When we happen to identify ourselves with certain parts of the being, such as those parts that are conscious, or which are aware of the divine Presence, we generally fail to recognise that this is not the entirety of our being, nor that other parts of the being, with different types of needs, desires, demands and predilections, may act in opposition to, or at least, without active support for, the spiritual consciousness. It is thus that we may have spiritual experiences and realisations, and yet have vital movements, physical conditions or mental directions that fail to live up to the implications of those deeper or higher statuses we may from time to time experience. 

The Mother’s viewpoint on this is to work toward systematically unifying the entire being around the psychic aspiration and thereby create a unity of purpose and action that permeates the entire being in all of its aspects.

The Mother writes: ”Now, there are people who have very decisive experiences in one part of their being, but these are not necessarily translated, or at least not immediately, in the other parts of their being. It is possible that through sadhana or concentration or through Grace, somebody has attained the consciousness of a world-personality, but that he still continues to act physically in quite an ordinary, nondescript way, because he has not taken care to unify his whole being, and though one part of his being is universally conscious, as soon as he begins to eat, to sleep, walk, act, he does this like all human animals. That may happen. So, it is again a purely personal question, it depends on each one, on his stage of development.”

“But if it is someone who has taken care to unify his being, to identify all its parts with the central truth, then naturally he will act with a total absence of egoism, with an understanding of others, an understanding which comes to him from his identification with others — and so he will act like a sage. But that depends on the care he has taken to unify his whole being around the central consciousness.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Our Many Selves: Practical Yogic Psychology, Chapter 6, Some Answers and Explanations, pp. 177-178

Author's Bio: 

Santosh has been studying Sri Aurobindo's writings since 1971 and has a daily blog at http://sriaurobindostudies.wordpress.com and podcast at https://anchor.fm/santosh-krinsky He is author of 19 books and is editor-in-chief at Lotus Press. He is president of Institute for Wholistic Education, a non-profit focused on integrating spirituality into daily life.