Into Great Depth of Your Being

I’m not a big fan of ‘How to’ books. I find they either talk down to me, oversimplifying to the point of absurdity, or, conversely, they assume such a high degree of knowledge that I am floundering after the first few pages (I’m particularly thinking of computer manuals here). I’m also somewhat allergic to books which offer immediate enlightenment, wealth or invincible success in the business world or relationships because, given the millions of copies such books sell, the world should be stuffed full of successful people by now…but I never seem to come across any of them.

However, Arul Dev’s book, Into Great Depth of Your Being, is something of an exception. Although the sub-title, ‘An Exploration to enhance Self-Awareness and Integral Development’ suggests it is aimed squarely at a New Age readership, and it contains references to fashionable Neuro-Linguistic Programming among other techniques, it is, in fact, a practical guide to some of the fundamentals of the Integral Yoga. Some would say this is unnecessary, given Sri Aurobindo’s books and his letters to sadhaks as well as Mother’s Entretiens, but a surprising number of people – and I include myself here – still find something of a gulf exists between the ideal and the preliminary steps upon the path, particularly when it comes to dealing with the challenges of daily existence.

In fact, one of the strengths of this book is that it translates the language and concepts of Integral Yoga into the language and experience of daily reality: this book is aimed at a much wider readership than sadhaks. “This book is written for individuals who aspire to evolve,” writes Dev.

The book sets out to explain the different parts of the being and their interrelationships, not through academic analysis but through encouraging the reader to experience these aspects directly. This is done through exercises but also, most interestingly, through ‘resonance’. “The goal of the book,” he writes, “is to touch and nourish your being layer. It is written by meditating on each part of the inner presence and presenting it in such a manner that the essence of the being is touched and experienced in you as the reader.”

While the book follows a familiar approach, dealing first with the physical, then emotional, mental and spiritual parts of the being (here termed physical, life energy, mind, deeper self), it doesn’t adopt a strictly linear approach to each part but dives in at certain points to circle back in more detail later.

But experiencing each part of the being is only the beginning. Dev also attempts to show how the defects often associated with each part can be purified, transformed, so that the different parts perform their proper function and assume their correct relationship to other parts of the being, all of which are to be organized around the guiding energy of what he terms the Deeper Self.

As a writer, I was fascinated by Dev’s explanation of the ‘sadhana’ of communication. After clarifying that words have the capacity to create their own reality, he emphasizes how important it is to be fully conscious of the way we use them.

“What word we choose to utter or express consciously creates the quality of our actions and reality. Every word we consciously utter reinforces the intent and energy behind it and thus strengthens its reality.”

“The first prerequisite is that we are actually aware of our word and can discern its contents and quality of consciousness before the word is uttered. The second prerequisite is that we have the capacity to choose whether or not to allow the word to go through our mouth, writing or communications.”

A third prerequisite, of course, is that we develop the ability to find the exact words to communicate and realise our intent.

Another strength of the book is the way that Dev clarifies that the mind is not just one entity, as many of us assume, but has different aspects: there is the ‘objective’ data-processing mind, the ‘idea force’ that envisions and creates, and the ‘pure mind’ which grasps the essence of different views and can synthesise them from a higher perspective.

Dev notes how the pure mind prepares the being for access to higher forms of consciousness, if we can ‘wait in the upper chambers of the mind,’ but he does not explore the plane of the supramental, nor does he talk about the stupendous work of physical transformation that occupied The Mother’s final years. For sadhaks of the Integral Yoga this is an important lacuna: indeed, the Integral Yoga cannot be fully understood without reference to the aim of supramentalising the physical.

Dev also follows the traditional yogic approach that begins with the purification of the physical and works ‘upwards’ through the levels, but he doesn’t emphasize the need to attempt to call down a higher force as assistance when working on the purification and transformation of the lower levels, preferring a ‘boot-strap’ approach with all its attendant difficulties.

Having said this, Dev is writing this book for the general reader, so he may have considered that the yogic disciplines of aspiration and surrender, not to speak of Mother’s work upon the cells, might prove a bridge too far for neophytes.

But that general reader certainly deserves a decent index, which the book lacks.

Based on his own finely observed experience Arul Dev has written a very readable and practical introduction for the general reader to understand and work with the different parts of the being. For those inspired by this book, it provides yet another doorway into Integral Yoga.

Into Great Depth of your Being: An Exploration to Enhance 

Self-awareness and Integral Development by Arul Dev. 

Published by Auropublications, 2017. Available on amazon.in 

Rs 450