Vol. VII, Issue 6
Author: Beloo Mehra
Spiritual quest is a dynamic, progressive, endless, multifaceted, multi-dimensional, integral seeking and doesn’t exclude life and living in any of their dimensions. The very sense of liberation one feels and experiences when reading or contemplating on the words of Sri Aurobindo or the Mother is because the meaning of “spirituality” that comes through is beyond any mentally constructed, ideological boundaries.
Spiritual in this sense is not separated from non-spiritual because there is no non-spiritual. Matter is also Spirit concealed in another form; and to seek, feel and experience the Spirit trying to reveal itself from within Matter, Life, and Mind is what we may understand as spiritual seeking.
All is Divine, rather a manifestation of the Divine – veiled though She may be, as She is in Her play as the Mahashakti of the triple world of Ignorance. But all is potentially Divine. All lives and moves in the Divine; the individual, universal and eternal aspects of Existence represent the triune manifestation of the all-pervading Consciousness that IS. In such a vision there is nothing that is not spiritual. All Life is indeed Sacred.
In our ordinary existence we are ignorant or unaware of our true nature, we are ignorant of the truth that in our innermost essence we all are portions of the Divine seeking a union with the Divine regardless of where we are born, where we live and the cultural heritage we inherit. In the ignorance that we live in we forget that we all have the spark of Divine within us, which is trying to reveal itself in and through all our life experiences.
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“To make Yoga the ideal of human life India rises today”
An intense inward journey or sadhana is the effort we must put in to begin the process of removing of some of these veils of ignorance. Such an inner turning alone can one day make possible the emergence and growth of the psychic entity. In this psychic part within us can sustain and grow a central aspiration toward the Divine.
Psychic being in Sri Aurobindo’s Integral Yoga is not the same as what Indian tradition speaks of as ātman and is defined as the evolving soul of the individual, the divine portion within each individual which evolves from life to life, growing by its experiences until it becomes a fully conscious being. From its place behind the heart-center, the psychic being supports the mind, life and body, aiding their growth and development.
The term “soul” is often used as a synonym for “psychic being”, but strictly speaking there is a distinction: the soul is the psychic essence, the psychic being is the soul-personality put forward and developed by the psychic essence to represent it in the evolution. Because we all are multiple selves within us, all our physical, vital-emotional and mental preparation and cultivation help us grow into our knowledge of the self and is a preparation toward the cultivation and flowering of the psychic and of the spirit.
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Aspiration and the Psychic Being
Even though most of our formal educational experiences are focused around mind, because of our innate psychic and spiritual aspiration we are not content, we aspire for something beyond our minds, for something beyond the visible. Why are we not satisfied with the status quo, why are we progressively reaching out and digging within to the wider, deeper and higher dimensions and domains of the individual, the social, the universal and the eternal?
It is simply because aspiring toward the highest in us – call it Divine or by any other name – is the one aim of life that distinguishes us, the humans, from all other forms of life in the creation. And in that sense, spirituality lives in all of us, regardless of whether we are conscious of it or not; and around all of us, regardless of the outer physical context or our awareness of it.
A Special Issue – Living the Teaching
On this International Day of Yoga 2026, we bring out a special issue, a small but one that takes up a very important theme – Living the Teaching.
Sri Aurobindo and the Mother have constantly reminded us of the one change needful — change of consciousness. Sincerity marks the beginning of all aspiration for a change of consciousness — sincerity in intention, in our effort and in our offering of the effort to the Divine. As the Mother once said, sincerity is the need of the hour. As our Guiding Light feature, we present a small compilation of words from Sri Aurobindo and the Mother on Sincerity.
The 2-part reflective piece titled ‘Musings on Remember and Offer‘ highlights an important practice on the path of Integral Yoga. Guided by Sri Aurobindo’s words – “In the right view both of life and of Yoga all life is either consciously or subconsciously a Yoga”, these reflections highlight that while Integral Yoga, following the tradition of Vedic Yoga is life-affirming, the need for remembering to step back from the countless pulls of life cannot be over-emphasised.
The Many Shades of Sacrifice is a 2-part reflection which deepens our understanding of sacrifice and self-giving in the light of the teachings of Integral Yoga. The second part points out that complete giving up of our lower nature is the most essential sacrifice we must make in order to go closer to the Divine.
We hope our readers will enjoy going through these offerings in this issue. As always, we offer this work at the lotus feet of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother.
In gratitude,
Beloo Mehra (for Renaissance Editorial Team)
~ Design: Beloo Mehra and Biswajita Mohapatra
