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The Aura — the Vital Envelope that Surrounds the Physical Body · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  For those people who only treat as real things they can directly
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  perceive with the physical sense organs, the aura is considered
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  to be some kind of fantasy of imagination.
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  The aura, a vital sheath or envelope that extends beyond the
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  boundaries of the physical body, has therefore long been the
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  province of psychics and Mystics, however.
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  In recent years, science has developed methods to determine
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  the existence of the aura, and this has gone a long way toward
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  debunking the idea that the aura is simply an illusion.
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  Curlean photography was one of the developments that showed an
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  energy field around each living being.
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  Various measuring devices have proven that there is an
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  electromagnetic field that indeed extends beyond the
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  physical body. The Aura represents an interface
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  between the vital nature of the being and the vital force that
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  circulates in the environment or that directly presses into the
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  world from the native plains of the Vital.
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  As the Seeker becomes able to experience and recognize these
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  more subtle, energetic actions, he begins to experience the
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  effects of the Aura, which provides yet another
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  confirmation of its existence. For instance, an individual may
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  feel pressure that seems to be an illness building up in the
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  body. With close observation, this can
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  be seen to actually start out as a pressure on the vital envelope
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  surrounding the body. Action taken to strengthen the
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  aura's resistance capacity at that moment can reject the
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  illness and other than a few sniffles or coughs.
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  Or some pressure, such as a slight headache.
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  The individual does not actually get sick.
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  Failure to act at this stage, or even undertaking actions which
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  undermine the strength of the aura can lead to a full blown
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  illness in the physical body. Illness is but one example.
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  Other vital forces may try to invade and undermine the vital
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  nature of the individual. Causing emotional disturbances
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  or nervous breakdowns, a strong and vibrant aura can withstand
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  these attacks and help the individual pass through
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  difficulties and traumas relatively unscathed.
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  While there are thoughts, emotions and physical pressures
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  which can undermine the aura, there are also those that can
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  strengthen the aura, providing thereby a strong level of
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  protection. An experiment was undertaken to
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  take curly and photographs of an individual's aura in a normal
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  state and then, after some period of concentrated chanting
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  in Pranayam. The difference in just a few
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  minutes of focus, breathing and chanting was clear and obvious.
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  The aura gained in brightness, intensity and depth.
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  The mother writes Quote The vital body surrounds the
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  physical body with a kind of envelope which is almost the
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  same density as the vibrations of heat observable when the day
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  is very hot. And it is this which is the
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  intermediary between the subtle body and the most material vital
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  body. It is this which protects the
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  body from all contagion, fatigue, exhaustion.
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  And even from accidents. Therefore, if this envelope is
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  wholly intact, it protects you from everything but a little too
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  strong. An emotion, a little fatigue,
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  some dissatisfaction, or any shock whatsoever is sufficient
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  to scratch it, as it were, and the slightest scratch allows any
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  kind of intrusion. Medical science also now
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  recognizes that if you are in perfect vital equilibrium, you
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  do not catch illness or in any case you have a kind of immunity
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  from contagion. If you have this equilibrium,
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  this inner harmony which keeps the envelope intact, it protects
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  you from everything. There are people who lead quite
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  an ordinary life, who know how to sleep as one should, eat as
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  one should. And their nervous envelope is so
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  intact that they pass through all dangers as though
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  unconcerned. It is a capacity one can
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  cultivate in oneself. If one becomes aware of the weak
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  spot in one's envelope, A few minutes concentration, a call to
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  the Force and inner peace, is sufficient for it to be all
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  right, get cured, and for the untoward thing to vanish.
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  End Quote Reference Sriorobindo and the Mother Our Many Selves,
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  Practical Yogic Psychology, Chapter 2, Plains and Parts of
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  the Being, pages 16 to 17.