Sri Aurobindo

Letters on Himself and the Ashram

The Complete Works of Sri Aurobindo. Volume 35

His Life and Attempts to Write about It
The Terminology of His Writings

Jivatman, Spark-Soul and Psychic Being [2]

I read a [copy of the preceding] letter on Jivatman, spark-soul and psychic being. I would like to ask some questions. Is Jivatman of (or in) one person different from that of another?

It is one, yet different. The Gita puts it that the Jiva is an अंशः सनातनः [aṃśaḥ sanātanaḥ] of the One. It can also be spoken of as one among many centres of the Universal Being and Consciousness.

If different, is it a qualitative or a quantitative difference?

Essentially one Jiva has the same nature as all — but in manifestation each puts forth its own line of Swabhava.

Is not what you term “Jivatman” the same as what they call kūṭastha?

No. Kutastha is the अक्षर पुरुष [akṣara puruṣa] — it is not the Jivatman.

What is the plane on which the Jivatman stands?

It is on the spiritual plane always that is above the mind, but there it is not fixed to any level.

Is there anything like union of one’s psychic being with another’s?

No. Affinity, harmony, sympathy, but not union. Union is with the Divine.

3 October 1936