Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine, The Triple Transformation - Track 306

Education to aid psychic change

To have in your surroundings a great deal of truth, beauty and goodness is very important for the education of the children. If in the surroundings of the children you have truth, beauty and goodness spread out, then the child's soul will automatically be pulled out and the screen of the child will become less thick, more transparent and the child will be able to radiate the happiness of the soul. That is why the environment of the child is very important, the kinds of stories that are told to the children are very important, the behaviour of the people around is very important. The more this is done the greater is the outflow of the soul.

But even when this outflow begins to take place, in the first place a formation of the soul begins to peep out of the screen. This formation is what is called the psychic personality, and this formation looks first of all like a very small little thing in a big ocean of body, life and mind. Therefore katha upanishad calls it not bigger than a thumb, angushtha matram. This personality is so small in the beginning that it looks like a small little cork floating on the ocean thrust by waves of the body, life and mind. This formation gradually becomes stronger. Then this, what is the size of a thumb, becomes bigger and a bigger psychic personality is formed. What is the method by which this personality can become much more developed? The first method is the consent of the body, life and mind to allow this element to be their ruler because he is the real king and they are only the ministers. The ministers have to give consent and they have to allow the real king to come forward and take charge. But this is a very difficult task because body, life and mind are tuned to their own rule and they do not normally accept to consent; it is like an abdication actually, and abdication is very difficult. But if that happens, it will be a tremendous out-flowering, immediately the soul can become strongly powerful and a great psychic personality can develop very quickly, rapidly. Therefore in education also, if the child is developed in such a way that the body, life and mind are tuned more and more repeatedly to the rule of the soul then you get new types of children altogether. As Sri Aurobindo called "the suneyed children", so luminous because their personality will flower very quickly and the inner conquest will be very great; the real ruler comes to rule and governs everything and everything is put in harmony. A beautiful harmonious personality begins to grow, and this is quite possible if you know the science of it. But when the science is not known and when the things are allowed to develop pell-mell, then what happens is that this little formation, a small psychic personality not bigger than the thumb is invaded by these three ministers in different proportions depending upon which one of them is more powerful among them. Viziers or Sultan, have a rivalry among them and try to usurp even this fragrant presence of the soul and then take advantage and profit from the presence of the soul. They exploit even whatever knowledge, whatever fragrance they get from the soul. They might grant some kind of obedience to the soul but then only to be able to profit from its presence. If a luminous idea has come from the soul, the mind says, it is my own idea and it does not admit that the idea has come from the soul. Or if the vital is very powerful, it makes an exclusive possession of that idea and forces it upon everybody as if it is its own kingdom in which mind is not allowed any kind of play. There is a great tug of war which takes place. It is for this reason that a very sound education is to be proposed, because if that is done consciously then many of these problems can be resolved much more easily. It is only a question of awareness.

Now between this formation and the soul which is behind, of which it is a formation, there is still the screen. Therefore whatever comes from the soul only with a very great difficulty infiltrates into the personality. The wires of communication are cut, obstructed, disturbed. Even the right impulse, when it comes out here, becomes twisted by the vital, by the physical, by the mental. The strength and luminosity of what comes from the soul is polluted over here.

... therefore the need of purification. If the body, life and mind are more and more purified, then these obstructions will be much less obstructive, communication will be much more clear and this implies a process of yoga.