Readings in Powers Within: by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother Compiled by Dr. A.S. Dalal

We tend to overlook, or underestimate, the powers inherent in our human existence, the powers of the body, the powers of the vital nature, the powers of the mind, the powers of the psychic being, and the power of the spirit. Some of these powers are manifest but not fully understood, explored or developed. Others remain latent within our being. Still others we can see active in other forms and beings in Nature. From time to time, some of these other powers can be activated within the human being as well.



With an evolution of consciousness, we see the successive development and expression of new powers coming to the forefront. We can see this as a long process of maturation of the existence we experience on this planet. The vital powers change and activate the dense material forms. The mental power rearranges life and matter. This evolution is not completed, and we see signs of the emergence of yet higher, more powerful ranges of consciousness as humanity matures and develops.



The powers that develop are part of a natural progression and can come about quite naturally. At the same time, the normal slow evolutionary process of Nature can be speeded up by a focused discipline by a dedicated individual. Just as we see that skills can be developed and honed in the external life through dedication, focus and practice, inner development of the inherent powers can be developed through similar application of concentration, with an increasing insight as to the right use of those powers.



In the Taittiriya Upanishad, the seeker is asked to practice tapasya, the concentration of conscious force, as the means toward ultimate realisation of the source, nature and meaning of existence. In the end, it is tapasya that lies behind the expression of all powers in life. That tapasya is not an individual force alone, but the energy that creates, maintains and develops the entire universal creation.



We frequently limit our powers by the voluntary restriction of our being inherent in our material existence and our involvement with the individual ego-personality within which we live and act in this lifetime. When we remove these artificial boundaries, we find that we are One with the universal Being, and that the powers of that Being can manifest anywhere, through any individual, based on the intention and guidance of the universal sole Existence.



Sri Aurobindo and the Mother in Powers Within, compiled by Dr. A.S. Dalal, have taken us on a systematic review of the various parts of our being, and the powers that reside there, and have helped thereby to open up new possibilities to widen, and enliven our existence, and prepare us for the next phase of our evolutionary development.