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Read more about Unifying One's Being from the works of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo.


Planes and Parts of the Being

The Physical

Each plane of our being- mental, vital, physical -has its own consciousness. There is the universal physical consciousness of Nature and there is our own which is a part of it, moved by it, and used by the central bank for the support of its expression in the physical world. [1]

The Vital

Vital is a thing of desires,impulses, force-pushes, emotions, sensations, seekings after life- fulfillment, possession and enjoyment. [2]

The Mental

The “Mind” in the ordinary use of the word covers indiscriminately the whole consciousness, for man is a mental being and mentalises everything; it has to do with cognition and intelligence, with ideas, with mental or thought perceptions, the reaction of thought to things. [3]

Soul and Psychic Being

The soul is a spark of the Divine which is not seated above the manifested being, but comes down into the manifestation to support its evolution in the material world. It is at first an undifferentiated power of the Divine Consciousness containing all possibilities which have not yet taken form, but to which it is the function of evolution to give form. The psychic being is formed by the soul in its evolution. It supports the mind, vital, body, grows by their experiences, carries the nature from life to life. It is the psychic or caitya purusa. At first it is veiled by mind, vital and body, but as it grows, it becomes capable of coming forward and dominating the mind, life and body. [4]

Now let us explore how we can integrate the various parts in us.

Becoming an Individual

One is in this period of becoming an individual, well, one must wait until this period passes, that is, till you have become a conscious individual. [5]

First one must become a conscious, well-knit, individualised being, who can hear anything, read anything, see anything without changing. He receives from outside only what he wants to receive. [6]

Becoming Conscious

To work for your perfection, the first step is to become conscious of yourself, of the different parts of your being and their respective activities. You must learn to distinguish these different parts one from another, so that you may become clearly aware of the origin of the movements that occur in you, the many impulses, reactions and conflicting wills that drive you to action... In this way, little by little, all the parts, all the elements of our being can be organised into a homogeneous whole around our psychic centre. [7]

Organisation, Harmonisation, Unification

The centre of the human being is psychic which is the dwelling-place of the immanent Divine. Unification means organisation and harmonisation of all parts of the being (mental, vital and physical) around this center, so that all the activities of the being may be the correct expression of the will of the Divine Presence. [8]

The first step is to find, deep within oneself, behind the desires and impulses, a luminous consciousness which is always present and manifests the physical being... One has, then, to come into conscious contact with that and learn to do so at will. The rest will [9]

In conclusion, to become a whole, we first need to become a well-knit individualised being who receives from outside only what he wants to receive, then become conscious of the different parts of the being and their respective activities, finally find within ourselves a luminous consciousness around which we can organise, harmonise and unify.

Finally as Sri Aurobindo cautions us that it cannot be done from the outside, by the mind or the vital; it can only be done from within the soul.

Read more about Unifying One's Being from the works of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo.