Powers Within — Introduction

We are a civilisation obsessed with the idea of power. In the external world, we fixate on economic power, political power, military might, physical strength and various forms of magical and sexual power. We recognize the power of ideas, of charismatic leaders, of religious teachings and many tens or hundreds of millions of people have died as a result of the exercise of one power or another through the history of humanity.

Popular culture is dominated by imaginations about individuals who possess, develop or obtain some specific type of individual ‘super power” and utilize it for good or ill in the society. This is a form of escapist entertainment to help make up for how powerless most people feel in relation to the forces at work to drive them through their daily lives.

What is rarely recognised is that all of the external powers that are the levers of activity, development and control in the world are based on specific powers that arise within each individual and can be brought forward, focused, trained, developed and manifested by most people if they understand and follow the methodologies needed to do that. Just as we can see extraordinary feats of athletic performance in the Olympic Games, and can understand that these feats come about as a result of intense concentration and training regimens, so also we can begin to understand that with the right forms of concentration and systematic effort many other forms of power can be brought into realization in our lives.

The escapism we see in the worship of ‘super heroes’ is a misplaced understanding that real power of various sorts is not real or capable of being developed by each of us; and that we therefore have to look outside ourselves for powers that can save us or advance our interests.

Rishis, Sages and Shaman have long understood that the root of all power is within and that through specific practices, many powers can indeed be manifested. Yogic practitioners have long been advised that, while powers may develop within them as a result of their practice, they should disregard them so as not to be distracted in their seeking for the Eternal.

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother take a more nuanced view of the situation. They recognise that the seeking after power can become a distraction; however, they also recognise that as consciousness evolves and develops, new powers will naturally begin to express themselves and this natural evolutionary development is a benefit, not simply a distraction. Thus, there is a role for the exercise of these powers in the furtherance of the progress and perfection of our inner lives and our outer circumstances in the world.

People throughout time have been intrigued by the possibility of new occult or paranormal powers that they can access and utilize. Tremendous focus has been placed on methods that developed as a result of interest, including physical, vital, emotional, mental, psychic and spiritual methods of action. In his Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda described meeting with many individuals who exhibited powers on a number of different planes. Alexandra David-Neel in her various texts relating her experiences and travels in Tibet, also describes numerous individuals and the powers they manifested, as well as describing her own first-hand experience in developing some of those powers.

The current text, Powers Within, has been extracted, organized and compiled by Dr. A.S. Dalal from the writings of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. A wide range of powers, many that we recognise as theoretically available to us, and a great many more that we simply do not attend to, are systematically reviewed, the manner of their development set forth, and the proper use and implementation of these powers in our lives is examined. Along the way, occult powers, paranormal powers, and other powers of mind and body are discussed and explored.

reference: Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Powers Within