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Understanding the Terminology in Sri Aurobindo's Use of the Words 'Soul' and 'Psychic' · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  Sriro Binda's use of the terms soul and psychic started out
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  with the common usage of the time, but as his work developed,
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  he determined it was best to create a more precise
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  terminology than was commonly in use.
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  In order to appreciate the nuances involved and follow
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  along with the central sense being communicated.
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  We take a moment to focus on these terms, which will appear
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  constantly in our review of the current text as cited in the
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  publisher's preface. Quote The reason why Sri Robindo
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  adopted the term psychic being has been stated by him as
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  follows. Quote The word soul is very
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  vaguely used in English as it often refers to the whole non
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  physical consciousness including even the vital with all its
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  desires and passions. That is why the word psychic
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  being has to be used so as to distinguish this divine portion
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  from the instrumental parts of the nature.
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  End Quote The word psychic too, as Sri Aurobindo points out, has
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  been used in a confused manner. Therefore, the first section of
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  the compilation contains extracts which deal with the
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  various meanings of the word soul and psychic and clarify
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  their connotations in Trioro Bindo's Yoga.
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  To avoid confusion to those who might read some of Srioro
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  Bindo's earlier writings, particularly the unrevised parts
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  of the synthesis of Yoga, it may be pointed out that Trioro Bindo
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  had at first used the terms psychic and psychical
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  interchangeably in referring to the occult phenomena.
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  He also used the term psychic in such expressions as psychic
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  prana as distinguished from physical prana and psychic soul
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  as distinguished from the desire soul, to distinguish what is
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  deeper or below the surface from that which is more on the
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  surface. However, in the revised parts of
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  the earlier writings and in later writings, he always used
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  the term psychic to refer to the soul or inmost part of the
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  being, which from the very beginning he called the psyche.
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  One of the most important points to be grasped clearly is the
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  vital distinction between the soul in its essence, referred to
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  variously by Sri or Ovindo as the psyche, psychic essence,
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  psychic entity, psychic existence, soul spark or soul
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  element and the soul in its evolved individualized form
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  called the psychic being, psychic personality, soul form
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  or soul personality, which in Tree Robindo's words is the
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  spark growing into a fire evolving with the growth of
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  consciousness. It should also be pointed out
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  that the terms soul and the psychic, when used without an
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  epithet, sometimes refer to the soul spark or psychic essence
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  and sometimes to the soul personality or psychic being.
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  End Quote. Reference Srioro Bindu and the
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  Mother. The psychic being, soul, its
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  nature, mission and evolution. Prefaced by the publisher.
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  Pages one to three. Thank you.