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Freeing the Mind from Subjection to the Life-Force and the Body · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  The development of the vital life force integrated with the
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  physical domain led to changes in the physical in order to
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  accommodate the action of this new energy.
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  At the same time, the life force had to itself make adjustments
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  in order to operate in the material world as opposed to in
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  its own domain, independent of matter.
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  These adjustments limited the power and scope of the vital
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  while expanding the capabilities of expression in the material
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  world. Similarly, with the advent of
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  the mental power in the world of matter and life, certain changes
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  were brought about in the action of matter and life, but at the
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  cost that mind had to also make certain accommodations such that
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  its action was limited and modified by the constraints of
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  matter and life. An interactive, mutually
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  supportive relationship was developed, and this gave the
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  physical body and the life force certain abilities to influence
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  the mind and achieve thereby certain objectives native to
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  their domains. Although not necessarily
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  relevant to a purely mental action, these steps in the
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  evolution of consciousness clearly advanced the power and
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  action of consciousness in the material world.
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  Each new power brings something valuable and unique to the
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  manifestation of our universe. Each power strives to enhance
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  its own action and influence the others.
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  The mental power is no different.
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  Human beings have recognized the trade-offs and limitations
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  involved and have striven to find a way to create a more
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  powerful, more concentrated and more pure mental action in the
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  world. In order to do this, some have
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  tried to simply abandon or suppress the external life and
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  its demands. Others have focused on trying to
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  shift their concentration purely into the mental realm,
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  disregarding as much as possible the demands of life and body.
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  Still others have attempted to impose the powers of the mind on
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  the life energy and the physical existence.
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  We have strong and visible evidence of the impacts of mind
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  on life and matter all around us as we see mind inventing,
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  reshaping and redirecting the other principles, albeit with
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  many unintended consequences that need to be addressed to
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  establish a long term beneficial action.
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  Much of this is done through the development of technological
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  aids, yet the inherent power of the mind is not dependent on
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  such aids. For this reason, modern research
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  is taking up the questions long posed by yogic practitioners,
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  namely how to go about liberating and deploying the
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  innate powers of mind. Research into occult sciences
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  such as clairvoyance, clairaudience, telekinesis,
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  remote viewing and powers to operate technology purely
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  through the power of thought and concentration.
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  Our first forays into this attempt in the West.
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  In India, powers developed through concentration to pasya
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  as well as breath control, Pranayam and the development of
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  a state of inner silence and yogic trance.
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  Tyana and samati have shown remarkable results in freeing
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  the mind from the control and influence of the vital.
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  Much of this action in reality is the influence of yet higher
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  statuses of consciousness acting through the being and
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  establishing their initial presence in the evolutionary
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  cycle of which we are apart. Much work remains to be done to
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  fully establish the mind as the true leader of the life and
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  body. Currently, the mind is in fact
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  very much manipulated by the vital energy in order to carry
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  out the desires and impulsions proposed by the vital.
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  Only through serious inner observation can the mind free
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  itself from this subjection. In the end, the Mount Mental
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  force itself is a limited power and is therefore unable to gain
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  fully control and mastery according to its aspiration.
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  It is the advent of a yet higher power of consciousness that can
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  fully see, organize, understand and control body, life and mind
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  that such mastery can truly result.
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  And this in turn needs the guidance of the true soul, the
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  psychic being, to turn the focus on contacting, receiving and
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  expressing the next level of conscious evolution in the
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  world. Shrioro Bindo notes quote a
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  certain fundamental subjection of mind to life and matter, and
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  an acceptance of this subjection.
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  An inability to make the law of mind directly dominant and
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  modify by its powers the blinder law and operations of these
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  inferior forces of being, remains even in the midst of our
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  greatest mental mastery over self and things.
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  But this limitation is not insuperable.
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  It is the interest of occult knowledge that it shows us, and
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  a dynamic force of spiritual knowledge brings us the same
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  evidence that this subjection of mind to matter of the spirit to
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  a lesser law of life, is not what it at first appears to be,
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  a fundamental condition of things, an inviolable and
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  unalterable rule of nature. The greatest, most momentous
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  natural discovery that man can make is this, that mind, and
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  still more the force of the Spirit, can in many tried and
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  yet untried ways and in all directions, by its own nature
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  and direct power, and not only by devices and contrivances such
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  as the superior material instrumentation discovered by
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  physical science. Overcome and control life and
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  matter. End Quote.
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  Reference Srioro Bindu and the Mother Powers within, Chapter
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  18. Mind page 141.