Growing Within

Part III: The Dynamics of Growth and Transformation

This part explores the experiences, challenges, and core mechanisms of inner development, culminating in the decisive reversal of consciousness that marks true spiritual birth.

Section A: Difficulties and Pitfalls on the Path

1. The Inevitability of Struggle

   • Difficulties are an inescapable part of the spiritual path, arising from the resistance of the habitual, unconscious nature to change.
   • This resistance is rooted in the ego, the vital's desires and passions, the mind's fixed ideas, and the inertia of the physical consciousness.

2. The Nature of Inner Conflict

   • The core struggle is between the emerging true being (the soul or psychic) and the established outer personality. This manifests as an internal division, with the being oscillating between higher aspirations and lower, habitual movements.
   • This inner discord is not a sign of failure but a normal phase of the process, which is resolved as the true being gains command.

3. The Significance of Difficulties

   • The specific nature of one's primary difficulties often indicates the corresponding victory to be achieved. Each defect contains the seed of its opposite quality, and overcoming it is a key part of one's unique mission.
   • Life presents each individual with the precise "shadow" elements they must conquer to realize their "light."

4. Alternating States and the Intermediate Zone

   • Progress is rarely linear. It is characterized by alternations of "day and night"—periods of light, experience, and progress followed by periods of darkness, dryness, and apparent stagnation. These fallow periods are necessary for assimilation and for bringing up new parts of the nature to be transformed.
   • A significant danger is the "Intermediate Zone," a confused state between the ordinary and the true spiritual consciousness, where experiences can be mixed with falsehood and hijacked by egoism, ambition, and lower forces. A strong psychic foundation and sincere purity are the safeguards against its perils.

Section B: The Nature of Inner Experiences

1. Types of Experience

   • Yogic phenomena include both "experiences" (flashes, visions, momentary states) and "realisations" (the stable establishment of fundamental truths in the consciousness).
   • Small experiences are crucial building blocks for larger realisations and should not be dismissed. The true value lies in the change of consciousness they effect, not in the phenomena themselves.

2. The Role of Experience in Transformation

   • Experiences alone do not change the nature. Transformation requires a dynamic descent of higher consciousness, the emergence of the psychic being to the forefront, or the awakening of an inner will that can enforce change upon the outer parts.
   • It is essential to approach experiences with detachment, not becoming attached to them, and with a purity of consciousness that prevents the ego from distorting their meaning.

Section C: The Psychic Being: The Agent of Inner Growth

1. The Nature of the Psychic Being

   • The Psychic Being is the evolving soul, the divine spark within that persists through rebirth. It is distinct from the outer mind, vital, and body, which are its temporary instruments in each life.
   • It is the true individual self, an ever-pure flame that turns towards truth, beauty, and goodness, and gathers the essence of all life experiences to fuel its growth out of ignorance into divine consciousness.

2. The Process of Psychic Growth

   • The psychic being develops through life experiences across innumerable incarnations. The conscious process of growth begins when one turns inward to find and connect with this hidden soul.
   • Cultivating sincerity, aspiration, inner calm, and following the psychic's subtle guidance strengthens this connection and allows the psychic personality to grow and eventually take command of the entire being.

Section D: The Reversal of Consciousness: The New Birth

1. The Decisive Transformation

   • The culmination of the preparatory stages of Yoga is a "reversal of consciousness." This is not a gradual improvement but a radical, definitive, and often sudden shift in the very foundation of one's being.
   • It is a turning from a consciousness directed outward to one that is based within and oriented upward. The external world, once perceived as the sole reality, becomes secondary to the inner spiritual reality.

2. The Nature of the New State

   • This reversal is likened to turning a sphere inside out or a chick breaking out of its shell. It is a new birth into a higher dimension of consciousness.
   • In this new state, one no longer seeks, but sees; one no longer gropes, but knows. The perception of life and the universe is fundamentally altered, seen not as a mechanical process but as a living movement of the Divine.

3. The Irreversible Shift

   • Once this reversal has occurred in any part of the being, it is permanent. One becomes a new person. While difficulties may still arise in the untransformed parts, the central consciousness can no longer fall back into its old status. This definitive shift marks the true beginning of the spiritual life.