Page 18 - NAMAH-Jan-2018

Namah Vol. 26, Issue 4, 15th January 2019

know this truth and set it in movement. It “The psychic being is the soul evolving in the
is therefore of capital importance to become course of birth and rebirth...(5)”
conscious of its presence in us, to concentrate
on this presence until it becomes a living fact This evolving godhead within is the key to the
for us and we can identify ourselves with it Swadharma programme. Our attempt is to help
(2).” young seekers to orient themselves towards
their inner discovery and thus essentially the
The word psychology is derived from the Swadharma programme is psychic education.
Greek root psychē (ψυχή), soul. However,
in the modern academic discipline called “With psychic education we come to the problem
Psychology, as it has developed in the West, of the true motive of existence, the purpose of
the existence and the nature of the soul life on earth, the discovery to which this life
and its developmental stages are yet to be must lead and the result of that discovery: the
clearly recognised and studied. But, integral consecration of the individual to his eternal
psychology developed by Sri Aurobindo principle (6).”
and the Mother based on yogic research
gives central importance to the psychic, Hence the sub-text of the Swadharma programme
the psychological centre of our being. It — “The Soul of Action” and “Find Your True
is not the intention or scope of this artide to Calling”
explore questions regarding the existence or
non-existence of the soul as in academic or Modern education system
religious debates. What is important for us is
the possibility of an experiential exploration The present mainstream education system is
which makes it possible for an individual to largely a by-product of the Industrial Revolution
come in touch with the centre of their being. and its penchant for mass production. We
We shall call this inmost centre as the soul or have inherited its mass production mindset
the psychic being. Integral psychology defines and think in terms of batch-production of
these two terms with greater precision: ‘educated’ masses who are meant to fit into
the socio-economic system. The human
“There is the divine spark from the beginning, being is treated as a biochemical machine
the soul, in all things, but it takes a long time and competing in a free-market economy. Science
a long evolution for it to arrive at a conscious is increasingly looking upon human beings
expression and form of manifested being — as complex biochemical systems that can be
what we call the psychic being (3).” engineered and programmed. The uniqueness
of each individual arising from the truth and
“At first, the soul is something essential behind rhythm of their inmost being has no place in
the veil, not developed in front. In front there is such an education system.
only the body, life, mind. In the evolution the
soul consciousness develops more and more in As a result of such worldviews and batch-
the created being until it is so developed that production mindset in the process of education,
it can come entirely in front and govern mind, the learners get disconnected from their inmost
life and body (4).” being. This makes their self-expression only a

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