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To Be Conscious · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  When we reflect upon what we really know about our existence,
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  our lives, our purpose, the forces at work in the world and
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  in us, the influences to which we are being subjected
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  constantly, and the way we respond to these influences
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  without conscious awareness, it becomes clear that we act out of
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  a primary status of ignorance in the life Divine.
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  Sri Robindo devotes an entire chapter to what he calls the
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  sevenfold ignorance. This ignorance encompasses
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  virtually every aspect of our lives.
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  We think we know what we are doing, we believe we are in
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  control of our lives and our decisions, and we take pride in
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  our success in terms of various external results we obtain
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  through the knowledge we apply. Yet our knowledge represents
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  almost an infinitesimal part of the vast and complex universal
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  creation of which we are a small element.
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  We can make a start. A recognition of our ignorance
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  is the first step. A next step is to take the
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  standpoint of the witness of our nature.
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  From that standpoint, we observe forces entering us and we
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  observe our reactions to them. We may also begin reflecting on
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  the influences that have shaped who we are in our external
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  personality, our family and peers, our education, our
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  culture, our society and its values, our religious training.
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  And then further, we can begin to deconstruct the instincts and
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  habits that pre date even our human existence, things we share
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  due to the underlying animal nature with the beings in the
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  animal Kingdom. We may begin to reflect on our
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  past, our present, and the trajectory that is creating our
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  future. We may take stock of the
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  environment and how it impacts what we do.
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  We may consider the pressures that are exerted upon us as we
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  try to make our way in the world and confront the obstacles,
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  detours and failures that stand in our path.
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  We generally believe that we are a unified whole, a being with a
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  specific standpoint. With close observation, we begin
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  to see that we are actually something of a blend of a
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  physical being with its powers, needs and limitations.
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  A vital being with its ambitions, desires, wants and
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  reactions. A mental being that believes it
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  is in control even when it is being manipulated and moved by
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  the vital to support its desires.
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  As well as a psychic being that tries to express and keep us
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  connected to the divine truth of existence, and a spiritual being
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  that is aware of the connection and tries to shift the
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  standpoint to the divine away from this conglomeration we call
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  ourselves. These different beings within us
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  pull us in different directions and may not always agree with
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  each other, leading to internal conflict, less than complete
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  focus or power of action, and various forms of breakdown and
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  disturbance when the action of one part undermines the basic
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  stability of another part. At a certain point during our
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  observation, we can begin to distinguish those elements and
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  forces that support our true spiritual nature, that enhance
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  the light, harmony and understanding, from those that
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  are destructive, which try to undermine us, and which work to
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  distract us and leave us wallowing in the pit of despair
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  at the meaninglessness, the superficiality, or the waste
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  that consumes most of our lives. The practice of yoga can aid the
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  seeker in making the transition from ignorance to knowledge,
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  from darkness to light. It is frequently said that day
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  for the ordinary man is night for the enlightened soul.
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  All night for the ordinary man is day for the Yogi.
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  This epitomizes the difference in standpoint and understanding
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  that arises as the practice deepens and the individual
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  matures in his understanding. The mother writes quote to be
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  conscious. First of all, we are conscious
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  of only an insignificant portion of our being.
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  For the most part, we are unconscious.
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  It is this unconsciousness that keeps us down to our
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  unregenerate nature and prevents change and transformation in it.
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  It is through unconsciousness that the undivined forces enter
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  into us and make us their slaves.
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  You are to be conscious of yourself.
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  You must awake to your nature and movements.
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  You must know why and how you do things or feel or think them.
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  You must understand your motives and impulses, the forces hidden
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  and apparent that move you. In fact, you must, as it were,
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  take to pieces the entire machinery of your being.
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  Once you are conscious, it means that you can distinguish and
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  sift things. You can see which are the forces
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  that pull you down and which help you on.
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  And when you know the right from the wrong, the true from the
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  false, the divine from the undivine, you are to act
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  strictly up to your knowledge, that is to say, resolutely
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  reject 1 and accept the other. The duality will present itself
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  at every step, and at every step you will have to make your
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  choice. You will have to be patient and
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  persistent and vigilant. Sleepless, as the adepts say.
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  End Quote Reference Shrioro Vindo and the Mother Looking
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  from Within, Chapter 5. Attitudes on the Path, pages 143
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  to 144.