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The Power of the Soul in Relation to the Other Parts of the Being · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  The development of the human being takes place in several
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  successive stages, and as individuals mature they begin to
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  manifest and express the powers of the nature as they
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  successively come to the fore. Not every individual develops
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  and expresses all the powers fully in a particular lifetime.
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  For the power of the soul, the development of the psychic
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  being, this can actually take many lifetimes, as the being
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  generally has to go through the development, use, enjoyment and
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  disillusionments that accompany the powers that develop earlier,
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  before the soul can actually come forward and take charge of
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  the being and its outlooks and actions.
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  We are all able to identify the physical man who has a strongly
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  developed physical body and is happiest undertaking actions
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  that suit the physical being. At a certain stage, the vital
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  man evolves and becomes highly focused on enjoyment of the
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  vital forces of exercising power, influence, vital
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  satisfactions and fulfillment of desires.
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  The evolution of the mental man brings with it the powers of the
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  rational intellect, the logical faculties and a focus on issues
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  that go beyond either physical needs or vital desires, but
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  enter into the realms of reflection about the world,
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  their lives and the answer to the questions of where do we
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  come from, how do we exist and what is our purpose?
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  Through all these phases, the human individual undergoes the
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  joys of success, the suffering of setbacks and defeats, and as
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  that occurs, they gain rich experience that nourishes the
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  soul, which for the most part remains behind the scenes as a
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  secret or silent influence, or in some cases, a factor in the
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  direction the individual takes as the pressure of the soul's
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  emergence begins to influence the life.
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  When the soul comes forward, it comes with the knowledge of its
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  source, its purpose and its significance in life, and it
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  orients its actions towards fulfillment of the divine
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  mandate that resides within each being, Sriorbindo observes
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  quote. The soul in itself contains all
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  possible strength, but most of it is held behind the veil, and
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  it is what comes forward in the nature that makes the
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  difference. In some people the psychic
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  element is strong, and in others weak.
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  In some people the mind is the strongest part and governs, in
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  others the vital is the strongest part and leads or
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  drives. But by Sadhna the psychic being
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  can be more and more brought forward, till it is dominant and
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  governs the rest. If it were already governing,
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  then the struggles and difficulties of the mind and
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  vital would not at all be severe, for each man in the
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  light of the psychic, would see and feel the truth and more and
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  more follow it. End Quote.
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  Reference. Sri Aurobindo and the Mother
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  Powers within, Chapter 20. The Psychic, pages 155 to 156.