On the psychic being
Q: What is the difference between the psychic being and the spiritual being?
The spiritual being is God himself. The psychic being is the inner being behind the body, life and mind in man – it is what is called the Soul in European philosophy.
Q: Is the psychic being the same as the Jiva?
No, the Jiva, the individual being is behind the psychic. The psychic being rather represents the Jiva. It is this psychic nature in man, which readily responds to higher truth.
Q: We distinguish between a lower nature and a higher nature. Is this higher nature the same thing as the psychic nature?
No. The higher nature is the nature of the Sachchidananda. There are the lower planes of consciousness – physical, vital, mental – and there are the higher planes. The psychic comes in between them. It is through the psychic consciousness that we rise to the higher planes.
– Sri Aurobindo
