The Process Behind Communicating Thoughts from One Person to Another

We utilize speech to communicate with other people. Speech however is a translation into vibrational patterns a specific thought content developed with a particular pattern of electrical impulses. When it is effective, the hearer receives the vibrational energy of the speech he has heard, and converts that speech into corresponding electrical impulses in the brain, triggering understanding of the content of the speech.

So if we break this down to the elements involved here, first the speaker needs to formulate a thought, idea, concept, image in his mind. There are people who cannot speak, but who nevertheless can formulate clear ideas and thought formations. Modern researchers have begun to pick up those brain impulses and they can then convert them into synthesised speech to communicate the thought. That validates the underlying vibrational pattern that is intended to be communicated through the speaking process. The second part is the conversion of these impulses into speech, whether through use of the vocal capabilities of the individual, or as noted above, through synthesized speech created from the electrical impulses of the brain. The more clear and focused the thought-content, the more clearly the speech-process can communicate that thought. In mechanical terms, this is increasing the ratio of signal, in the form of the clear thought being communicated, to noise, in the form of any vague or not clearly defined elements that are being transmitted. The higher the signal to noise ratio, the more precisely, clearly and directly the speech is able to translate and communicate the essence of the thought-form to the hearer. To the extent the speaker is unclear in his own understanding, he will necessarily have more “noise” in his communication than signal, leading to non-understanding and confusion for the listener.

The third element, then, is the receptivity and ability to convert the speech back into electrical vibrational patterns in his brain, thereby capturing the thought-form and imagery that the sender is communicating. The receiver must be able to attend to the communication or he will either miss the sense or garble it. One element of this is to understand the specific language being used to transmit the content. For instance, a physicist may communicate information about quantum mechanics to a lay person. If it is done using the jargon and special language of physics, there will be far less communication than if the language translating the thoughts is modulated to the language and background of the hearer. However, it must be noted that understanding of a particular language is not absolutely necessary in all cases, particularly if the speaker has a very clear signal and can create images that are powerfully formed in his mind. In that instance, the receiving party may not understand the specific words, but may get the sense and understanding of what is being communicated.

The Mother writes: “… the ideal condition — which has already been partially realised by some people — is to transmit the essential idea and even something that is higher than the idea: the state — the state of consciousness, of knowledge, of perception — directly through the vibration. When you think, the mental substance vibrates in a certain way in accordance with the form your consciousness gives to your thought, and it is this vibration which should be perceived by the other mind if it is well attuned.”

“Indeed, words serve only to draw the attention of the other consciousness or the other centre of consciousness, so that it may be attentive to the vibration and receive it; but if it is not attentive and doesn’t have the capacity to receive in comparative silence, you may pour out miles of words without making yourself understood in the least. And there comes a time when the brain, which is very active in emanating certain vibrations, can only receive vibrations which are clear and precise, otherwise it is a kind of vague mixture of something confused, imprecise, which gives the impression of a cloudy, woolly mass and doesn’t evoke any idea. So one speaks, the sound is clearly heard, but it conveys nothing — it is not a question of sound, it is a matter of precision in the vibrations.”

“If you can emanate your thought in a very precise way, if it is something living and conscious emanating from your consciousness and going to meet the other consciousness, if, so to speak, you know what you want to say, then it arrives with the same precision, it awakens the corresponding vibration and with the corresponding vibration comes the corresponding thought or idea or state of consciousness, and you understand each other; but if what is emanated is woolly, imprecise, if you do not know very well what you want to say, if you yourself are trying to understand what you want to say, and if, on the other hand, the attention of the hearer is not alert enough or he is busy and active somewhere else, well then, you may talk to each other for hours, you will not understand each other at all!”

“And in fact this is what happens most often. When you are able to see in the consciousness of others the result of what you have tried to communicate, it always gives you the feeling of… you know what distorting mirrors are? Have you never seen distorting mirrors? Mirrors which make you look taller or fatter, which enlarge one part and reduce another, you are faced with a grotesque caricature of yourself — well, this is exactly what happens: in the other person’s consciousness you have an altogether grotesque caricature of what you have said. And people imagine that they have understood each other because they have heard the sound of words, but they haven’t communicated.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Powers Within, Chapter II Power of Thought, pp. 20-21

The Perpetual Effort Required for Transformation of Life in the World

Ascent and integration. Relentless effort. What many do not appreciate is that any attempt to achieve individual perfection or transformation is limited by the readiness of the world and the rest of humanity in particular, to accept those changes that are needed for this to occur. Thus, progress will necessarily be partial, halting and in some cases, there may appear to be retrogressive steps as forces that oppose the changes raise up their defenses and fight to prevent the next step of progress from taking hold and becoming the standard, from which the further steps of progress could then begin.

There is a range of capacity available within humanity at any point in time and as long as the individual stays more or less within that range, progress can be made. Once an individual reaches the upper boundary, however, and attempts to go beyond, the real resistance can kick in. This is where persevering, relentless focus and effort is required, without accepting failure or discouragement as the final answer. One may attempt to overcome the force of desire, for instance. Various methods have been tried in human history. Yet the individual is not immune to the vibrations that cause desire to arise, and with the least failure of vigilance, these vibrations can take hold and manifest within him. It can be even more difficult if active opposition arises to protect the status quo.

In his epic poem Savitri: a Legend and a Symbol, Sri Aurobindo provides an illuminating segment describing the world redeemer’s efforts: “Hard is the world-redeemer’s heavy task; The world itself becomes his adversary, Those he would save are his antagonists: This world is in love with its own ignorance, Its darkness turns away from the saviour light, It gives the cross in payment for the crown.” [Book VI, Canto 2, pg. 448]

The Mother writes: “It is only by a very persistent effort that one can succeed in overcoming his difficulties; and yet it seems impossible to cut oneself off completely from one’s solidarity with the rest of the world. Therefore a perfect purity, a perfect perfection seems impossible so long as the world has not reached at least a certain degree of perfection. Even the ascetic, the solitary, who goes and sits in a cave or under a tree or in the jungle, cannot completely free himself from solidarity with the rest of the world. The air he breathes is full of all the vibrations of the world, the food he eats, whatever it may be, even if it is reduced to the minimum, contains the vibrations of the world; and so, it is enough for him to exist to be in solidarity with the difficulties of the world.”

“That is why, in fact, the way is so long. Even without having any other consideration than that of what one is absorbing constantly into himself when breathing or eating, all these things one must constantly transform as one goes on absorbing them. It is a continuous alchemy in which one absorbs a particular kind of vibration containing all the possible disorders and must transmute this into something which is ready to receive the light from above. And this work is perpetual, and perpetually renewed. So it is impossible to live in this world, in the world as it is, and become perfect without the world itself making a great progress.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, The Hidden Forces of Life, Ch.8 Life — A Mass of Vibrations, pg. 187

Vital Vibrations and the Response to Them

We are able to perceive and respond to specific frequency ranges. Anything above, or below the frequency ranges to which we are attuned, does not register with us consciously, although there may be some subtle impact and energetic action that takes place, even so. We see that in the case of the opera singer who can shatter glass when she reaches a certain note and pitch, that the glass vibrated only when that frequency was attained and otherwise, remained stable in its constitution of being a vessel of glass. Sympathetic strings on a sitar are made to vibrate each to a particular frequency thus providing the range of sounds. Similarly, when vital vibrations of fear, desire, greed, compassion, aspiration or pity (any vital vibration) is active, it only raises up activity in those individuals who are tuned and ready to receive and respond to them. It is this secret that underlies the philosophical approach of the stoic, who habituates himself to not respond to vital vibrations that otherwise put other individuals into action.

We can see something similar in the physical body when it comes to the force of illness. When a disease is virulent it not only has its physical action, but it projects through humanity a vibration of fear or panic. The ‘fear effect’ that occurs in a plague or pandemic can cause tremendous disruption to the natural vital envelope protecting the body and thus, actually is part of the process of infection.

An observation of an actual event illustrates this principle. A number of people had gathered in Washington, D.C. in 1971 to protest the US involvement in the war in Vietnam. A demonstration occurred outside the HHS headquarters (Health and Human Services). President Nixon arranged to have the peaceful demonstrators surrounded and arrested. When the police showed up, armed, with billy clubs and helmets and shields and with their motorized transport vehicles, and surrounded the demonstrators, a palpable sense of fear surged through the crowd. One or more people, however, seemed to be able to overcome that fear and they began to chant OM. The crowd quickly took up the chant, and instantly, the fear dissolved and the people were at peace with the situation. They were arrested, driven away and locked up, but did not any longer have the panic reaction with which they first reacted.

The Mother observes: “… when we say that great waves of passion pass through people, and that they are not generated in them but pass through them, it is perfectly true. But if there was someone absolutely immune from all possibility of passion, they could pass by for centuries, he wouldn’t even feel them. He could see them, see them passing, as one sees a storm passing in the sky, but he would feel nothing at all. When the vibrations inside oneself answer the vibrations from outside, it means that they are there; otherwise no vibration can enter.”

“There are examples like this. For instance, a crowd is seized by panic. Well, it is always possible that there are one or two persons who resist the panic, who are not touched, are outside it: they can save the situation. This has happened many a time. The reason why a movement, a vibration, a forceful movement is contagious is because the ground for contagion is there.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, The Hidden Forces of Life, Ch.8 Life — A Mass of Vibrations, pp. 185-186

Becoming Conscious of Oneself

A devotee residing at Sri Aurobindo Ashram some years ago tried an experiment which he reported. For a specific time period he determined not to speak. He did not do this in an indiscriminate way, however. He implemented this experiment by avoiding all social speech whatsoever, but agreed to speak as necessary for the work role he had been assigned. He carried a pad of paper and pen with him to let those who addressed him know about the discipline he was undertaking during that time. He reported that he was able to observe the impulse to speech, and that it arose spontaneously without any serious thought process or planning involved, seemingly as a responsive vibration to the vibrations he was receiving.

Additionally, he noted that he was able to remain inwardly concentrated for longer periods and his attention did not get dispersed as easily as when he engaged in everyday random social interactions.

There is a rationale, based in experience, as to why yogis, religious aspirants and spiritual seekers have traditionally resorted to spending periods of time (sometimes extended periods of time) alone or in very small groups in the forest, the mountains or the deserts. While mental and vital vibrations travel all over the world, the intensity and the confused garble of those vibrations in a dense urban environment is considerably higher than in less populated and remote regions, thus, allowing the seeker to focus more easily and observe the thoughts and feelings more clearly. While this is not a panacea for spiritual realisation, it is clear that at times it has been a useful process, particularly early in the development process while the power of inward concentration and observation is still in its infancy.

Sensitive individuals frequently note a sense of discomfort when they are in crowded circumstances specifically because the thoughts and feelings pile in upon them with an immediacy and power that they find hard to manage.

While it is not essential to isolate oneself entirely from social interaction in order to progress spiritually, there is no doubt that for many there can be an advantage, for some period of time, if the isolation is utilized as an opportunity to follow this internalizing process and is not turned into an avoidance of the larger issue of how to maintain the poise in the midst of all the calls of life.

The Mother notes: “To be individualised in a collectivity, one must be absolutely conscious of oneself. And of which self? — the Self which is above all intermixture, that is, what I call the Truth of your being. And as long as you are not conscious of the Truth of your being, you are moved by all kinds of things, without taking any note of it at all. Collective thought, collective suggestions are a formidable influence which act constantly on individual thought. And what is extraordinary is that one does not notice it. One believes that one thinks ‘like that’, but in truth it is the collectivity which thinks ‘like that’. The mass is always inferior to the individual. Take individuals with similar qualities, of similar categories, well, when they are alone these individuals are at least two degrees better than people of the same category in a crowd. There is a mixture of obscurities, a mixture of unconsciousness, and inevitably you slip into this unconsciousness. To escape this there is but one means: to become conscious of oneself, more and more conscious and more and more attentive.”

“Try this little exercise: at the beginning of the day, say: ‘I won’t speak without thinking of what I say.’ You believe, don’t you, that you think all that you say! It is not at all true, you will see that so many times the word you do not want to say is ready to come out, and that you are compelled to make a conscious effort to stop it from coming out.”

“I have known people who were very scrupulous about not telling lies, but all of a sudden, when together in a group, instead of speaking the truth they would spontaneously tell a lie; they did not have the intention of doing so, they did not think of it a minute before doing it, but it came ‘like that’, Why? — because they were in the company of liars; there was an atmosphere of falsehood and they had quite simply caught the malady!”

“It is thus that gradually, slowly, with perseverance, first of all with great care and much attention, one becomes conscious, learns to know oneself and then to become master of oneself.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, The Hidden Forces of Life, Ch.8 Life — A Mass of Vibrations, pp. 183-184

The Infectious Nature of Vibrations in Our Social Environment

Authoritarian states throughout history have understood, intuitively, the power of collective vibration and suggestion. Nazi Germany created a propaganda ministry that had as its goal continuously repeating certain key phrases, to raise up specific emotions and sentiments, and then to enforce them through the implicit bullying impact of their control both of the levers of power, the police power, the ability to spy and the ability to control one’s livelihood, as well as through the ‘street level’ bullying that occurred through aligned individuals and groups who used brute force, if not to obtain outright support for what they wanted to do, at least to suppress any objections out of fear of repercussions.

The experience of Nazi Germany was, however, not unique, and similar tactics have been used to harness the power of a collectivity to either modify or coerce the actions of individuals, since true individuality, true independence from the collectivity and the society and environment is actually something of an illusory concept. In his book 1984, the author George Orwell described a ritual used to inculcate certain responses and reactions into the body of the citizenry through the use of the “two minute hate”. Even mild-mannered, thoughtful and considerate individuals found themselves caught up in the intensity of the moment and would react with rage and hatred on cue.

In today’s world we see people being manipulated in this way through political discourse and social media. Some group of individuals, generally a minority lacking strong political power, is chosen as the object of hatred and they are then demonized, de-humanized and made into objects of scorn and hatred, with a resultant uprising of rage and hate crimes that begin to tear apart the very fabric of society. This tends to break people into camps and opposing interests and anyone who tries to either remain ‘neutral’ or who tries to bring people together in a more reasonable manner is castigated and ostracized. Fearful of losing their friends, their jobs, their involvement in their community, many remain quiet and simply try to weather the storm; while some, more ambitious perhaps than others, choose one side or the other and engage in the battle.

Underlying all of this is the fact that we are not separate islands of consciousness but are receivers of vibrations and transmitters of vibrations and we are thus subject to responding to intense vibratory patterns, or even less intense but more persistent patterns that continually come to us in one form or another. In most instances, we may not even be consciously aware that we are absorbing and responding to certain vibrations. This lack of awareness is also an element used by those actively attempting to manipulate masses of people without anyone identifying the source of the manipulation. Suddenly it arises all around, on many sides, with many different voices and inflections, and we begin to slowly respond to, adopt and then disseminate the vibrations that have infected us. It is the rare individual who can stand against this bombardment and hold to a different set of values and ideas in a society consumed with the need to conform to widely held beliefs and emotions in any societal grouping.

Of course, not all such vibrational pattern developments are ‘negative’. That is why sages and spiritual leaders counsel the benefit of ‘satsang’, the coming together of devotees to share the energy and experience of their spiritual development and thereby strengthen the aspiration, the consecration and the spiritual receptivity of all.

While we may be able to identify these forces relatively easily when they are writ large in extreme ways in the society, we do not generally recognise that in fact, this is the normal process that makes up, on a day in and day out basis, the general way we develop our ideas, opinions, emotions and patterns.

The Mother observes: “You must… understand that you are not separate individualities, that life is a constant exchange of forces, of consciousnesses, of vibrations, of movements of all kinds. It is as in a crowd, you see: when everyone pushes all go forward, and when all recede, everyone recedes. It is the same thing in the inner world, in your consciousness. There are all the time forces and influences acting and reacting upon you, it is like a gas in the atmosphere, and unless you are quite awake, these things enter into you, and it is only when they have gone well in and come out as if they came from you, that you become aware of them. How many times people meet those who are nervous, angry, in a bad mood, and themselves become nervous, angry, moody, just like that, without quite knowing why. Why is it that when you play against certain people you play very well, but when you play against others you cannot play? And those very quiet people, not at all wicked, who suddenly become furious when they are in a furious crowd! And no one knows who has started it: it is something that went past and swept off the consciousness. There are people who can let out vibrations like this and others respond without knowing why. Everything is like that, from the smallest to the biggest things.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, The Hidden Forces of Life, Ch.8 Life — A Mass of Vibrations, pp. 182-183

The Unified Field of All Consciousness and Existence

A powerful technique for inner growth and understanding is to sit quietly and simply observe one’s thoughts and feelings as they arise. Then, trace back any of them to where and how it arose. What triggered it? Where did it come from? Initially it is difficult to successfully carry out this practice as the next thought comes along and we tend to jump to that one; however, with time and patience, one can begin to isolate any specific thought or feeling and track it backwards. Invariably one finds that something from outside triggered it, even if it seems to arise from inside oneself. Some incident, some observation, some suggestion raises a response, a vibration within oneself, that takes that specific form.

We tend to think of ourselves as separate and isolated from everyone and everything else. That is the essence of the ego-perspective. In reality however, the ego-perspective is simply a device for creating a multiple of standpoints and nexus connections to carry out the intention of the manifesting consciousness. The sense of separation is essentially an illusion. The process of the mind enhances this through its use of a power of analysis, the fragmentation into separate parts the unity of experience so that it can act upon specific details. This power of fragmentation is a powerful device, but it must be seen purely as a device and not a definition of the unified field that is the reality of our existence.

The Mother writes: “When the Buddha wanted to make his disciples understand these things, he used to tell them: every time you send out a vibration, a desire for example, the desire for some particular thing, your desire starts circulating from one person to another, from one to another across the universe and will go right round and come back to you. And as it is not only one thing but a world of things, and as you are not the only transmitting centre — all individuals are transmitting centres — it is such a confusion that you lose your bearings in there. But these vibrations move about in a single, absolutely identical field; it is only the complication and interception of the vibrations which give you the impression of something independent or separate.”

“But there’s nothing separate or independent; there is only one Substance, one Force, one Consciousness, one Will, which moves in countless ways of being.”

“And it is so complicated that one is no longer aware of it, but if one steps back and follows the movement, no matter which line of movement, one can see very clearly that the vibrations propagate themselves, one following another, one following another, one following another, and that in fact there is only one unity — unity of Substance, unity of Consciousness, unity of Will. And that is the only reality. Outwardly there is a kind of illusion: the illusion of separation and the illusion of difference.”

[Disciple asks]: Desires and all those things also?

“This is not personal. Not at all personal. And that is very easy to find out; of all things this is the easiest to discern, because ninety times out of a hundred it comes to you from someone else or from a certain circumstance or a set of circumstances, or from a vibration coming from another person or several other people. It is very easy to discern, it is the first thing one can discern: it is a vibration which suddenly awakens something similar in you. You know, something makes an impact on you, and this impact brings up a response, as when you play a note. Well, this vibration of desire comes and strikes you in a certain way and you respond.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, The Hidden Forces of Life, Ch.8 Life — A Mass of Vibrations, pp. 181-182

Vibrational Patterns of Existence and the Advent of Harmony Through Intervention from Higher Planes

When we are fixed in the external consciousness and perceive things with the external senses, we treat material objects as ‘solid’. We do not see that they are actually energy that has been condensed to appear solid to us, while in fact, they are a form of energy. Western scientists, however, for the last 90 to 100 years, at least, have understood that Matter is not ‘real’ and that it is Energy. More recently, scientists are beginning to discover that Energy is actually a form of Consciousness.

What does all this have to do with how we perceive our lives? To the extent that we treat Matter as real and solid, we do not undertake to see behind this apparent solidity to the interplay of vibratory forces that is actually taking place.

We know that certain audible vibrations, such as certain notes expressed by certain opera singers, can shatter glass! We thus know that sound vibrations interact with material objects in a way that can break down the integrity of the object itself. Similarly, lasers, a concentrated form of light energy, can break down material forms and they are now widely used in medicine to break up obstructions or even tumorous material in the body.

Shamanic practitioners, and some who engage in vision quests or utilize entheogenic (psychoactive) substances frequently report seeing the energetic patterns of the material substances, seeing their vibrations, and seeing the interchange of vibrations between beings and substances in their external environment. They can actually ‘see’ the trees breathing and sending out energies, and see lines of force radiating from everything.

Those with psychic sensitivity can frequently see the aura that radiates around others and around material objects and can sense the impact of those energies as they meet, and either work to enhance, or oppose the action of other energies.

There are numerous accounts of yogis or practitioners of the occult sciences being able to perceive, manipulate and change vibrational patterns and thereby effectuate results that elude the understanding of the material mind. Paramahansa Yogananda in his book Autobiography of a Yogi, recounts events of materialization of fruits, scents, vibhuti ash, etc. by those who had gained insight and power of action in certain manipulation of the vibrational forces that lead to the formation of material objects.

All of this is a preliminary basis for understanding the play of vibrations that takes place constantly within and around us, as we interact with other beings, objects and forces that are active in our lives, in many cases without our observing or understanding them. There are not only vibrations of manifestation, but also those that cause dissolution. Each successive stage of consciousness vibrates at a different frequency, so that not only can there be dissonant vibrations occurring within one sphere, but vibrations from other spheres of activity can interact with and modify the other spheres. Thus, the advent of the vital plane into the material existence had serious consequences, some of which were disruptive to the status quo of the material plane. Also, the vital had conflicting drives or forces that interacted with one another, some to enhance, some to oppose the action of the other. When the mental vibrational field activated, it too had serious consequences not only for creating opposing vibrations on the mental plane, but also for the impact these have on the vital and physical planes. Thus, they are all in a state of disharmony and imbalance until set right.

We may recognise something of this process in the creation of a symphony orchestra. Each of the instruments makes different vibrational patterns and sounds, and some play in different ranges of vibration or scales. Without guidance, the sound can be disharmonious and extremely disturbing. The role of the composer, and then the conductor, is to bring harmony to the vibrations expressed by the various instruments, to make music.

A similar process is at work with the sequential expression of higher forms of consciousness, vibrating at increasing levels of coherence. Eventually, the disharmonies and imbalances caused by the action of the physical, vital and mental forces at work, and interacting with one another, have to be brought into a state of balance and harmony, which can occur as the spiritual force intervenes and brings a vision and understanding of the greater harmony and how it is to be created.

The Mother observes: “For my consciousness the whole life upon earth, including the human life and all its mentality, is a mass of vibrations, mostly vibrations of falsehood, ignorance and disorder, in which are more and more at work vibrations of Truth and Harmony coming from the higher regions and pushing their way through the resistance.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, The Hidden Forces of Life, Ch.8 Life — A Mass of Vibrations, pg. 177

The Human Consciousness Cannot Comprehend Fully the Vastness of the Universal Creation

We spend little time or thought on the place we occupy in the universal creation. The larger forces at work, the consciousness that creates, builds, shapes and directs this massive and complex undertaking remain hidden from us. The power we can consciously receive and utilize is a minute amount of the total energy moving around the universe all the time.

It has been estimated that less than ..3% of the sun’s energy output actually reaches the earth, and that of this about 50% is absorbed, the rest reflected back into space. This still represents more than 10,000 times the actual energy usage of the entire world. We cannot even easily imagine the magnitude of the forces at work, not just those radiating from the sun, in terms of our human lives and experience. And this is without factoring in the endless billions of stars, solar systems, galaxies, and universes beyond our own little part of the creation.

How can we be expected, from our human standpoint, to understand the vastness, power, scope, intensity or purpose of this massive flow of energy and the manifestation that flows from this action? How can we be expected, from our human standpoint, to comprehend the significance and meaning even of our own lives within this enormous activity?

It would take a significant shift of standpoint and a widening of our understanding to even come close to an appreciation of why we are here, what we are to do, and how we are to play our role within the entirety of the universal manifestation.

Sri Aurobindo writes in his epic poem Savitri: a Legend and a Symbol “Unseen here act dim huge world-energies And only trickles and currents are our share. Our mind lives far off from the authentic Light Catching at little fragments of the Truth, In a small corner of infinity, Our lives are inlets of an ocean’s force.” [Savitri, Book II, Canto 5]

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, The Hidden Forces of Life, Ch.8 Life — A Mass of Vibrations, pg. 176

The Subtle Energetic Interchange That Accompanies All Interaction in the World

One of the reasons that spiritual seekers have traditionally been advised to seek solitude and not engage in society is that there is a constant, subliminal interchange that takes place between all human beings. We generally do not notice it, but on an energetic, a vibrational level, we are constantly receiving (and sending) vibrations that impact how we respond to situations, what we are feeling, and even what we are thinking about in many cases. There is of course also the overt communication activity that is taking place, but what is not recognised is the subtle exchange of energy that is taking place all the time.

It is not necessary, in fact, to totally abandon life in favor of the spiritual pursuit. It may, of course, be helpful for an individual, for a period of time, to step back from the external life, but this is not a permanent solution. Eventually, the seeker needs to become conscious and thereby be able to recognise and address the subtle vibrations that come forward. This type of practice is the solid underpinning of a spiritual growth within the context of life.

Sri Aurobindo does not accept what he calls the “refusal of the ascetic” as the sole path of realisation. Nor does he accept the “materialist denial” which supports the reality of the external life to the exclusion of the spiritual endeavor; rather he describes an ‘omnipresent reality’ which encompasses the integration of the two poles of a complete life, accepting both spirit and matter as one, unified reality.

The Mother notes: “One lives amidst constant collective suggestions, constantly; for example, I don’t know if you have been present at funerals, or if you have been in a a house where someone has died — naturally you must observe yourself a little, otherwise you won’t notice anything — but if you observe yourself a little, you will see that you had no special reason to feel any sorrow or grief whatever for the passing away of this person; he is a person like many others; this has happened and by a combination of social circumstances you have come to that house. And there, suddenly, without knowing why or how, you feel a strong emotion, a great sorrow, a deep pain, and you ask yourself, ‘Why am I so unhappy?’ It is quite simply the vibrations which have entered you, nothing else.”

“And I tell you it is easy to observe, for it is an experience I had when I was a little child — and at that time I was not yet doing conscious yoga; perhaps I was doing yoga but not consciously — and I observed it very, very clearly. I told myself, ‘Surely it is their sorrow I am feeling, for I have no reason to be specially affected by this person’s death’; and all of a sudden, tears came to my eyes, I felt as though a lump were in my throat and I wanted to cry, as though I were in great sorrow — I was a small child — and immediately I understood, ‘Oh! it is their sorrow which has come inside me.’ “

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, The Hidden Forces of Life, Ch. 3 Hidden Forces Around, pp. 64-65

The Unseen Societal Conditions That Frame Our Response to Events in Our Lives

Each society, each religion, each culture in the world has its own characteristic ideas and responses to the questions that arise during an individual’s life. Many of these are programmed into the individual in childhood, starting with prenatal conditioning based on the energies of the mother. Once the child is born, he is trained to accept the societal norms and modes of reaction to various circumstances, until these become an unspoken assumption that forms the basis of the individual’s life responses and judgments.

The human intellect actually expects to have certain frameworks and predetermined filters for the input it receives. This makes the process of deciding things much faster than if all the data and all the vibrational patterns had to be analyzed each time in order to come to any conclusions. Thus, the system has evolved in such a way that it speeds the ability of the individual to navigate his way through society. It should be noted that due to cultural differences, some of these life-ways that are ‘second nature’ to an individual in his own culture, are foreign to life in other cultures and simply do not translate well across cultural barriers. Language limitations also help create the framework within which the mind functions under normal circumstances. Between cultural and language frameworks, most individuals live their lives truly circumscribed within a specific set of boundaries, and these boundaries are unseen and unrecognised for the most part.

There are, of course, down sides to this filtering and framing process. While it may help to have certain “laws” or “axioms” as a starting point in mathematics or physics, it becomes less valuable in fields of human relations where these can turn into various forms of bias or prejudice, or preconceived notions about people based on their external appearance, dress or the accent they use in their expression of language. The famous story of My Fair Lady revolved around an English professor who could judge the ‘class’ of any individual based on their accent, word usage, slang, etc. He undertook to change the perception of a specific individual through training her to speak in a totally different mode. Obviously preconceived notions, bias and prejudice can create tremendous dislocations and disharmony in any society, breeding a fixed ‘class’ structure that also determines access to and allocation of resources.

From the point of view of yogic practice, one of the first requirements is for the seeker to become aware of this type of predetermined response built into the subconscious basis that rules much of their responses to life. Once aware of these things, the seeker can begin to take steps to overcome these inherent untested and unspoken assumptions and thereby, liberate himself from the bondage of the fixed habits of mind and the past which otherwise hinder his growth and development. One tool to do this is to consciously practice a method known as the “empty box”. In whatever situation the individual finds himself, instead of assuming he knows what do to and how to do it, he can step back and look at it with a fresh viewpoint as if nothing at all were fixed, and the situation is an “empty box” waiting for new creative insight for resolution of next steps to be taken.

The Mother observes: “When a being is born upon earth, he is inevitably born in a certain country and a certain environment. Due to his physical parents he is born in a set of social, cultural, national, sometimes religious circumstances, a set of habits of thinking, of understanding, of feeling, conceiving, all sorts of constructions which are at first mental, then become vital habits and finally material modes of being. To put things more clearly, you are born in a certain society or religion, in a particular country, and this society has a collective conception of its own and this nation has a collective conception of its own, this religion has a collective ‘construction’ of its own which is usually very fixed. You are born into it. Naturally, when you are very young, you are altogether unaware of it, but it acts on your formation — that formation, that slow formation through hours and hours, through days and days, experiences added to experiences, which gradually builds up a consciousness. You are underneath it as beneath a bell-glass. It is a kind of construction which covers and in a way protects you, but in other ways limits you considerably. All this you absorb without even being aware of it and this forms the subconscious basis of your own construction. This subconscious basis will act on you throughout your life, if you do not take care to free yourself from it. And to free yourself from it, you must first of all become aware of it; and the first step is the most difficult, for this formation was so subtle, it was made when you were not yet a conscious being, when you had just fallen altogether dazed from another world into this one (laughing) and it all happened without your participating in the least in it. Therefore, it does not even occur to you that there could be something to know there, and still less something you must get rid of. And it is quite remarkable that when for some reason or other you do become aware of the hold of this collective suggestion, you realise at the same time that a very assiduous and prolonged labour is necessary in order to get rid of it. But the problem does not end there.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, The Hidden Forces of Life, Ch. 3 Hidden Forces Around, pp. 58-59