I have Multiple Questions About the Psychic Being …

Q from a seeker:
I have many questions about the psychic being …
Does the psychic have a personalistic quality? From reading Aurobindo it seems that the true inner mental and inner vital are purified forms of the outer versions of these.
Does the psychic being influence our mind?
Does an aspect of mind continue into next birth with the psychic?
What propels what to undergo on the spiritual journey?

ALOK DA:
The psychic being is that part in us that is turned towards the Divine. Aware of its immortality, it knows itself as a portion of the Divine Consciousness and hence naturally turns towards the Divine Light, Truth, vastness, Peace, bliss, Love of the Divine. It is in a natural affinity with these higher states.

However, it has entered the earthly play of Time and space so as to lift nature out of the state of darkness and inconscience in which creation has plunged. To do this it identifies itself with the lower nature that operates in division, and takes upon itself all its shades and colourings. It forgets itself, so to say and becomes whatever nature wants it to be. It is dragged by the forces of nature in a hundred directions since thus alone can it eventually accomplish its task.

Then going through life and death and rebirth and countless experiences and situations offered to the psychic being in the course of its journey through many lives, it grows from a spark to a flame and a fire that starts feeling a pull towards the yet unseen Sun of Divine Existence. As it feels a pull upwards, our nature, too tied to it, feels this upsurge that manifests in various ways such as being drawn towards things that have a touch of divinity. Those parts in us that feel the pressure and influence of the psychic being, that have developed to an extent, start feeling attracted towards divine things. The mind, filled with information and satisfied with superficial knowings, begins to experience a Godward seeking, at first expressing indirectly in the form of being drawn towards ‘spiritual books and spiritual Masters’.

This changes into a conscious seeking, a conscious aspiration that may take various forms such as the urge to serve the Divine, to be one with HIM etc. Along with this a true faith (as distinct from belief into a religion of our birth), devotion or bhakti, the spirit of surrender and sacrifice to the Divine begins to grow and take hold of our consciousness more and more. Experiences of another dimension, be it the feeling of inner Peace or Light or the awakening of faculties of inspiration, intuition, revelation etc. begin to dawn upon us, thereby preparing our nature, operating still under division, to start operating on the basis of oneness. The grip of the ego loosens and we begin to feel a natural pull inwards towards the seat of the psychic being and the Divine Presence within. With this pull, meditation becomes more and more spontaneous. Guidance begins to come from within us, and peace and felicity become a daily visitant and then a permanent guest. Our nature begins to share the refinement of the psychic being, and the cruder elements of our nature start dropping off spontaneously. Sensitivity towards divine things grows within and along with the divine qualities such as compassion, sincerity, gratitude occupy our house of mud and clay.

Thus slowly a psychic personality is formed with the true mental, true vital and the true physical around it. The true mental etc. are those parts of nature that have been rescued from the law of ignorance and have become an instrument and channel for the soul forces to pour upon the world. When the psychic personality reaches its full development, then it is free while under the conditions of the ignorance. It can choose then to merge into the Infinite, or come back as a Jivanmukta to help others, or else and along with it to participate in a new possibility of growth towards the supramental being. It can also fuse with one of the beings of the higher worlds and thereby become a demi-god.

All this takes time, but an opening to the Grace, a loving surrender, an utter abandon and self-giving to the Grace greatly facilitates the journey and shortens the path. One can further hasten it by treating the recalcitrant elements of nature that refuse to change by convincing them by the higher mind, by putting the soul pressure from within, by stepping back and refusing to give consent to its old ways, by applying steadily the pressure of will. But whatever the effort we apply it is always best to rely upon the Divine Grace and keep offering our efforts to the Grace that is here with all to help our home-coming. The Grace is with all but its most natural door through which IT operates directly without any hindrance is the psychic. Without the psychic opening one can hardly recognise the Grace or turn towards the spiritual path in real earnest.

Hope this touches upon some of the issues in your letter.
Alok Pandey