WRITINGS BY THE MOTHER
© Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust

The Soul and The Psychic

In the human being, is the psychic being the entire soul or do both the soul (in its essence as a divine spark in all creatures) and the psychic being exist together?

The soul is the eternal essence at the centre of the psychic being. The soul is in fact like a divine spark which puts on many states of being of increasing density, down to the most material; it is inside the body, within the solar plexus, so to say. (Note1) These states of being take form and develop, progress, become individualised and perfected in the course of many earthly lives and form the psychic being. When the psychic being is fully formed, it is aware of the consciousness of the soul and manifests it perfectly.

1 February 1967

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Sweet Mother,

What exactly is the soul or psychic being? And what is meant by the evolution of the psychic being? What is its relation to the Supreme?

The soul and the psychic being are not exactly the same thing, although their essence is the same.

The soul is the divine spark that dwells at the centre of each being; it is identical with its Divine Origin; it is the divine in man.

The psychic being is formed progressively around this divine centre, the soul, in the course of its innumerable lives in the [new p. 246]terrestrial evolution, until the time comes when the psychic being, fully formed and wholly awakened, becomes the conscious sheath of the soul around which it is formed.

And thus identified with the Divine, it becomes His perfect instrument in the world.

16 July 1960

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Sweet Mother,

You have said that once we have found our psychic being, we can never lose it. Isn't that so? But can we come into contact with it from time to time when we are receptive?

When you have established contact with your psychic being, it is, in effect, definitive.

But before this contact is established, you can, in certain circumstances, consciously receive the psychic influence which always produces an illumination in the being and has more or less lasting effects.

16 July 1960

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Sweet Mother,

The soul individualises itself and progressively transforms itself into a psychic being. What are the best conditions for its rapid growth?

It would be more correct to say that the soul puts on a progressive individual form which becomes the psychic being. For since the soul is itself a portion of the Supreme, it is immutable and eternal. The psychic being is progressive and immortal.

All the methods of self-knowledge, self-control and self-mastery are good. You have to choose the one that comes to you spontaneously and best corresponds to your nature. And once [new p. 247]having chosen the method, you must use your intelligent will to apply it with an unfailing perseverance that does not shrink from any obstacle, any difficulty. It is a long and minute work which must be undertaken with sincerity and continued with an increasing sincerity ever more scrupulous and integral.

The easy paths generally lead nowhere.

28 July 1960

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Sweet Mother,

Does an outer life of evil deeds and a base consciousness have an effect on the psychic being? Is there a possibility of its degradation?

A base and evil life can only have the effect of separating the outer being more and more completely from the psychic being, which retires into the depths of the higher consciousness and sometimes even cuts off all relation with the body, which is then usually possessed by an asuric or rakshasic being.

The psychic being itself is above all possibility of degradation.

28 July 1960

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Sweet Mother,

How does the soul influence a being who is normally unconscious?

The soul's influence is a kind of radiance that penetrates through the most opaque substances and acts even in the unconsciousness.

But then its action is slow and takes a very long time to obtain a perceptible result.

31 July 1960

Note1: By "solar plexus", the Mother is referring to the heart (not the navel) region; this is clear from statements she has made elsewhere; see,for example, in Series Thirteen of this volume, the last paragraph of her reply of 20 September 1969.