Harnessing the Body's Innate Powers for the Transformation of Consciousness

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We tend to overlook or disregard
the capacity of the body and its

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body consciousness to aid in the
spiritual quest.

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Each element of the being, the
mind, the vital nature and the

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body has its own consciousness
and capacity for response.

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Each element also can either be
an aid or an obstacle to the

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development of the spiritual
nature, depending on how we

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treat it and interact with it.
Particularly for those who are

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centered in the mind or the
heart, the body consciousness

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seems particularly dull and non
responsive.

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Past habit in many spiritual
traditions actually dismisses

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the body from the seeking and
looks to minimize its role and

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eventually put it aside as a
higher transcendent level is

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achieved.
This, however, appears to be a

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misunderstanding about the role
and capacity of the body to aid

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the spiritual development.
Each plane of consciousness has

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its own unique contribution to
the totality of the required

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development.
The body, anchored as it is in

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the external material world, is
an important element in the

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transformation of the external
existence.

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The body is also capable of
receiving, holding and radiating

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back higher energies with which
it comes into contact.

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We are all familiar with the
fact that rocks can absorb heat

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from various sources, hold that
heat for quite some time, and

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let it back out over a period of
time.

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An experiment was done with the
vital force of prayer.

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A researcher took two similar
rocks, one of which had been

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part of an active temple where
intensive prayer took place for

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a long period of time, and the
other one with no such

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provenance.
Curly, in photography of the

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two, showed that the temple rock
had a strong radiant aura

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streaming out from it, while the
ordinary rock had no such

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energetic vibration.
It is clear, therefore, that

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even dense matter can and does
pick up and store and radiate

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energy, not just material energy
such as the heat, but also

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spiritual energy in the form of
prayer.

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This provides us a clue to the
important role that the body

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consciousness can and does play
in the transformation of

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consciousness, both for the
individual seeker and for the

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world.
Change the Mother observes.

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Quote.
Then faith awakens in the cells

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of the body, and you will see
that you find a response in your

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body itself.
The body itself will feel that

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if its inner will helps,
fortifies, directs, leads, well,

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all its limitations will
gradually disappear.

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And so when the first experience
comes, which sometimes begins

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when 1 is very young, the first
contact with the inner joy, the

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inner beauty, the inner light,
the first contact with that

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which suddenly makes you feel,
oh, that is what I want.

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You must cultivate it, never
forget it, hold it constantly

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before you tell yourself, I have
felt it once, so I can feel it

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again.
This has been real for me, even

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for the space of a second.
And that is what I am going to

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revive in myself and encourage
the body to seek it, to seek it

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with the confidence that it
carries that possibility within

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itself and that if it calls for
it, it will come back, it will

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be realized again.
This is what should be done when

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one is young.
This is what should be done

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every time one has the
opportunity to recollect

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oneself, commune with oneself,
seek oneself.

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End Quote.
Reference Sri Aurobindo and the

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Mother Powers within Chapter 16
Body, page 126.