Jivatman and Psychic Being

0:00 Spiritual seekers have differing affinities and capacities from which they begin their conscious spiritual focus. Some of them take up the seeking for the self, the Jivatman, with liberation from the illusion of the external world and its temptations. As a primary objective. They practice Nyana Yoga, the Yoga of knowledge, and the path can be austere as they tend to not want to be actively involved in the usual occupations of society. They seek the divine and tend to follow the path of the renunciate or ascetic. Srioro Binda describes this in The Life Divine when he delves into what he calls the refusal of the ascetic. He also devotes an entire section of the synthesis of Yoga to the practices of the Yoga of Knowledge. There are also seekers who begin with the upwelling of a deep sense of devotion, consecration, bhakti, the way of love. This path is described in detail by Sri Aurobindo in the section of the synthesis of Yoga called the Yoga of Love. Each of these paths takes up one of the natural starting points for an individual who has moved to devote himself to the spiritual life.

1:24 Each can attain the objective of union with the Divine as the Self above and distant from the individual life, as well as the psychic being guiding and developing from within the manifestation and participating in that way in the individual life, are both focused on conscious union with the Divine in the one aspect or the other. Sri Robindo mentions the issue which we have ourselves seen on several occasions of individuals who have a deep or intense spiritual experience or even a major change in their understanding and perspective based on spiritual experience, and then allow the vital ego to more or less hijack the realization through the sense of superiority or uniqueness. In some cases, the individual may believe he is the Divine without the corresponding recognition of the Divine imminent in all beings.

2:29 Or they may believe they are an incarnation of a great spiritual teacher of the past or divinely moved to lead others on the spiritual path without a recognition of the Divine presence active in others. In some cases, an individual believes he has a special role to play and act as gatekeeper to an individual with a transformative divine experience, as Srioro Bindo briefly notes in the case of Ramakrishna and Hrudaya. Here Srioro Bindo observes quote The phrase central being in our yoga is usually applied to the portion of the divine in us which supports all the rest and survives through death and birth.

3:15 This central being has 2 forms Above it is Jeevatman, our true being of which we become aware when the higher self knowledge comes below. It is the psychic being which stands behind mind, body and life. The Jeevatman is above the manifestation in life and presides over it. The psychic being stands behind the manifestation in life and supports it. The natural attitude of the psychic being is to feel itself as the Child, the Son of God, the bhakta. It is a portion of the Divine one in essence.

3:56 But in the dynamics of the manifestation there is always, even in identity, a difference. The Jivatman, On the contrary, lives in the essence and can merge itself in identity with the divine. But it too, the moment it presides over the dynamics of the manifestation, knows itself as one centre of the multiple Divine, not as the Parameshwara. It is important to remember the distinction, for otherwise, if there is the least vital egoism, one may begin to think of oneself as an avatar or lose balance like Hrudaya with Ramakrishna. End Quote Reference Sri Aurobindo and the Mother The psychic being soul, its nature, Mission and evolution. Section 1.

4:50 Meaning and Nature of the Psychic Being, pages 13 to 14.