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Powers Within -- Introduction · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  We are a civilization obsessed with the idea of power.
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  In the external world. We fixate on economic power,
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  political power, military might, physical strength, and various
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  forms of magical and sexual power.
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  We recognize the power of ideas, of charismatic leaders, of
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  religious teachings, and many 10s or hundreds of millions of
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  people have died as a result of the exercise of one power or
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  another through the history of humanity.
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  Popular culture is dominated by imaginations about individuals
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  who possess, develop, or obtain some specific type of individual
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  superpower and utilize it for good or ill in the society.
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  This is a form of escapist entertainment to help make up
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  for how powerless most people feel in relation to the forces
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  at work to drive them through their daily lives.
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  What is rarely recognized is that all of the external powers
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  that are the levers of activity, development and control in the
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  world are based on specific powers that arise within each
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  individual and can be brought forward, focused, trained,
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  developed and manifested by most people if they understand and
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  follow the methodologies needed to do that.
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  Just as we can see extraordinary feats of athletic performance in
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  the Olympic Games, and can understand that these feats come
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  about as a result of intense concentration and training
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  regimens, so also we can begin to understand that with the
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  right forms of concentration and systematic effort, many other
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  forms of power can be brought into realization in our lives.
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  The escapism we see in the worship of superheroes is a
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  misplaced understanding that real power of various sorts is
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  not real or capable of being developed by each of us, and
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  that we therefore have to look outside ourselves for powers
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  that can save us or advance our interests.
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  Rishis, sages and shaman have long understood that the root of
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  all power is within, and that through specific practices many
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  powers can indeed be manifested. Yogic practitioners have long
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  been advised that while powers may develop within them as a
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  result of their practice, they should disregard them so as not
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  to be distracted in their seeking for the eternal Srioro.
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  Bindo and the Mother take a more nuanced view of the situation.
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  They recognize that the seeking after power can become a
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  distraction. However, they also recognize
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  that as consciousness evolves and develops, new powers will
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  naturally begin to express themselves, and this natural
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  evolutionary development is a benefit, not simply a
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  distraction. Thus, there is a role for the
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  exercise of these powers in the furtherance of the progress and
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  perfection of our inner lives and our outer circumstances in
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  the world. People throughout time have been
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  intrigued by the possibility of new occult or paranormal powers
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  that they can access and utilize.
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  Tremendous focus has been placed on methods that developed as a
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  result of interest, including physical, vital, emotional,
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  mental, psychic, and spiritual methods of action.
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  In his Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramanth Yogananda described
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  meeting with many individuals who exhibited powers on a number
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  of different planes. Alexandra David Neal and her
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  various texts relating her experiences and travels in Tibet
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  also describes numerous individuals and the powers they
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  manifested, as well as describing her own first hand
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  experience in developing some of those powers.
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  The current text Powers Within has been extracted, organized
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  and compiled by Doctor AS Delal from the writings of Sri
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  Aurobindo and the Mother. A wide range of powers, many
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  that we recognize as theoretically available to us,
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  and a great many more that we simply do not attend to, are
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  systematically reviewed. The manner of their development
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  set forth, and the proper use and implementation of these
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  powers in our lives is examined along the way.
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  Occult powers, paranormal powers, and other powers of mind
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  and body are discussed and explored in reference.
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  Sri Aurobindo and the Mother powers within.