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Becoming Conscious of Oneself · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  A devotee residing at tree or a window ashram some years ago
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  tried an experiment which he reported for a specific time
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  period. He determined not to speak.
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  He did not do this in an indiscriminate way, however.
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  He implemented this experiment by avoiding all social speech
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  whatsoever, but agreed to speak as necessary for the work role
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  he had been assigned. He carried a pad of paper and
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  pen with him to let those who addressed him know about the
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  discipline he was undertaking. During that time, he reported
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  that he was able to observe the impulse to speech and that it
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  arose spontaneously without any serious thought process or
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  planning involved, seemingly as a responsive vibration to the
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  vibrations he was receiving. Additionally, he noted that he
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  was able to remain inwardly concentrated for longer periods
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  and his attention did not get dispersed as easily as when he
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  engaged in everyday random social interactions.
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  There is a rationale, based in experience, as to why yogis,
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  religious aspirants and spiritual seekers have
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  traditionally resorted to spending periods of time,
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  sometimes extended periods of time, alone or in very small
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  groups in the forest, the mountains or the deserts.
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  While mental and vital vibrations travel all over the
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  world, the intensity and the confused garble of those
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  vibrations in a dense urban environment is considerably
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  higher than in less populated and remote regions, thus
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  allowing the seeker to focus more easily and observe the
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  thoughts and feelings more clearly.
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  While this is not a panacea for spiritual realization, it is
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  clear that at times it has been a useful process, particularly
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  early in the development process.
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  While the power of inward concentration and observation is
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  still in its infancy, sensitive individuals frequently note a
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  sense of discomfort when they are in crowded circumstances,
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  specifically because the thoughts and feelings pile in
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  upon them with an immediacy and power that they find hard to
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  manage. While it is not essential to
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  isolate oneself entirely from social interaction in order to
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  progress spiritually, there is no doubt that for many there can
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  be an advantage for some period of time if the isolation is
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  utilized as an opportunity to follow this internalizing
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  process and is not turned into an avoidance of the larger issue
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  of how to maintain the poise in the midst of all the calls of
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  life. The mother notes quote.
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  To be individualized in a collectivity, one must be
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  absolutely conscious of oneself and of which self, the self
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  which is above all intermixture. That is what I call the truth of
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  your being. And as long as you are not
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  conscious of the truth of your being, you are moved by all
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  kinds of things without taking any note of it at all.
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  Collective thought, collective suggestions are a formidable
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  influence which act constantly on individual thought.
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  And what is extraordinary is that one does not notice it.
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  One believes that one thinks like that, but in truth it is
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  the collectivity which thinks like that.
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  The mass is always inferior to the individual.
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  Take individuals with similar qualities of similar categories.
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  Well, when they are alone, these individuals are at least 2°
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  better than people of the same category.
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  In a crowd there is a mixture of obscurities, a mixture of
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  unconsciousness, and inevitably you slip into this
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  unconsciousness. To escape this, there is but one
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  means to become conscious of oneself, more and more conscious
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  and more and more attentive. Try this little exercise at the
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  beginning of the day. Say I won't speak without
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  thinking of what I say. You believe, don't you, that you
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  think all that you say It is not at all true.
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  You will see that so many times the word you do not want to say
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  is ready to come out, and that you are compelled to make a
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  conscious effort to stop it from coming out.
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  I have known people who were very scrupulous about not
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  telling lies, but all of a sudden went together in a group.
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  Instead of speaking the truth, they would spontaneously tell a
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  lie. They did not have the intention
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  of doing so. They did not think of it a
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  minute before doing it, but it came like that.
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  Why? Because they were in the company
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  of liars. There was an atmosphere of
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  falsehood, and they had quite simply caught the malady.
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  It is thus that gradually, slowly, with perseverance, first
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  of all with great care and much attention, one becomes
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  conscious, learns to know oneself, and then to become
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  master of oneself. End Quote Reference.
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  Shrioro Bindu and the Mother. The Hidden Forces of Life,
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  Chapter Eight Life A Mass of Vibrations, pages 183 to 184.