The Soul, the Psychic Being, Is the Element That Makes the Divine Force Conscious for the Exte al Being

The soul, the psychic being, is a portion of the Divine that resides deep within. For most people, who are living in the surface consciousness primarily, the existence of the soul is a question mark, if they think about it at all. As we grow and face life’s challenges, however, we may begin to wonder about why we are alive, what we are here to do, and how we came to live within a certain society, certain culture, certain family, under certain circumstances. As these questions begin to arise within us, we may begin to recognise that there is another influence, other than the mind, the life-force and the physical existence that guides our lives. We may also begin to recognise that there are higher powers of consciousness at work in the universe.

The mind tunes to mental vibrations, and the life-force to vital vibrations and the physical being to physical vibrations, None of these parts of the being can directly translate the vibrations of one plane into their native response. There needs, then, to be a part of the being that can relate to and translate for the other elements of our being, the vibrations of the higher ranges of consciousness, the spiritual consciousness. The soul, or psychic being, is the divine portion within us that has the capacity to tune to, receive and translate to our exte
al instruments of mind, life and body, the spiritual powers of the universe.

The spiritual seeker can actually look back at his own life in the past to see the links which were disguised or hidden at the time they occurred, they moved him to the spiritual path, guided his growth and progress and yielded the realisations he has received in his life. While it is not so simple for young people to reflect in this way, as the seeker matures, he has sufficient insight and experience to notice how his life was systematically formed and focused. What appeared to be random chance occurrences at the time they took place are now seen within the larger pattern that emerges.

Sri Aurobindo observes: “The psychic part of us is something that comes direct from the Divine and is in touch with the Divine. In its origin it is the nucleus present with the divine possibilities that support this lower triple manifestation of mind, life and body. There is this divine element in all living beings, but it stands hidden behind the ordinary consciousness, is not at first developed and, even when developed, is not always or often in the front; it expresses itself, so far as the imperfection of the instruments allows, by their means and under their limitations. It grows in the consciousness by Godward experience, gaining strength every time there is a higher movement in us, and, finally, by the accumulation of these deeper and higher movements, there is developed a psychic individuality, — that which we call usually the psychic being. It is always this psychic being that is the real, though often the secret cause of man’s turning to the spiritual life and his greatest help in it. It is therefore that which we have to bring from behind to the front in the yoga.”

“The word ‘soul’ as also the word ‘psychic’, is used very vaguely and in many different senses in the English language. More often than not, in ordinary parlance, no clear distinction is made between mind and soul and often there is an even more serious confusion, for the vital being of desire — the false soul or desire-soul — is intended by the words ‘soul’ and ‘psychic’ and not the true soul, the psychic being. The psychic being is quite different from the mind or vital; it stands behind them where they meet in the heart. Its central place is there, but behind the heart rather than in the heart; for what men call usually the heart is the seat of emotion, and human emotions are mental-vital impulses, not ordinarily psychic in their nature. This mostly secret power behind, other than the mind and the life-force, is the true soul, the psychic being in us. The power of the psychic, however, can act upon the mind and vital and body, purifying thought and perception and emotion (which then becomes psychic feeling) and sensation and action and everything else in us and preparing them to be divine movements.”

“The psychic being may be described in Indian language as the Purusha in the heart or the Chaitya Purusha; but the inner or secret heart must be understood, hrdaye guhayam, not the outer vital-emotional centre.”

reference: Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, The Psychic Being — Soul: Its Nature, MIssion and Evolution, Section 1 Meaning and Nature of the Psychic Being, pp. 5-7