Here is an
exercise that the Mother gave to the children of the Ashram for reviewing their
daily experiences in the light of the psychic being. The text is fairly
lengthy, so I've put it at the end of this essay.
Basically, the
exercise involves first, finding the light of the deepest and highest
consciousness to which you have access—a mental ideal in the outer
consciousness if that is all that is accessible, but preferably an inner
consciousness, or the light of the soul if that is possible.
Then, to foster a
spirit of disidentification, you imagine you are looking at a movie screen, and
see projected on that screen your actions of the day. You look and discern what
goes against your highest ideal, and what seems to be out of place, as if to
see what might be creating a kind of shadow against the images on the screen
Then, you search—try to find if the action was the result of some level of
inattention or lack of awareness (tamas).
You may, on the
other hand, find there was some hidden egoistic movement distorting the truer
vibration deep within. You might even come to realize that something in you was
secretly enjoying the play of forces, sanctioning the distorted physical, vital
and mental movements.
Finally, you
attempt to put everything in order—sort out the various inappropriate mixtures
of physical, vital and mental consciousness, and arrange everything so it is
harmoniously organized around the light of your highest ideal. In this way, you
discover the truer vibration, the undistorted expression of your true nature,
and arrive at a real and deep integration.
This leads to a
purification of the nature. If the psychic light is awakened, it will lead to
the subsequent psychic transformation which Sri Aurobindo describes as the
first phase of the three-part psychic, spiritual and supramental
transformation.
To summarize:
1. — Find the
light of the deepest consciousness (mental ideal, inner light or the light of
the soul)
2. — Step
back—project your actions on a screen
3. — Look
closely at actions which are contrary to your highest ideal: what is behind
them—unconsciousness, egoism? Look at how the physical, vital and mental
consciousness are mixed together in inappropriate ways.
4. — Organize
everything around the light of your highest ideal
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The
Mother's exercise for reviewing the day in the light of the soul
If this reviewing is
to make you progress, you must find something within you in whose light you can
be yourself your own judge, something which represents for you the best part of
yourself, which has some light, some goodwill and which precisely is in love
with progress. Place that before you and first pass across it as in a cinema
all that you have done, all that you have felt, your impulses, your thoughts,
etc.; then try to coordinate them, that is, find out why this has followed
that. Look at the luminous screen that is before you: certain things pass by
well, without throwing a shadow; others, on the contrary, throw a little
shadow; others yet cast a shadow altogether black and disagreeable. you must do
this very sincerely, as though you were playing a game: under such
circumstances I did such and such a thing, feeling like this and thinking in
this way; I have before me my ideal of knowledge and self-mastery, well, was
this act in keeping with my ideal or not? If it was, it would not leave any
shadow on the screen, which would remain transparent, and one would not have to
worry about it. If it is not in conformity, it casts a shadow. Why has it left
this shadow? What was there in this act that was contrary to the will to self-knowledge
and self-mastery?
Most often you will
find that it corresponds to unconsciousness —then you file it among unconscious
things and resolve that next time you will try to be conscious before doing anything.
But in other cases you will see that it was a nasty little egoism, quite black,
which had come to distort your action or your thought. Then you place this
egoism before your 'light' and ask yourself: 'Why has it the right to make me
act like that, think like that...' And instead of accepting any odd explanation
you must search and you will find in a corner of your being something which
thinks and says, 'Ah, no, I shall accept everything but that.' You will see
that it is a petty vanity, a movement of self-love, an egoistic feeling hidden
somewhere, a hundred things. Then you take a good look at these things in the
light of your ideal: 'Is cherishing this movement in conformity with my seeking
and the realization of my ideal or not? I put this little dark corner in front
of the light until the light enters into it and it disappears.' Then the comedy
is over. But the comedy of your whole day is not finished yet, you know, for
there are many things which have to pass thus before the light. But if you continue
this game—for truly it is a game, if you do this sincerely—I assure you that in
six months you will not recognize yourself, you will say to yourself, 'What? I
was like that! It is impossible!'
You may be five
years old or twenty, fifty or sixty and yet transform yourself in this way by
putting everything before this inner light. You will see that the elements
which do not conform with your ideal are not generally elements which you have
to throw wholly out of yourself (There are very few of this kind); they are
simply things not in their place. If you organize everything—your feelings,
your thoughts, your impulses, etc.—around the psychic centre which is the inner
light, you will see that all inner discord will change into a luminous order.
It is quite evident
that if a similar procedure were adopted by a nation or by the earth, most of
the things which make men unhappy would disappear, for the major part of the
world's misery comes from the fact that things are not in their place. If life
were organized in such a way that nothing was wasted and each thing was in its
place, most of these miseries would not exist any longer. An old sage has said:
'There is no evil.
There is only a lack of balance.
'There is nothing
bad. Only things are not in their place.'
If everything
were in its place, in nations, in the material world, in the actions and
thoughts and feelings of individuals, the greater part of human suffering would
disappear.
The Mother, Questions and Answers 1950-51, p. 38-39
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