Methods by which Strength Gathers in the Personality
Personality exists at 5 levels, viz.
Physical - Body
Vital - Nerves
Mental - Mind
Spiritual - Soul
Being - Person & Personality
- A man's ultimate accomplishment depends on how much strength he has in his being.
- At each of these five levels there exists two layers of one) consciousness and two) substance. Accomplishment at the level of consciousness will be great and cover the whole field but will be confined to the original area of your life. Substance lies deeper. Accomplishment or strength at this level will help a person rise higher and higher as substance provides the foundation.
For example, if a trader accomplishes in his consciousness, he will continue to expand his sales till he becomes the number one in his trade in his town. Consciousness has the power to take you to the limits of your trade and to the borders of your town. There it stops. Beyond this consciousness does not have power.
Substance has greater power. When one who has strength in his substance becomes the number one trader (e.g. textile shop) in his town, he has the capacity to move up either to a bigger town or to becoming a wholesaler.
How is consciousness different from substance? Simply consciousness is on the surface, substance lies deeper. In the mental plane mind belongs to the consciousness; brain, the physical part, represents the substance. In the emotional plane, consciousness lies in the vital, substance resides in the nerves.
Consciousness Substance
mental plane - mind brain
vital plane - emotions nerves
physical plane - physical consciousness body
(To acquire strength in the whole being is to first acquire it in each of these parts.)
The personality - Soul (psychic) The central being (Jivatman)
How to start, what to do, where to begin?
Physical:
- Hard, non-stop work beyond 12 hours, preferably 16 hours, willingly done at home, in the college and elsewhere. If extended to 18 or 20 hours it becomes desirable. Willingness releases energy and makes it possible to exert for long hours.
- The element of willingness makes it consecrated work and gives the required energy.
- This work if organised to be regular, systematic, punctual, orderly, methodical brings in strength of physical consciousness.
- Bending the back, exerting the muscles, doing it after remembering Mother, not seeking to do things out of habit, takes the strength from the consciousness to the physical substance.
- Indication that we are on the right lines is physical energy is always overflowing, and the body exults in JOY.
Vital:
- Readiness to give up likes and dislikes in preference to work is the first condition. Here you will see Mother's Energy pouring in.
- The more you come forward to reverse your dislikes and do the very opposite, the greater will be the result.
- Here too organisation assumes the same significance as in the physical.
- Doing the opposite of your dislikes, your family's tradition and human preference sends the strength of consciousness to the substance in the nerves.
- Right indication is increasing pleasant human relationships, particularly rivals and enemies turning friends.
- Key here is to list out ALL traits like lack of manners, temper, anger, sharp speech, etc. and endeavour to wipe them out.
Mental:
- Willingness to exert the mind to understand more of the work we are doing.
- Organisation assumes the greatest of importance.
- Knowing the other man's point of view is the pillar here.
- Right indication is sudden clarity that makes you understand what you have not understood so far.
- A crown here is original plans, strategies, ideas, etc.
Spiritual:
Spiritual consciousness is all-pervasive. Its seat is the soul, self or Spirit inside. The substance is in the seat. Truth, Consciousness, Force, Will, Bliss, Delight, Knowledge, Beauty, Love, Joy, Power, Infinity, Eternity, Immortality, Light are its aspects. Silence and Peace are its central aspects. When a work is done or we read, speak, think, if Silence or Peace descends we are doing it spiritually. So also for other aspects. In speaking if we become more and more truthful, by being frank and factual we grow into spirit.
Work, what it leads to, and the human faculties that help are tabulated below as a skeleton sample:
Work |
Spiritual aspect | Human faculty that may help | |
1 | Reading | Truth | Frankness |
Speaking | Knowledge | Being informed | |
Bargaining | Will | Clarity | |
Mental work | Light | Decisiveness | |
2 | Observation | Consciousness | alertness |
travel | Power | curiosity | |
attending | Delight | pleasantness | |
interpersonal relation | other man's point of view | ||
Human relationship | discipline | ||
Living together in a family | sense of duty | ||
office work | orderliness, cooperation | ||
3 | (Good) Will | Beauty | desire to please |
Love | self-giving | ||
Joy |
Personality:
The whole being carries OUR CONSCIOUSNESS. Its substance lies in our body, nerves and brain. Calm, quiet, stillness, absence of restlessness, passivity, motionlessness, patience, equality are the attributes of BEING. In work if we endeavour to be calm or patient etc., strength in the consciousness of being collects. When it goes down deeper still, we feel like a rock. Then it touches the substance.
All the faculties mentioned under physical, vital, mental, spiritual are summarized here in calm, etc.