Understanding the Stages of Coping and Mastery in Response to External Events

At some point in life, the individual becomes aware that the former methods of reacting to circumstances and events are not only counter-productive, but actually harmful to their own health and well-being and the successful resolution of the situation. Struggling and striving, fighting and reacting, instinctive behaviour and apathy and inertia, all past responses, wind up leaving the situation unresolved, the individual exhausted or worn out or in a state of despair or depression.

At that point, the individual begins to mature his understanding and utilize his mental capacity to try to reason through the response, develop a plan of action and calmly implement that plan. This starts with the passive response of ‘coping’ as he is no longer struggling with the situation, and has come to a state of readiness to address whatever the cause and circumstance may be, and then as the insight and power expand, it can shift to a status of ‘mastery’ where he can have an influence on the circumstances and turn them in a positive direction.

True mastery, however, cannot be acquired by use of the mental consciousness, as that is too limited, too narrow in its view and too weak to actually solve anything comprehensively. It takes the deeper knowledge carried by the psychic consciousness, the soul-entity, to truly and fully appreciate the depth, complexity and interactions that make up the current status and to then know the way forward from there with the confidence and certainty of the soul’s guidance in harmony with the spiritual force that is the driving force behind the manifestation.

Dr. Dalal observes: “It is with the growth of the mental consciousness that one progressively learns to cope with the various internal and external stresses which every individual experiences in life. The stage of Coping, which is ushered in by the use of the power of reason and the exercise of mental will in the governance of life, is characterised by a certain sense of direction, inner ease, security and confidence.”

“Mastery, as conceived by Menninger, represents a further stage of psychological development when an individual no longer feels preyed upon by internal and external stresses, and meets the challenges of life with a clear sense of purpose, and with poise and serenity. From the viewpoint of yoga psychology, such a state of mastery pertains to a deeper consciousness than that of the outer being described previously. The deeper consciousness is that of the inner being, the Person within who is concealed by the outer being and whom we discover progressively with inner growth. Behind the physical, the vital and the mental parts of the outer being there is an inner or true physical, an inner or true vital and an inner or true mental which constitute our inner or true being. And behind both the outer and inner being is the innermost being, called by Sri Aurobindo the psychic, the individual soul, supporting the mental, vital, physical and psychic evolution of the being. Mastery, from the viewpoint of yoga psychology, begins when an individual, no longer completely identified with the physical, vital and mental personality of the outer being, learns to live progressively in the deeper consciousness of the Person within. The attitudes of the inner consciousness from which such an individual looks at and reacts to everything in life are the subject-matter of this book. Cultivating these inner attitudes … is an effective means for growing into that deeper consciousness of freedom and mastery.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Looking from Within, Introduction by Dr. Dalal, pp. xi-xii