The Universal, the Individual and the Evolution of Consciousness

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We see the world from the
individual standpoint and place

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ourselves at the centre of it.
We believe we originate the

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thoughts, feelings, emotions and
responses we give.

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This, however, is very much the
illusion of the ego sense.

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Consider that for the longest
time, human beings believed that

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the Sun rotated around the
Earth.

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Our language encompasses this
belief even today when we talk

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about sunrise and sunset.
This geocentric viewpoint was

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eventually replaced by what is
called a heliocentric viewpoint,

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namely that the Earth rotates
and also transits around the

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Sun, thus creating the illusion
of sunrise and sunset.

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The first people in the West who
recognized and publicized these

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facts were ostracized,
excommunicated from the church,

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and otherwise pressured to
recant their views.

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Eventually they were found to
have been justified in their

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beliefs, and even those who
earlier opposed this recognized

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that the geocentric view of life
on Earth was inaccurate.

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Similarly, we live and act with
what we may call the egocentric

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view of our lives, although in a
similar way we are individual

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instances of the universal
manifestation and for the most

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part carry out the ideas,
impulses and direction of that

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universal with minor adjustments
due to the individual receiving

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the impulse having his own
unique set of experiences.

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The Ishu Upanishad proclaims
this in the very first verse.

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Quote.
All this is for habitation by

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the Lord, whatever is individual
universe of movement in the

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universal motion.
End Quote.

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Each person is always being
inundated with these universal

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forces, mental forces, vital
forces, physical forces,

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energies that span the entire
spectrum, both perceptible and

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imperceptible, based on the
stage of development and the

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focus of the receiving
individual.

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Certain forces then tend to
predominate in him, which

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creates his individuality but
not his separateness from the

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universal creation.
Change is thus not under the

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full control of the individual.
As certain forces work within

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him and various chakras are
activated, he turns his

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attention and focus to one thing
or another, and eventually, if

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he turns to spiritual growth, he
becomes aware of the limitations

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of the habitual patterns
operative as part of earlier

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stages of the evolutionary
process.

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To be sure, the old embedded
habits and instincts are

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intended to ensure stability and
continuity of the creation and

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to make sure that each next step
has a solid foundation and is

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not simply a vast mistake which
will lead to harm or

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destruction.
The conservative principle has

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its role to play.
At the same time, through a

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process of opening to new forces
and beginning to express them, a

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slow change begins to manifest
for the individual and in the

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society as it responds to the
new direction, similar to the

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adoption of the heliocentric
model and the consequent move

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away from the geocentric model
of Earth and its position.

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Eventually, we may begin to
recognize that even the

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heliocentric model, correct in
its own limited sphere, will

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have to give way to a larger
view that puts the solar system

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into its right place in the
Galaxy, the Galaxy into its

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right place in the universe, et
cetera, et cetera.

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Human development mirrors in a
certain way, as new forces and

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new understandings come into
play, both the necessity and the

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manner of instituting changes to
human nature.

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More or less, the mutation that
adapts, modifies, or overturns

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previously fixed ways of
response become real to us, Sri

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Orbindo observes.
Quote.

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But what we are on the surface
is being constantly set in

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motion, changed, developed or
repeated by the waves of the

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general nature coming in on us,
either directly or else

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indirectly, through others,
through circumstances, through

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various agencies or channels.
Some of this flows straight into

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the conscious parts and acts
there, but our mind ignores its

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source, appropriates it, and
regards all that as its own.

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A part comes secretly into the
subconscient, or sinks into it,

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and waits for an opportunity of
rising up into the conscious

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surface.
A good deal goes into the

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subliminal and may at any time
come out, or may not, may rather

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rest there as unused matter.
Part passes through and is

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rejected, thrown back or thrown
out or spilt into the universal

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sea.
Our nature is a constant

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activity of forces supplied to
us out of which, or rather out

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of a small amount of it, we make
what we will or can.

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What we make seems fixed and
formed for good, but in reality

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it is all a play of forces, a
flux, nothing fixed or stable.

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The appearance of stability is
given by constant repetition and

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recurrence of the same
vibrations and formations.

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That is why our nature can be
changed in spite of

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Vivekananda's saying and
Horace's adage, and in spite of

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the conservative resistance of
the subconscious.

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But it is a difficult job,
because the master mode of

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nature is this obstinate
repetition and recurrence.

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End Quote Reference Srioro Bindo
Bases of Yoga Chapter 5 Physical

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Consciousness, Subconscious
Sleep and Dream Illness pages 88

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to 89.