The Nature and Action of the Physical Mind

Individuals who are primarily rooted in the function of the physical mind have a difficulty in accepting the reality of anything that goes outside their ability to sense and perceive. These individuals will frequently deny the existence of the soul because it cannot be seen, measured or recognised by them. They follow the general tenet “seeing is believing”, although in today’s world, that concept is quickly losing any validity, even for the physical mind, with the advent of complex situations, as well as photoshop and AI imaging. Seeing in today’s world is not equivalent to having a true, factual understanding, even of the most external reality.

The physical mind focuses mainly on what is tangible to the senses, and the thoughts that are generated focus on these tangible things. It is narrow in its scope, and has blinders when it comes to deeper realities, occult phenomena and higher realms of development. This mind does not accept any reality of a separate vital world or worlds, or separate mental worlds, much less spiritual realms. Within its sphere it attempts to be accurate and tries to provide a form of stability and basis for the external life.

It also tends to believe that its own view of things is the ‘correct’ view and may dispute the reality expressed by others. Thus, the famous report of five individuals, each reporting on the same traffic accident, from different angles, who disagreed with each other as to what happened and the causative factors. While each of them may have perceived a partial truth, they asserted that their view was the correct one. This is a classic case of the physical mind standing on its perceptions and not recognising and authenticating the view of others.

The physical mind takes on a considerable amount of the daily interaction between the individual and the external world, and thus, carries a substantial weight of the ability of the individual to act and react in the world. It is essential however to recognise its role, its limitations and its impact so that the spiritual aspirant can eventually break out of its bounds and reintegrate its action with enlightenment from a higher perspective.

Sri Aurobindo observes: “The true thinking mind does not belong to the physical, it is a separate power. The physical mind is that part of the mind which is concerned with the physical things only — it depends on the sense-mind, sees only objects, external actions, draws its ideas from the data given by external things, infers from them only and knows no other Truth until it is enlightened from above.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Our Many Selves: Practical Yogic Psychology, Chapter 2, Planes and Parts of the Being, pp. 47-48