<ref>The Mother. (2003). Early talks. In Words of the mother I.
http://incarnateword.in/cwm/13/early-talks#p108</ref>
= What Indicates Expansion and Widening? =
== Lights and Visions ==
One has in his consciousness the feeling of rising above what is obscure and ordinary and unconscious, of raising himself—because usually our head is on top and our head is more conscious than the rest of our body—and the impression that there is above him a greater consciousness. So when one makes an effort to progress, at the same time one makes an effort of ascent. Sometimes one has even symbolically the impression of climbing a mountain and wanting to reach the summit, that is, as close as possible to the free expanses of the light, of what is purer. And if one doesn't take care, quite naturally, spontaneously, one slips back into the ordinary consciousness.
(The Mother, 30 March 1955)
<ref>The Mother. (2003). 30 March 1955. In Questions and answers (1955).
http://incarnateword.in/cwm/07/30-march-1955#p18</ref>
== Lightness ==
The lightness, the feeling of the disappearance of the head and that all is open is a sign of the wideness of the mental consciousness which is no longer limited by the brain and its body sense—no longer imprisoned but wide and free. This is felt in the meditation only at first or with closed eyes, but at a later stage it becomes established and one feels always oneself a wide consciousness not limited by any feeling of the body. You felt something of this wideness of your being in the second experience when the Mother's foot pressed down your physical mind (head) till it went below and left room for this sense of an infinite Self. This wide consciousness not dependent on the body or limited by it is what is called in Yoga the Atman or Self. You are only having the first glimpses of it, but later on it becomes normal and one feels that one was always this Atman infinite and immortal.
<ref>Sri Aurobindo. (2014). The universal or cosmic consciousness. In Letters on yoga III.
http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/30/the-universal-or-cosmic-consciousness#p35</ref>
= What Prevents Expansion and Widening? =