possession of the mind, vital or body.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

These thoughts that attack in
\nsleep or in the state between sleep and waking do not belong to any part of
\nyour conscious being, but come either from the subconscient or from the
\nsurrounding atmosphere through the subconscient. If they are thoughts you had
\nin the past and have thrown out from you, then what rises must be impressions
\nleft by them in the subconscient\u2014for all things thought, felt or experienced
\nleave such impressions which can rise from there in sleep. Or the thoughts can
\nhave gone out from you into the environmental consciousness, that is, an
\natmosphere of consciousness which we carry around us and through which we are
\nconnected with universal Nature and from there they may be trying to return
\nupon you. As it is difficult for them to succeed in the waking state, they take
\nadvantage of the absence of conscious control in sleep and appear there. If it
\nis something new and not yours, then it can be neither of these, but an attack
\nof some outside Force.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>It is to be hoped that as you have rejected
\nthem, they will not come again, but if they do, then you must put a conscious
\nwill before going to sleep that they should not come. A suggestion of that kind
\non the subconscient is often successful, if not at <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1602<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

once, after a time; for the
\nsubconscient learns to obey the will put upon it in the waking state.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What is taking place, the
\nsubsiding of the surge of subconscient thoughts and movements, and their
\npressure on the mind, is just what ought to take place. It is not a suppression
\nor pulling back into the subconscient, it is an expulsion from the conscious
\nself into which it has arisen. It is true that something more may rise from the
\nsubconscient, but it will be what is still left there. What is now rejected, if
\nit goes anywhere and is not abolished, will go not into the subconscient but
\ninto the surrounding consciousness which one carries around him − once
\nthere it no longer belongs to oneself in any way and if it tries to return it
\nwill be as foreign matter which one has not to accept or allow any longer.
\nThese are the two last stages of rejection by which one gets rid of the old
\nthings of the nature, they go down into the subconscient and have to be got rid
\nof from there or they go out into the environmental consciousness and are no
\nlonger ours. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The idea that
\none should let what rises from the subconscient go on repeating itself till it
\nis exhausted is not the right idea. For that would needlessly prolong the
\ntroubled condition and might be harmful. When these things rise they have to be
\nobserved and then thrown out, not kept.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sri Aurobindo was unable up till
\nnow to answer your letter…\u00a0 <\/span>but these
\nanswers, given below point by point, are still sent as he thinks they may be of
\nuse to you for your future sadhana:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1. \u201cUgly
\nscenes\u201d etc.\u2014<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This must be
\nsomething rising up from the subconscient in which there are many strange
\nthings of the kind − or else it is formations thrown on the lower vital
\nconsciousness from the corresponding plane in universal Nature where there are
\nforces which take delight in dirt and ugliness and all kinds of <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1603<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

perversities. In either case a
\nsteady detached rejection is the reaction required.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2. There is no
\nobjection to using one’s bed as \\=asana.<\/p>\n

3. Sex trouble\u2014<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is a quite usual phenomenon
\nwhen one stops sexual activity and rejects it in the conscious mind and vital.
\nIt takes refuge in the subconscient where the mind has no direct control and
\ncomes up in the form of dreams causing emission. That lasts so long as the
\nsubconscient itself is not cleared. This can sometimes be done by putting a
\nstrong will or, if possible, a concrete current of Force on the sex-centre
\nbefore sleeping against this thing happening. The success is not always
\nimmediate, but if effectively done it tends first to reduce frequency and
\nfinally stop it. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

These things
\n(accumulation of urine, hot stimulating food etc.) are all predisposing or
\nauxiliary causes or can be so. There is often as described a rhythm in this
\nsubconscient urge − it happens at a particular time in the month or else
\nafter a fixed period of time (week, fortnight, month, six months).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4.
\nClassifications of Samadhi in Vedanta\u2014<\/p>\n

For this yoga
\nthese divisions are not so important.<\/p>\n

5. Experience
\nof Samadhi\u2014<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is not indispensable
\nat this stage; but if it comes of itself, it can be allowed to develop. But
\nexperience in the waking state is more important for this yoga. Samadhi is a
\nhelp for reaching the inner depths of the consciousness. One is able to go more
\neasily by it inward below the surface being to get into direct contact with
\nother supraphysical planes of experience, to pass into other worlds and return,
\nto contact happenings distant in space and time, to see what is in the
\nsupraconscient and to enter into what is supraconscient to our mental status.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

6. The cosmic
\nConsciousness; the psychic\u2014<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

These things
\ncannot be sufficiently dealt with in a short compass. The ordinary
\nconsciousness of man is confined to his own individuality − he can enter
\ninto the consciousness of others and of the universe only by indirect means or
\na superficial and incomplete apprehension, by sense experience, contacts of
\nemotional sympathy, mental concepts, analogy with his own <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1604<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

movements, inference. In yoga at
\na certain point this limitation breaks down, the consciousness enlarges itself,
\nbecomes directly aware of the Cosmic Self and knows the individual self to be
\none with it; of the Cosmic Energy and meets directly the action of the cosmic
\nforces; of the cosmic mind, life, matter and feels first a contact of its
\nindividual mind, life, body with them, then a unity in which one’s own
\nindividual mentality, vitality, physicality is felt as only a part of the
\nuniversal, a wave of the ocean, a dynamo receiving and formulating the universal
\nforces. Finally, the individual melts into the cosmic Consciousness, the whole
\nworld is felt in oneself and oneself suffused through the world − it is
\nthe cosmic Consciousness, Mind, Life, material Energy that works through the
\nindividual function. The separate ego either does not exist or is only a
\nconvenience for the universal Spirit and its action. This is the complete
\nconsummation of the cosmic Consciousness, but in its fullness it is not common,
\nbelonging properly to what we may call the overmind realisation; but a constant
\npartial and growing experience of it or an increasing contact with the cosmic
\nConsciousness is a normal part of yoga. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What is meant
\nin the terminology of the yoga by the psychic is the soul element in the
\nnature, the pure psyche or divine nucleus which stands behind mind, life and
\nbody (it is not the ego) but of which we are only dimly aware. It is a portion
\nof the Divine and permanent from life to life, taking the experience of life
\nthrough its outer instruments. As this experience grows it manifests a
\ndeveloping psychic personality which insisting always on the good, true and
\nbeautiful, finally becomes ready and strong enough to turn the nature towards
\nthe Divine. It can then come entirely forward, breaking through the mental,
\nvital and physical screen, govern the instincts and transform the nature.
\nNature no longer imposes itself on the soul, but the soul, the Purusha, imposes
\nits dictates on the nature.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Your practice of psycho-analysis
\nwas a mistake. It has, for the time at least, made the work of purification
\nmore complicated, <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1605<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

not easier. The psycho-analysis
\nof Freud is the last thing that one should associate with yoga. It takes up a
\ncertain part, the darkest, the most perilous, the unhealthiest part of the
\nnature, the lower vital subconscious layer, isolates some of its most morbid
\nphenomena and attributes to it and them an action out of all proportion to its
\ntrue role in the nature. Modern psychology is an infant science, at once rash,
\nfumbling and crude. As in all infant sciences, the universal habit of the human
\nmind − to take a partial or local truth, generalise it unduly and try to
\nexplain a whole field of Nature in its narrow terms − runs riot here.
\nMoreover, the exaggeration of the importance of suppressed sexual complexes is
\na dangerous falsehood and it can have a nasty influence and tend to make the
\nmind and vital more and not less fundamentally impure than before. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is true that
\nthe subliminal in man is the largest part of his nature and has in it the
\nsecret of the unseen dynamisms which explain his surface activities. But the
\nlower vital subconscious which is all that this psycho-analysis of Freud seems
\nto know, − and even of that it knows only a few ill-lit corners, − is
\nno more than a restricted and very inferior portion of the subliminal whole.
\nThe subliminal self stands behind and supports the whole superficial man; it
\nhas in it a larger and more efficient mind behind the surface mind, a larger
\nand more powerful vital behind the surface vital, a subtler and freer physical
\nconsciousness behind the surface bodily existence. And above them it opens to
\nhigher superconscient as well as below them to lower subconscient ranges. If
\none wishes to purify and transform the nature, it is the power of these higher
\nranges to which one must open and raise to them and change by them both the
\nsubliminal and the surface being. Even this should be done with care, not
\nprematurely or rashly, following a higher guidance, keeping always the right
\nattitude; for otherwise the force that is drawn down may be too strong for an
\nobscure and weak frame of nature. But to begin by opening up the lower
\nsubconscious, risking to raise up all that is foul or obscure in it, is to go
\nout of one’s way to invite trouble. First, one should make the higher mind and
\nvital strong and firm and full of light and peace from above; afterwards one
\ncan open up or even dive into the subconscious with <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1606<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

more safety and some chance of a
\nrapid and successful change. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The system of
\ngetting rid of things by anubhava<\/i> can
\nalso be a dangerous one; for on this way one can easily become more entangled
\ninstead of arriving at freedom. This method has behind it two well-known
\npsychological motives. One, the motive of purposeful exhaustion, is valid only
\nin some cases, especially when some natural tendency has too strong a hold or
\ntoo strong a drive in it to be got rid of by vicāra<\/i> or by the process of rejection and the substitution of
\nthe true movement in its place; when that happens in excess, the sadhak has
\nsometimes even to go back to the ordinary action of the ordinary life, get the
\ntrue experience of it with a new mind and will behind and then return to the
\nspiritual life with the obstacle eliminated or else ready for elimination. But
\nthis method of purposive indulgence is always dangerous, though sometimes
\ninevitable. It succeeds only when there is a very strong will in the being
\ntowards realisation; for then indulgence brings a strong dissatisfaction and
\nreaction, vairāgya<\/i>, and the will
\ntowards perfection can be carried down into the recalcitrant part of the
\nnature\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The other
\nmotive for anubhava<\/i> is of a more
\ngeneral applicability; for in order to reject anything from the being one has
\nfirst to become conscious of it, to have the clear inner experience of its
\naction and to discover its actual place in the workings of the nature. One can
\nthen work upon it to eliminate it, if it is an entirely wrong movement, or to
\ntransform it if it is only the degradation of a higher and true movement. It is
\nthis or something like it that is attempted crudely and improperly with a
\nrudimentary and insufficient knowledge in the system of psycho-analysis. The
\nprocess of raising up the lower movements into the full light of consciousness
\nin order to know and deal with them is inevitable; for there can be no complete
\nchange without it. But it can truly succeed only when a higher light and force
\nare sufficiently at work to overcome, sooner or later, the force of the
\ntendency that is held up for change. Many, under the pretext of anubhava<\/i>, not only raise up the adverse
\nmovement, but support it with their consent instead of rejecting it, find
\njustifications for continuing or repeating it and so go on playing with it,
\nindulging its return, eternising it; afterwards when they want to get rid of <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1607<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

it, it has got such a hold that
\nthey find themselves helpless in its clutch and only a terrible struggle or an
\nintervention of divine grace can liberate them. Some do this out of a vital
\ntwist or perversity, others out of sheer ignorance; but in yoga, as in life,
\nignorance is not accepted by Nature as a justifying excuse. This danger is
\nthere in all improper dealings with the ignorant parts of the nature; but none
\nis more ignorant, more perilous, more unreasoning and obstinate in recurrence
\nthan the lower vital subconscious and its movements. To raise it up prematurely
\nor improperly for anubhava<\/i> is to risk
\nsuffusing the conscious parts also with its dark and dirty stuff and thus
\npoisoning the whole vital and even the mental nature. Always therefore one
\nshould begin by a positive, not a negative experience, by bringing down
\nsomething of the divine nature, calm, light, equanimity, purity, divine
\nstrength into the parts of the conscious being that have to be changed; only
\nwhen that has been sufficiently done and there is a firm positive basis, is it
\nsafe to raise up the concealed subconscious adverse elements in order to
\ndestroy and eliminate them by the strength of the divine calm, light, force and
\nknowledge. Even so, there will be\u00a0 <\/span>enough
\nof the lower stuff rising up of itself to give you as much of the anubhava<\/i> as you will need for getting
\nrid of the obstacles; but then they can be dealt with with much less danger and
\nunder a higher internal guidance. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I find it difficult to take these
\npsycho-analysts at all seriously when they try to scrutinise spiritual
\nexperience by the flicker of their torch-lights, − yet perhaps one ought
\nto, for half-knowledge is a powerful thing and can be a great obstacle to the
\ncoming in front of the true Truth. This new psychology looks to me very much
\nlike children learning some summary and not very adequate alphabet, exulting in
\nputting their a-b-c-d of the subconscient and the mysterious underground
\nsuper-ego together and imagining that their first book of obscure beginnings
\n(c-a-t cat, t-r-e-e tree) is the very heart of the real knowledge. They look
\nfrom down up and explain the higher lights by the lower obscurities; but the
\nfoundation of these things is above and not <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1608<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

below, upari<\/i> budhna<\/i> eşām<\/i>. The superconscient, not
\nthe subconscient, is the true foundation of things. The significance of the
\nlotus is not to be found by analysing the secrets of the mud from which it
\ngrows here; its secret is to be found in the heavenly archetype of the lotus
\nthat blooms for ever in the Light above. The self-chosen field of these
\npsychologists is besides poor, dark and limited; you must know the whole before
\nyou can know the part and the highest before you can truly understand the
\nlowest. That is the promise of the greater psychology awaiting its hour before
\nwhich these poor gropings will disappear and come to nothing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

  <\/p>\n

There is another cause of the
\ngeneral inability to change which at present afflicts the sadhak. It is because
\nthe sadhana, as a general fact, has now and for a long time past come down to
\nthe Inconscient; the pressure, the call is to change in that part of the nature
\nwhich depends directly on the Inconscient, the fixed habits, the automatic
\nmovements, the mechanical repetitions of the nature, the involuntary reactions
\nto life, all that seems to belong to the fixed character of a man. This has to
\nbe done if there is to be any chance of a total spiritual change. The Force
\n(generally and not individually) is working to make that possible, its pressure
\nis for that, − for, on the other levels, the change has already been made
\npossible (not, mind you, assured to everybody). But to open the Inconscient to
\nlight is a herculean task; change on the other levels is much easier. As yet
\nthis work has only begun and it is not surprising that there seems to be no
\nchange in things or people. It will come in time, but not in a hurry. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As for
\nexperiences, they are all right but the trouble is that they do not seem to
\nchange the nature, they only enrich the consciousness − even the
\nrealisation, on the mind level, of the Brahman seems to leave the nature almost
\nwhere it was, except for a few. That is why we insist on the psychic
\ntransformation as the first necessity − for that does change the nature
\n− and its chief instrument is bhakti, surrender, etc. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1609<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

The sunlit path can only be
\nfollowed if the psychic is constantly or usually in front or if one has a
\nnatural spirit of faith and surrender or a face turned habitually towards the
\nsun or psychic predisposition (e.g. a faith in one’s spiritual destiny) or, if
\none has acquired the psychic turn. That does not mean that the sunlit man has
\nno difficulties; he may have many, but he regards them cheerfully as \u201call in
\nthe day’s work\u201d. If he gets a bad beating, he is capable of saying, \u201cWell, that
\nwas a queer go but the Divine is evidently in a queer mood and if that is his
\nway of doing things, it must be the right one; I am surely a still queerer
\nfellow myself and that, I suppose, was the only means of putting me right.\u201d But
\neverybody can’t be of that turn, and surrender which would put everything right
\nis, as you say, difficult. At least it is difficult to do completely. That is
\nwhy we do not insist on total surrender at once, but are satisfied with a
\nlittle to begin with, the rest to grow as it can. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I have
\nexplained to you why so many people (not by any means all) are in this gloomy
\ncondition, dull and despondent. It is the tamas, the inertia of the
\nInconscient, that has got hold of them. But also it is the small physical vital
\nwhich takes only an interest in the small and trivial things of the ordinary
\ndaily and social life and nothing else. When formerly the sadhana was going on
\non the higher levels (mind, higher vital, etc.), there was plenty of vigour and
\nverve and interest in the details of the Ashram work and life as well as in an
\ninner life; the physical vital was carried in the stream. But for many this has
\ndropped; they live in the unsatisfied vital physical and find everything
\ndesperately dull, gloomy and without interest or issue. In their inner life the
\ntamas from the Inconscient has created a block or a bottle-neck and they do not
\nfind any way out. If one can keep the right condition and attitude, a strong
\ninterest in work or a strong interest in sadhana, then this becomes quiescent.
\nThat is the malady. Its remedy is to keep the right condition and to bring
\ngradually or, if one can, swiftly, the light of the higher aspiration into this
\npart of being also, so that whatever the conditions of the environment, it may
\nkeep, it also, the right poise. Then the sunlit path would seem less
\nimpossible. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1610<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

The extreme acuteness of your
\ndifficulties is due to the yoga having come down against the bed-rock of
\nInconscience which is the fundamental basis of all resistance in the individual
\nand in the world to the victory of the Spirit and the Divine Work that is
\nleading toward that victory. The difficulties themselves are general in the
\nAshram as well as in the outside world. Doubt, discouragement, diminution or
\nloss of faith, waning of the vital enthusiasm for the ideal, perplexity and a
\nbaffling of the hope for the future are the common features of the difficulty.
\nIn the world outside there are much worse symptoms such as the general increase
\nof cynicism, a refusal to believe in anything at all, a decrease of honesty, an
\nimmense corruption, a preoccupation with food, money, comfort, pleasure, to the
\nexclusion of higher things, and a general expectation of worse and worse things
\nawaiting the world. All that, however acute, is a temporary phenomenon for
\nwhich those who know anything about the workings of the world-energy and the
\nworkings of the Spirit were prepared. I myself foresaw that this worst would
\ncome, the darkness of night before the dawn; therefore I am not discouraged. I
\nknow what is preparing behind the darkness and can see and feel the first signs
\nof its coming. Those who seek for the Divine have to stand firm persist in
\ntheir seeking; after a time, the darkness will fade and begin to disappear and
\nthe Light will come.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I know that this is a time of
\ntrouble for you and everybody. It is so for the whole world. Confusion,
\ntrouble, disorder and upset everywhere is the general state of things. The
\nbetter things that are to come are preparing or growing under a veil and the worse
\nare prominent everywhere. The one thing is to hold on and hold out till the
\nhour of light has come.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I am afraid I can hold out but
\ncold comfort − for the present at least − to those of your
\ncorrespondents who are lamenting the present state of things. Things are bad,
\nare growing worse and <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1611<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

may at any time grow worst or
\nworse than worst if that is possible − and anything, however paradoxical,
\nseems possible in the present perturbed world. The best thing for them is to
\nrealise that all this was necessary because certain possibilities had to emerge
\nand be got rid of, if a new and better world was at all to come into being: it
\nwould not have done to postpone them for a later time. It is, as in yoga, where
\nthings active or latent in the being have to be put into action in the light so
\nthat they may be grappled with and thrown out or to emerge from latency in the
\ndepths for the same purificatory purpose. Also they can remember the adage that
\nnight is darkest before dawn and that the coming of dawn is inevitable. But
\nthey must remember too that the new world whose coming we envisage is not to be
\nmade of the same texture as the old and different only in pattern, and that it
\nmust come by other means − from within and not from without; so the best
\nway is not to be too much preoccupied with the lamentable things that are
\nhappening outside, but themselves to grow within so that they may be ready for
\nthe new world, whatever the form it may take.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Remain firm through the darkness;
\nthe light is there and will conquer. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1612<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SECTION FIVE   Transformation of the Subconscient and the Inconscient         SO LONG as there is not the supramental change down to the subconscient,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-24-letters-on-yoga-volume-24","wpcat-19-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/934","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=934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/934\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}