May 19, 2024
How to Acquire Knowledge of the Action of Vital and Mental Beings and Forces Upon our Lives
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YouTube reference: Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, The Hidden Forces of Life, Ch. 4 Cosmic and Universal Forces, pg. 89 This episode is also available as a blog post at https://sriaurobindostudies.wordpress.com/2024/05/16/how-to-acquire-knowledge-of-the-action-of-vital-and-mental-beings-and-forces-upon-our-lives/
Video presentations, interviews and podcast episodes are all available on the YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@santoshkrinsky871
More information about Sri Aurobindo can be found at www.aurobindo.net
The US editions and links to e-book editions of Sri Aurobindo’s writings can be found at Lotus Press www.lotuspress.com
1
00:00:01,600 --> 00:00:05,360
Since we cannot easily observe
vital beings or mental beings
2
00:00:05,360 --> 00:00:09,360
operating on their respective
planes to influence actions in
3
00:00:09,360 --> 00:00:14,120
our existence, and since we
maintain a skeptical attitude
4
00:00:14,120 --> 00:00:17,920
about things which cannot be
observed or measured, we find it
5
00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:21,520
difficult to accept the
existence of conscious, vital or
6
00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:26,880
mental beings or entities who
either work to aid or oppose our
7
00:00:26,880 --> 00:00:29,560
existence, growth, and
development.
8
00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:34,440
It is also a well recognized
truth that the senses and the
9
00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:38,480
mind have a very limited frame
of action, so that things that
10
00:00:38,480 --> 00:00:42,280
occur above or below our field
of perception, while still
11
00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:45,560
existent, are not perceived or
understood.
12
00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:50,520
Thus, the sense organs and the
mind are not the proper
13
00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:54,400
instruments to explore and
understand the vital and mental
14
00:00:54,400 --> 00:00:58,160
realms outside the frame of
their normal active capacity.
15
00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:02,880
This brings us to the question
of how we know what we know.
16
00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:08,480
We trust our external senses,
but it has now been decisively
17
00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:12,160
proven that the senses, as well
as our interpretation of
18
00:01:12,160 --> 00:01:18,000
perceptions of those senses, can
be faulty, misled, or outright
19
00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:21,000
wrong.
Multiple people observing the
20
00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:24,840
same event from different angles
frequently report different
21
00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:30,000
perceptions with AI deep fakes.
In today's world and with
22
00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:34,880
programs such as Photoshop, what
we believe is real is often
23
00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:39,160
simply a manipulated or
falsified version of facts.
24
00:01:40,040 --> 00:01:43,320
Knowledge based on the external
sense organs is therefore
25
00:01:43,320 --> 00:01:47,320
subject to question in the life
divine.
26
00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:51,440
Shri Robindo describes the
different ways of knowing with
27
00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:55,480
the reliance on the outer sense
organs as being incomplete due
28
00:01:55,480 --> 00:02:00,120
to it being knowledge of what
appears to be separate objects.
29
00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:06,200
Separate of knowledge is always
incomplete, inadequate, and
30
00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:09,840
limited.
If we rely solely on the
31
00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:13,600
testimony of others, we are
still subject to their
32
00:02:13,600 --> 00:02:16,880
potentially faulty observation
or interpretation.
33
00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:21,880
To the extent that we appreciate
the bona fides and intelligence
34
00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:25,240
of individuals who have deeply
immersed themselves in a
35
00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:28,720
subject, we have a greater
degree of confidence,
36
00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:33,520
potentially, than simply relying
on the random interpretations of
37
00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:38,000
untrained individuals.
Even there, we frequently ask
38
00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:42,520
for some kind of proof or
evidence, and as scientists have
39
00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:46,960
developed the scientific method
of knowledge, we expect that
40
00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:50,840
repeated observations should be
not only verifiable and
41
00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:53,640
measurable, but also
reproducible.
42
00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:58,040
We then come to knowledge
obtained through inference of an
43
00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:02,720
effect that must have a 'cause.
We treat invisible energy such
44
00:03:02,720 --> 00:03:07,280
as radiation, electricity, et
cetera, by judging the effect
45
00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:11,360
and then developing tools to
measure the force that is at
46
00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:15,000
work.
Thus we believe in invisible
47
00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:18,840
things that can be identified
through their impact and which
48
00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:24,200
yield measurable results.
All of this is preparatory to
49
00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:28,200
the ultimate form of knowledge,
which is knowledge by identity.
50
00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:33,880
In the end, we must find a way
to rely on what we experience to
51
00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:38,800
filter out the effect of dogma,
propaganda, and the influence of
52
00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:43,840
desire or fear, or other factors
which can distort the perception
53
00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:49,200
or the interpretation.
We come then to the science of
54
00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:51,280
inner psychological study and
growth.
55
00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:57,280
Swami Vivekananda, in his
Lectures on Raja Yoga, provides
56
00:03:57,280 --> 00:04:01,280
one method for gaining knowledge
inwardly, and that is to bring
57
00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:05,360
the mind stuff to a level of
stillness that we can observe
58
00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:08,760
closely.
This discipline starts with
59
00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:12,720
gaining mastery over various
psychological reactive states
60
00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:17,320
through control of desire in any
of its forms and through
61
00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:21,839
development of a quiet, harmless
and balanced seat.
62
00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:27,080
When ripples in the mind stuff
arise, we can observe where they
63
00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:31,760
came from, what impact they are
having, and what they try to do
64
00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:35,840
within us.
Thus we turn the mind itself
65
00:04:35,840 --> 00:04:39,440
into a sensitive measuring
device for the action of
66
00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:41,600
external energies that impact
us.
67
00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:46,720
When we match up our inward
experience through some process
68
00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:51,200
such as this, with the force and
its impact that is reaching us,
69
00:04:51,720 --> 00:04:55,520
it becomes easier to develop a
reliable sense of what is taking
70
00:04:55,520 --> 00:04:57,800
place behind the scenes, so to
speak.
71
00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:02,520
When we then correlate our own
experience with that of others
72
00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:06,720
who are otherwise trusted guides
or leaders, we have a higher
73
00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:11,160
degree of certitude which we can
apply to an understanding of the
74
00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:15,520
beings and forces trying to
influence us for good.
75
00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:20,720
Or I'll It is at such a stage
that we can begin to fit
76
00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:25,160
together the pieces of the
puzzle that is our incapacity to
77
00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:28,840
grasp the fact of our
consciousness and the general
78
00:05:28,840 --> 00:05:33,560
human aspiration with the
apparently inconceant nature
79
00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:38,800
within which we exist.
Sri Aurobindo writes, quote.
80
00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:44,480
This is certain that when we go
back into ourselves, very deep
81
00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:48,080
away from the surface
appearance, we find that the
82
00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:53,040
mind, heart and sensational
being of man are moved by forces
83
00:05:53,040 --> 00:05:57,200
not under his own control, and
that he can become an instrument
84
00:05:57,200 --> 00:06:02,160
in the hands of energies of a
cosmic character without knowing
85
00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:06,480
the origin of his actions.
It is by stepping back from the
86
00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:10,040
physical surface into his inner
being and subliminal
87
00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:14,600
consciousness that he becomes
directly aware of them and is
88
00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:18,800
able to know directly and deal
with their action upon him.
89
00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:22,880
He grows aware of interventions
which seek to lead him in One
90
00:06:22,880 --> 00:06:27,440
Direction or another of
suggestions and impulsions which
91
00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:31,000
had got disguised themselves as
original movements of his own
92
00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:34,320
mind, and against which he had
to battle.
93
00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:39,200
He can realize that he is not a
conscious creature, inexplicably
94
00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:43,720
produced in an unconscious world
out of a seed of inconscient
95
00:06:43,720 --> 00:06:48,880
matter, and moving about in an
obscure self ignorance, but an
96
00:06:48,880 --> 00:06:53,200
embodied soul through whose
action cosmic nature is seeking
97
00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:57,680
to fulfill itself.
The living ground of a vast
98
00:06:57,680 --> 00:07:01,040
debate between a darkness of
ignorance, out of which it
99
00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:05,360
emerges here, and a light of
knowledge which is growing
100
00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:08,520
upwards towards an unforeseen
termination.
101
00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:13,520
The forces which seek to move
him and among them the forces of
102
00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:17,320
good and evil, present
themselves as powers of
103
00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:21,480
universal nature, but they seem
to belong not only to the
104
00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:26,440
physical universe, but to planes
of life and mind beyond it.
105
00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:32,440
End Quote Reference Sri
Aurobindo and the Mother, The
106
00:07:32,440 --> 00:07:34,880
Hidden Forces of Life, Chapter
4.
107
00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:38,840
Cosmic and Universal Forces,
page 89.
00:00:01,600 --> 00:00:05,360
Since we cannot easily observe
vital beings or mental beings
2
00:00:05,360 --> 00:00:09,360
operating on their respective
planes to influence actions in
3
00:00:09,360 --> 00:00:14,120
our existence, and since we
maintain a skeptical attitude
4
00:00:14,120 --> 00:00:17,920
about things which cannot be
observed or measured, we find it
5
00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:21,520
difficult to accept the
existence of conscious, vital or
6
00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:26,880
mental beings or entities who
either work to aid or oppose our
7
00:00:26,880 --> 00:00:29,560
existence, growth, and
development.
8
00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:34,440
It is also a well recognized
truth that the senses and the
9
00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:38,480
mind have a very limited frame
of action, so that things that
10
00:00:38,480 --> 00:00:42,280
occur above or below our field
of perception, while still
11
00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:45,560
existent, are not perceived or
understood.
12
00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:50,520
Thus, the sense organs and the
mind are not the proper
13
00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:54,400
instruments to explore and
understand the vital and mental
14
00:00:54,400 --> 00:00:58,160
realms outside the frame of
their normal active capacity.
15
00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:02,880
This brings us to the question
of how we know what we know.
16
00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:08,480
We trust our external senses,
but it has now been decisively
17
00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:12,160
proven that the senses, as well
as our interpretation of
18
00:01:12,160 --> 00:01:18,000
perceptions of those senses, can
be faulty, misled, or outright
19
00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:21,000
wrong.
Multiple people observing the
20
00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:24,840
same event from different angles
frequently report different
21
00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:30,000
perceptions with AI deep fakes.
In today's world and with
22
00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:34,880
programs such as Photoshop, what
we believe is real is often
23
00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:39,160
simply a manipulated or
falsified version of facts.
24
00:01:40,040 --> 00:01:43,320
Knowledge based on the external
sense organs is therefore
25
00:01:43,320 --> 00:01:47,320
subject to question in the life
divine.
26
00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:51,440
Shri Robindo describes the
different ways of knowing with
27
00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:55,480
the reliance on the outer sense
organs as being incomplete due
28
00:01:55,480 --> 00:02:00,120
to it being knowledge of what
appears to be separate objects.
29
00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:06,200
Separate of knowledge is always
incomplete, inadequate, and
30
00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:09,840
limited.
If we rely solely on the
31
00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:13,600
testimony of others, we are
still subject to their
32
00:02:13,600 --> 00:02:16,880
potentially faulty observation
or interpretation.
33
00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:21,880
To the extent that we appreciate
the bona fides and intelligence
34
00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:25,240
of individuals who have deeply
immersed themselves in a
35
00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:28,720
subject, we have a greater
degree of confidence,
36
00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:33,520
potentially, than simply relying
on the random interpretations of
37
00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:38,000
untrained individuals.
Even there, we frequently ask
38
00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:42,520
for some kind of proof or
evidence, and as scientists have
39
00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:46,960
developed the scientific method
of knowledge, we expect that
40
00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:50,840
repeated observations should be
not only verifiable and
41
00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:53,640
measurable, but also
reproducible.
42
00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:58,040
We then come to knowledge
obtained through inference of an
43
00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:02,720
effect that must have a 'cause.
We treat invisible energy such
44
00:03:02,720 --> 00:03:07,280
as radiation, electricity, et
cetera, by judging the effect
45
00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:11,360
and then developing tools to
measure the force that is at
46
00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:15,000
work.
Thus we believe in invisible
47
00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:18,840
things that can be identified
through their impact and which
48
00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:24,200
yield measurable results.
All of this is preparatory to
49
00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:28,200
the ultimate form of knowledge,
which is knowledge by identity.
50
00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:33,880
In the end, we must find a way
to rely on what we experience to
51
00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:38,800
filter out the effect of dogma,
propaganda, and the influence of
52
00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:43,840
desire or fear, or other factors
which can distort the perception
53
00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:49,200
or the interpretation.
We come then to the science of
54
00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:51,280
inner psychological study and
growth.
55
00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:57,280
Swami Vivekananda, in his
Lectures on Raja Yoga, provides
56
00:03:57,280 --> 00:04:01,280
one method for gaining knowledge
inwardly, and that is to bring
57
00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:05,360
the mind stuff to a level of
stillness that we can observe
58
00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:08,760
closely.
This discipline starts with
59
00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:12,720
gaining mastery over various
psychological reactive states
60
00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:17,320
through control of desire in any
of its forms and through
61
00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:21,839
development of a quiet, harmless
and balanced seat.
62
00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:27,080
When ripples in the mind stuff
arise, we can observe where they
63
00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:31,760
came from, what impact they are
having, and what they try to do
64
00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:35,840
within us.
Thus we turn the mind itself
65
00:04:35,840 --> 00:04:39,440
into a sensitive measuring
device for the action of
66
00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:41,600
external energies that impact
us.
67
00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:46,720
When we match up our inward
experience through some process
68
00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:51,200
such as this, with the force and
its impact that is reaching us,
69
00:04:51,720 --> 00:04:55,520
it becomes easier to develop a
reliable sense of what is taking
70
00:04:55,520 --> 00:04:57,800
place behind the scenes, so to
speak.
71
00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:02,520
When we then correlate our own
experience with that of others
72
00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:06,720
who are otherwise trusted guides
or leaders, we have a higher
73
00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:11,160
degree of certitude which we can
apply to an understanding of the
74
00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:15,520
beings and forces trying to
influence us for good.
75
00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:20,720
Or I'll It is at such a stage
that we can begin to fit
76
00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:25,160
together the pieces of the
puzzle that is our incapacity to
77
00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:28,840
grasp the fact of our
consciousness and the general
78
00:05:28,840 --> 00:05:33,560
human aspiration with the
apparently inconceant nature
79
00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:38,800
within which we exist.
Sri Aurobindo writes, quote.
80
00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:44,480
This is certain that when we go
back into ourselves, very deep
81
00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:48,080
away from the surface
appearance, we find that the
82
00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:53,040
mind, heart and sensational
being of man are moved by forces
83
00:05:53,040 --> 00:05:57,200
not under his own control, and
that he can become an instrument
84
00:05:57,200 --> 00:06:02,160
in the hands of energies of a
cosmic character without knowing
85
00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:06,480
the origin of his actions.
It is by stepping back from the
86
00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:10,040
physical surface into his inner
being and subliminal
87
00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:14,600
consciousness that he becomes
directly aware of them and is
88
00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:18,800
able to know directly and deal
with their action upon him.
89
00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:22,880
He grows aware of interventions
which seek to lead him in One
90
00:06:22,880 --> 00:06:27,440
Direction or another of
suggestions and impulsions which
91
00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:31,000
had got disguised themselves as
original movements of his own
92
00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:34,320
mind, and against which he had
to battle.
93
00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:39,200
He can realize that he is not a
conscious creature, inexplicably
94
00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:43,720
produced in an unconscious world
out of a seed of inconscient
95
00:06:43,720 --> 00:06:48,880
matter, and moving about in an
obscure self ignorance, but an
96
00:06:48,880 --> 00:06:53,200
embodied soul through whose
action cosmic nature is seeking
97
00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:57,680
to fulfill itself.
The living ground of a vast
98
00:06:57,680 --> 00:07:01,040
debate between a darkness of
ignorance, out of which it
99
00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:05,360
emerges here, and a light of
knowledge which is growing
100
00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:08,520
upwards towards an unforeseen
termination.
101
00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:13,520
The forces which seek to move
him and among them the forces of
102
00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:17,320
good and evil, present
themselves as powers of
103
00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:21,480
universal nature, but they seem
to belong not only to the
104
00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:26,440
physical universe, but to planes
of life and mind beyond it.
105
00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:32,440
End Quote Reference Sri
Aurobindo and the Mother, The
106
00:07:32,440 --> 00:07:34,880
Hidden Forces of Life, Chapter
4.
107
00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:38,840
Cosmic and Universal Forces,
page 89.