April 13, 2026
The Soul: the Mystic Flame in the Secret Heart of the Inmost Being
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. 30-32This episode is also available as a blog post at https://sriaurobindostudies.wordpress.com/2026/04/11/the-soul-the-mystic-flame-in-the-secret-heart-of-the-inmost-being/
#Sri Aurobindo #yoga #integral yoga #spirituality #soul #psychic being #mystic fire
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The US editions and links to e-book editions of SriAurobindo’s writings can be found at Lotus Press www.lotuspress.com
1
00:00:00,920 --> 00:00:04,840
It is impossible to dissect the
body and find the soul.
2
00:00:05,840 --> 00:00:10,040
It is not an organ like the
heart, brain, kidneys, lung,
3
00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:14,400
stomach or liver.
We can thus establish that the
4
00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:18,000
soul is not the physical body or
its component parts.
5
00:00:19,200 --> 00:00:24,280
The vital being, that part of us
that feels, reacts, emotes, is
6
00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:27,600
variable.
Our feelings and emotions change
7
00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:32,960
from one moment to the next.
If we look for the soul here, we
8
00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:34,800
find that everything is
changing.
9
00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:39,320
Nothing is permanent.
While we may mistake our
10
00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:42,520
emotional and aesthetic
responses as belonging to the
11
00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:48,720
soul, they turn out to be
superficial, transitory, ever
12
00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:54,440
changing, and not the eternal
immutable soul that we are
13
00:00:54,440 --> 00:00:58,360
seeking.
Descartes maintained that his
14
00:00:58,360 --> 00:01:01,240
ability to process thought meant
that he existed.
15
00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:07,280
If we reverse this logic, then
those who don't think do not
16
00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:10,800
exist.
What about all of the plants and
17
00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:12,720
animals without mental
formation?
18
00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:18,040
Do they exist?
Of course, the test of existence
19
00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:22,400
based in the ability to think is
flawed and certainly does not
20
00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:26,960
speak to the existence or any
evidence of the soul.
21
00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:32,680
What is the soul?
Sages and seers who have focused
22
00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:36,960
on this question have identified
an experience that leads them to
23
00:01:36,960 --> 00:01:42,640
what they designate as the soul,
an eternal central element that
24
00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:46,520
has the direct knowledge through
identity with the Divine
25
00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:51,800
presence, yet resides within the
formation we identify as our set
26
00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:54,920
lives, our mind, life, body,
complex.
27
00:01:55,760 --> 00:01:59,520
They tell us that the soul is
veiled, hidden deep within,
28
00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:05,400
behind this external personality
we tend to identify with more
29
00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:09,400
often.
They identify it as a flame, the
30
00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:15,240
Mystic fire which Kindles our
deepest aspirations and awakens
31
00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:20,120
our sense of wonder, devotion
and consecration.
32
00:02:21,720 --> 00:02:27,000
Sri Robindo writes quote the
true soul secret in US.
33
00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:32,200
Subliminal, we have said.
But the word is misleading, for
34
00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:35,680
this presence is not situated
below the threshold of waking
35
00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:39,760
mind, but rather burns in the
temple of the inmost heart,
36
00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:44,560
behind the thick screen of an
ignorant mind, life and body.
37
00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:48,320
Not subliminal, but behind the
veil.
38
00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:53,000
This veiled psychic entity is
the flame of the Godhead, always
39
00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:56,520
alight within us,
inextinguishable even by that
40
00:02:56,520 --> 00:03:03,320
dense unconsciousness of any
spiritual self within which
41
00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:09,120
obscures our outward nature.
It is a flame borne out of the
42
00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:13,840
divine and luminous inhabitant
of the ignorance grows in it
43
00:03:13,840 --> 00:03:16,400
till it is able to turn it
towards knowledge.
44
00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:21,320
It is the concealed witness and
control, the hidden guide, the
45
00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:25,400
demon of Socrates, the inner
light or inner voice of the
46
00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:29,560
Mystic.
It is that which endures and is
47
00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:35,320
imperishable in us from birth to
birth, untouched by death, decay
48
00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:41,000
or corruption, an indestructible
spark of the divine, not the
49
00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:45,360
unborn self or Atman.
For the self, even in presiding
50
00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:49,720
over the existence of the
individual, is aware always of
51
00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:52,000
its universality and
transcendence.
52
00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:57,320
It is yet its deputy in the
forms of nature, the individual
53
00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:03,640
soul chaitya purusha, supporting
mind, life and body, standing
54
00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:08,440
behind the mental, the vital,
the subtle physical being in US
55
00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:12,240
and watching and profiting by
their development and
56
00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:16,079
experience.
These other person powers in
57
00:04:16,079 --> 00:04:21,360
man, these beings of his being
are also veiled in their true
58
00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:26,520
entity, but they put forward
temporary personalities which
59
00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:31,760
compose our individuality and
whose combined superficial
60
00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:35,240
action and appearance of status
we call ourselves.
61
00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:40,440
This inmost entity also taking
form in us as the psychic
62
00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:45,520
person, puts forward a psychic
personality which changes,
63
00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:49,080
grows, develops from life to
life.
64
00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:55,360
For this is the traveler between
birth and death and between
65
00:04:55,360 --> 00:04:59,240
death and birth.
Our nature parts are only its
66
00:04:59,240 --> 00:05:03,680
manifold and changing vesture.
End Quote.
67
00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:10,800
Reference Sri Robindo and the
Mother, the psychic being soul,
68
00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:13,560
its nature, mission and
evolution.
69
00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:16,560
Section 1.
Meaning and Nature of the
70
00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:19,160
Psychic Being, pages 30 to 32.
00:00:00,920 --> 00:00:04,840
It is impossible to dissect the
body and find the soul.
2
00:00:05,840 --> 00:00:10,040
It is not an organ like the
heart, brain, kidneys, lung,
3
00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:14,400
stomach or liver.
We can thus establish that the
4
00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:18,000
soul is not the physical body or
its component parts.
5
00:00:19,200 --> 00:00:24,280
The vital being, that part of us
that feels, reacts, emotes, is
6
00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:27,600
variable.
Our feelings and emotions change
7
00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:32,960
from one moment to the next.
If we look for the soul here, we
8
00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:34,800
find that everything is
changing.
9
00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:39,320
Nothing is permanent.
While we may mistake our
10
00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:42,520
emotional and aesthetic
responses as belonging to the
11
00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:48,720
soul, they turn out to be
superficial, transitory, ever
12
00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:54,440
changing, and not the eternal
immutable soul that we are
13
00:00:54,440 --> 00:00:58,360
seeking.
Descartes maintained that his
14
00:00:58,360 --> 00:01:01,240
ability to process thought meant
that he existed.
15
00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:07,280
If we reverse this logic, then
those who don't think do not
16
00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:10,800
exist.
What about all of the plants and
17
00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:12,720
animals without mental
formation?
18
00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:18,040
Do they exist?
Of course, the test of existence
19
00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:22,400
based in the ability to think is
flawed and certainly does not
20
00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:26,960
speak to the existence or any
evidence of the soul.
21
00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:32,680
What is the soul?
Sages and seers who have focused
22
00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:36,960
on this question have identified
an experience that leads them to
23
00:01:36,960 --> 00:01:42,640
what they designate as the soul,
an eternal central element that
24
00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:46,520
has the direct knowledge through
identity with the Divine
25
00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:51,800
presence, yet resides within the
formation we identify as our set
26
00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:54,920
lives, our mind, life, body,
complex.
27
00:01:55,760 --> 00:01:59,520
They tell us that the soul is
veiled, hidden deep within,
28
00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:05,400
behind this external personality
we tend to identify with more
29
00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:09,400
often.
They identify it as a flame, the
30
00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:15,240
Mystic fire which Kindles our
deepest aspirations and awakens
31
00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:20,120
our sense of wonder, devotion
and consecration.
32
00:02:21,720 --> 00:02:27,000
Sri Robindo writes quote the
true soul secret in US.
33
00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:32,200
Subliminal, we have said.
But the word is misleading, for
34
00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:35,680
this presence is not situated
below the threshold of waking
35
00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:39,760
mind, but rather burns in the
temple of the inmost heart,
36
00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:44,560
behind the thick screen of an
ignorant mind, life and body.
37
00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:48,320
Not subliminal, but behind the
veil.
38
00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:53,000
This veiled psychic entity is
the flame of the Godhead, always
39
00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:56,520
alight within us,
inextinguishable even by that
40
00:02:56,520 --> 00:03:03,320
dense unconsciousness of any
spiritual self within which
41
00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:09,120
obscures our outward nature.
It is a flame borne out of the
42
00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:13,840
divine and luminous inhabitant
of the ignorance grows in it
43
00:03:13,840 --> 00:03:16,400
till it is able to turn it
towards knowledge.
44
00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:21,320
It is the concealed witness and
control, the hidden guide, the
45
00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:25,400
demon of Socrates, the inner
light or inner voice of the
46
00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:29,560
Mystic.
It is that which endures and is
47
00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:35,320
imperishable in us from birth to
birth, untouched by death, decay
48
00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:41,000
or corruption, an indestructible
spark of the divine, not the
49
00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:45,360
unborn self or Atman.
For the self, even in presiding
50
00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:49,720
over the existence of the
individual, is aware always of
51
00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:52,000
its universality and
transcendence.
52
00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:57,320
It is yet its deputy in the
forms of nature, the individual
53
00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:03,640
soul chaitya purusha, supporting
mind, life and body, standing
54
00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:08,440
behind the mental, the vital,
the subtle physical being in US
55
00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:12,240
and watching and profiting by
their development and
56
00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:16,079
experience.
These other person powers in
57
00:04:16,079 --> 00:04:21,360
man, these beings of his being
are also veiled in their true
58
00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:26,520
entity, but they put forward
temporary personalities which
59
00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:31,760
compose our individuality and
whose combined superficial
60
00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:35,240
action and appearance of status
we call ourselves.
61
00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:40,440
This inmost entity also taking
form in us as the psychic
62
00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:45,520
person, puts forward a psychic
personality which changes,
63
00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:49,080
grows, develops from life to
life.
64
00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:55,360
For this is the traveler between
birth and death and between
65
00:04:55,360 --> 00:04:59,240
death and birth.
Our nature parts are only its
66
00:04:59,240 --> 00:05:03,680
manifold and changing vesture.
End Quote.
67
00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:10,800
Reference Sri Robindo and the
Mother, the psychic being soul,
68
00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:13,560
its nature, mission and
evolution.
69
00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:16,560
Section 1.
Meaning and Nature of the
70
00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:19,160
Psychic Being, pages 30 to 32.
