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The Soul, the Psychic Being, Is the Element That Makes the Divine Force Conscious for the External Being · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  The soul, the psychic being, is a portion of the divine that
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  resides deep within. For most people who are living
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  in the surface consciousness primarily, the existence of the
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  soul is a question mark, if they think about it at all.
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  As we grow and face life's challenges, however, we may
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  begin to wonder about why we are alive, what we are here to do,
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  and how we came to live within a certain society, certain
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  culture, certain family under certain circumstances.
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  As these questions begin to arise within us, we may begin to
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  recognize that there is another influence other than the mind,
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  the life force, and the physical existence that guides our lives.
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  We may also begin to recognize that there are higher powers of
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  consciousness at work in the universe.
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  The mind tunes to mental vibrations, and the life force
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  to vital vibrations, and the physical being to physical
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  vibrations. None of these parts of the being
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  can directly translate the vibrations of one plane into
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  their native response. There needs then to be a part of
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  the being that can relate to and translate for the other elements
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  of our being the vibrations of the higher ranges of
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  consciousness, the spiritual consciousness.
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  The soul or psychic being is the divine portion within us that
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  has the capacity to tune, to receive and translate to our
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  external instruments of mind, life and body the spiritual
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  powers of the universe. The spiritual seeker can
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  actually look back at his own life in the past to see the
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  links which were disguised or hidden at the time they occurred
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  that moved him to the spiritual path, guided his growth and
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  progress, and yielded the realizations he has received in
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  his life. While it is not so simple for
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  young people to reflect in this way, as the seeker matures, he
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  has sufficient insight and experience to notice how his
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  life was systematically formed and focused.
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  What appeared to be random chance occurrences at the time
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  they took place are now seen within the larger pattern that
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  emerges, Shrioro Bindu observes. Quote.
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  The psychic part of us is something that comes direct from
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  the divine and is in touch with the divine in its origin.
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  It is the nucleus present with the divine possibilities that
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  support this lower triple manifestation of mind, life and
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  body. There is this divine element in
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  all living beings, but it stands hidden behind the ordinary
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  consciousness, is not at first developed, and even when
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  developed is not always or often in the front.
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  It expresses itself so far as the imperfection of the
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  instruments allows, by their means and under their
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  limitations. It grows in the consciousness by
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  Godward experience, gaining strength every time there is a
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  higher movement in US. And finally, by the accumulation
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  of these deeper and higher movements, there's developed a
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  psychic individuality, that which we call usually the
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  psychic being. It is always this psychic being
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  that is the real, though often the secret, cause of man's
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  turning to the spiritual life and his greatest help in it.
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  It is therefore that which we have to bring from behind to the
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  front in the Yoga. The word soul, as also the word
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  psychic, is used very vaguely and in many different senses in
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  the English language. More often than not, in ordinary
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  parlance, no clear distinction is made between mind and soul,
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  and often there is an even more serious confusion.
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  For the vital being of desire, the false soul or desire soul,
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  is intended by the words soul and psychic, and not the true
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  soul, the psychic being. The psychic being is quite
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  different from the mind or vital.
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  It stands behind them where they meet in the heart.
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  Its central place is there, but behind the heart rather than in
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  the heart. For what men call usually the
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  heart is the seat of emotion, and human emotions are mental
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  vital impulses, not ordinarily psychic in their nature.
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  This mostly secret power behind other than the mind and the life
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  force is the true soul, the psychic being in US.
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  The power of the psychic, however, can act upon the mind
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  and vital and body, purifying thought and perception and
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  emotion, which then becomes psychic feeling and sensation
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  and action and everything else in US and preparing them to be
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  divine movements. The psychic being may be
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  described in Indian language as the Purusha in the heart or the
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  Chaitya Purusha, but the inner or secret heart must be
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  understood hrudaye guayam, not the outer vital emotional
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  center. End Quote Reference Sri
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  Aurobindo and the Mother The psychic being, soul, its nature,
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  Mission and evolution Section 1 Meaning in Nature of the Psychic
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  Being pages 5 to 7.