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The Higher Nature, the Lower Nature and the Role of the Jivatman · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  The Bhagwad Gita describes the lower nature and the higher
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  nature. The lower nature is the external
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  manifestation of forms, matter, life, energy, mind that together
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  constitute the creation and all the multiplicity of formations
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  that together represent the external world.
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  This can be seen as a type of machinery.
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  It operates mechanically, so to speak, but does not show any
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  apparent purpose or significance in its action beyond the fact of
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  that action. In Chapter 7, verses 4 to 5, the
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  Gita declares quote the five elements conditions of material
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  being mined with its various senses and organs.
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  Reason, Ego. This is my eightfold divided
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  nature. This the lower, but know my
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  other nature different from this, the Supreme, which becomes
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  the jiva and by which this world is upheld.
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  End Quote translation by Sri Aurobindo.
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  Bhagwad Gita and its message Sri Aurobindo explains quote.
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  The Supreme Nature, Para Prakritihi, is then the infinite
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  timeless conscious power of the Self existent Being, out of
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  which all existences in the cosmos are manifested and come
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  out of timelessness into time. But in order to provide a
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  spiritual basis for this manifold universal becoming in
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  the cosmos, the Supreme Nature formulates itself as the Jiva.
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  The eternal multiple soul of the Purushotama appears as
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  individual spiritual experience in all the forms of the cosmos.
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  All existences are instinct with the life of the one indivisible
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  spirit. All are supported in their
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  personality, actions, and forms by the eternal multiplicity of
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  the one Purusha. End Quote page 117.
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  The higher nature is that of the constituting intelligence that
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  provides direction and purpose to the machinery.
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  The Gita states in chapter 15, verse 7 quote.
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  It is an eternal portion of me that becomes the Jiva in the
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  world of living creatures and cultivates the subjective powers
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  of Prakriti, mind and the five senses.
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  End Quote. Sri Orobindo explains quote for
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  it means that each soul, each being in its spiritual reality
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  is the very Divine, however partial it's actual
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  manifestation of Him in nature. End Quote page 225.
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  The Jiva is therefore divine and partakes of the spiritual
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  essence of the Divine. Para Prakriti is the supreme
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  nature that manifests the entire universal creation.
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  While a Para Prakriti is the lower nature, the Jiva inserts
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  itself into the individual forms of the lower nature as the soul,
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  which maintains the character of the eternal even while it is
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  developing, guiding and uplifting the lower nature as it
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  moves through its evolutionary cycle.
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  Srioro Bindo notes quote. This spirit is the Atman
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  Brahman, essential Divine. When the one Divine manifests
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  its ever inherent multiplicity, this essential Self, where Atman
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  becomes for that manifestation the Central Being who presides
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  from above over the evolution of its personalities and
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  terrestrial lives here, but is itself an eternal portion of the
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  Divine. And prior to the terrestrial
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  manifestation, Para Prakritir Jiva Bhuta, in this lower
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  manifestation, A Para Prakriti, this eternal portion of the
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  Divine appears as the soul, the spark of the Divine fire,
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  supporting the individual evolution, supporting the
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  mental, vital and physical being.
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  The psychic being is the spark growing into a fire, evolving
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  with the growth of the consciousness.
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  The psychic being is therefore evolutionary, not like the
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  Jeevatman prior to the evolution.
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  But man is not aware of the Self or Jeevatman.
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  He is aware only of his ego, or he is aware of the mental being
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  which controls the life and the body, but more deeply he becomes
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  aware of his soul or psychic being as his true center, the
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  Purusha in the heart. The psychic is the central being
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  in the evolution. It proceeds from and represents
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  the Jivatman, the eternal portion of the divine.
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  When there is the full consciousness, the Jivatman and
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  the psychic being join together. End Quote Reference Srioro Bindu
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  and the Mother. The psychic being soul, its
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  nature, mission and evolution. Section 1.
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  Meaning and Nature of the Psychic Being, pages 14 to 15.