Who Am I? (What Am I? What is Life?) - Growth Online Interview

In this extensive six-part interview Roy Posner, President of Growth Online, asks a fundamental question of existence, "Who am I?," and then comes up with some unconventional answers which reveal the vast scope of our human makeup and potential. Created April 2002, and updated June 2004.

One way to begin is to think about how humans compare to other aspects of life. For example, recently there has been a lot of discussion about the similarity between the human being and the computer; well at least the connection between our thinking processes and the "thinking" of the computer. There's also been comparisons made between the mind's vast network of neurons and pathways to the circuitry of the microprocessor and other parts of the computer. There's even comparisons between software and human DNA, which is in essence the body's program of life.

There are also those who compare the person to the world itself, i.e. "mother nature." They refer to the earth, Gaia as a sort of self-conscious being. Then there's the comparison between us and the Creator, that we are made in his image. On one level that seems very silly, even dangerous; on another level, there is a profound wisdom hidden beneath the surface.

There do seem to be definite parallels, if not exact correspondences in substance, between the person and these other entities. So in a round about way such discussions do point to the various aspects of our nature. Perhaps future science and psychology and other fields of inquiry will bring out more of these parallels and correspondences.

Growth Online: Don't these parallels exist -- to a computer, society, the earth itself -- because we actually do have certain very real things in common?

RP: Yes, there is of course at the deeper levels of existence a commonality to everything.

You've probably heard of Carl Sagan's famous quote that we are all made of star stuff. That is, that as the universe evolved from material forms, to animated life, to conscious animals and then to us humans, we still retained some of the original quantum particles that were there when the first galaxies were created.

At Growth Online we often discuss how the universe evolved, how the cosmos came into being.

There we have identified four distinct stages that emerged in creation -- a physical stage, which we know as matter; a vital stage, which we see as life, the animus of animated life forms in the universe, and the mental, which is a degree of self-consciousness among sentient beings. The fourth stage is the spiritual, which is a step beyond all of these, and is the final frontier of human consciousness.

So one after another these stages or principles of existence emerged in the universe after the creation began. Life, that is, the vital aspect, emerged from out of physical matter, and mind emerged from out of life.

(pause) One great mystery is why did life as we know it emerge out of matter? Why did the plant emerge from the stone, or the amoeba and the paramecium appear? We trace it scientifically to some combination and interaction of the elements, such as chemical reaction involving fire, heat, water, and so forth. We explain it through the scientific disciplines of physics, chemistry, biology, and others. While all of this is of course true, it is only a surface truth. There must be some hidden quality or force or mechanism that enables this upward movement from one stage of existence to another; from matter to animus of life to conscious mind. Even scientists are beginning to question the view that mere measurable mechanical forces enabled one stage to emerge out of the other.

In this sense Darwin was right in the measure of the evolution, but he didn't perceive the essential process or even as essential that was enabling one stage to evolve into the next ; from matter to animus of life to mind and beyond.

(pause) Perhaps we can say that in the stone there is the potential for life; even a secret DNA-like code of life that cannot be understood or measured materially. In other words, buried in matter lies the potential of animated life to emerge. Then out of the forms that contain animated life there is a potential for self-consciousness to emerge; for sentience, or, the beginnings of what we perceive as thought, to emerge.

Perhaps we can take it a step further and postulate that in the rock there was some type of essence, or spirit. Perhaps it was even the very same spirit that caused the universe to come about in the first place; that force that compelled a universe to emerge from a Divine source. Well if that is the case, then not only can we say we are physical star stuff, perhaps we can also say that matter, that we, are hidden spiritual stuff!

RP: Yes. And in that hidden spiritual stuff there is a kind of involved spiritual program that compels animated life to evolve out of matter. And in turn, in that animated life, there is the same spirit compelling a further stage, a sentience, a self-consciousness to emerge from it as mind and thought; especially so when just the right vehicle appears, which is us, as well as the slightly self-aware lower animal forms that preceded us.

(pause) So this view changes our perspective of creation, of evolution in the universe, of the makeup of things, of everything; even who we are. Existence is not then just a haphazard surface phenomenon that enabled the animus of life to emerge from matter, and a mental capacity to emerge from this animus. Instead it a conscious working of spirit, of some higher order, that for some reason wanted a physical universe to emerge, wanted animated life to emerge from the physical, and wanted life forms to become conscious of themselves.

If this is the case then we can say that Darwin was on the right track in understanding the outer progression, but did not perceive the inner essences that were enabling the process to move along. It was a profound process that he could not measure through his instruments on the surface.

Growth Online: Why would some higher order, some God or Divine Reality, want to create such a universe, one of such complexity?

RP: The answer is quite simple actually. The whole process, this whole unfolding of matter, the animus of life, the self-consciousness in the thoughts and brains of humans, was created for the purpose of delight of being

Every time we as humans discover some higher purpose and meaning, some new idea, new discovery, new movement, we experience a sense of happiness and joy. That is the delight of discovery in creation that we are experiencing.

In fact I believe that delight is the very reason that the universe was created in the first place; why the universe emerged from a conscious Divine spirit -- for the potential of the experience of delight. As we humans, the crown of creation, experience this joy and delight in discovering something at a higher level than we knew before, such as the discovery of a higher level of achievement or knowledge than we had before, or when we rise to a higher level of awareness and consciousness, we are fulfilling the purpose for which the Divine manifest the universe -- delight of being

In other words, in our delight we fulfill the Divine's purpose, which was to create a universe so that it could experience even greater delight. So in our new discoveries, such as when we achieve at the next highest level, or when we come in closer touch with our true nature, we fulfill the Divine's original purpose for enabling a universe of matter, animus of life, and mind.

And for that eventuality of delight the Divine was able to infuse some sort of program of spirit in matter. That spirit then compelled matter at a point in the history of the universe to extend to a still higher level of consciousness as animated life. Then the same spirit in this animated life compelled it to release an even higher aspect -- mind. yes, there is a compulsion from the environment as Darwin suggested, but there is an inner compulsion to move to the next highest level of consciousness, from the physical to the vital to mind. As a plane get fully organized, it is ready to evolve a next plane. The spirit inbuilt in the plane already knows this. When the object of the plane is organized at the current plane, and is ready to move up, it checks with its internal involved program of spirit, which has the DNA for the all succeeding planes it can evolve to. Isn't that something!

Growth Online: It really is! It reconciles all of the competing theories of evolution; scientific, religious, process oriented, and so forth.

(pause) It would seem that humans are even now undergoing some sort of evolution?

RP: Well, let's consider the movement up the chain from matter to animus of life, and now mind in sentient beings, especially we humans. With the development of mind from the animus of life, we now have a new power, a power of self awareness, and self consciousness, enabling us to perceive who we are. Through the instrument of mind, we have the power to become that which we wish to be, to rise to any plateau in life that we desire to. And perhaps most interestingly, as we make more use of mind or tap into the higher aspects of mind, we have an ever-accelerating capacity to experience the infinite possibilities of life, and the corresponding delight of being that comes through discoveries of the realization of these possibilities.

In the last several decades we are increasingly experiencing the power and wonders of the mental consciousness through our ever-accelerating technology, communications, and the Internet. As we experience this, we experience ever-greater, ever-accelerating delight in existence.

But it doesn't stop there, because we as mental-centered beings, are also developing new functioning and capacities beyond mind. Something in us is emerging, something new and unprecedented is slowly coming into our field of awareness. We are very slowly beginning to discover a higher mental capacity that takes the form of sudden descents of light into out being, our descents of the object of inquiry into our minds without thought, and others. These are powers above the main idea-crating capacity of mind. This is one movement toward spirit. There is also a more conscious movement toward spirit, in which we begin to move within to discover a wider and deeper consciousness, culminating in the discovery of our True Selves and soul in the deepest regions of consciousness within. Man can make the conscious choice to open to higher planes of mind, as well as discover the infinite powers of his inner consciousness. As he rises in this way, he has the wondrous joy of discovery, which enables a profound delight of being, which is in one sense the very essence and reason we are here on earth, fulfilling he Divine purpose.

Growth Online: I'm a little troubled by this. Doesn't your analysis make it seem that we are dangerously close to losing our capacity to choose, too exercise our free will; as if we were a kind of puppet on a string, manipulated by a Divine puppeteer?

RP: Remember it's we who make the choice of whether or not we grow, develop, and evolve as people. It is our choice. We humans are after all more self-conscious beings, capable of setting our lives in directions we choose. We can decide if we want to become more aware; we have the choice of whether we want to improve ourselves and move toward our higher nature.

Yes, there might be some ultimate Divine unfolding in creation; a Force if you will compelling the evolution of life on earth. It is still up to us if we want to move forward. A power secretly may want us to, but it is our choice at every minute.

RP: Then we become a victim of life's other power, the influence of Nature. Nature too is a divine sanctioned power of evolution, except it is slow and pain filled. When you look out at the world, there is conflict and contradiction Yet there is also resolution. This is the movement of Nature in action. It surely indicates progress, but slow and pain-filled progress. As we become more conscious, we replace Nature with our own conscious will, which puts us more in harmony with the spiritual will of the Divine in the cosmos.

Again, through this ever-accelerating power of mind, which empowers us to be self-directed, we can decide to take our lives in the direction we choose. In this way conscious mind can lead the evolution, not Nature. In this way it is positive, happy, rapid evolution.

(pause) Metaphysically we can say that through the finite details of our existence we have the free will to choose; yet that free will takes place within the determinism of the infinite spiritual Divine Reality.

Growth Online: Still I still don't know who I am or what I am at this point. I know that there was a Big Bang, perhaps compelled by some spiritual force; there is the emergence of motion and movement beyond matter, of rock, that enabled the oceans and photosynthesis and plant life and primitive animals and sentient being and us. But what am I? Am I this star stuff; a product of this emergence?

RP: Yes, you are the product of this emergence. You are the product of the emergence of these three principles we have discussed -- the physical, the vital/animus of life, and the mind in the universe. Even society itself is a product of these three principles.

So how does a person's makeup correlate with the cosmos' makeup? To answer this, let's think about what we, as individual human beings, are made up of.

First of all I have a body. That's the form, the physical substance, the matter that I am made up of. So like the universe itself, and its first aspect of matter, I am also matter. It takes the form of a physical body. So there is this physical plane that I am made up of.

But I am more than a physical body. Something inside me is animated, living, breathing, interacting, feeling, wanting, desiring, yearning. This is my vital being, beyond the physical substance and pure physical sensations of the body. This is the plane of me that more or less parallels the emergence of the animus of life that evolved out of matter in the universe. I am a life form expressing this animus of life in the cosmos, on earth.

So I have a physical plane, my body; and I have a vital/emotional plane. But I also consist of a mental part. I am not just a physical form and a bundle of sensations, needs, and desires; I am also a sentient, somewhat self-aware, somewhat self-conscious being. This is the plane of mind, and it parallels the emergence of the principle of Mind, of universal mind, that emerged in the cosmos.

Let's then consider what each of these three planes of our being really do, what purpose they serve in our lives. That will help us better understand who we really are.

First, of course, the physical aspect of our being is the body itself, including its outer skin, inner muscles, skeleton, organs, bodily fluids, and so forth. But there is more to it than that. The physical also consists of our animal instincts, the basic drives of our nature, and our inherited character traits. Also, our physical bodies are there not only for our continued existence, but for our self-preservation and reproduction.

The vital on the other hand consists of our semi-conscious sensations, urges, desires, feelings and emotions; that which we are attracted to, like, desire, and are enthusiastic about. The vital, in essence, provides the energy for human action; otherwise we would be physical, inert beings, or, if not inert, then merely physical beings focused on our preservation and procreation. The vital gives us, or rather expresses the animated, moving energies in our life, the compulsion to move, to interact, interrelate; that gives us an essential animus and passion of living.

Finally, the mental plane of our being consists first as the fact gathering mechanism from which we absorb information from the outside world. Second, it consists of our actual thoughts, ideas, understandings, knowledge, comprehension, and insights. Third, it is the center of our beliefs, ideals and values. It is also in its fourth and highest parts that which enables us to self-conceptualize the world around us, i.e. conceive that which we want to be. And is also at the very top of the mental plane where we are able to engage in pure thought.

So we are made up of all three of these planes. Who we are is all of these aspects across all of these planes of our being.

(pause) Of course we are not simply a being of three distinct planes, each with their own private functioning, like three separate departments or divisions of a company. These three dimensions of our being overlap one another, interact with one another, affect one another, shape one another, much like departments or divisions in a company cooperate, coordinate, and integrate their activities.

Growth Online: If this is one map of who we are, then how come we are not all alike?

RP: Well in our fundamental nature we are all mostly alike. But obviously due to the endless variety of the properties that make up each of these three planes in our being we have the capacity of infinite diversity. Plus there are yet other factors enabling this diversity; the environment around us, the society and social context we live in, the movements and changes going on at the particular time in history we live in, our genetic inheritance, not to mention our very soul's purpose for taking on this body.

(pause) But we do actually see a few general patterns among people; certain typal aspects amongst people, reflecting the three planes we have discussed.

RP: For example, some people are more physical-oriented; that is they are centered more around their physical being. These tend to be pretty limited, one-dimensional people. They are fixated on their own selves. They never learn, They are creatures of habit, oblivious to the truth. They act without thinking. They are living a life of utter ignorance and falsehood that they are completely unconscious of. In other words, they think with their bodies!

There are also vital emotional people, who are centered around their feelings, their energies, or their relationship to the social environment. They are passionate about life, but may live a kind of up and down existence. they are fixated on enjoyment and pleasure and expression of emotion. For example, they will learn when it is enjoyable, not when it is necessary. They will do when they feel like it, not when it is necessary. They can rise to the highest heights based on their emotions, and fall to the depths when the emotions fail them. Their thought patterns actions, et al are based on their feelings of enjoyment.

Then there are mental-centric people who are mainly centered on thinking, on ideas, on their beliefs, sentiments and values; on observing the world around them; on using logic; on conceptualizing new ideas and new possibilities.

So we have these three general types of individuals; or typal categorizations of individuals. Of course, there are all sorts of gradations in between. Each of us is a combination of each, though normally we tend to be focused one of the three. It is one way to identify the individuals you meet in life. That way you kind of get to know what to expect out of that person. For example, a physical-consciousness person will continually show their limited one-dimensional nature. An emotional person will move when he it is pleasurable to him. A mental person will more based on knowledge and ideas. E.g. he or she might tend towards philosopher, a mathematics, or social science.

Obviously, the higher the plane of consciousness the individual is centered on, the more he will succeed in life.

(pause) From another perspective we can say that the more that an individual is at his highest consciousness at all three planes, the more he will succeed in life. That is the more you develop higher capacities at each of these planes, the more you will have the attributes for great achievement and happiness in life.

You know we could probably analyze any person and measure him or her across all these myriad of qualities within each of these three planes, and get a pretty good snapshot of the person. It would be an interesting computer program. At Growth Online we've made a few interesting attempts in this area, with limited success. [editing point]

RP: Well let's see. If, for example, a person wanted to become a better person, or acquire more wealth, or rise to the next level of accomplishment, then it might be very useful to know what qualities they are lacking in. Once we identify those areas that are lacking, a person could change his life for the better by making the concerted effort to improve one or more of these traits.

To improve ourselves we can either further build up our positive traits, or overcome our limiting, negative traits. I would argue that if we want to improve our nature, accomplish more in life, be happier, we should start by identifying a few negative traits, and try to overcome them.

Growth Online: But we're made up of so many traits. How can we ever learn to identify them, let alone overcome our weaknesses in them?

RP: Well if we are honest about ourselves we can easily list five or ten major weaknesses that we have. Then if we are truly sincere that we really want to change ourselves, we can develop plans of action to overcome them, and then carry out the plans. That's in one sense the process by which an individual grows, the process of personal growth.

Take Mr. X. He's friendly, bright, energetic, and fun to be with. However Mr. X is also disorganized, has temper tantrums, and is unskilled in key areas in his work. Ms. Y, on the other hand, is organized, highly skilled, and wealthy, but she is also unemotional, unforgiving, and deceitful. If she can be honest with herself, identify her weaknesses, and makes the sincere effort to change them, she will surely grow as a person, and go much further and be much happier in life.

So we are an amalgam of traits, expressed positively and negatively, across three planes of our being.

But are we just that? Are we limited to what we are in a particular moment in time? Can't we be something different the instant we change ourselves? I think so.

So then the question of who I am becomes slippery, because I can very quickly be something else. We are in that sense both a being and a becoming.

RP: If the person wants to grow then yes. On the other hand, we must also recognize that our limitations are not just restricted to our own unique limitations. There are also limitations that all of us share in common as members of the human race. We have inherited a number of limiting characteristics that have been passed down from our animal nature; even from the very material substance that was there when the universe unfolded. If we examine them closely, we can see these species-type limitations are also there at each of the three planes of our being.

For example, our physical consciousness tends to not want to change; its wants to repeat endlessly the same routines and engage in the same habits over and over. The physical consciousness is fixed, rigid, and inflexible. It's filled with inertia and obscurity. Not to mention the fact that the body is, as we all know, subject to illness, pain, and death. So the scope for change at the physical level is enormous, because it is the least evolved relative to the other planes.

The vital expresses these species-related limitation as well. Built into the vital is its tendency toward mindless passions, and unrelenting attachment. The vital asserts itself through non-cooperation, vanity, arrogance, disobedience, lack of discipline, and self-justification. It is also readily prone to anger, restlessness, despondency, jealousy, hate, fear, desire, and impulse. The list goes on! These are all pretty much hard-wired into our species at the vital level. It's perhaps only our education and mental control that subjects these forces to some degree of discipline.

We should also point out that through our vital center we engage with others. It is what enables us to be social creatures. However, as social creatures we can be obsessed and attached to what others want, to what the culture throws out at us and expects from us, and what we are compelled or are willing to accept from the social atmosphere around us. So our social connection to aid us or limit us.

Then there is the mental plane. It also shows these species-bound limitations. Though in one sense the mind is a higher plane than the physical and vital, the mind also shows itself negatively in many ways. Its very basis is rooted in ignorance, falsehood, and separateness.

For example, the mind tends to accept one truth, but not another truth. It certainly has no knowledge of the full truth of anything. Thus the mind sees things only in its partially, not its wholeness. It mistakes the part it knows for the whole. Thus it operates in ignorance.

Mind also only senses what's on the surface, what is superficial and obvious. It is oblivious for the most part to what expresses subtlely, deeper within us. That's because though mind interprets the data coming in from our senses, it is also limited by our sense orientation, to what the senses perceive as real. This sense-based mind, rooted in the subjectivity of the senses, inevitably leads to a partial understanding, a partial knowledge of the truth, or even a complete falsehood.

Also, mind tends to deny anything it has not experienced; that doesn't follow its rules of logic, what we thin of as common sense, and what we expect the normal laws of cause and effect to be. Life functions far beyond these bounds, and for the most part mind is ignorant of such workings, especially if one lives on the surface of life, rather than from the depths of one's being.

Growth Online: How did we land in such a mess? It's bad enough we each have our own problems; now we're saying that we've inherited a plethora of negative qualities just by being human beings!

RP: Well you might be happy to know that in a way its not our fault (!), or the fault of the human race, because the source of all of these limitations were there when the universe emerged, long before we appeared. When the universe emerged from some Divine Source, it emerged in division and duality. In the universe that was created, where there was light, there was also darkness; where there was good, there was evil; where there was pleasure, there was pain; where there was Knowledge, there was Ignorance, where there was Life, there was Death, and so forth.

So everything we have become, the inertia of the physical, the unbridled passions, desires, and poor attitudes of the vital, and the ignorance of the mind are rooted in the very inconscience and unconsciousness of matter that was there in creation. That unconsciousness, ignorance, and falsehood is there kin all aspects of our being, from the body to the vital to our minds.

When I have a limited thought that doesn't have the full truth, it is because my nature is to be stuck on the surface, to my ego sense and separateness that is there in the vital, which in turn gets its own ego sense and limitation from the inflexibility and inertia of the physical. So each plane feeds the next plane with its own limitations; and we as mental beings are limited mental beings because we still are filled with the limitations of the earlier planes from which mind emerged.

Growth Online: What kind of Creator, assuming there is a creator, could have allowed such a thing?

RP: Well there is a rather interesting answer to this. The universe emerged in division and duality in order to enable the greatest potential and possibility, the greatest diversity of forms.

Let me explain. Remember we are assuming that the universe was created from out of a Divine Source, in order that that a multiplicity, an endless diversity of forms -- culminating in us -- could experience the delight of being. To create the greatest quantity and diversity of such forms, the universe had to develop in division and duality. The more the divisions, the contrasts, the differences, the greater the possibilities. It's somewhat akin to the idea that the more races there are on earth, the greater the possibility and diversity of expression in culture.

Also the more forms, the more diversity and variations of those forms, including we humans, the greater the quantity and quality of delight as those forms.

So the irony is that in order for the universe, for us to experience the greatest potential of delight, we emerged with all of these contradictions, conflicts, and falsehoods in our being, inherited from the creation. On the other hand, as we evolve individually and as a race, we throw off these limitations, and experience the delight

So who we are, are the positive and negative expressions of human personality traits related to our own unique person; and who we are is also a series of positive and negative traits that we share in common with all humanity.

Growth Online: But what can I do in my life to overcome these limitations? I mean the list is endless. There are my own weaknesses, plus the weaknesses of being human itself. It seems rather grim.

RP: There is hope. Humans have been around for 100,000 years or so; and it's only been 10,000 years since we emerged in true societies. But its only in the last 50 to 100 years that we are seeing the true emergence of mind in the individual. Only in recent times are we beginning to use our minds to perceive our greater capacities, and take control of our lives, to become masters of our existence. So we have the opportunity now to make great and rapid progress.

In one sense our mind is the evolutionary mechanism of Nature that enables us to finally overcome the limiting hand we have been dealt from creation. More specifically I would say that as we move to the higher capacities of mind, of reason, of being able to conceptualize new ideas, new possibilities, as we become more self-aware and rise in consciousness, we garner the means to overcome millions or billions of years of division and duality, ignorance and falsehood, pain and death.

Have you seen the film Educating Rita? No story more dramatizes how a modern person can change her nature, and overcome the limitations of the millennia. In one or two short years this woman changed from a primitive to a mental-focused being; gaining control of her life, and harnessing her great potential.

A likable, uneducated and somewhat crude woman, Rita aspires to become educated. Through her collaboration with a professor in England she learned to read, write, and understand. As a result of this accomplishment, she grew, developed, evolved, and ascended. She changed from a physical/vital centered being to a mental-centric, fully conscious, self-directed individual.

If this is an example of how rapidly one person can change in a few short years, then it is very possible that we can overcome much of the division and duality of the creation within a few short centuries, or even within our own lifetimes.

It's pretty rare when someone makes the giant leap upward that Rita made, but I think that's going to happen more and more in the future. It's actually happening now. A lot of people I know are making stunning progress.

RP: We begin by recognizing our limitations, and then making the concerted effort to overcome them. Most of these limitations are in our attitudes, our skills, our knowledge, our energy, our values, our physical well being, our strength, our goodness and givingness, and so forth. It's especially there in the attitudes.

Most of us can identify at least a few of these limiting attitudes in our being. We are all aware of at least a few of our shortcomings. However, if we make a concerted effort to overcome that limitation, life will open up for us in many ways.

So if Mr. Z has a poor attitude toward another person, and if he changes that attitude, life will tend to respond instantly and miraculously.

We call this instantaneous miraculous response from life "Life Response." It is life's own hidden way of rapidly responding to a change in the person; to a change in our attitudes and behavior. So suddenly positive things start happening to Mr. Z, perhaps within moments of a changing of his attitude. If he also understands how changing an attitude enabled life to suddenly bring great fortune, he will also begin to perceive the deeper underlying realities and forces that are there in life.

Growth Online: So there is hope; a way out of conflict and difficulty that is therein life?

And there is more good news. We haven't yet spoken of the fourth plane, where the infinite possibilities of life rise -- the plane of spirit.

To truly know who we are, we must certainly account for this spiritual plane of our existence.

Levels of the being, ascending from the physical to the vital to the mental to the spiritual.

^	Spiritual	the consciousness beyond mind that connects to the underlying spiritual reality of the universe and the spark of the spiritual reality contained within himself.
^	Mental	the thoughts, opinions, beliefs, ideas and values that guide our conscious thinking, conceptualizing and decision-making processes.
^	Vital/Emotional	the semi-conscious sensations, urges, desires, feelings and emotions. The vital provides the energy for human action and expresses itself through attraction, liking, desire and enthusiasm.
^	Physical	the subconscious awareness and impulses of the body expressed in animal instincts, basic drives of human nature, and inherited character traits. The primary drives of the physical are for self-preservation and reproduction.

Growth Online: Welcome back. Have we answered the question yet of "Who Am I?"

To help us better answer the question I'm going to go for a little walk in my mind.

I wake up, get dressed, grab some breakfast, and walk over to the park. My mind hasn't fully kicked in at this point. I am only aware of some of the physical things I am doing -- getting up, brushing my teeth, turning on the coffee pot, and so forth. These are the mechanical habits of my physical being, with perhaps a little input from my subconscious mind. What caused me to actually take this walk is a product of some decision, some will of being within me.

I'm now moving along pretty well with few thoughts in my head just yet. As I pick up speed I can sense that my physical body seems to almost have a mind of its own. Now that I am moving at a steady, brisk speed, there is a kind of relaxation settling in me. But after a short while the thoughts kick in in earnest for the first time that day. Thoughts about what's happening at the office; what needs my immediate attention, and others. Now for the first time this morning my mind is actively engaged, even as my body continues briskly on its way unencumbered by conscious thought.

Suddenly I see my friend Bob coming from the opposite direction. I slow down. He tells me something about a mutual friend, which causes me to react. I am upset, perhaps a little mad. My vital being has now been touched. Fortunately, I am able to come to my senses, realizing that being upset in this way is not part of my life plan! This awareness of what is right is coming from somewhere; perhaps from the logic of the mind, or a memory of a decision I had made, or perhaps even from something again unconscious rising in me, welling up from an inner, deeper hidden aspect of my being.

So Bob and I agree to get together for some tennis later in the week, and devise a plan to make it happen. That decision is in part a social response rooted in the vital need to have social contact with others. The decision is also in part a plan of organization developed in my mind. There is also in this mix perhaps a physical longing of the body to exercise, to tune or strengthen itself; maybe an anticipation of the physical pleasure of the playing and the experiencing of the outdoors.

As you can see from this little example, from this small moment in time, there is a complex relationship taking place between myself and the environment, including others. We also see that we are ourselves a rather complex organism. We see the complex interrelationship among the physical, vital, and mental aspects of our being. We also see that there is a complex functioning that goes on from the surface of life to the depths within us.

Growth Online: So I am a physical body, a vital being and a mental being; some of it is going on the surface, where we can perceive it; while some of it wells up from inside. We're a pretty sophisticated mechanism. But are we really any closer to understanding who we are? It seems more like we've developed a science of our workings, rather than a sense of who we really are.

RP: Well I think that just being aware of such functioning is a big step toward understanding our nature. On the other hand, it doesn't exactly tell us who we are.

(pause) To know who we are is in one sense to be aware of things, to be conscious. The body itself is not really aware; it just goes and repeats its habits; it moves without an awareness. Its physical, not mental. The vital part of our being is not much better; it is not self-aware. It is engaged in its energies, passions, intensities, and feelings; not knowing, understanding, comprehending as in the mind. It's field of awareness is always shifting, changing, ephemeral in nature. It's not a very good instrument of knowledge, of comprehension, of consciousness.

Mind however is another story. It is of course the center of awareness in our being; the seat of knowledge and consciousness. It may be a faulty, a half-lit instrument of awareness, but its the only one we have!

In the little walk we took we could sense even there that the mind is a complex device of consciousness. For thirty years my friends at Mother's Service Society have studied the nature of mentality, and have come up with some significant, breakthrough observations.

One thing we have learned about mind is that it's a separate entity. It is still closely linked to the physical and vital parts of us. When I have a thought, it is rarely a pure thought. It is normally a kind of thought response to something in me, or something around me; to the inputs from my five senses, to my emotions, attitudes, perceptions, and other vital and physical phenomenon. In other words though mind requires these inputs, it's knowledge is also limited by, tarnished by these inputs from the physical and vital, by the inherent limitations and falsehoods of the vital and the physical body.

The Indian seer and sage Sri Aurobindo often noted the fact that the mind is burdened, is weighed down by the limitations of the physical and the vital nature. Therefore the information processed by the mind is itself filled with falsehood, half-truths, prejudiced truth, part knowledge, and ignorance. We require the inputs of the vital and physical to perceive reality, but through them we also lose the objectivity of that reality. Thus we become not rational, perceivers of objective truth, but irrational perceivers of our own subjective truth. Then the result of this limiting knowledge can extend into the next moment in time as erroneous assumptions, wrong conclusions, and stupid actions.

In our research we have been able to distinguish various parts of the mental consciousness. The part that is closely tied into the processing of this information of the vital and the body we call the sense mind; and its where most of us are stationed in our minds. And it's the cause of our half-lit, false understanding of the world.

(pause) Also when you are centered in the sense mind, with its interpretation of the physical and vital inputs, you are probably living very much on the surface of life. Rather than being focused in a deeper poise, from a deep calm or depth within yourself, you are living, reacting to the physical or emotional things happening in front of you. You are not so much mindful of things, but just recording and reacting to things. For example, you walk around your office, see something that catches your eye, and you immediately go toward it, perhaps taking you out of something significant that you were already doing. You reacted on impulse. If you were centered more deeply within, you would respond to it in the context of the greater picture.

Also when you live on the surface rather than the depths there is a tendency to see everything from your own perspective, your own self-interest. In that way you become more closely identified with your ego, that which separates you from the others, from the total truth of the situation, from the broader continuum of life around you, that includes other people, other events, situations, and circumstances.

If, on the other hand, you live more deeply within, you are not focused on your own personal perception of the world. Instead you open to a broader perception, to a greater possibility and harmony with the outer environment. Again, from that poise we come closer to perceiving not only the oneness of life, but the multi-faceted, multiplicity of life.

RP: (pause) Yes, in fact we have identified three aspects of mind, of the mental plane.

Let's call the first level of mind, the most basic level of mind, the physical part of the mind, or physical mental. This is where the processing, organizing, and coordinating of the facts and information of the sense information takes place. It takes the inputs of the senses and organizes them into thought formations. By the way, it's processing functionality is somewhat akin to what the computer does.

Then there's the next highest level of the mind, which is the vital in the mind. It is here that we begin to perceive how life itself works. Because of our perceptions of life, the raw facts that were processed by the physical mind are now formulated into richer sentiments, values, and ideals. In other words, facts and thoughts are given vital meaning and purpose. Knowledge and understanding of the previous level become things we value, or ideal we aspire for.

Then there's the highest part of mind proper, which is the pure mind. It is here that pure thinking, logical thinking, takes place. At this level of mind there is no direct relationship any more with the inputs of the vital and physical parts of our being; with the senses we are engaged rather in pure thought. In addition, at this level of pure mind we have the ability to conceive the world; develop new idea, new conceptions of things.

Interestingly when we live at the depths within, we tend to be more centered at this level of pure mind. In the depths we are further away from sense mind, which tends to give us a half-lit perception of reality. At pure mind we are more likely to get truer ideas and knowledge; we understand the truer truth, rather than the partial truth of sense mind.

At Growth Online we have a little table that describes in detail these three levels of mind.

M E N T A L	1	Pure Mental	This is where pure thinking, conceptual thinking takes place; where ideas are organized; where new concepts, ideas, possibilities are developed. It is also the center of our mental skills.
	2	Vital in Mental	This is where we gain a knowledge of life's workings; where the practical organized knowledge and comprehension of facts of level 3 is imbued with the emotions and feelings that turn organized comprehension into our interests, sentiments, values, and ideals.
	3	Physical in Mental	The processing, organizing, systemizing of physical, natural, practical facts of information from the senses into understanding, comprehension, and knowledge, used for decision-making, action, and accomplishment.

So the further we move our center of awareness from the sense mind, which is the physical and vital part of the mind, the further we move from the limitations of the physical and vital planes; from the body's inertia and unconsciousness; from the vital's limiting attitudes, passions, and attachments. We move from sense mind to pure mind by stationing our center of awareness in the depths of our being rather than living on the surface of life.

So who we are is, in one sense, where we choose to station our consciousness; on the surface of life or in the depths within ourselves. We are where we choose to focus our consciousness.

Growth Online: So if we move from the sense mind to this higher mind, then most of the problems of our existence will disappear?

RP: Yes, it would certainly help. There are certainly approaches and techniques that we can adopt to help us live more consciously within, that would move us toward higher functionings of mind.

(pause) But remember the problems in life are more fundamental than that. The problem for most of us isn't whether we are focused on one part of the mind or the other, but whether we are centered in mind at all! For most people their center of awareness is not at the level of mind, but at the next level down, at the vital, emotional level. From that poise we are very much occupied or even consumed by our feelings, emotions, needs, desires, wants, and satisfactions.

Remember, at this point in our evolution human are basically vital beings who live for their own ego-centered needs.

Growth Online: So how can I make this knowledge of these different parts of me useful and practical in my life?

RP: Well let's go back to our walk, and see if I could have improved things as a result of my knowledge of these different parts of the person.

Let's say that somewhere in my walk I realized that I had forgotten to make an important phone call. Instead of doing something about it, something in me just doesn't want to deal with it, it doesn't want to budge; my body just wants to stay in its walking routine, it's habit. Unless there is some compulsion of the vital or the mind, the body just wants to continue on as is. So now I am becoming more aware of my nature, of who I am at the physical level.

I could also take this approach for that moment later on in the walk when I got upset and angry. I would now have the knowledge and understanding that the emotions of my vital had gotten the best of me.

Perhaps at some point later on I would stop and think about what was it that got me upset in the first place; what was happening in my life that could trigger such an emotional response. It couldn't simply be what Bob said. I can now use the logical, common sense part of my mind, that pure mind that we spoke of earlier, to consider the source of the problem.

Also by stationing myself more deeply within I would be more distant from the limitations of my vital, even more distant from the senses. From such a poise I could never have gotten upset in the first place. In other words, living deep within enables me to be exceedingly mindful, rational, and objective.

So knowledge of what I am made up of, the parts that are at play at any point in time, can be very useful to success, harmony, and happiness in life.

Growth Online: So what we are saying in one sense is that who we are is knowing what we are made up of?

RP: Yes. We are a complex being, made up of many parts; physical, vital, and mental parts; as well as an outer and inner being.

(pause) So far we have addressed the physical, vital, and mental plane of our being. We call this view of the person the vertical scale of consciousness. It's vertical in that it ascends upward in consciousness from the physical to the vital to the mental. It even goes beyond that to the spiritual.

Actually each of the three planes is really made up of at least three sub-aspects; for a total of nine levels. We've already identified three levels of mind. There are also three levels of the vital and the physical, for a total of nine levels.

Our nine level model at Growth Online starts at its base at the very physical substance of the body, and rises from there through eight additional levels in three planes, culminating in the highest level of mind, pure mind.

	#	Name	Description
M E N T A L	1	Pure Mental	This is where pure thinking, conceptual thinking takes place; where ideas are organized; concepts, ideas, possibilities are developed. There is no connection here to the senses of the body here as perceived in the sense mind below. It is pure thought. It is the center of our mental skills.
	2	Vital in Mental	This is where we gain a knowledge of life's workings; where the practical organized knowledge and comprehension of facts of level 3 is imbued with the emotions and feelings that turn organized comprehension into our interests, sentiments, values, and ideals.
	3	Physical in Mental	The processing, organizing, systemizing of physical, natural, practical facts of information from the senses into understanding, comprehension, and knowledge, used for decision-making, action, and accomplishment.
V I T A L	4	Mental in Vital	This is where emotions (of the next level) are processed into emotional thought, the emotions' perception of knowledge. It is where our attitudes, life intelligence, and higher emotions lie. It is the center of our vital skills.
	5	Pure Vital	This is where our feelings, emotions, passion, enthusiasm reside.
	6	Physical in Vital	This is where we experience the vital sensation of the nerves, the central nervous system, where we experience urge, desire, and fear.
P H Y S I C A L	7	Mental in Physical	This is the consciousness of the body, where it learns how to act, where it learns the primary skills needed for existence and action from movement. It is the center of our physical skills.
	8	Vital in Physical	This is the seat of our physical urges and sensations. It is where nervous sensation, pain, physical urge, hunger, lust, craving, physical possessiveness, and territoriality are rooted.
	9	Pure Physical	This is the pure physical, the body itself, our raw physical existence, consisting of matter. It is also where our movements originate.

If we look at our table of nine levels we would notice a few interesting things. For one, if we look at one of the planes, say the mental plane, we will see that it consists of three items, two of which have aspects of the other two planes. For example, within the mental plane, there is a physical mental level, and a vital mental level; physical and mental being the two other major planes of existence.

(pause) Remember our earlier idea that in the creation, that the vital emerged out of the physical, and the mental evolved out of the mental. Each emerging plane contained the seed of the following one. So in one sense that's why they break down the way they do.

So what are these nine levels? We can look at it from top down, or from the bottom up. Since we already talked about the levels of mind, let's start at the top and work our way down.

So we start at the plane of mind. As we mentioned earlier at level 1, we're at the pure mental, the highest or most evolved level of the mind, used for pure thought, where ideas take shape, and also from which we can conceive the world, new ideas, new possibilities. At level 2, vital mental, the mind is engaged in understanding how life works, it tinges the raw data that's gathered in level 3 and imbues it with feeling that turns those facts into our sentiments, values, and ideals. At level 3, the physical mental, we have the actual physical processing of data by the brain. It gathers, organizes, and processes the raw data of physical reality perceived through the five senses, and turns it into our knowledge and comprehension of the practical.

Now we come down to the vital plane, the realm of emotions, feelings, and sensations. At level 4, the mental vital, we experience the emotions' perception of knowledge. It is where our attitudes and higher emotions are expressed. It's where the raw emotions of level 5 are mentalized. At level 5, or pure vital, we experience our raw feelings, emotions, passions, and desires. At level 6, physical vital, we experience the physical aspect of our feelings and emotions; that is we experience the vital sensation of the nerves, the central nervous system, where we experience urge, desire, and fear.

Now we come down to the physical plane itself -- the world of matter, of the body itself. At level 7, the mental physical, we experience the consciousness of the body, where it learns how to act, and where it develops physical skills for action in life. At level 8, the vital physical we experience our physical urges and sensations, such as pain, hunger, lust, and craving. At level 9, the pure physical, we encounter the body itself, the physical matter that the body is made up of. There is no consciousness or sensation here; it is made of the unconscious material substance itself.

So we can see that we have a pretty complex and sophisticated makeup. By recognizing these levels we begin to get a better picture of who we are.

Could you imagine if we had learned this when we were young? We would certainly understand ourselves a great deal better. We learn about our skeletons, muscles, nerves, and organs, but little of the breakdown of the fundamental consciousness of our being.

(pause) So that's the vertical scale of our being. On the other hand, the horizontal scale of consciousness moves in another direction; it ranges from our outer, or surface existence, to the depths within ourselves, our inner existence. There is a vast world there too to discover. To know who we are, we must explore these regions as well.

RP: Well not quite. As we move to these more subtle realms, it's a bit harder to track them or chart them across some continuum of understanding. However we have come up with a number of observations. I might point out that much of what we know about these subtle domains comes from the great insights of the Indian seer and sage Sri Aurobindo, as well as his partner known as The Mother. They were two of the great pioneers of consciousness. Through their vast experiences and realizations, they mapped out these subtle, yet powerful realms of hidden existence. The result of their research in the area of inner consciousness is a staggering revelation captured in over 50 volumes for the world.

They suggested that as we move from the surface of life and move into the depths of our being, we move into an inner physical, vital, and mental consciousness. They called these inner regions, the subliminal part of our being.

When we live on the surface of life we are completely unaware of the existence of these subtle levels, let alone how this inner existence interacts with our surface consciousness.

This inner mind and vital send out their powers or suggestions to our surface consciousness. These are often profound insights and perceptions, because this inner consciousness is in touch with universal forces, truths, and powers.

Most of what we receive from these regions happens unconsciously as information is sent up to the surface. However, we can become more conscious of this inner part of ourselves. As we go deeper within, as we station ourselves in these depths, we become more conscious of and become more open ourselves to their wider influences.

As we move more deeply within we also begin to lose our ego sense, that which divides and separates us from others, from the environment, from life itself. When we are withdrawn from our surface, separative ego-sense, we feel there a deeper sense of oneness; a unity with other beings and things. The deeper we center ourselves there, the more we perceive the world with clarity; the less the mind divides; the less the vital desires, imprisoned by its ephemeral attachments and passions; the less the body is caught in its inertia and habitual ways.

Also as we reach the very greatest depths within, we begin to touch our central being, our own personal soul state. At that point we experience our deepest, spiritual center of existence.

RP: This personal soul that inhabits our person took on this particular body to further it's own progress. It has passed through many lives to reach its current state of being. And it seeks even greater development through the progress of this person, which it now inhabits. So it's an interesting idea that not only are we evolving but our personal soul is too!

Also that inner soul being unites us with the wider spiritual plane of existence; the infinite spirit of the infinite, timeless, spaceless, omnipresent Divine Reality.

(pause) So as we come in touch with our inner being, our psychic soul being, we not only have the universal forces and powers at our disposal, but we experience the peace, power, truth, love, bliss, and other spiritual qualities of the transcendent spiritual Divine, the spiritual essence that is the source of all creation.

Growth Online: So there is a kind of frontier of consciousness within; and as we go there, deeper within, there is this light and wonder.

RP: Yes there is. Though that's not the total picture. There is one other part of the being that we haven't discussed. This is another hidden inner realm of ourselves. It is the subconscient realm, which is somewhat similar to what western psychologists refer to as the subconscious.

In any understanding of the makeup of the human being, a discussion of the subconscient needs to be considered. Though it is not technically part of any of the three planes of the human -- the physical, the vital/emotional, and the mental -- it plays a significant part in the existence of every person.

It is in this subconscient, this subterranean part of the human mental consciousness that much goes on, though we can't easily perceive it, because like the inner being it is below our normal levels of awareness. The only significant time that we come in contact with the subconscient's workings is when we are sleeping. When we dream, the information in the subconscient streams up, in unusual extrapolations of what we normally experience in life. In fact, if you were to wake up exhausted from sleep, you can be sure you've spend some time in this obscure region.

The subconscient, like the inner being, the subliminal, sends messages to the individual's outer consciousness. However, where the subliminal is generally sending or influencing the outer being in a positive way, with its broader illuminations and insights, the subconscient is projecting influences that are generally negative, since it is tied closely to the unconsciousness and limitations of our obscure physical existence including the obscurity and unconsciousness of matter itself.

The subconscient is actually where aspects of our waking consciousness are buried. For example, it is there that early childhood memories and attachments are stored. It's also where old memories reside; where old problems now overcome and long forgotten, bury themselves, only to rise on occasion in dreams, or to suddenly rush up to the surface.

The subconscient is for the most part an unevolved, ignorant, and false region, left over from the original inconscience in matter; the lack of consciousness that is there in our physical makeup born of the unconsciousness of creation. It's also the repository of the race memory of the human species; including our fears, our acceptance of the inevitability of death and all that implies. So a titanic pessimism is buried there, based on the past suffering of the human race and our animal forbearers.

The subconscient is also the seat of physical illness. When we are ill, it is the subconscient that controls the illness. Our attempt to overcome illness through our will, our power of mind, is not usually effective, because our minds, thoughts, and feelings have no power over this obscure region. It is however possible by a great determination of mind and will and a spiritual Force to overcome the subconscient influence. In fact, our ability to end illness, perhaps even death itself, may be tied to ending the pull and drag of the subconscient.

Growth Online: So now we've got some additional areas in our being on the negative side of the equation! Just what we need!

RP: Yes, if you take these negative influences of the subconscient and add to it the limiting aspects of each of our physical, vital, and mental makeup, you see that there is much that weighs us down.

Personal growth, development, evolution, and transformation is the way we overcome these limitations, and find our higher nature. A purified and perfected physical, vital, and mental; a transformed subconscient; a more fully emerging subliminal; plus the inner and upward movement that connects us to spirit are the means by which we make the evolutionary progress and ascent.

Growth Online: So in the end we are many things. There are many aspects to our existence.

RP: That is true. Now we are beginning to see this multifaceted, multi-dimensional portrait of who we are.

First there is a vertical view, a vertical scale of consciousness, rising upward from the body to the vital to the mind; and then there's a horizontal view, going from the surface to the depths of one's soul.

RP: Let's see. Let's try to sum up what we've learned so far. We said that the universe began as matter, which evolved into life, and evolved further as mind. We also stated that there must have been something, some force that compelled the evolution to move from one stage to the next, from the physical to the vital to the mental; something inherent in each preceding stage that compelled the next stage to emerge. We suggested that each stage had the seed of the next stage. Also we postulated there was a conscious spirit that was hidden or involved at each stage, compelling the emergence of the next stage.

So billions of years go by after the Big Bang. The galaxies are formed, which coagulate into stars and planets; forms of matter develop on earth, such as water and atmosphere. Then the first forms of life appear, and plant life, and then primitive animal life, and then primates, culminating in us, the self-conscious human being.

So man arrives as a physical being, sharing the physicality of all matter in the universe. He also has a vital being of emotions, attitudes, sensations, desires, and various energies; paralleling the emergence of animated vital life on earth and perhaps elsewhere in the universe. Man also has a mind; he is a mental being, which is perhaps unique in the entire universe.

However, he also shares the divisions and dualities of creation. Thus, though man is an evolutionary being, he is also a divided being. He experiences pleasure and pain; knowledge and ignorance, good and evil; life and death. Also, within each of the physical, vital, and mental planes, these dualities express themselves. For example, at the physical level his body is alive, and then it decays and dies. At the vital level he experiences great pleasure, and the opposite of emotional pain. And in mind he is limited to a part truth, a limited understanding and perception of what's around him.

RP: Fortunately, we do have the ability to overcome our limitations. Through his power of self-awareness, through this emerging mental consciousness, we can learn to understand the limiting parts of our being; both the limitations that are unique to that person, and those we share with all humanity. That self-aware, self-determining individual has then the power to overcome any and all limitations. That is what we mean by personal growth, development, evolution, and transformation.

We've also concluded that though the human exists at each of these three planes, these levels interact with one another in a very complex way. Also, what we perceive as three distinct planes can be expanded to at least nine levels, three each within the three planes.

Thus we begin to see a continuum of consciousness and existence, from the most material reality of his body, to the highest aspect of his mind, to engage in pure thought and to conceive new ideas and possibilities.

As we strengthen ourselves at each level or move upward in our being among the levels, we grow and evolve. In that process of discovery we experience a great joy and delight of being. That joy, that delight, is in fact the very reason we are here. Some Omnipresent Reality or Divine presence manifest a universe in order for the inhabitants, us, to discover our higher nature, thereby through us fulfilling the purpose of creation -- delight.

Finally, we see that though there is a vertical scale of our being and consciousness that ascends upward to the heights of mind and beyond, we also have an existence that goes from the surface of life to the depths within. The more we live in the depths, the deeper our perceptions, the broader our perspective of life, and again, the greater the delight.

So we can take ourselves higher in the vertical scale and deeper within on the horizontal scale. Where we wish to go is up to us; it is our choice.

Growth Online: So we have a choice of where we want to take our lives; what want to be?

Ultimately who we are depends not only on what we are now, but whom we choose to be in the future. We have the choice of whether we wish to stand still or move forward. In that sense we are then what we are, plus who we wish to be. We are not just a being; we are also a becoming.

Growth Online: So it's up to each of us to take the bull by the horns. We're out there on our own, and its up to use to make the choice of what we want to be.

RP: Well in one sense yes. However the picture gets a little more interesting here, because we are not completely on our own. There are other people out there; a society out there that has a big influence on who and what we are.

I would say that just as our makeup mirrors the makeup of the universe, so we also mirror the makeup and unfolding of the society we are part of.

In fact we could easily view our entire existence, the very nature of who we are, as a product of everything around us. We are in one sense the result of a process, an evolutionary social process that has been going on for at least 10,000 years.

RP: Well to understand that we need to consider the stages of human evolution during these 10,000 years.

Let's go back to our creation theory for a moment. We've already said that out of the creation of the universe emerged four principles of life; physical, vital life, mind, and let's add spiritual. We also said that in the makeup of the human individual we can see a similar grouping of the four essential planes that make up the person -- the physical, the vital, the mental, and lets add the spiritual. In that light we can also conceive of a similar development in the evolution of the human race as a whole, for society.

Our own view is that the human race has passed through three consecutive stages -- again the physical, the vital, the mental, and lets add for the future, the spiritual.

So let's examine each of these. When humans first evolved on earth say 100,000 years ago, and in particular over the last 10,000 years, individuals were mostly focused on surviving. Everything else was secondary. Threats were perceived everywhere -- threats from nature, and threats from other tribes. The atmosphere was one of physical and psychological insecurity.

In this physical stage people's social awareness was pretty much limited to the tribe. To think and act outside of the tribe and its tradition was considered treasonous. In other words, humans had a very limited sense of their own selves. They were bound to the concerns and authority of the collective.

Over time humans overcame these threats from nature, from the outside. Plus they began to develop better cohesion and unity within the collectives themselves. Soon we began to master the basic productive operations of life. In other words, we began to gain control of the physical forces around us. This enabled the emergence of a new vital human. Another way of saying this is that humanity organized itself at a higher level at the physical stage, enabling a new, more expansive vital stage to emerge.

So what is this vital stage of society's development? In this stage we see a willingness of people to engage others who are not of their own tribe or collective. We begin to see the beginnings of trade with other collective. There was more interaction with other groups. This leads to the desire for more travel and exploration; to expand trade and acquire more resources.

Gradually there is an awakening that the individual can improve his own lot, and that he does not have to only focus solely on the concerns and needs of the collective.

So in this vital stage there is a broadening of these social interactions, of interchange with others. Also, we could now begin to focus on our own individual interests. We could become prosperous and enjoy life, to expand our energies in many more directions. There was thus a vast expansion of vitality; hence the vital stage of development.

Where the physical stage of life was the culmination of an evolution that began 100,000 or so years ago, and formed more fully around 10,000 years ago, the vital stage has only been there around 500 years, roughly corresponding to the Renaissance and the centuries of exploration and discovery around that time.

However, in the last 100 years, and in particular the last 50, there has been the rapid emergence of the next stage of human development -- the mental stage.

The first thing that we notice about the mental stage that we have now entered is that society begins to value the vast amount of knowledge accumulated from the past. So in this emerging mental stage the information, the knowledge base of the past began to be organized, codified, and made available to the population. Information that was formerly unfocused, scattered is now organized, systematized, and disseminated through systems of training and education.

That in turn energizes individuals to further advancement in their work, in their careers. That in turn accelerates people's achievement in life, which is expressed in the enormous developments in science, communications, and technology of recent years.

Then through that rapidly expanding technology base, through exposure to the vast knowledge base presented in media, in the Internet, people become even more aware of what can be achieved. They become more aware of possibilities for achievement. They see that others in their community, nation, or around the world are doing it, which leads to an era of rising expectations of people throughout the world. People want and demand more in their own lives because they see others having it.

This unfolding has actually been going on for a few centuries. Freedom, democracy are unstoppable forces that have emerged in the last century or two. These are products of the rationality of the mental stage; a stage reflecting the further emergence of mind of the individual. Now that same freedom is extending further, as each of us become aware of our ability to fulfill our individual dreams, to find self-fulfillment, to realize our human potential.

So in this emerging mental stage that we have now begun to enter, with its possibilities of freedom, human initiative, and self-determinism, we are very far from the determinism of the physical stage, where we deferred to the collective will in order to survive.

RP: Yes there is a spiritual stage beyond the mental. That is obviously further out, but perhaps not as far out as we think.

As we begin to emerge through the mental stage, we begin to perceive that even the power of mind cannot be the ultimate salvation for humanity; for after all, the faculties of mind, as we have said, are decidedly limited. So there begins to develop a longing for some higher knowledge, some form of greater awareness and perception that mind cannot have. There is a subtle yearning for greater truths, greater insights, greater vision, greater happiness. There is a longing for deeper connection; an experience of spirit.

At some point individuals who have experienced an inner life of the spirit, who have begun to transform themselves to a higher physical, vital, and physical existence, who have experience the spirit in action in their lives, become the harbingers of a new collective life, a new divine life on earth.

This is the vision that Sri Aurobindo, the Indian sage and seer envisioned for the future. Of an emerging spiritual life beyond the mental. Of a spiritual stage of social development beyond the emerging mental based era we had now just begun to enter.

So we have these four stages of human development. Interestingly we see parallels of these stages to our own makeup; of our own physical, vital, mental, and spiritual makeup and progress. And human development and social development parallel the stages of development of the universe itself; of matter, animus of life, and mentality in the cosmos after the alleged Big Bang.

So this must indicate an extreme interrelatedness of all existence -- the universe, the society, and the individual. The evolution of these three must be closely interconnected.

The involution from the Divine; and evolution
of the universe, the individual, and society