... receive the higher consciousness above and put itself into harmony with the psychic being; when that is done the outer nature is felt as only a fringe on the surface, not as oneself, and is more easily transformed altogether. Whatever difficulties there may still be in the outer nature, they will not make any difference to the fact that you are now awake within, the Mother's force working in you... aware of things other than the ego and the outer nature. One can become aware of the inner being and live in it and get detached from the hold of outer things, dealing with them from an inner consciousness (felt as separate from the outer consciousness) according to an inner truth of the soul and spirit and no longer according to the demands of the outer Nature. If one lives within, then it is... When one comes out of the inner condition, one gets externalised in the outer consciousness. It is difficult for the outer nature to remain always within, its nature is to pull outward. But when this happens, one must learn to look quietly at what is happening, observe what the outer nature does but not identify with it, not feel that it is oneself that is doing that, but only something that one is observing ...
... and when that is there the right attitude follows in one's external behaviour. Conduct must flow from. within outwards and the more one opens to the psychic influence, the more it gains over the outer nature. Mental control may or may not lead to the psychic control. In people of a sattwic type it may be the first step towards it. NIRODBARAN: How is the psychic control to be got? SRI AUROBINDO:... aspect. When it comes to the dynamic expression it becomes difficult. Thus, when one finds a man behaving like a brute, it is very difficult to see God in him, unless one separates him from his outer nature and sees the Divine behind. One can also repeat the name of the Divine and come to a divine consciousness. NIRODBARAN: How does repeating the name help one? SRI AUROBINDO: The name is a... modification in the nature, but entire transformation is not automatic. It is not so easy as all that. The experience of peace and calm after my first contact with Lele never left me, but in my outer nature there were many agitations and again and again I had to make an effort to establish peace and calm there. Ever since that early experience the whole object of my Yoga has been to change the nature ...
... peace and force would come down and occupy all down to the physical, (2) that you succeeded in keeping the inner being unmoved by the outer nature. The physical failed to absorb the peace, inertia arose instead; force could not come down; the suggestions from the outer nature proved too strong for you and between their suggestions and the inertia they interrupted the sadhana. I have not said [ in... detached from the outer nature, it would have been all right. You were able to go up because the Peace descended. You were not able to remain above because the Peace could not occupy sufficiently the physical and the Force did not descend Page 439 sufficiently. Meanwhile the inertia arose, you got troubled more and more because of the vital suggestions in the outer nature and the rush of ...
... be done, even if at present only a slight beginning has been made; but a beginning is enough, once the Force, the Power are there". It is not really on the capacity of the outer nature that success depends (for the outer nature all self-succeeding seems impossibly difficult), but on the inner being and to the inner being all is possible. One has only to get into contact with the inner being and... is pushing you on this path of vairagya and the more stormy way of bhakti—in spite of our preference for a less painful one and yours also—something that is determined to be drastic with the outer nature so as to make itself free to fulfil its secret aspiration. But do not listen to these suggestions of the voice that says, "You shall not succeed and it is no use trying". That is a thing that... not so well in the outer. But to realise the inner being is quite enough for a foundation—for many it is quite enough even as a last state, for those who do not seek the transformation of the outer nature. Here too, even if one puts the whole ideal, it is not alleged that it must be all done at once or as a first condition for the greater endeavour. I suppose Lawrence was a Yogi who had missed ...
... (3) But even from the siddha Yogi you cannot always expect a perfect perfection; there were many who do not even care for the perfection of the outer nature, yet they have spiritual experience, even spiritual realisation and the unperfected outer nature cannot be held as a disproof of their realisation or experience- If you so regard it, you have to rule out of count the greater number of Yogis of... for Harin's contradictions, well it was just to see what he could do with these contradictions that he went out; Mother approved his going because he had to find his way between his soul and his outer nature; it was impossible that he should go on swinging between the two in the impossibly extreme see-saw. Note that we have not rejected him nor he us—he is making an experiment and we let him do it because... of the old time also. (4) I said that the ideal of my Yoga is different but I cannot bind by it other spiritual men and their achievements or discipline. My own ideal is transformation of the outer nature, perfection as perfect as it can be. But it is impossible to say that those who have not achieved it or did not care to achieve it had no spirituality or that their spirituality was of no value ...
... 121 * The two feelings are both of them right — they indicate the two necessities of the sadhana. One is to go inward and open fully the connection between the psychic being and the outer nature. The other is to open upward to the Divine Peace, Force, Light, Ananda above, to rise up into it and bring it down into the nature and the body. Neither of these two movements, the psychic and... there is the supramental influence. But for the present the psychic is the force that may be relied on for the preliminary purification of the lower nature. 125 * As the crust of the outer nature cracks, as the walls of inner separation break down, the inner light gets through, the inner fire burns in the heart, the substance of the nature and the stuff of consciousness refine to a greater... their light and power on the parts of the being, a psychic and spiritual remoulding of the whole nature. A unification of the entire being by a breaking down of the wall between the inner and outer nature, — a shifting of the position and centration of the consciousness from the outer to the inner self, a firm foundation on this new basis, a habitual action from this inner self and its will and vision ...
... can be done, even if at present only a slight beginning has been made; but a beginning is enough, once the Force, the Power are there. It is not really on the capacity of the outer nature that success depends, (for the outer nature all self-exceeding seems impossibly difficult), but on the inner being and to the inner being all is possible. One has only to get Page 31 into contact with the... the life. They are impediments which the fire within can easily burn away if the will to get rid of them is strong, and which it will surely burn away in the end,—though less easily—even if the outer nature clings long to them and justifies them—provided that central will, that deeper impulse is behind all, real and sincere. This conclusion of yours about the incapacity of the non Oriental for Indian ...
... being even has been opened the experiences come. The action of the higher consciousness does not usually begin by changing the outer nature—it works on the inner being, prepares that and then goes outward. Before that, whatever change is done in the outer nature has to be done by the psychic. All experiences can be brought into the smallest constituents of the being. Inner Attitude and... consciousness and nature, but when it is unveiled and able to come forward and govern the being, then it changes the ordinary consciousness, throws all these undivine things out and changes the outer nature altogether. That is why we want the sadhaks to concentrate, to open this concealed Page 24 consciousness—it is by concentration of whatever kind and the experiences it brings that one ...
... of consciousness from the surface to the inner being both in its static and dynamic positions. The outer nature has to undergo change of poise, and there must grow up within oneself or there must manifest a consciousness more and more open to the deeper and the higher being. As a result, the outer nature, and not only the inner nature alone, arrives at conversion of the consciousness, and increasing... rule our nature and to arrive at harmonization of all parts of the being and modulate them in the psychic key. Here, too, there are stages of growth and development. First of all, the crust of our outer nature begins to crack, as the walls between the psychic depths and surface consciousness begin to break down. The inner light gets to the surface consciousness, and one begins to feel increasingly the ...
... the siddha Yogi you cannot always expect Page 658 a perfect perfection; there are many who do not even care for the perfection of the outer nature, yet they have spiritual experience, even spiritual realisation and the unperfected outer nature cannot be held as a disproof of their realisation or experience. If you so regard it, you have to rule out of court the greater number of Yogis of... of the old time also. (4) I said that the ideal of my Yoga is different, but I cannot bind by it other spiritual men and their achievements or discipline. My own ideal is transformation of the outer nature, perfection as perfect as it can be. But it is impossible to say that those who have not achieved it or did not care to achieve it had no spirituality or that their spirituality was of no value... these dark or dull periods become shorter, less trying as well as uplifted by the sense of the greater consciousness which, though not acting for immediate progress, yet remains and sustains the outer nature. The second cause is some resistance, something in the human nature that has not felt the former descents, is not ready, is perhaps unwilling to change,—often it is some strong habitual formation ...
... required and when that is there right attitude follows in one's external behaviour. Conduct must flow from within outwards and the more one opens to the psychic influence the more it gains over the outer nature. Mental control may or may not lead to the spiritual. In people of a certain type it may be the first step towards psychic control. Disciple : How to get psychic control? Sri Aurobindo... aspect, but when it comes to the dynamic experience it becomes difficult. For example, when one finds a man behaving like a brute it is very difficult to see God in him unless one separates him from outer nature and sees the Divine behind. Page 41 One can repeat the name of the Divine and come to divine consciousness. Disciple : How does name do it? Sri Aurobindo : Name... modification in the nature-part but the transformation is not automatic. It is not so easy as all that. My experience of peace and calm in the first contact with Lele has never left me, but in my outer nature there were many agitations and every time I had to make an effort to establish peace. From that time onwards the Page 43 whole object of my yoga was to change nature into the ...
... being and follow its intimations is not a sufficient transformation; one must cease to be the surface personality and become the inner Person, the Purusha. But this is difficult, first because the outer nature opposes the movement and clings to its normal accustomed poise and externalised way Page 937 of existence and, in addition, because there is a long way from the surface to the depths... veiled from us, and this intervening space is filled with a subliminal nature and nature-movements which are not by any means all of them favourable to the completion of the inward movement. The outer nature has to undergo a change of poise, a quieting, a purification and fine mutation of its substance and energy by which the many obstacles in it rarefy, drop away or otherwise disappear; it then becomes... of the surface mind, the limited force and aspiration of the normal life consciousness, the obscure and limited responsiveness of the body. Even before the tranquillising purification of the outer nature has been effected or before it is sufficient, one can still break down the wall screening our inner being from our outer awareness by a strong force of call and aspiration, a vehement will or violent ...
... found to be practically the same as ever. The action of the higher consciousness does not usually begin by changing the outer nature — it works on the inner being, prepares that and then goes outward. Before that whatever change is done in the outer nature has to be done by the psychic. Do you think that I remained too much in the higher consciousness and in the yogic... peace and force would come down and occupy all down to the physical (2) that you succeeded in keeping the inner being unmoved by the outer nature. The physical failed to absorb the peace, inertia rose instead; force could not come down; the suggestions from the outer nature proved too strong for you and between these suggestions and the inertia they interrupted the sadhana. Regarding the ...
... the requisite change of nature. The mind for instance gets the experience of the One in all, but the vital cannot follow because it is dominated by ego-reaction and ego-motive or the habits of the outer nature keep up a way of thinking, feeling, acting, living which is quite out of harmony with the experience. Or the psychic and part of the mind and emotional being feel frequently the closeness of the... greatest thing to which humanity can aspire. Purification and Transformation Transformation is made possible by purification. If you remain in a fully conscious state, the clearing of the outer nature ought not to be difficult—afterwards the positive work of its transformation into a perfect instrument can be undertaken. Page 43 Conditions for the Coming of Experience If you make ...
... Spiritual Movements The two feelings are both of them right—they indicate the two necessities of the sadhana. One is to go inward and open fully the connection between the psychic being and the outer nature. The other is to open upward to the Divine Peace, Force, Light, Ananda above, to rise up into it and bring it down into the nature and the body. Neither of these two movements, the psychic and the... be done is the psychic change and until that has progressed sufficiently, supermind is a far-off thing and people need not think of it at all. You have certainly progressed, but the change of the outer nature is always a slow movement, so that need not distress you. To merge the consciousness in the Divine and to keep the psychic being controlling and changing all the nature and keeping it turned ...
... the same way, finally the physical consciousness no longer supports it. This process continues until even the subconscient can no longer rouse it up in dream and no farther movement comes from the outer Nature-force to rekindle this lower fire. This is the course when the sex-propensity sticks obstinately; but there are some who can eliminate it decisively by a swift radical dropping away from the nature... consent. Call in the Divine Force to help you in your withdrawal and refusal. If you can do this quietly and resolutely and patiently, in the end your inner will will prevail against the habit of the outer Nature. To be conscious [ of the sexual movement ] is the first step, but by itself it is not enough; there must come an automatic force Page 508 of rejection which the moment desire ...
... may symbolise anything, forces at play, the underlying structure and tissue of things done or experienced, actual or potential happenings, real or suggested movements or changes in the inner or outer nature. The timidity of which the apprehension in the dream was an indication, was probably not anything in the conscious mind or higher vital, but something subconscient in the lower vital nature.... from the physical personality that acts in front in the body. By the acting of the consciousness in these dreams the inner parts of the being begin to be more active and have more influence on the outer nature. Your inner vital being seems from the dream experiences that you have related to be very strong, faithful, clear-minded, resolute, able to deal with the hostile forces and their activities in the ...
... The open affirmation of the Divine is therefore its evolutionary aim. But such affirmation cannot stop with the soul's inner realisation of God. The outer nature must also become Godlike - and this becoming Godlike is not tantamount only to the outer nature obeying the soul and receiving something of its light. Mind, Life Force, Matter are themselves the Divine concealed, and the soul is just the centre ...
... the outer nature which cannot be held as a disproof of their realisation and experience. If you so regard it, you have to rule out of court the greater number of Yogis of the past and the Rishis of the old time also. "I own that ideal of my Yoga is different, but I cannot bind by it other spiritual men and their achievements and discipline. My own ideal is transformation of the outer nature, perfection ...
... up and kept them. 4 May 1934 I have been feeling uneasy, tired and depressed since this morning. I spend a lot of time in a state of inertia, I am not sincere and I am restless. The outer nature is always full of imperfections until it is transformed by the divine Presence. But it is wrong to let these things depress you. 4 May 1934 When I removed my bed sheet a scorpion fell... take advantage of it. 16 May 1934 Page 36 Sweet Mother, why do we doubt you? Is there anything better or anyone wiser than you? Why don't we believe in you? Because the outer nature is ignorant, obscure and foolish, so naturally its behaviour and its action are also ignorant, obscure and foolish. 16 May 1934 When I saw Z this morning I felt a trembling, but this ...
... becomes. It is the extent to which he has been able to reveal to our mortal eyes the face and beauty of the Eternal who hides within every form. Our life will have meaning if through the facade of our outer nature, earth and humanity can come in some palpable touch of His Love, Light, Peace, Strength, Sweetness and Bliss. For is not Sri Aurobindo's yoga essentially about making the human consciousness a bridge... success, not his personal deficiencies, just as he is not the capacity of a more or less developed nature. These are only pale hints and weak reflections, distortions of a truth by the mirror of his outer nature which is not yet polished and pure. There are some who can see nothing but the surface and the shadow in others. Trapped in their own surface mud they are blind to anything deeper within and therefore ...
... you were detached from the outer nature, it would have been all right. You were able to go up because the Peace descended. You were not able to remain above because the Peace could not occupy sufficiently the physical and the Force did not descend sufficiently. Meanwhile the inertia rose, you got troubled more and more because of the vital suggestions in the outer nature and the rise of inertia, so ...
... around the ego but around the Page 33 psychic being. It is peaceful and pure and open to the Divine and not only to the universal forces. It helps in preparing the outer nature for the spiritual life. Though it can act directly, it usually acts through the inner being that is just behind the outer. Is there any substance in my statement? It is correct as a distinction... a complete separation between the lower and the higher nature. This is only possible if the inner being becomes quite awake, open to the Higher and able to feel itself separate from the outer nature. I did not say that you should not remain in the higher consciousness. I only said that without the separateness of the inner from the outer, the complete separateness of the higher ...
... the outer nature becomes too restless and the spontaneous peace and concentration are lacking, any effort on my part to concentrate turns into a kind of tapasya. Various suggestions are coming to divert me from this effort, saying that this attitude of tapasya is not as effective as an effortless state. But it seems to me that this effort, this tapasya is necessary so long as the outer nature is not ...
... higher than the mind and you let your outer nature of body, life and mind carry on in the old, entrenched, imperfect man. All desires and negative character traits may remain, but the sadhak is not identified with it, so he feels no imprisonment. He is free. But in the Integral Yoga, the aim is liberation and also the transformation of the outer nature, to make it perfect and free of defects ...
... the ethical mind, though basking in the sun of the Spirit, had yet some grey, woolly clouds flitting over it and obscuring its sight. The inner movement may be perfect, but its transmission to the outer nature is partially blocked and diminished, even distorted, by the meagreness and mental accretions of the passage. Not to him does the Upanishadic saying apply that a knower of the Brahman neither regrets... of Page 132 this nature from its centre to its dense peripheries. But though much has been achieved, an immense more has still to be achieved. The ideal of the Yogi being, in his outer nature, like an inert stone or a mad man or a demon or a child, is an out- worn creed reflecting the failure of the Spirit to conquer and convert the medium of its self-expression. Much of the doubt in ...
... remain conscious of the things that have to be changed in the external nature and it is comparatively easy too to change them. But if the psychic gets veiled and retires into the background, the outer nature left to itself finds it difficult to remain conscious of its own wrong movements and even with great effort cannot succeed in getting rid of them. You can see yourself, as in the matter of food... which rose in that way to join the highest self above — and it was able to do so because the work of purifying the outer vital nature had begun in earnest. Each time there is a purification of the outer nature, it becomes more possible for the inner being to reveal itself, to become free and to open to the higher consciousness above. When this happens, several other things can happen at the same time ...
... & sixth & its preparation in the fifth. The finality of the first chatusthaya is perfect in itself, though not yet entirely absolute, touches still surviving as an occasional insistence from the outer nature. Fierce trouble & distress is obsolete, distress itself & even impatience only an occasional & momentary memorial return, but temporary discouragement & distrust with a tendency to indifference... , which, as a consequence, is now working more passively & with less selfwill and obstinacy. Distress continues to fade steadily Page 377 out of the conscious experience even in the outer nature; distrust & discouragement still recur. Subsequently, the higher tapas of the mind, first sakama, then indifferent, then anandamaya emerged again after long struggle, failure & eclipse. It is... t light & effectuality in the third. These two chatusthayas must therefore for a little time longer move forward together helping each other's fullness until the still watching intellect in the outer nature is sufficiently assured of its ground to allow fullness of tapas & sraddha. Samadhi has not moved forward except in the fullness & comparative frequency of the spontaneous sukshma ghrana & the ...
... if at present only a slight beginning has been made; but a beginning is enough, once the Force, the Power are there" [ pp. 33-34 ]. It is not really on the capacity of the outer nature that success depends, (for the outer nature all self-exceeding seems impossibly difficult), but on the inner being and to the inner being all is possible. One has only to get into contact with the inner being and change... h not so well in the outer. But to realise the inner being is quite enough for a foundation—for many it is quite enough even as a last state, for those who do not seek the transformation of the outer nature. Here too, even if one puts the whole ideal, it is not alleged that it must be all done at once or as a first condition for the greater endeavour. 26 June 1936 You feel depressed on reading ...
... in the outer change? Not necessarily. They help only if one wants it; otherwise, on the contrary, one detaches oneself more and more from the outer nature. This is what happens to all those who seek mukti , liberation; they reject their outer nature with its character and habits as something altogether contemptible with which one Page 348 should not busy oneself; they withdraw all... instances, they do it only partially and, when they come out of their meditation, their contemplation, their trance or their samadhi , they are generally worse than others because they have left their outer nature aside without working on it at all. Even ordinary people, when their defects are a little too glaring, try to correct them or control them a little so as not to have too much trouble in life, while ...
... don't say that "many" people have realised this, but at least quite a few. What is the difference between this experience and the integral transformation? In the integral transformation both the outer nature and the inner consciousness are transformed. The character, the habits, etc. are completely changed, as well as the thoughts and the mental outlook on things. Yes, but there is something which... consciousness, constantly refer back to their inner experience, return to their inner contemplation, live in a sort of more or less constant meditation. And when they come out of meditation, their outer nature is pretty much what it was before, and their way of thinking and reacting is not very different—unless they give up action altogether. But in that case the inner realisation, this transformation... can find in ourselves the origin of atavism, of what comes from our early education and the environment in which we lived. And this gives a kind of special characteristic to the individual, to his outer nature, and it is generally believed that we are born like that and we will stay like that. But by going down into the subconscient, into the inconscient, one can trace the origin Page 294 ...
... consciousness and nature, but when it is unveiled and able to come forward and govern the being, then it changes the ordinary consciousness, throws all these undivine things out and changes the outer nature altogether. That is why we want the sadhaks to concentrate, to open this concealed consciousness — it is by concentration of whatever kind and the experiences it brings that one opens and becomes... easy to remain conscious of the things that have to be changed in the external nature and it is comparatively easy to change them. But if the psychic gets veiled and retires in the background, the outer nature left to itself finds it difficult to remain conscious of its own wrong movements and even with great effort cannot succeed in getting rid of them. You can see yourself, as in the matter of the food... sweetness are the note of the whole sadhana. As for the outer attacks and adverse circumstances, that depends on the action of the Force transforming the relations of the being with the outer Nature; as the victory of the Force proceeds, they will be eliminated; but however long they last, they cannot impede the sadhana, for then even adverse things and happenings become a means for its advance ...
... The open affirmation of the Divine is therefore its evolutionary aim. But such affirmation cannot stop with the soul’s inner realisation of God. The outer nature must also become Godlike - and this becoming Godlike is not tantamount only to the outer nature obeying the soul and receiving something of its light. Mind, Life-Force, Matter are themselves the Divine concealed, and the soul is just the centre... physical self, a statuesque immobility over which passes Page 28 continuously a breeze of happiness, the body can’t but be happy…. There is a kind of spiritual poise in the most outer nature. When this nature becomes wholly immobile, in a sense quite different from inertia, ‘Ananda’ automatically follows. …Some sustained bliss is present. My happy state appears to have no rhyme or reason ...
... have achieved very great advance like the Vedic Rishis. Sri Aurobindo : How do you mean? Their outer nature is not ready and so they can't be said to have realized the Truth. Nature is full of difficulties and obstacles and so the Higher Power works behind. If it worked in the outer nature, it would meet too many obstacles. Disciple : So it is the Bhedabheda philosophy? Sri Aurobindo... vital. So, the being is prepared behind the veil and when everything is ready it is projected in the outer nature. But the demand of this Yoga is much more than in any other and so it takes a long time. All yoga requires patience above everything else. Disciple : We must have been working for it for ...
... the rest is admirably done. 1931 ? Fragment of a letter ... The presence whose fading he regrets can only be felt if the inner being continues to be consecrated, and the outer nature is put into harmony or at least kept under the touch of the inner spirit. But if he does things which his inner being does not approve, this condition will be inevitably tarnished and, each time... from behind the veil. You saw in this experience whence it came. It is the inner psychic being in you that is the bhakta the seeker after the union and the Ananda, and what is difficult for the outer nature will become perfectly easy when the barrier is down and the inner self in the front. For you have seen yourself in your experiences that the moment this comes to the front or draws the consciousness ...
... the different levels of an integral transformation, which, as we know, is the aim of the Integral Yoga. She read the following paragraph from that text: ‘In the integral transformation both the outer nature and the inner consciousness are transformed. The character, the habits, etc., are completely changed, as well as the thoughts and the mental outlook on things.’ And she commented: ‘Yes, but there... ourselves the origin of all atavism, of what comes from our early education and the environment in which we have lived. And this gives a kind of special characteristic to the individual, to his outer nature, and it is generally believed that we are born like that and will stay like that. But by going down into the Subconscient, into the Inconscient, one can trace the origin of this formation and undo ...
... transcendence. It is possible, when we live inwardly in the depths, to arrive at a state of vast inner equality and peace which is untouched by the reactions of the outer nature, and that is a great but incomplete liberation,—for the outer nature too has a right to deliverance. But even if our personal deliverance is complete, still there is the suffering of others, the world travail, which the great of ...
... prepared for the change and the veil between must become thinner and thinner. It is for that experiences come and there is the working on the inner mind and vital and physical as well as on the outer nature. What do you mean by a personal vital? What people call personality is a formation. There is no unchangeable vital personality. There is a Presence called the Purusha, something projected... Category means here another class of psychological factors, tattva-vibhāga . The psychic belongs to one class or category—supermind, mind, life, psychic, physical—which covers both the inner and the outer nature. Chitta belongs to quite another class or category—buddhi, manas, chitta, prana etc.—which is the classification made by ordinary Indian psychology; it covers only the psychology of the external ...
... its intention Page 960 and movement in his own and in the world's existence. For the action of a new power of being in a higher range of consciousness might, even in its control on outer Nature, be extraordinarily effective, but only because of its light of vision and a consequent harmony or identification with the cosmic and transcendent Will; for it is when it becomes an instrumentation... their light and power on the parts of the being, a psychic and spiritual remoulding of the whole nature. A unification of the entire being by a breaking down of the wall between the inner and outer nature,—a shifting of the position and centration of the consciousness from the outer to the inner self, a firm foundation on this new basis, a habitual action from this inner self and its will and vision ...
... spiritual experience. 2 If the secret psychic Person can come forward into the front and, replacing the desire-soul, govern overtly and entirely and not only partially and from behind the veil this outer nature of mind, life and body, then these can be cast into soul images of what is true, right and beautiful and in the end the whole nature can be turned towards the real aim of life, the supreme victory... action of Nature, continues by a mechanical movement of past energies her already transmitted impulse. Even, if there is an entire dissolution of the limited person and the old ego-centric order, the outer nature may become the field of an apparent incoherence, although all within is luminous with the Self. Thus we become outwardly inert and inactive, moved by circumstance or forces but not self-mobile, ...
... succeeds. That sense of separate being and concentration behind the frontal consciousness is very good. It helps to liberate the inner being and make it stand back from the movements of the outer nature. That is the condition of progress,—if, whenever there is an attempt to cloud the consciousness, you can stand back, remain quiet and prevent the clouding. Do that always and the progress... consciousness to the inner consciousness. When one goes into the inner consciousness, it is felt as a calm, pure existence without any movement, but eternally tranquil, unmoved and separate from the outer nature. This Page 239 comes as a result of detaching oneself from the movements, standing back from them and is a very important movement of the sadhana. The first result of it is an entire ...
... remain conscious of the things that have to be changed in the external nature and it is comparatively easy too to change them. But if the psychic gets veiled and retires into the background, the outer nature left to itself finds it difficult to remain conscious of its own wrong movements and even with great effort cannot succeed in getting rid of them. You can see yourself, as in the matter of the food... which rose in that way to join the highest Self above—and it was able to do so, because the work of purifying the outer vital nature had begun in earnest. Each time there is a purification of the outer nature, it becomes more possible for the inner being to reveal itself, to become free and to open to the higher consciousness above. When this happens, several other things can happen at the Page ...
... 15 We do not possess self-knowledge because we know ourselves not as the Person but as an ego, which is an identification of the Person with the many personalities that constitute the outer nature of our being. In terms of Sankhya philosophy, we do not know ourselves as the Purusha (Person) because we are identified with Prakriti (Nature). In this state of identification with Prakriti, the... some tolerable disorderly order,—this is the material of his existence." 16 Real self-knowledge begins when a separation takes place between Purusha and Prakriti, between the Self and its outer Nature. We then perceive "the extraordinary complexity of our own being, the stimulating but also embarrassing multiplicity of our personality, the rich endless confusion of Nature." 17 We also ...
... as you have realised that it is one and the same thing.... That's what I was saying a while ago: when you have an explanation, does it suffice to change your outer nature? Has it changed, are you different from what you were in your outer nature? No. No. Then something more is required. This is what I meant; an explanation is not enough, something else is needed. Evidently, it is a progress to ...
... easy to remain conscious of the things that have to be changed in the external nature and it is comparatively easy to change them. But if the psychic gets veiled and retires in the background, the outer nature left to itself finds it difficult to remain conscious of its own wrong movements and even with great effort cannot succeed in getting rid of them. You can see yourself, as in the matter of the food... joy and sweetness are the note of the whole sadhana. As for the outer attacks and adverse circumstances, that depends on the action of the Force transforming the relations of the being with the outer Nature; as the victory of the Force proceeds, they will be eliminated; but however long they last, they cannot impede the sadhana, for then even adverse things and happenings become a means for its advance ...
... the futilities and foolishnesses of life? Page 155 There are people who say one must unite closely with the outer nature to be able to taste the joy which the manifested world so effectively conceals. I don't think this is true; union with the outer nature brings more certainly sorrow than joy! If you were a man of the world as you say, you would not be here; you would be ...
... A surrender by any means is good, but obviously the impersonal is not enough - for surrender to that may be limited in result to the inner experience without any transformation of the outer nature. Could you kindly inform me when you find my surrender is on the decrease? It is not a question of decrease, but of necessary increase. The aspiration must be for... action, if you meant that the yogi's inner being remains detached while the outer is under the action of the gunas, then it is an understandable thing. All nature is Prakriti, not only the outer nature. The difference is between Purusha and Prakriti, not between inner and outer being. Purusha is the still, observing, supporting, creating consciousness. Prakriti is the dynamic side of the being ...
... the full silence one must be capable of suspending all mental and vital activity. Is it possible to have the release of the Self without the outer nature rising upward to the higher Prakriti? And how is the outer nature to rise into the higher Prakriti before you realise the Self? The higher nature is that of the higher consciousness of which the first basis is the peace and ...
... in contact with the Divine in you. It is the intermediary between the Divine Consciousness and your external consciousness; it is the builder of the inner life; it is that which manifests in the outer nature the order and rule of the Divine Will. If you become aware in your outer consciousness of the psychic being within you and unite with it, you can find the pure Eternal Consciousness and live in... his ignorant struggles and miseries. The psychic would, then, gradually become the overt leader of his life, linking his external consciousness to the Divine Consciousness and manifesting in his outer nature "the order and rule of the Divine Will.” It is the psychic being that infuses its influence into all the parts of our nature and transforms them. It is the psychic from which we receive intimations ...
... of dance, music and theater, I derive profound joy and enthusiasm. I feel they are the very stuff of my being! It cannot survive without these. I know, Mother, that all this is but a play of the Outer nature. This attraction projects us from the inner to the outer world. And yet, I cannot keep myself away from it. Tell me, Mother, if these activities, dance, music, theatre, are harmful for my sadhana... second is to create something from within oneself which can help us purify our being, illumine it. ( silence ) There are a number of artists who actually live in this creative world. However their outer nature might be, and... ( silence daring which the Mother looked at me intently ) and they create extraordinary things. I want my children to do the same. Whatever they take up, they go to its very depth ...
... Indian religion is the most dynamic for the inner spiritual life. It is that while the Supreme or the Divine can be approached through a universal consciousness and by piercing through all inner and outer Nature, That or He can be met by each individual soul in itself, in its own spiritual part, because there is something in it that is intimately one or at least intimately related with the one divine Existence ...
... the Mother, calling the Light and Force, remembering the Divine, rejecting everything else, then these lapses would diminish and light would come into the whole nature. 1 July 1930 It is the outer nature that is obscure and when it is at ease, feels no necessity of remembering the Mother—when the difficulty comes, then it feels the necessity and remembers. But the inner being is not like that. ...
... the best by the inscrutable Will—and the instrumentation of the Divine Force in the adhara. These must be established in the Page 419 inner being, but also as much as possible in the outer nature. Men and circumstances may not come up to your expectation or to your demand on them—they seldom or never do, but it is not on them but on the Divine and on the Divine Force acting in you that must ...
... the outer mental nature (the reasons given are only supports which it builds for its restlessness) and that would have interfered wherever you might have been and on whatever path. To conquer this outer nature is the only way and that can be best done here, since the change of the outer being is here a part of the sadhana and you will receive the necessary help. 17 July 1937 Don't be with me as ...
... cosmic consciousness or else the uplifting into what is above the Page 48 cosmic; one experiences the separation of Purusha from Prakriti and is liberated from the shackles of the outer nature; one becomes aware of one's inner being and sees the outer as an instrument; one feels the universal Force doing one's works and the Self or Purusha watching or witness but free; one feels all one's ...
... outer movements to the inner ideal. But first of all you must become aware of the disharmony. For there are many people who think that everything is going well; and if they are told, “No, your outer nature is in contradiction with your inner aspiration”, they protest. They are not aware. Therefore, the first step is to become aware, to become conscious of what is not in tune. To begin with, most ...
... Integral Yoga The true inner being—the true mental, the true vital, the true physical represent each on its plane and answer to the central being, but the whole of the nature and especially the outer nature does not nor the ordinary mental, vital or physical personality. The psychic being is the central being for the purposes of the evolution—it grows and develops; but there is a central being above ...
... of speech and action and outer contact: for the most part it is subtly and invisibly that this interchange takes place; for it acts indirectly, touching the subliminal parts and through them the outer nature. But when we grow conscious in these subliminal parts, that brings consciousness also of all this interaction and subjective interchange and intermingling, with the result that we need no longer ...
... in contact with the Divine in you. It is the intermediary between the Divine Consciousness and your external consciousness; it is the builder of the inner life, it is that which manifests in the outer nature the order and rule of the Divine Will. If you become aware in your outer consciousness of the psychic being within you and unite with it, you can find the pure Eternal Consciousness and live in ...
... coming to India, and I saw how very practical it was. First, it allows you to grasp a very profound and extremely useful truth, as I said; and then it shields you from all necessity of changing your outer nature. It's so convenient, isn't it? You say, "I am like that, what can I do about it? I separate myself from Nature, I let her do whatever she likes, I am not this Nature, I am the Purusha. Ah! ...
... Aurobindo * If the secret psychic Person can come forward into the front and, replacing the desire-soul, govern overtly and entirely and not only partially and from behind the veil this outer nature of mind, life and body, then these can be cast into soul images of what is true, right and beautiful and in the end the whole nature can be turned towards the real aim of life, the supreme victory ...
... moral perfection for a certain period of time, however brief it may be. Many people try to take a short-cut and want to assert their inner freedom before having overcome all the weaknesses of the outer nature; they are in great danger of deluding themselves. The true spiritual life, complete freedom, is something much higher than the highest moral realisations, but one must take care that this so called ...
... soul-spark on which is imposed the task of meeting and striving with the forces of the universe, entering into contact with all that seems to it not itself, increasing under the pressure of inner and outer Nature till it can become one with all existence. It has to grow into self-knowledge and world-knowledge, to get within itself and discover that it is a spiritual being, to get outside of itself and discover ...
... life, is pushing you on this path of vairagya and the more stormy way of bhakti—in spite of our preference for a less painful one and yours also—something that is determined to be drastic with the outer nature so as to make itself free to fulfil its secret aspiration. But do not listen to these suggestions of the voice that says, "You shall not succeed and it is no use trying." That is a thing that need ...
... what rises and afterwards it is found that something has been gained and a progress made. Yes, indeed, to keep the fixed consciousness of the soul, even when there are fluctuations in the outer nature, is a great victory. If one can do that, it means that the capacity to arrive is there fixed in the being and only the firm will is needed for the entire certitude. Fluctuations in the Working ...
... inner mental, vital, physical, the psychic are not subconscious in this sense, but they can be spoken of as subliminal. What he [ a correspondent ] has written about the subconscient and the outer nature is true. But the role of subliminal forces cannot be said to be small, since from there come all the greater aspirations, ideals, strivings towards a better self and better humanity without which ...
... with them. The true inner being—the true mental, the true vital, the true physical represent each on its plane and answer to the central being, but the whole of the nature and especially the outer nature does not nor the ordinary mental, vital or physical personality. The psychic being is the central being for the purposes of the evolution—it grows and develops; but there is a central being above ...
... direct touch with the cosmic forces of the physical universe. But the exterior being is not in direct touch with the universal or cosmic—only through the outer mind and senses. It is the outer nature that is obscure and when it is at ease, feels no necessity of remembering the Mother—when the difficulty comes, then it feels the necessity and remembers. But the inner being is not like that. ...
... centre and living there. The maidān full of light was the inmost psychic centre; the dark place in between represents the veil of ignorance created by the gulf between this inmost psychic and the outer nature. The chakra turning round and round which prevents the approach from one side (the mental side) is the activity of the ordinary mind; when the mind becomes quiet, then it is easier. The serpent ...
... covered over by the ignorance; when one identifies with the Self and not with the mind, life and body and their movements or with the small ego, that is the release of the Self. And how is the outer nature to rise into the higher Prakriti before you realise the Self? The higher nature is that of the higher consciousness of which the first basis is the peace and wideness and realisation of the Self ...
... joy and sweetness are the note of the whole sadhana. As for the outer attacks and adverse circumstances, that depends on the action of the Force transforming the relations of the being with the outer Nature; as the victory of the Force proceeds, they will be eliminated; but however long they last, they cannot impede the sadhana, for Page 669 then even adverse things and happenings become ...
... together. The force of the Yoga must be given Page 262 time to make the necessary adjustments and openings, and to take the being inward and then from this inward poise to work on the outer nature. This does not mean that one should not allow the consciousness to go inward so that as soon as possible it should live in the inward world of being and see all anew from there. That inward going ...
... not wanted by the nature. It comes still but it has no longer the old force, duration, intensity, completeness. The externalised condition is often used to show or test the progress made in the outer nature itself, for when one is entirely within these outward movements remain quiescent, so the extent to which they are changed cannot be so easily measured. But of course it is the going inward that ...
... , the natural outflowering of our soul of justice, our soul of truth, our soul of love and compassion, our soul of purity or sacrifice. And before the greatness of its imperative mandate to the outer nature the vital being and the practical reason and surface seeking intelligence must and do bow down as before something greater than themselves, something that belongs directly to the divine and the ...
... mental vital material life-existence to an inner spiritual existence and a spiritualised nature. By Yoga we pass from the phenomenal to the real Man, from the consciousness of our own apparent outer nature to the consciousness of our real self, Atman, an inner and inmost man, Purusha, that which we truly and eternally are. This self or true being remains constant through all the changes of our phenomenal ...
... this together is but a second in the total manifestation of the Divine. The Divine is with you according to your aspirations. This does not mean, naturally, that He bends to the whims of your outer nature—I am speaking here of the truth of your being. Yet sometimes He does fashion himself according to your outer aspirations; and if, like the devout, you live alternately in estrangement and embrace ...
... being. Here is what I wrote: In your ignorance, you created a phantom of your destiny, and then, out of this non-existent ghost, you made a hobgoblin around which all the resistances of your outer nature have crystallized. Page 101 It is a double ignorance: – in the universe, there are not—there cannot be—two similar destinies. – each one's destiny is inevitably fulfilled, but ...
... of its own. Probably this is happening in the subtle physical. Everything happens there first before manifesting in the external physical. This is not a transformation but a change in the outer nature including the 'gunas'. You are correct in that the change has occurred earlier in the external mind and vital, but there is no fixed rule about the sequence of the change though generally ...
... between ideal and effective will..." 1 This is the reason why it has been always found that a subjective spirituality concentrated on the change of the inner being alone, leaving the outer nature to go its old way, is much easier to accomplish than to objectivise this spirituality in the dynamic life of a free world-action. In the course of our Spiritual Sadhana, our totality of existence ...
... reason, he only wants to remain on his Mother's breast. You know very well that I am always with you and in you, in the physical consciousness as in the others. 10 July 1934 Yes, the outer nature must become calm and quiet and turn towards the Divine. 21 December 1936 Page 236 We are at least mentally convinced about our misunderstanding and error and we are determined ...
... most of itself to the surface, it works always behind the veil: it is rather a secret intraconscient and circumconscient than a subconscient; for it envelops quite as much as it supports the outer nature. This description is no doubt truest of the deeper parts of the subliminal; in other layers of it nearer to our surface there is a more ignorant action and those who, penetrating within, pause ...
... active Prakriti takes place progressively with the growth of consciousness. Initially, in the state of total ignorance and bondage, Purusha, the Soul, is royally identified with Prakriti, the outer Nature. In this state ... the Purusha is passive and allows Nature to act, accepting all she imposes on him, giving a constant automatic sanction ... the soul in mind, life, body, the mental, vital ...
... would not have allowed him to act or behave otherwise. The guide knows his follower very well. The psychological crisis and ambivalence arising out of the difference between the inner and the outer nature are aspects that have thus been well focused in this episode taking place in the thick of battle. Through it the deeper sense of action has been brought out in a most dramatic way to make that drama ...
... sympathy, universality, oneness." 1 The coming forward of the psychic person marks a momentous stage in the development of personality. It then begins to govern overtly and entirely our outer nature of mind, life and body, and then this can be cast into soul image of what is true, right and beautiful, and in the end, the whole nature can be turned towards the real aim of life, the supreme victory ...
... want to plunge into meditation only to disappear into some superconscient realms of consciousness. We seek instead the integral divine transformation even of our waking life and of our active outer nature. And we resort to meditation only as a necessary preliminary preparation for attaining to this ultimate goal. For it cannot be denied that a rightly conceived and properly practised meditation ...
... (Centenary Edition), p. 226 Page 160 The coming forward of the psychic person marks a momentous stage in the development of personality. It then begins to govern overtly and entirely our outer nature of mind, life and body, and then this can be cast into soul-image of what is true, right and beautiful, and in the -end, the whole nature can be turned towards the real aim of life, the supreme ...
... nature in all its details, mere sedentary meditation or an outpouring of ecstatic devotion will not help us in the fulfilment of our goal. In that way we may gather some inner experiences but our outer nature will mostly remain untransformed as before. For the entire transformation we have to achieve dynamic union with the Divine. And this can be effected only through our self-offering to the Supreme ...
... assumed, such is the destined state of spiritual penury of the waking consciousness, the traditional spirituality is justified in putting its sole stress on the inner Realisation, leaving the outer Nature-part to participate as much as it possibly can in the Illumination of the inner Being and then drop off definitively at death. But although actually and pragmatically valid, we do not accept ...
... spiritual sympathy, universality, oneness....¹ The coming forward of the psychic person marks a momentous stage in the Yoga of Sri Aurobindo. It then begins to govern overtly and entirely our outer nature of mind, life and body, and these can be cast into soul images of what is true, right and beautiful, and in the end the whole nature can be turned towards the real aim of life, the supreme victory ...
... prepared and opened. The road for the poetical self-expression is not yet sufficiently prepared and open. On the other hand I see quite a number of people remaining cheerful and happy though the outer nature seems rather uncontrolled. I wish I could be at least happy and sunny. That is a mere matter of temperament. There are plenty of people whose ordinary nature is sunny and cheerful. However ...
... except a few persons: x, y, z (I named them in my mind). Yes, You have some sort of love for us, which is an impersonal love, not personal." Then my inner, better self tried to argue with my outer nature or ego: "Don't be foolish," etc. etc. But the abhimaan wouldn't be consoled so easily. Then I went to bed at night (everything seems to happen for me in sleep!) and I had a dream in which I ...
... fatigued. This happens even when my talking is a necessity. That happens very usually. Talking of an unnecessary character fatigues the inner being because the talk comes from the outer nature while the inner has to supply the energy which it feels squandered away. A sadhak told me that when he passes from one plane to another there come very powerful vibrations which ...
... the enlarging into the cosmic consciousness or else the uplifting into what is above the cosmic,—one experiences the separation of Purusha from Prakriti and is liberated from the shackles of the outer nature; one becomes aware of one's inner being, and feels the outer as an instrument; one feels the universal Force doing one's works and the self or Purusha watching or witness but free; one feels all ...
... called us here and she has given it out of her own love, her infinite love, unasked, unconditionally Whatever you are in your outward character and activities, that is not affected at all by the outer nature; it remains as it is, pure, unsullied. Some of you were present at my talk on Dante. I spoke of Dante's vision; it is a wonderful vision—the vision of the mission of the Divine Mother. ...
... 24 December 1945 Mother, Some parts of my nature are in turmoil. Is it due to some wrong attitude or to subconscient upsurgings? By Your grace my inner poise is intact, but my outer nature is still subject to heaviness, weakness and unrest. I aspire to know how to get over them. Ignore them and turn your attention elsewhere. 24 December 1945 ...
... at this stage the surges of passion are there within, inside the wall of control, as it were. The pressure and demand of the Spirit has brought about a deadlock in the ignorant movements of the outer nature, although the physico-vital and vital support behind has not been wholly purified and continues in its old way, expressing itself in veiled and sublimated acts and in dreams and imaginations. The ...
... influence. 18.2.1967 You have said: "The Divine is with you according to your aspirations. Naturally, this does not mean that Page 4 he gives way to the fancies of your outer nature — I am speaking here of the truth of your being. Moreover, he sometimes models himself on your outer aspirations, and if you live like the devotees who alternate between periods of estrangement ...
... and it understands. 10.4.1969 Is it preferable for me to continue to have fixed hours of meditation ? Page 83 Usually fixed hours are recommended with the idea that the outer nature should get habituated to it and thus offer less resistance. But my experience has been different. I have had the experience that the true concentration imposes itself at the desired moment ...
... coming to India, and I saw how very practical it was. First, it allows you to grasp a very profound and extremely useful truth ... and then it shields you from all necessity of changing your outer nature. It's so convenient, isn't it? You say, "I am like that, what can I do about it? I separate myself from Nature, I let her do whatever she likes, I am not *Jnanendranath Chakravarty, later ...
... letter to Nirod: The two feelings are both of them right - they indicate the two necessities of the sadhana. One is to go inward and open fully the connection between the psychic being and the outer nature. The other is to open upward to the Divine Peace, Force, Light, Ananda above .... The best way is to aspire for both and let the Mother's Force work it out according to the need and turn of the ...
... man. This essential nature or Svabhava is the nature of the psychic being which evolves by means of the inner mind, inner life and subtle or inner physical and seeks to express itself in the outer nature of the mind, life & body of man. It is not the nature of the ego. Arjun was not aware of his essential nature, he was being led by his sattwic rajasic nature the norms of which he knew as his ...
... about his outer personality, that part of his surface nature which is rivetted to the sense-bound separative "I" ? There is nothing definite and conclusive in the Upanishads to prove that Janaka's outer nature too was as much liberated as his soul, and that his physical consciousness was! much universalised and impersonalised as his spiritual., purified, quieted and controlled physical consciousness ...
... speck of Universal Matter. Or, the identity can be above the Mind, by breaking open the lid that divides the Mind from the Infinite. Just as there is a wall that separates the psychic being from the outer nature, so also there is a wall above the head. You break the wall or, what is called the lid, and you feel yourself as the Infinite, and your individual self in the Infinite. That opening can be either ...
... of supramental manifestation. In the Integral Yoga no spiritual experience counts for much unless it is translated into the terms of the physical being, and rivetted and revealed in the outer nature and action. The Mother's physical Presence and contact, surcharged with the supra. mental Light and Force, and Her constant control and guidance, elimination of evil and dispensation of Grace area ...
... concerned with is the growth of its consciousness, the development of its possibilities, the variety and richness of its experiences, and the flowering of its innate swabhava and swadharma in its outer nature and life. The total urge in it is not for self-extinction, but for self-fulfilment. Groups of Souls The souls are not, as is maintained by Sankhya and Jainism, and, more or ...
... the requisite change of nature. The mind for instance gets the experience of the one in all, but the vital cannot follow because it is dominated by ego-reaction and ego-nature or the habits of the outer nature keep up a way of thinking, feeling, acting, living which is quite out of harmony with the experience. For the psychic and part of the mind and emotional being feel frequently the closeness of the ...
... of the Divine consciousness in the world would be possible, but also His power could remould man's life and body until the image of the Satcid-ananda is projected in life. And the victory in the outer nature may be the victory of God in humanity. The next step would be the victory of the Divine in the outer manifestation in life. How does the mind happen to be held in the Supermind ? It is held ...
... stage of perfection is reached in life. VII: 6 Nirvana and the Discovery of the All-Negating Absolute But the Siddhis Savitri has attained are not sufficient. Her outer nature has yet not undergone any fundamental change and all her relationships are still human. A greater Night must therefore show her a truer Sun. She must recognize that to give a body to the Unknowable ...
... spiritual experience. 1 If the secret psychic Person can come forward into the front and, replacing the desire-soul, govern overtly and entirely and not only partially and from behind the veil this outer nature of mind, life and body, then these can be cast into soul images of what is true, right and beautiful and in the end the whole nature can be turned towards Page 89 the real aim ...
... when we describe the psychological disturbances pertaining to these parts of the being. The term "psychic" is used in Integral Yoga to refer to the inmost part of the being which supports the outer nature of body, vital and mind and which, in most human beings, is hidden and veiled by the activities of physical, vital and mental consciousness. The reason for dwelling at some length on definitions ...
... because they are governed primarily by Tamas and Rajas. However, from the viewpoint of yoga, the mastery conferred by Sattwa is only a relative one, since Sattwa too is a quality of Prakriti, the outer nature, which in our present state of Ignorance binds the Purusha, the true inner being. As Sri Aurobindo states: "... richness of life, even a sattwic harmony of mind and nature does not constitute ...
... curve of a past life, is pushing you on the path of vairagya and the stormy way of bhakti — in spite of our preference for a less painful one — something that is determined to be drastic with the outer nature so as to make itself free to fulfil its secret aspiration. But do not listen to these suggestions of the voice that says: 'You shall not succeed and it is no use trying'. That is a thing that need ...
... caught something but I thought he was expressing himself badly when he claimed that "Sri Aurobindo's Force" could not be called "invisible" since it translated itself in "visible changes" even in the outer nature of many an aspirant. So I wrote to Gurudev Page 100 requesting him to throw some light on this somewhat obscure point. After a lot of speculation I ended on my old note of helpless ...
... experiments of yoga.” (Peter Heehs 959) For he had no intention “of giving his sanction to a new edition of the old fiasco” by bringing a new yoga “with no true and radical change in the law of the outer nature”. 960 If Sri Aurobindo’s withdrawal from public life was not a retirement, it was still less a retreat in the sense of a separation from worldly matters. He read the newspapers and followed ...
... that makes no difference to their evidential value; it is the quality and force of meaning of the experience and not the quantity or number that matters. In the early stages, before the wall of the outer nature goes down under the inner pressure, strong experiences are apt to be espac é es [spaced out] or rare. I may say also that I did not leave politics because I felt that I could do nothing there; ...
... were -in a phrase of Sri Aurobindo's - "taking to a voiceless supreme delight". The body is felt to have an existence of its own as a doer of Yoga. There is a kind of spiritual poise in the most outer nature. When this nature becomes wholly immobile, in a sense quite different from inertia, "Ananda" automatically follows. If only the immobility could last, become permanent! Then the body would have ...
... harmony with the inner consciousness, then there would be no necessity for one to stop. On the other hand if one has attained the full consciousness in Page 725 both the inner and the outer nature then also one could write anything one is moved by that consciousness to write, whatever it might be. In certain cases this rule may not hold. One may be strong enough to do all kinds of outward ...
... but also say that it is best to prepare oneself first. Usually it does not come except after a long discipline of self-purification etc.—it can be called down, but that is not always safe, if the outer nature is not yet ready. 6 March 1938 Sigmund Freud You had once written that things rejected from the conscious parts go down into the subconscient physical. Is Freud's theory of suppression ...
... being. A surrender by any means is good, but obviously the impersonal is not enough—for surrender to that may be limited in result to the inner experience without any transformation of the outer nature. Passive or Tamasic Surrender Active surrender is when you associate your will with the Divine Will, reject what is not the Divine, assent to what is the Divine. Passive surrender is when ...
... Soul and the supreme Shakti, the One who is differently named and imaged by the religions, is the Master of our Yoga. To see, know, become and fulfil this One in our inner selves and in all our outer nature, was always the secret goal and becomes now the conscious purpose of our embodied existence. To be conscious of him in all parts of our being and equally in all that the dividing mind sees as outside ...
... they are accepted and self-imposed, not imposed from outside, they are a means of expression of our totality in the movement of Time, an order of things imposed by our inner spiritual being on our outer nature-being, not a bondage inflicted on the ever-free spirit. There is therefore no reason to conclude from the limitations of perception and action that the movement is unreal or that the expression ...
... or most of itself to the surface, it works always behind the veil: it is rather a secret intraconscient and circumconscient than a subconscient; for it envelops quite as much as it supports the outer nature. This description is no doubt truest of the deeper parts of the subliminal; in other layers of it nearer to our surface there is a more ignorant action and those who, penetrating within, pause in ...
... inalienable bliss of a free unaffected being. Neither within nor without will he have any more the old little personality, for he will feel consciously one self and spirit with all, even as his outer nature will have become to his consciousness an inseparable part of the universal mind, life and will. His separative egoistic personality will have been taken up and extinguished in the impersonality ...
... many wrong movements and happenings in him,—because his vital is easily open to all these earth movements. In order to get rid of them, the inner being must wake and grow and its nature replace the outer nature. Sometimes serpents indicate energies simply, not harmful ones; but more often it is the other way. On the other hand the peacocks you saw were powers of victory, the victory of the energies of ...
... and trying to keep its place by memory and recurrent habit. The physical consciousness has to push it out more and more till it is no longer felt as within it, but seen for what it really is, an outer Nature of the ignorance which had usurped the consciousness and prevented the psychic being from manifesting. The physical troubles that belong to the constitution of the body are usually the last ...
... of the Yogic processes is not, except in rare cases, immediate and one must apply them with patience till they give a result which is sometimes long in coming if there is much resistance in the outer nature. How can you fix the mind on the higher Self so long as you have no consciousness or experience of it? You can only concentrate on the idea of the Self. Or else one can concentrate on the idea ...
... the enlarging into the cosmic consciousness or else the uplifting into what is above the cosmic; one experiences the separation of Purusha from Prakriti and is liberated from the shackles of the outer nature; one becomes aware of one's inner being and feels the outer as an instrument; one feels the universal Force doing one's works and the Self or Purusha watching or witness but free; one feels all ...
... necessary, first, to be conscious of one's psychic being behind the heart and, next, this separation of the Purusha from the Prakriti. For the true individual is behind veiled by the activities of the outer nature. Silence is always good; but I do not mean by quietness of mind entire silence. I mean a mind free from disturbance and trouble, Page 160 steady, light and glad so as to be open ...
... the inner itself controls the talk. That [ feeling of fatigue after talking ] happens very usually. Talking of an unnecessary character tires the inner being because the talk comes from the outer nature while the inner has to supply the energy which it feels squandered away. Chat of that kind [ about others ] has indeed a very tiring effect when one is at all in the stream of true experience ...
... is premature and cannot succeed. 20 June 1930 Instead of opening myself to the Mother, I opened to the adverse forces. Then like a friend the Mother showed me my mistakes. But why does my outer nature make me wander Page 383 here and there? Why doesn't the Mother protect me with her Force at the time of difficulty? Why does she show me only afterwards what the problem was? The ...
... open to you and it is there whenever you can feel it; for it is a thing of the inner being. Whenever you go deep within yourself you find it; it has Page 486 to come out and govern the outer nature and life. That is why I want you to give time for going inside and for inner progress in the sadhana. The relation with X which the Mother thought of establishing was of two friends and fellow ...
... a constant support of your consent, with a constant rejection of all that is not that, till all the inner being is tranquillised and filled with the Mother's Force, Peace, Joy, Presence—then the outer nature will be obliged to follow suit in its turn. 8 May 1933 In a dream I saw a dull painting with an expanse of water in the background, and in the centre a temple with trees in front. As I was ...
... more as a "siddhi" than anything else, not as the manifestation of a new Nature in the earth consciousness. I do not know that any except a very few great Yogis have really changed their outer nature. In all the Asrams I have seen people were just as others except for certain specific moral controls put on certain kinds of outer action (food, sex etc.), but the general nature was the human nature ...
... descend at my call and why did the chakra open above my head? It is Mahasaraswati's work to use the power and light and experiences that come in from above so as to change in detail the whole outer nature. 24 April 1933 Is it mostly the Mahasaraswati aspect of the Mother that works in our sadhana here? Page 71 At present since the sadhana came down to the physical consciousness—or ...
... higher consciousness and, so long as I am inactive, remain there undisturbed by revolt, resistance, impulses or desire. The men who live in the Self are always there at all times. Nothing in the outer nature can affect that. You write, "Those who seek the self by the old Yogas separate themselves from mind, life and body and realise the self Page 305 apart from these things." How do ...
... of the Mother does not withdraw; open yourself and you will feel it. 1 May 1929 The presence whose fading he regrets can only be felt if the inner being continues to be consecrated and the outer nature is put into harmony or at least kept under the touch of the inner spirit. But if he does things which his inner being does not approve, this condition will be inevitably tarnished and, each time ...
... consciousness, constantly refer back to their inner experience, return to their inner contemplation, live in a sort of more or less constant meditation. And when they come out of meditation, their outer nature is pretty much what it was before, and their way of thinking and reacting is not very different—unless they give up action altogether. But in that case the inner realisation, this transformation ...
... can find in ourselves the origin of atavism, of what comes from our early education and the environment in which we lived. And this gives a kind of special characteristic to the individual, to his outer nature, and it is generally believed that we are born like that and we will stay like that. But by going down into the subconscient, into the inconscient, one can trace the origin of this formation and ...
... outer movements to the inner ideal. But first of all you must become aware of the disharmony. For there are many people who think that everything is going well; and if they are told, "No, your outer nature is in contradiction with your inner aspiration", they protest. They are not aware. Therefore, the first step is to become aware, to become conscious of what is not in tune. To begin with, most ...
... never do anything for anybody, have no large idea. And yet, in their meditation, they have had this contact. And that is why people who have discovered how very difficult it is to change this petty outer nature that one takes up along with the body, how difficult it is to transcend oneself, to transform one's movements, say: "It is not possible, it is no use trying; in coming to the world, you have taken ...
... spiritual experience.* If the secret psychic Person can come forward into the front and, replacing the desire-soul, govern overtly and entirely and not only partially and from behind the veil this outer nature of mind, life and body, then these can be cast into soul images of what is true, right and beautiful and in the end the whole nature can be turned towards the real aim of life, the supreme victory ...
... etc. and devoting all my time to work. But my logic Page 21 does not accept this. Where does this idea come from and why? In this case your logic is right. In the outer nature there is often a tamasic tendency to simplify the conditions of life in order to avoid the effort of organising more complicated circumstances. But when one wants to Progress in the integrality ...
... Playground, the band, studies, etc., and devote all my time to the work. But my logic does not accept this. From where does this idea come and why? In this case your logic is right. In the outer nature there is often a tamasic tendency to simplify the conditions of life in order to avoid the effort of organising more complicated circumstances. But when one desires to progress in the integrality ...
... together is only one second of the total manifestation of the Divine. The Divine is with you according to your aspiration. Naturally that does not mean that He bends to the caprices of your outer nature,―I speak here of the truth of your being. And yet, sometimes he does fashion himself according to your outer aspirations, and if, like the devotees, you live alternately in separation and union ...
... consciousness and nature, but when it is unveiled and able to come forward and govern the being, then it changes the ordinary consciousness, throws all these undivine things out and changes the outer nature altogether. That is why we want the sadhaks to concentrate, to open this concealed consciousness—it is by concentration of whatever kind and the experiences it brings that one opens and becomes ...
... activities—the Playground, band, studies, etc.—and devoting all my time to work. But my logic does not accept this. Where does this idea come from and why? In this case your logic is right. In the outer nature there is often a tamasic tendency to simplify the conditions of life in order to avoid the effort of organising more complicated circumstances. But when one wants to progress in the integrality ...
... produced by their influence. 18 February 1967 You have said: "The Divine is with you according to your aspirations. Naturally, this does not mean that he gives way to the fancies of your outer nature—I am speaking here of the truth of your being. Moreover, he sometimes moulds himself according to your outer aspirations, and if you live like the devotees who alternate between periods of estrangement ...
... requisite change of nature. The mind, for instance, gets the experience of the One in all, but the vital cannot follow, because it is dominated by ego-reaction and ego-motive or the habits of the outer nature keep up a way of thinking, feeling, acting, living which is quite out of harmony with the experience. Or the psychic and part of the mind and emotional being feel frequently the closeness of the ...
... has recorded. On December 22, 1938 Sri Aurobindo refers to the Nirvanic realisation and explains: "My experience of peace and calm after my first contact with Lele never left me, but in my outer nature there were many agitations and every time I had to make an effort to establish peace and calm there. Ever since that early experience the whole object of my Yoga has been to change this nature into ...
... has termed psychicisation and spiritualisation are within our capacity. We are capable too of at least a touch of the Supermind in our inner being and perhaps some reflection of this touch in our outer nature. But a full establishment of the Supermind in Page 234 anyone cannot be hoped for unless the Mother comes back to the earth. You may recall Sri Aurobindo's command to her in ...
... passed from the stone and iron age which marked his step by step advance in conquering the domain of matter but he is even now in his inner life what he was in those primitive times. He has conquered outer nature but his inner nature remains the same, beyond his control. His passions, instincts, desires and impulses still dominate him. He has no control over his senses. He is not master of himself though ...
... thought in this respect. It was rationalistic in the sense that it made human reason the highest authority in the pursuit of knowledge. It was naturalistic in that it sought to explain inner and outer nature without supernatural presuppositions. It was, therefore, scientific, keeping in touch with the new sciences, particularly with the sciences of external nature. The new movement found in the ...
... try at once to go after it—so here again your logic fails. I don't even project my myopic vision towards the splendidly coloured horizon of the Absolute... I want only peace... If the blessed outer nature is on blazing fire, the inner would be calm, terribly calm, in a calm Pacific peace which no Atlantic aggressions can disturb... And yet you say you are not after the Absolute!!! About the ...
... the cosmic mind; if in the vital, your vital becomes part of the cosmic vital; if in the physical, the body is felt as a speck of universal Matter. Just as there is a wall that separates the outer nature from the soul, the psychic being, so also there is a wall above the head. You break that wall or what is called the lid and you feel your individual self in the Infinite or you feel you are the ...
... is not everything. There must be something that appeals to the mind, man being mental. Poetry to be popular must be good poetry. 2 "Video meliora probocque, deteriora sequor." 3 "...the outer nature may become the field of an apparent incoherence although all within is luminous with the Self. Thus we become outwardly inert and inactive, moved by circumstance or forces but not self-mobile (jadavat) ...
... nature. The vitality in my outer being has decreased much. What I could do in one day now needs three days! Is this due to a transition period for establishing a higher life in the outer nature? It depends on how you take it. If you allow the inertia to depress you it becomes an interruption and not a transition. Could you kindly explain how it becomes a period of ...
... instrument for his divine manifestation upon earth. Our aspiration is not merely to enjoy the delight of spiritual realisation in our inner consciousness; what we aim at in our yoga is that our outer nature and being too should fully and integrally participate in the spiritual fulfilment. In the inimitable words of Sri Aurobindo: "...we have set out to conquer all ourselves and the world for God; ...
... path cannot therefore consider his sadhana fulfilled, simply when he has achieved union with the Divine in the profundities of his inner consciousness or on the heights of his being, leaving his outer nature imperfect and untransformed. An integrated and well-harmonised simultaneous realisation of divine Being and divine Becoming: such is the goal set before himself by the sadhaka of the Integral ...
... ted education turns to the education of the soul, to the psychic education and to spiritual education. This education has three aspects: discovery of the soul and the spirit, preparation of the outer nature of the body, life and mind so as to make them fit to permit the sovereignty of the soul and the spirit, and thirdly, the process by which the soul and the spirit can manifest through our outer ...
... quite small in the beginning; it is, therefore, described in the Kathopanishad as "not bigger than thumb." It is of the nature of a spark of purity and intuitive knowledge, which manifests in our outer nature of mind, life and body, as their inner self. The Kathopanishad also calls it antaratman. This is antaratman because it represents our inmost individual self, jiva, and it is seated in the mystic ...
... that together is only one second of the total manifestation of the Divine. The Divine is with you according to your aspiration. Naturally that does not mean that He bends to the caprices of your outer nature, — I speak here of the truth of your being. And yet, sometimes He does fashion Himself according to your outer aspirations, and if, like the devotees, you live alternately in separation and union ...
... able to remain indifferent to all of it. 277From the poem "The Hound of Heaven" by Francis Thompson (1859-1907). What it means in this context is that if the soul is ready within, but the outer nature is not, conditions of life get arranged in such a way that it appears that the Divine is pursuing the sadhak and not the other way round. 278The name of God in the mouth of the atheist ...
... The Lost Footsteps. I don't know whether you people know about it; a remarkable example and that was during Sri Aurobindo's lifetime. Perhaps He Himself didn't know about it in his instrumental outer nature! His emanation was doing everything. Then the lady departed, as we shall also depart just now, saying, "I came to hear something from you, but I've told you about my experience instead." ...
... and realisations with a nature so full of insincerity and ego-centredness. One can realise certain things in the inner being (especially the inner mind) without transformation of the outer nature. Z's inner mind once it opened proved to be extremely receptive — but his inner vital and physical only opened for a while then closed, the outer man prevailed and the outer man in Z is of a very ...
... Force allowed by any part of my nature? Force of habit of old nature responding to these things. But they do not come any more from the nature itself. They come from outside — only the outer nature is still unaccustomed to resist the impact so as to feel it as absolutely foreign. What is the aim of the hostile Force in saying, "The Mother does not love you and therefore ...
... concentrated above, the cold gets veiled. It appears again only when the consciousness comes down and is diffused. It is the only final cure for the habit of illness, when the whole outer nature becomes part of the consciousness above. How is it that in spite of my foresight I could not prevent the cold from getting in? Something in the physical admitted ...
... provided one feels that one is not doing the work but it is being done through one. Since I am in a confused state, should the work be put aside for a time? I mean, till the outer nature is quieted down first? And what about meditation? Work should not be abandoned entirely. Both meditation and work should continue. Only the body should not be strained ...
... When I suggested about drawing a line, I thought that it would be possible for me to impose a complete surrender on my outer being. For three days I have been trying to do it. The outer nature is losing all interest and joy in responding to the higher knowledge. It says: "What is the use of spending time in bringing down the higher knowledge, it has now no value as Sri Aurobindo doesn't ...
... them an outer thing not belonging to their true being and having no power to pull them down from it. These men who live in the self are always there at all times. Nothing in the outer nature can affect that. Is there any difference between our way of seeking the self and that of the old Yogis? Page 279 Only that they often sought it ...
... consciousness but even this is liberation, not transformation. Of course I do find some essential changes in the inner and higher parts of my being, but nothing concrete in the outer nature. If the peace had gone sufficiently into the physical, then the inner being could no more be veiled. You would have found the liberation described above. But the physical consciousness ...
... etc. to care for anything. During work the mind was not very quiet. I observed at the same time the contradiction between the inner passivity, and the mechanical working of the outer nature, the intense activity of the Force working, and the insistent thinking of the outer mind. All this is rather perplexing! Not at all. It often happens, even usually at this stage. You ...
... of sin through Christ." Who then is Christ, what is he? Page 116 This knowledge you get as you advance from your sense-bound perception towards the inner and inmost seeing. As your outer nature gets purified, you approach gradually your soul, the scales fall off from your eyes too and you have the knowledge and "ghostly vision." Here too there are three degrees; first, you start with faith ...
... Mother called us here and She has given it of Her own Love, infinite Love, unasked, unconditionally. Whatever you are in your outward character and activities, that is not affected at all by the outer nature; it remains as it is, pure, unsullied. Some of you were present at my talk on Dante....... I spoke of Dante's vision, it is a wonderful vision, – the vision of the mission of the Divine Mother ...
... ramayan sarvabhutani yantrarudhani mayaya–XVIII.61 Page 157 consciousness, has an independent formation, being a strong centre of self-driven force, and can impress upon the outer Nature and circumstances its own pattern and disposition. Naturally, all depends upon the degree and character of that consciousness. But the true secret of the power to control and guide Nature's ...
... take another bold step, a jump upward. For the next stage, the stage when the true equilibrium, the inherent reconciliation is realised between oneself and others, between the inner soul and its outer nature is what the Upanishad describes as Vijnana, the Vast Knowledge. Page 378 ...
... coloured glasses of my ego." My mother smiled. She said : "Your father is no more what he was two years ago. There has been an upheaval in his Page 206 inner life, and even his outer nature has changed a great deal, — although his exterior seems very much as before. But that is a long story and this is not the moment to tell you that story. My advice to you is that you should spend ...
... of spiritual sympathy, universality, oneness.'10 The coming forward of the psychic person marks a momentous stage in the Yoga of Sri Aurobindo. It then begins to govern overtly and entirely our outer nature of mind, life and body, and these can be cast into soul images of what is true, right and beautiful, and in the end the whole nature can be turned towards the real aim of life, the supreme victory ...
... way even against that current. Their psycho-vital, aided often by their physical consciousness, has an independent formation, being a strong centre of self-driven force, and can impress upon the outer Nature and circumstances its own pattern and disposition. Naturally, all depends upon the degree and character of that consciousness. But the true secret of the power to control and guide Nature's ...
... coming now and then. If, due to my present state of non-receptivity in service to You, it is better that I hand over the charge of roses to X or anybody else, I shall gladly do so, even if the outer nature groans a little. Let the roses grow and be happy. I do not want you to give up the work—but for the roses to grow happily you must not worry so much about them. My love and blessings ...
... His assertion that "not what the painter does but what he is", is important and deserves consideration. It is true that the true centre of creation in the artist is himself even though outer nature, objects or experience of life may give him the excuse for setting into movement his inner being. This inner being has many levels of its natural self. It is this complexity of man's inner being ...
... liberated soul, sometimes even the simmering or settled turbidity of the subconscient, and seldom, if at all, the undeflected Will of the Supreme. Even if clarity and rhythm are achieved in the outer nature, they are maintained at a great cost of unflagging vigilance and circumspection, and one is never as free and self-possessed in action as in inaction. To overcome this drawback, the second formula ...
... the external nature-is left to itself and its helpless automatism. Or sometimes, in some Yogins of exceptional calibre, the rapturous state of inner union is reflected to a certain extent on the outer nature; there is a reproduction or radiation of the inner peace and purity and joyous freedom and, subject to certain conditions, a more or less conscious and direct play of the divine Force in the natural ...
... subordinate the Ego to the Divine. If it is to seek power or to satisfy some other impulse then personal effort may have egoistic origin. Disciple : Could one make the surrender to a Guru whose outer nature is imperfect? Sri Aurobindo : It has nothing to do with any human standards – moral or mental. Most often it is the Ego that says that 'this fellow has got this defect, I won't surrender ...
... remember that you have to get back fully your psychic basis — the success of any method really depends on that and not on the method itself which is only a means for the inner being to act on the outer nature. 26.7.32 ... Mother told you about the phoscao because you complained of the emptiness in the head which was due to loss of blood and it can only be repaired by food creating afresh ...
... SRI AUROBINDO: You must gather yourself within more firmly. If you disperse yourself constantly, go out of the inner circle, you will constantly move about in the pettinesses of the ordinary outer nature and under the influences to which it is open. Learn to live within, to act always from within, from a constant communication with the Mother. It may be difficult at first to do it always and completely ...
... best way to begin is to find your psychic being, concentrate on it by making it the witness of all your inner movements and the judge of all that you should or should not do, and try to submit your outer nature to its decisions. In order to be sure of not deceiving yourself, you have only to inform me about your work and its results. When you see me you will ask me questions. You must tell me what you ...
... being would not be so sure in its observation and judgement but might make mistakes and be misled by the outer vital or clouded by the physical nature. I have already told you that while the psychic is the inmost part of the being, there is also standing between it and the external surface nature a triple inner being, the inner mental, the inner vital, the inner (subtle) physical, and that these too... the front. This is what is now beginning to happen in you. The being of man is composed of these elements, the psychic behind supporting all, the inner mental, vital and physical, and the outer external nature of mind, life and body which is their instrument of expression. But above all is the central being (Jivatman) which uses them all for its manifestation, it is a portion of the divine Self and... the psychic which is itself a spark of the Divine. It is by the growth of the psychic element in one’s nature that one begins to come into conscious touch with one’s own central being. When that happens and the central being uses a conscious will to control and organise the movements of the nature it is then that one has a real, a spiritual self-mastery. But in the meanwhile it can and often does use ...
... our self. This is because our true self, described previously as the Purusha, who is one with the Self of all things and beings, has identified itself through ignorance with Prakriti, its outer instrumental nature made up of body, life and mind. This identification of Purusha with Prakriti has led to the formation in us of an ego—physical, vital and mental—which gives us the sense of a self that is... body—so as to establish the kingdom of the spirit on earth. It is when the outer being is unified and governed by the psychic being that the transformation of mind, life and body becomes possible. As Sri Aurobindo states: "The psychic being ... supports the mind, vital, body, grows by their experiences, carries the nature from life to life....At first it is veiled by mind, vital and body, but as... formation of multiple selves or personalities, causing division, conflict, disharmony and disorganisation in our outer being. Harmonisation and unification of the outer being can be brought about only by discovering our inmost being – Chaitya Purusha or the psychic being—and organising the outer being around the psychic as its centre and governing principle. The aim of spiritual quest in the past has ...
... literature can transform people. We may have progressed in literature, but the outer human nature remains almost the same. Outer human nature can only change either by an intense psychic development or a strong and all-pervading influence from above. It is the inner being that has to change first—a change which is not always visible outside. That has nothing to do with the development of the faculties... furiously thinking what is the use of blessed literature after all, if the nature remains just the same ? Good heavens! Where did you get this idea that literature can transform people ? Literary people are often the most impossible on the face of the earth. Is literature ever going to transform the nature ? I don't suppose so. Never did it yet. I didn't mean that literature... Cambridge, where they met on 14 July 1912. Anderson passed away on 24 October 1920, at the age of 67. Page 298 Their correspondence—in Bengali and English—throws much light on the nature of Bengali prosody. Indeed, this "foreigner" was a lover of Bengali language. He loved French too. "Bengali rythmn is a different kind of rythmn from that of all other languages, so far as I know, ...
... own domain? Can't say very well; but it was distinctive enough. I didn't mean that literature can transform people. We may have progressed in literature, but the outer human nature remains almost the same. Outer human nature can only change either by an intense psychic development or a strong And all-pervading influence from above. It is the inner being that has to change first—a change which... after all, if the nature remains just the same? Good heavens! where did you get this idea that literature can transform people? Literary people are often the most impossible on the face of the earth. Is literature ever going to transform the nature? I don't suppose so. Never did it yet. I have neither the strong will nor the sustained effort to transform my nature. The best way is to... You forget that for a long time she was often keeping much more to herself, to Y's great anger. During that time she built up an inner life and made some attempt to change certain things in her outer—not in the outward appearance but in the movements governing it. There is still an enormous amount to be done before the outward change can be outwardly visible, but still she is not insincere in her ...
... bliss of the Di vine Presence in the depths of our inn e r being . We aim at the full establishment o f the divine Light. Consciousness. Power, Love and Ananda even in the entire field of our outer dynamic nature. In Sri Aurobindo' s luminous words : "Life is the field of a divine manifestation not yet com- Page 269 plete: here, in life, on earth, in the body,... we have to unveil... thoughts and feelings are not our own in the sense that they take form out of ourselves; of hardly anything can it be said that it is truly original to our nature." (The Synthesis of Yoga, p. 69) (3) All spiritual truth is in its nature very complex and beyond the grasp of the ordinary intelligence of man. But mind has got an inveterate tendency to seize it in a simplistic manner. It tries... the blocking of the sadhaka' s forward movement towards the discovery of the genuine Truth; (vi) etc. Now all these and allied difficulties presented by Mind arise out of a basic trait of its nature. If the sadhaka would like to turn his mind from being an enemy as at present to a friend in sadhana, he has to carefully recognise this trait, disentangle the knots, and disengage its true role as ...
... several places comes to the fore and then his poetry is the sheer speech of the Godhead residing in cosmic nature. He is not strictly a nature poet, catching felicitously the colour and atmosphere and thrill of her myriad phenomena: he is the singer of the mighty and superhuman presence whose outer face and body is she or, rather, whose manifold degree of manifestation make up her stuff and activity.... disappointment and that the pantheistic realisation is sufficient refuge and that by its building up an inner life the sharp need is removed for wishing away the many rigidities and angularities of outer fact. Nature, in Wordsworth's eyes, has in her deep breast an asylum here and now for the anguish that frequently arises in us owing to physical vicissitudes. Shelley cannot make his peace completely with... either his pantheism or Shelley's in a narrow sense which erases all distinctions between high and low, good and evil, right and wrong. If important distinctions had not been acknowledged in Reality's outer field, Shelley would never have had the ardour of the world-reformer or Wordsworth the zeal of the character-builder. But their ardour and zeal arose from something beyond the mere moral consciousness ...
... according to the divine nature, then too we must proceed by a persistent act of śraddhā , which must be according to the Gita the faith of the sattwic nature when it culminates and is preparing to exceed its own clear-cut limits. But all and any of these things implies some kinesis or displacement of nature, all suppose an inner or outer or ordinarily both an inner and an outer action. And what then... himself that he has created or is creating and there can be for him no other real truth. This truth is a thing of his inner and outer action, a thing of his becoming, of the soul's dynamics, not of that in him which never changes. He is what he is today by some past will of his nature sustained and continued by a present will to know, to believe and to be in his intelligence and vital force, and whatever... rajasic or sattwic in nature. For everything here, including physical things, partakes of this triple character. Our food, for example, the Gita tells us, is either sattwic, rajasic or tamasic according to its character and effect on the body. The sattwic temperament in the mental and physical body turns naturally to the things that increase the life, increase the inner and outer strength, nourish ...
... inner freedom in which one is free from the three Gunas or modes of Nature and inwardly Page 136 unaffected by them while they still continue to operate in one's outer surface nature. The soul is inwardly separated and free from the lower Prakriti, not involved in its coils, indifferent and glad above it. Nature continues to act in the triple round of her ancient habits—desire... indulgence in subtle forms is not a cure, but expression in outer indulgence is still less a cure. It is perfectly possible to go on without manifestation if one is resolute to arrive at a complete control, the control being not a mere suppression but an inner and outer rejection. 123 You do not seem to have a correct idea of the nature of vital desire. Vital desire grows by being indulged, it... ready-made which we adopt and call ours. Our outer mind is blind to this process of Nature; but by the awakening of the inner mind we can become aware of it. 144 Page 139 For him [the Yogi] the image of the factory of thoughts is no longer quite valid; for he sees that thoughts come from outside, from the universal Mind or universal Nature, sometimes formed and distinct, sometimes ...
... the pursuit of the Divine through them. When God is at last found in Nature, there will be then perhaps an end of the aspect of imperfection of Nature. She would cast herself into the image of the Divine. In this effort. Nature would find her fulfilment which she is half blindly seeking at present through her outer instruments. Nature will then reveal herself as conscious manifestation of God, the power... and the value of all mental activity, in relation to the Self. The self of man, the real inhabitant of his nature, is im- perishable because it is one in essence with the Divine. There is, thus seen, an enormous thought-content: the relation of self and the body, the self and the mind, the outer court and the inmost being, in those four lines which can go on releasing various lines of thought along many... chamber of the Self,—the inner chamber of the psychic being. To the Self the mind is only an "outer court"; mind is not the inmost chamber, the inmost sanctuary. This "court" of the mind is not only "outer" but "many-frescoed". Man goes on painting pictures on the walls of his mental consciousness. Thus the outer court of the "Imperishable Inhabitant" is nicely painted with many frescoes. This beautiful ...
... life-part in us, the outer vital personality representative of the inner life-being, the vital Purusha. What would really happen then is that the wall between the inner self and the outer man would have broken down and the permanent mental and vital being from within, the mental and vital representatives of the immortal psychic entity, would govern the life. Our mind nature and our life nature could then be... too the working of his energies should not be cut off abruptly but must bear their consequence at some time in his continuous and developing existence. Man's being, nature, circumstances of life are the result of his own inner and outer activities, not something fortuitous and inexplicable: he is what he has made himself; the past man was the father of the man that now is, the present man is the father... than its Karma. There is Law, but there is also spiritual freedom. Law and Process are one side of our existence Page 839 and their reign is over our outer mind, life and body, for these are mostly subject to the mechanism of Nature. But even here their mechanical power is absolute only over body and matter; for Law becomes more complex and less rigid, Process more plastic and less mechanical ...
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