The Psychic Being: Soul - Its Nature, Mission and Evolution

by Sri Aurobindo and The Mother and A. S. Dalal

The selections in this compilation deal with the meaning and nature of the psychic being, its role and action in the awakening to the inner life, and its influence on the afterlife and the process of rebirth.

Many of the extracts clarify the difference between the soul in its purely essential form and the psychic being, which is the soul in its evolutionary, individualised form. The process of psychic growth and development and the central role of the psychic being in the individual's sadhana are some of the key concepts in Sri Aurobindo's Integral Yoga and are given prominence in this compilation, which is aimed mainly at the general reader.

About the Authors:

The Mother:

Born in Paris in 1878, the Mother studied painting at an art studio and became an accomplished artist. Primarily interested in inner development, she was associated with several groups of spiritual seekers in France.

In 1914 she journeyed to India to meet the Indian mystic Sri Aurobindo in Puducherry and settled there permanently in 1920. For nearly fifty years, she was the head of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, from its founding in 1926 until her passing in 1973. She also established a school, the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education, in 1952, and an international township, Auroville, in 1968.

Sri Aurobindo:

Sri Aurobindo was an Indian/Hindu nationalist, scholar, poet, mystic, evolutionary philosopher, yogi and guru. After a short political career in which he became one of leaders of the early movement for the freedom of India from British rule, Sri Aurobindo turned to the development and practice of a new spiritual path which he called the "integral yoga," the aim of which was to further the evolution of life on earth by establishing a high level of spiritual consciousness which he called the Supermind that would represent a divine life.

Sri Aurobindo wrote prolifically in English on his spiritual philosophy and practice, on social and political development, on Indian culture including extensive commentaries and translations of ancient Indian scriptures, on literature and poetry including the writing of much spiritual poetry.