Date: March 8, 2025
Venue: Matriniketan
As part of the residential programme organized by Uditam: Institute for Integral Healing, Sri Aurobindo Society, Dr. Beloo Mehra, Director, BhāratShakti, was invited to facilitate a group discussion session on Saturday, January 11, 2025. For her session, Dr. Mehra focused on the topic – Psychic Education: Practical Guidance from the Mother
After brief introductions all around, Dr. Mehra began with reciting a poem titled ‘Self’ by Sri Aurobindo. Through an explanation of the poem, she brought in the idea that hitherto, the spiritual quest has been limited to seeking of and merging with the Atman or Self, and abiding in that Divine Presence within. But in Integral Yoga, Sri Aurobindo and the Mother speak of a projection of this Self, the soul-in-evolution, the psychic entity which is present in all existence and in each of us. She added that one can also understand this psychic entity as one’s innermost truth, one’s true soul-personality and one’s true inner guide.
Dr. Mehra highlighted why in the context of Integral Yoga, it is important to develop some understanding of what is this psychic entity, which evolves into Psychic Being, and how it is different from the Self or Atman of the conventional Indian spiritual thought. She added that it is through the growth of the psychic within that we experience true inner progress and gradual transformation of our outer nature. Some of this discussion was kept interactive, so that participants could grasp the concept easily. Interesting questions about what is spiritual quest, and how is it different from faith or belief were also briefly explored.
The second half of the session was dedicated to participants’ reflections on some practical guidance given by the Mother on what she speaks of as ‘The Great Discovery’ of the psychic presence within. Each participant took out a chit from a bag on which specific guidelines given the by Mother were printed. They were asked to read it and share what they understand by this in an experiential way, and how they aspire to live by that guidance. This sharing was helpful for all the participants as they could sense how challenging a sincere practice can be and how we have to be constantly vigilant on the path.