Our normal human view of things is limited by the restraining effect of our senses, as well as our ability to consciously receive and interpret what we perceive through the senses. We do not generally experience the living, breathing life of plants or trees, for instance. We do not ordinarily see the vibration of the aura as it surrounds our bodies. Occasionally, we can see the vibrations of heat as it rises off a hot surface. We do not either work to extend our perceptions, nor even to extrapolate from what we can and do experience that all existence is made up of vibratory patterns that touch each other, impact each other and blend and mix with each other.
Many things that occur within us, our body reactions, health issues, vital and emotional responses, mental ideas and concepts, would be understood more clearly if we could actually see the vibrations that surround and penetrate us and their interaction to bring about the results that we actually experience.
The Mother observes: “If you could see that kind of dance, the dance of vibrations which is there around you all the time, you would see, would understand well what I mean.”
“For example, in a game, when you play, it is like this (gesture), and then it is like the vibrations of a point, it goes on increasing, increasing and increasing until suddenly, crash!… an accident. And it is a collective atmosphere like that; we come and see it, you are in the midst of a game — basketball or football of any other — we feel it, see it, it produces a kind of smoke around you (those vapours of heat which come at times, something like that), and then it takes on a vibration like that, like that, more and more, more and more, more and more until suddenly the equilibrium is broken: someone breaks his leg, falls down, is hit on the mouth by a ball, etc. And one can foretell beforehand that this is going to happen when it is like that. But nobody is aware of it.”
“Yet, even in less serious cases, each one of you individually has around him something which instead of being this very individual and very calm envelope which protects you from all that you don’t want to receive… I mean, your receptivity becomes deliberate and conscious, otherwise you do not receive; and it is only when you have this conscious extremely calm atmosphere, and as I say, when it comes from within (it is not something that comes from outside), it is only when it’s like this that you can go with impunity into life, that is, among others and in all the circumstances of every minute…”
“Otherwise if there is something bad to be caught, for example, anger, fear, an illness, some uneasiness, you are sure to catch it. As soon as it starts doing this (gesture), it is as though you called all similar vibrations to come and get hold of you.”
“What is to be wondered at is the unconsciousness with which men go through life; they don’t know how to live, there’s not one in a million who know how to live, and they live like that somehow or other, limping along….”
Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, The Hidden Forces of Life, Ch.
3 Hidden Forces Around, pp. 77-78
About the Author
Santosh has been studying Sri Aurobindo's writings since 1971 and has a daily blog at http://sriaurobindostudies.wordpress.com and podcast located at https://anchor.fm/santosh-krinsky
He is author of 20 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.
Video presentations, interviews and podcast episodes are all available on the YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@santoshkrinsky871
More information about Sri Aurobindo can be found at www.aurobindo.net
The US editions and links to e-book editions of Sri Aurobindo’s writings can be found at Lotus Press www.lotuspress.com
Further Reading
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perceiving the action of the soul by the mind is only possible under specific conditions.
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Listening to the Voice of the Soul Rather Than the Voice of the External Mental and Vital Nature
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October 4, 2026