The Potential Occult Influence on Consciousness of Relics, Photographs and Reading of Books

An experiment some years ago showed that stones that came from a temple where ongoing worship had been taking place, held and radiated an energy not found in stones that had not been subjected to the influence of constant prayer. Just as stones absorb heat vibrations and then radiate them back later, the psychic and vital energy of the prayers get absorbed and radiated back. Many people have reported a deep spiritual or religious experience when visiting certain temples or viewing certain icons.

If we reflect on the implication of this, we can see that the idea of ‘relics’ , that is, a small piece of hair or nails from an individual who has had infused into him substantial spiritual energy over time, has a conceptual basis. The experience of individuals who come into contact with those relics validates this concept with practical experience. Both religious and spiritual traditions speak to the reality of the force that radiates through the presence of the relics.

A somewhat similar experience arises from the energy that people can receive through photographs. The visual sense picks up the vibratory pattern of the individual photographed and this is communicated in an occult manner and can influence the inner response.

When people read books, they tend to focus primarily on the sense of the words, and in some cases, the meaning behind the external sense, what is implied “between the lines”. However, there is another element altogether. This is the element of the communication of an energy of consciousness through the concentration of the reader on the writing and a receptivity to open to the status of consciousness, the standpoint, and the energy of the person who did the writing. By reading, not just with the mental capability, but with a receptive psychic sense, it is possible for an individual to contact the consciousness of the writer and thereby gain at least partially the experience that the writer had at the time of writing. This is particularly true for writing that holds a high energetic vibratory pattern that demands more of the reader in order to gain a more complete understanding of what is being communicated.

Many people have experienced that during the reading of Sri Aurobindo’s Savitri: a Legend and a Symbol, that they spontaneously are transported into a different state of consciousness. They report seeing and hearing, in the background, so to speak, all manner of visions and sounds. They report a wide range of spiritual experiences and in many cases, they experience profound episodes of new understanding and insight.

The extent of the impact depends both on the intensity and power of the consciousness that created the object, and the receptivity. openness and capacity for holding the concentration of the individual interacting with that object.

The Mother observes: “Everything is contained potentially. Each element of a whole potentially contains what is in the whole. It is a little difficult to explain, but you will understand with an example: when people want to practice magic, if they have a bit of nail or hair, it is enough for them, because within this, potentially, there is all that is in the being itself. And in a book there is potentially — not expressed, not manifest — the knowledge which is in the person who wrote the book. Thus, Sri Aurobindo represented a totality of comprehension and knowledge and power; and every one of his books is at once a symbol and a representation. Every one of his books contains symbolically, potentially, what is in him. Therefore, if you concentrate on the book, you can, through the book, go back to the source. And even, by passing through the book, you will be able to receive much more than what is just in the book.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Powers Within, Chapter X Obtaining Answers and Solutions pg. 93