Section Six PSYCHIC TRANSFORMATION (All passages in this Section have been extracted from the works of Sri Aurobindo.) In the psychic transformation there are three main elements: (1) the opening of the occult inner mind, inner vital, inner physical, so that one becomes aware of all that lies behind the surface mind, life and body — (2) the opening of the psychic being or soul by which it comes forward and governs the mind, life and body turning all to the Divine — (3) the opening of the whole lower being to the spiritual truth — this last may be called the psycho-spiritual part of the change. It is quite possible for the psychic transformatio

GLOSSARY anīsa — not lord, subject Ananda — bliss, delight, beatitude, spiritual ecstasy; the essential principle of delight: a self-delight which is the very nature of the transcendent and infinite existence. Bhakti — devotion, love for the Divine. central being — the portion of the Divine which supports the individual being and survives from life to life; it has two forms: jivātman, which is above the manifestation in life, presiding over it, and the psychic being, which stands behind mind, life and body in the manifestation, supporting them and using them as its instruments. Consciousness-Force — the Conscious Force that builds the worlds; a universal E

Section Three CONTACT WITH THE PSYCHIC BEING (All passages in this Section have been extracted from the works of the Mother.) Usually is it [the psychic] veiled? It is the outer consciousness that is not in contact with it, for it is turned outwards instead of being turned inwards — for it lives amidst all the external noises and movements, in what it sees, what it does, what it says, instead of looking within, into the depths of the being and listening to the inner inspirations.45 * Sweet Mother, You wrote to me that it is not easy to come in contact with the psychic being. Why do you consider it difficult?

Emergence of the Psychic Governance of Life by the Soul Selections from the Works of SRI AUROBINDO and THE MOTHER Compiled with an Introduction by A. S. Dalal SRI AUROBINDO ASHRAM PONDICHERRY First Edition: 2002 (Typeset in 10.5/13 Times) Price: Rs. 55.00 ISBN 81-7058-688-7 © Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust 2002 Published by Sri Aurobindo Ashram Publication Department Pondicherry - 605 002 Website: http://sabda.sriaurobindoashram.org Printed at Sri Aurobindo Ashram Press. Pondicherry PRINTED IN INDIA The soul,

Section One THE PSYCHIC BEING — ITS NATURE AND FUNCTION The psychic has two aspects — there is the soul principle itself which contains all soul possibilities and there is the psychic personality which represents whatever soul-power is developed from life to life or put forward for action in our present life-formation. The psychic being usually expresses itself through its instruments, mental, vital and physical; it tries to put as much of its own stamp on them as possible. But it can seldom put on them the full psychic stamp — unless it comes fully out from its rather secluded and overshadowed position and takes into its hands the

INDEX Aspiration xx, xxvii-xxviii, 20, 34 Bhakti 86-87, 100, 102 Buddha 10 Central being 4,80,104,105 Concentration 102-103 Consciousness cosmic 99.102,107,111 reversal of xxvi, 59 Consciousness-Force 108,110 Consecration 101 Desire 57 soul of, (desire-soul) 18,90, 94 Dharma 10 Divine Love 55, 56 Divine (Presence), the 14,18, 24, 25, 36, 55 and the psychic being 8, 15, 22 Divine spark 14; see also the Psyche, Psychic entity Emotions (feelings) 19, 21, 35 Enthusiasm link with the psychic 50-51 Faith xxi, 58; see also Trust Feelings (emotions) see Emotions G

EMERGENCE OF THE PSYCHIC CONTENTS Pre-Content Foreword by Dr. Karan Singh Introduction Section One The Psychic Being — Its Nature and Function Section Two Action and Influence of the Psychic Being Section Three Contact with the Psychic Being Section Four Growth of the Psychic Being Section Five Emergence of the Psychic Being Section Six Psychic Transformation Appendix Glossary References Index

Section Two ACTION AND INFLUENCE OF THE PSYCHIC BEING As the evolution proceeds, Nature begins slowly and tentatively to manifest our occult parts; she leads us to look more and more within ourselves or sets out to initiate more clearly recognisable intimations and formations of them on the surface. The soul in us, the psychic principle, has already begun to take secret form; it puts forward and develops a soul-personality, a distinct psychic being to represent it. This psychic being remains still behind the veil in our subliminal part, like the true mental, the true vital or the true or subtle physical being within us: but, like

Section Four GROWTH OF THE PSYCHIC BEING I thought that the soul was perfect in its nature. I don't understand "the ascension of the soul towards the truth from which it springs ". The essence of the soul is divine, but the soul (the psychic being) grows through all the forms of evolution; it becomes more and more individualised and increasingly conscious of itself and its origin.72 — The Mother * Does the psychic being always progress? There are in the psychic being two very different kinds of progress: one consisting in its formation, building, and organisation. For the psychic starts by being only a kind of t

FOREWORD The two basic concepts of the Vedanta are the all-pervasive Divine — the Brahman — and the spark or reflection of this Divine within each being, specially human beings — the Atman, and joining these two — Yoga — is the well-established methodology to be found in our scriptures and in the teachings of realised seers and saints down through the millennia. Within this broad Brahman-Atman-Yoga framework, there are an infinite number of possibilities, theories and practices flowing from the essential pluralistic nature of Hinduism which accepts multiple paths to the Divine — ekam sad viprā bahudhā vadanti — as the Rigveda has it. Down through the ages, our sa