The mind is always active and trying to manage and control everything. We hear a constant stream of thoughts running through the mind. Some of them are focused and directed to a particular aim. Many of them are random thoughts provoked by any sensations or impressions that impact us in some way. ... Views: 31
The vast majority of the responses we categorise as emotions come from the external vital nature. The vital being has a strong tendency to the expression of Rajas, which can bring forward strong, powerful actions, violent and passionate emotions, and eventually when it retreats, a fall into ... Views: 31
We are so used to judging everything from the external viewpoint, with our mental process, that we do not generally comprehend the significance of consciousness and the oneness of all existence as the starting point, container and content of all that exists. This means that we are judging how ... Views: 31
Each plane of consciousness has its own way of ‘knowing’. Mental knowledge comes through a process of observation, classification, comparison, categorization, analysis and a decision based on this process through a comparison to past circumstances, events or experiences. Mental knowledge is ... Views: 30
We tend to believe that mental knowledge is based in fact and is certifiable and reproducible, whereas knowledge based in faith is considered to be unreliable, or possibly wishful thinking of some sort. Our certainty about our mental knowledge, however, is based heavily on faith. We believe, on ... Views: 30
Knowledge, in the minds of most people, is mental knowledge. We are trained to use our minds, to read, to observe, to analyse, to compare, to remember, and to correlate. We learn the skills of mental logic and honor those who have advanced in mental capabilities. We practice argument and debate ... Views: 29
People are generally skeptical about the existence of beings outside our normal experience of life in the world. At the same time, there is incredible interest in other beings, and the search for life-forms in the universe occupies the minds of many people. People frequently report encounters ... Views: 29
Most people judge the emotional relationship based on the external vital nature. They have built in expectations, many of them conditioned by the social norms within which they are living. Media reinforces the stereotypes of what these emotions are. The ideal of romanticised love, for example, ... Views: 29
Emotional responses appear in the external being and for the most part, they stem from the vital being and its various moods. There is however another potential source of what appear on the surface being as emotions, and that is something that stirs deep in the being in the psychic heart. ... Views: 28
We speak about the universal manifestation either as some kind of creation by fiat of an all-powerful God who simply made everything the way it is, and said “It is Good”; or else, as an evolution of life out of matter, and mind out of life in an ascending scale of consciousness and eventually, ... Views: 28
An individual recounted a seemingly minor incident that nevertheless began to turn his mind into a new direction, eventually leading him, over time, with further experiences, to take up the spiritual quest. He was in a debating competition in high school. His team was well-prepared, and the ... Views: 28
In the first chapter of The Life Divine, Sri Aurobindo describes the human aspiration “It manifests itself in the divination of Godhead, the impulse towards perfection, the search after pure Truth and unmixed Bliss, the sense of a secret immortality. … The earliest formula of Wisdom promises to ... Views: 27
Everywhere we look in Nature, we see a similar process. A seed sprouts and a tiny seedling struggles to grow and survive, eventually it grows, matures and comes into its adult strength. The animal kingdom has a similar reality. The newborn animal has to develop its body, its vital strength, ... Views: 26
There are a number of different management strategies we see in the world today. They range from attempts at total control, what we can call ‘micromanagement’ to total laissez faire release to permit individuals to do whatever they decide at each moment. Both of these extremes have their ... Views: 26
We cannot see electricity, but we can see its action through the effects it brings about. Many things occur which we cannot identify with our senses directly, but which we can interpret based on results. In a similar way, while we cannot specifically identify the soul, per se, we can identify ... Views: 25
Humanity has long had the feeling that it represents something special and unique in the universal creation. Major religions have creation stories that emphasize this uniqueness, with God creating man in his own image and finding that it was good. Many people believe that humanity is the only ... Views: 25
The great mysteries that have occupied humanity since the dawn of human existence include the questions: where do we come from, where do we go when we die, how has this vast universal creation manifested and what is its purpose and significance, do we have a soul, and what, if anything survives ... Views: 25
We evaluate things by the power they command. It can be physical power, the power of raw Nature in the ocean, the wind, the volcano, or it can be related to our human physical existence as muscular strength, speed, trained responses, the power to effectuate physical actions, or it may be the ... Views: 24
The newborn child has a mind, but it is not yet fully focused, awakened and in control of the sensory instruments. Over time, as the child grows and matures, he can gain more precise control over his senses and his powers of action, and eventually, the mind matures, can be trained and developed ... Views: 24
Wherever we focus our attention, we attract the object of the attention. The universal manifestation is one consciousness. Attention creates a direct correspondence that sets up affinities and links. This leads to meeting people or attracting circumstances that fulfil the focus of the attention. ... Views: 24
Our minds can be confused or manipulated. We can misinterpret what we see or hear or feel. Our vital nature can be led astray by the promptings of various vital reactions, including desire, lust, anger, as well as feelings the external nature considers positive as well as negative. Our physical ... Views: 24
There is a type of radiation wave known as ‘gamma waves’ that has the power to penetrate most matter. The extremely short wave length of gamma waves allows it to penetrate atoms. High or prolonged exposure to gamma rays can cause damage to the internal organs of the body, even though we cannot ... Views: 24
The promptings of the soul work through the instrumentality of the external being, the mind, the life-force and the physical body. Thus, they are restricted by the limitations of the work of those external parts, as well as subject to being modified, hijacked or manipulated based on the external ... Views: 23
In Hymns to the Mystic Fire, Sri Aurobindo provides translations of the hymns to Agni crafted by the Rishis in the Rig Veda. The Rishis focus their attention on the flame of aspiration deep within in the psychic center of the being. They relate that through this flame the various powers of mind, ... Views: 23
Aspiration. When we observe sunflowers opening and turning toward the sun, we are witnessing a form of aspiration at a very basic level. When we strive to enhance our physical capacities, manifest and express beauty, work to achieve a more pure and powerful vital energy, develop our minds and ... Views: 22
We are born into the world, we grow, we learn, we participate in it, we age, and eventually we die. Many people look at this process without trying to understand any deeper significance. They involve themselves in the process and do not look at what happened before, what caused the existence we ... Views: 22
When we observe the evolution of forms, and then investigate the evolution of consciousness that is the secret driving force behind the evolution of forms, and which provides meaning to the development of the outer forms, we can try to limit this development to the current phase, and simply ... Views: 22
People frequently have to wrestle with conflicting emotions, unclear and confusing thoughts and the need to balance duties, demands or considerations that appear to be opposed to one another. In some cases, we obtain facts which, if expressed to another person, will presumably cause them ... Views: 21
Nothing can evolve that has not previously been involved. A tree grows from an acorn because the essence of the tree, in the form of its genetic code, is already in place within that acorn. The entire creation, from the most material to the most subtle, contains an involved consciousness. If we ... Views: 21
The confusion, indecision and inaccurate results that attend us in our ignorance of the truth of our existence, our consistent attempt to judge things based on the individual desires, wants, considerations, needs and ideas, treating ourselves as the center of the universe with the world, the ... Views: 20
How do we see and interpret who and what we are? Most people identify with the physical body. The body is their essential being. In many cases they build up the body, work to create an image that they project to others. They judge themselves and others based on the form and presence they develop ... Views: 20
As with all things that are considered for the first time, new concepts appear difficult to grasp. Cognitive scientists have shown through studies they have done, that the brain builds ‘grooves’ through which thoughts flow smoothly. These ‘grooves’ develop over time through repeated attempts. ... Views: 20
We observe in nature that certain plants turn towards the sun and follow the sun’s position in the sky throughout the day. This phenomenon, ‘heliotropism’, is based on certain sensor cells in these plants that identify the location of the light and automatically orient themselves towards it. ... Views: 20
Our human lives are not developed in a straight line of progress. We see forward movement toward whatever goal we have in front of us, and then various retrogressive movements that set back the progress. That is the experience of those who have a focus or objective in life. For those who are not ... Views: 19
Many people are skeptical about the possibility of humanity participating consciously in the transformation and change of human nature. They believe that our nature is fixed and every attempt to change it has shown the futility of the effort.
If we observe carefully, or even quite casually, ... Views: 19
The interaction and interplay between the divine manifestation, the psychic being and the processes of rebirth are generally outside the direct experience of most people. Scientists who study the processes of the universe are able to identify certain principles and details of the way things ... Views: 19
As long as we remain fixated on the evolution of forms, the Darwinian model of evolution, we fail to provide any deeper meaning to this process or, even, the significance of any individual being, since the evolution of forms deals with genus and species, not individuals. Even if we suppose the ... Views: 19
The Bodhisattva vow represents an ideal of dedication and compassion by those who have reached the stage of enlightenment and who thereby have gained the freedom to choose liberation, moksha, from the cycle of birth and death. Those individuals who attain this state of consciousness make the ... Views: 19
There are certain questions about the meaning and processes of the evolutionary cycle, the existence and growth of the psychic being, and its relation to our human external existence that most of us have a difficult time addressing, as we have not had the experience or evidence from our own ... Views: 19
The Tibetan Book of the Dead describes the period from the time of death to the adoption of a new body in a new birth. The individual departs the physical body which begins to decompose. Next, the vital sheath dissolves, and following that the mental formations. All of these external instruments ... Views: 18
Eventually, as we grow and mature, as our powers of reflection and self-examination increase, we begin to seriously consider why it is we are alive, what it is we are here to do and how we can accomplish whatever our lives are intended to be. There are several aspects to this process of growth ... Views: 18
The Psychic Being Acts as the Organising Principle Around Which the Responses of the Mind, Life and Body Are Aligned
Posted on May 21, 2026
In our ordinary external awareness we experience ourselves as an individuality, and we look at our various actions and reactions, responses and directed ... Views: 18
Most people believe they are in control of their actions, their decisions and their circumstances, at least until they find things not turning out the way they expected or wished for! When an individual takes up the spiritual path consciously, he begins to examine this assumption. First, he ... Views: 18
One of the powerful techniques which Sri Aurobindo describes for the spiritual aspirant is the separation of the witness consciousness from the active, external nature. Creation of a mental witness awareness is not quite the same thing, although it may be a helpful step along the way. This is ... Views: 18
Sometimes a soul is born into the world with a sense of a pre-determined and destined path forward, based on focus and determinations made in the prior lifetime. Such an individual, in some cases very early in life, may know things, may feel like he has already known things that come before his ... Views: 17
In a simple world, in a simple situation, decision making is generally fast and easy. The consequences, whatever they turn out to be, are usually not considered to be related to some past decision we may have made. We reach a path in a forest that branches off in two directions, we choose one, ... Views: 17
In The Life Divine, Sri Aurobindo describes the triple transformation that develops the human existence to a new status through conscious evolutionary development. The first transformation is what he calls the ‘psychic transformation’. The psychic transformation is the awakening to the ... Views: 17
The psychic being assimilates the essence of the experience of a lifetime, then leaves behind the body, life-force and mind of that lifetime and moves on into other lives, other experiences. However, a substantial effort has been made by the psychic being to enhance and develop the mind, life ... Views: 16
There is considerable skepticism about the question of rebirth. There are also questions about what exactly is reborn, and what happens to the existing current life experience and capabilities developed in a lifetime before death. There remains then, also, the mechanisms involved. There is a ... Views: 15
We all recognise the pattern. We are born, we grow, develop, reach mature adulthood, carry out our productive activities. Later, as we age, various elements of our bodies, our life-energies and our minds begin to decline, until eventually, the deterioration creates a break that leads to death ... Views: 15