Latest / Sri Aurobindo Studies / Understanding Experience of a Shift from the External to the Inward Consciousness

Transcript

Understanding Experience of a Shift from the External to the Inward Consciousness · Sri Aurobindo Studies

• 0:00
  As the seeker begins to go inwards in his awareness, there
• 0:04
  are innumerable new experiences that take place.
• 0:08
  He generally is not able to determine exactly what they
• 0:12
  mean. In this case, the guidance of an
• 0:15
  experienced practitioner or of a guru can be of immense
• 0:20
  assistance. If a seeker is proceeding
• 0:23
  without a guide, or if an experience comes upon an
• 0:28
  individual more or less suddenly without conscious intention or
• 0:31
  preparation, he needs to appreciate that the exploration
• 0:36
  of inner space will bring forward many things formerly
• 0:41
  unknown and unseen previously. One of the benefits of first
• 0:46
  developing a foundation of calm, peace and equality is that the
• 0:50
  seeker can observe whatever happens without undue excitement
• 0:55
  or any rising of fear of the unknown things that begin to
• 0:59
  occur. As the seeker gains more
• 1:03
  experience, he is able to recognize the progress that such
• 1:07
  experiences highlight for him, to the extent that an individual
• 1:13
  is taken by surprise, perhaps because his life has been
• 1:16
  focused externally and he was not actively seeking development
• 1:21
  along the lines of yoga. In his outer ego personality, he
• 1:25
  may be distressed or disturbed by some experience and even
• 1:31
  believe that he is losing his mind or that he is experiencing
• 1:35
  something abnormal. He may feel like he cannot
• 1:39
  relate to the experience nor be able to discuss it with others.
• 1:44
  He may feel disoriented. If he makes others aware of what
• 1:48
  he is experiencing. He is frequently advised to go
• 1:52
  for therapy when in fact the psychologists and psychiatrists
• 1:57
  are not the right parties to explain these inner events and
• 2:02
  reactions. If he begins seeking real
• 2:06
  answers to the experiences he is having, he may find the guidance
• 2:10
  and support he needs in a book, online or through a chance
• 2:16
  meeting with someone who is able to shed light on what is taking
• 2:20
  place within him. Sri Aurobindo observes quote.
• 2:27
  The cry you heard was not in the physical heart but in the
• 2:30
  emotional centre. The breaking of the wall meant
• 2:33
  the breaking of the obstacle, or at least of some obstacle there,
• 2:37
  between your inner and your outer being.
• 2:40
  Most people live in their ordinary outer, ignorant
• 2:43
  personality, which does not easily open to the Divine.
• 2:48
  But there is an inner being within them of which they do not
• 2:51
  know, which can easily open to the truth and the light.
• 2:56
  But there is a wall which divides them from it, a wall of
• 2:59
  obscurity and unconsciousness. When it breaks down, then there
• 3:04
  is a release. The feelings of calm Ananda joy
• 3:09
  which you had immediately afterwards were due to that
• 3:13
  release. The cry you heard was the cry of
• 3:17
  the vital part in you, overcome by the suddenness of the
• 3:21
  breaking of the wall and the opening.
• 3:24
  End Quote Reference Sri Aurobindo, Faces of Yoga,
• 3:30
  Chapter 3 in difficulty, pages 53 to 54.