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Spiritual Growth and the Development and Use of New Powers of Consciousness · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  Spiritual seekers harness the powers of body, vital being,
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  emotions and mind in order to develop and eventually attain
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  the goal of their seeking. The power of dedicated work, the
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  power of the breath, the power of devotion, the power of
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  concentration, all have a part to play in the seeker's journey
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  towards spiritual fulfilment. This is considered to be
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  acceptable. At a certain point, however,
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  yogic practice tends to lead to the development and expression
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  of new powers, powers that are uncommon when we look at the
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  state of human development today.
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  And at this point, the seeker is generally faced with a Riddle.
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  What should they do about these new forms of power that are
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  arising as a result of their practice?
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  For those who follow a path of renunciation, the advice has
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  always been clear and direct that the seeker should not take
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  up, develop or become involved with the application of these
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  powers, which become distractions to the seeking
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  rather than aids. On the other hand, those who
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  follow a path of integration into the life of humanity and
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  who work toward carrying out the divine intention in the
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  manifestation may recognize that these are evolutionary
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  developments that represent, in all likelihood, powers that are
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  both natural and consistent with the evolutionary process and
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  thus should be accepted and utilized in a balanced and
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  harmonious manner in furtherance of their spiritual ideal.
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  The issue in both cases comes down to the intention behind the
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  acceptance and use of the powers.
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  If they are used to aggrandize the ego, to gain domination, to
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  enhance vanity, to acquire wealth for individual enjoyment,
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  they are clearly a distraction for seekers in either direction.
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  If, on the other hand, they are put to work for the general
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  development and support the arc of consciousness as it
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  successively works to manifest higher states of consciousness
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  in the world without the individual ego attaching itself
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  to this expression, then it represents a power that can and
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  should be utilized in the divine work.
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  We see many attempts to work through this issue in the
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  history of yogic process. Patanjali's Yoga Sutras describe
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  various sorts of powers, how and in what manner they develop, and
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  how to manage them. Tibetan Yoga has extensive
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  teachings on the methodology of developing certain powers.
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  Tantric Yoga in its various forms seeks to harness and
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  utilize the powers to not only fulfill the force of the life,
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  but as a means towards the spiritual realization sought in
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  those paths. The Bhagwad Gita shows an
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  integrated approach that appears to accept the powers that come
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  to the individual as long as they are put at the service of
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  the greater truth and destiny that the individual is intended
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  to fulfill. The issue raised by the Gita is
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  to find the right approach based on undertaking any action with
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  respect to the right circumstance, the right
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  intention, the right balance and a view to the right result to be
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  attained. Temasek approaches based on
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  darkness and false application are discouraged.
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  Similarly, Rajasic approaches based on desire and
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  self-interest are also discouraged.
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  The approach taken by Sri Aurobindo works to realize the
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  evolutionary potential and thereby carry out what he terms
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  the Yoga of Self perfection. Sri Aurobindo observes quote in
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  Mystic experience. When there is an opening of the
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  inner centers, or in other ways, spontaneously or by will or
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  endeavour, or in the very course of the spiritual growth, new
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  powers of consciousness have been known to develop.
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  They present themselves as if an automatic consequence of some
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  inner opening or in answer to a call in the being, so much so
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  that it has been found necessary to recommend to the seeker not
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  to hunt after these powers, not to accept or use them.
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  This rejection is logical for those who seek to withdraw from
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  life, for all acceptance of greater power would bind to life
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  or be a burden on the bare and pure urge towards liberation and
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  indifference to all other aims and issues is natural for the
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  God lover who seeks God for his own sake and not for power or
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  any other inferior attraction. The pursuit of these alluring
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  but often dangerous forces would be a deviation from his purpose.
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  A similar rejection is a necessary self restraint and a
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  spiritual discipline for the immature seeker, since such
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  powers may be a great, even a deadly peril, for their
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  supernormality may easily feed in him an abnormal exaggeration
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  of the ego. Power in itself may be dreaded
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  as a temptation by the aspirant to perfection.
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  Because power can abase as well as elevate, nothing is more
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  liable to misuse. But when new capacities come as
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  an inevitable result of the growth into a greater
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  consciousness and a greater life, and that growth is part of
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  the very aim of the spiritual being within us, this bar does
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  not operate. For a growth of the being into
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  supernature, and its life in supernature cannot take place or
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  cannot be complete without bringing with it a greater power
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  of consciousness and a greater power of life, and the
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  spontaneous development of an instrumentation of knowledge and
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  force normal to that supernature.
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  There is nothing in this future evolution of the being which
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  could be regarded as irrational or incredible.
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  There is nothing in it abnormal or miraculous.
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  It would be the necessary course of the evolution of
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  consciousness and its forces in the passage from the mental to
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  the Gnostic or super mental formulation of our existence.
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  This action of the forces of Super Nature would be a natural,
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  normal and spontaneously simple working of the new, higher or
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  greater consciousness into which the being enters in the course
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  of his self evolution. The Gnostic being, accepting the
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  Gnostic life, would develop and use the powers of this greater
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  consciousness even as man develops and uses the powers of
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  his mental nature. And quote reference Srioro Bindu
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  and the Mother Powers within Chapter One, Latent Powers,
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  pages 4:00 to 5:00.