Formate: EPUB
First edition September 2017, pp. 68

Sri Aurobindo explains, the psychic as the soul or spark of the Divine Fire supporting the individual evolution on the earth and the psychic being is the soul-consciousness developing itself or rather its manifestation from life to life with the mind, vital and body as its instruments until all is ready for the union with the Divine.
Thus the psychic is the essence and the psychic being is the form it takes. Sri Aurobindo states this in very clear words: "There is a difference between the essence of a thing which is always the same and its formations and developments which vary. There is, for instance, the essence of gold and there are the many forms which gold can take." (CWSA, Vol. 28, p. 30) This meaning is also revealed in the words used in Indian language: “Antaratman” for the psychic and for the psychic being “Chaitya Purusha”, the Purusha in the heart; purusha is a definite form.
Sri Aurobindo uses different terms for the psychic: soul essence, soul-spark, soul-element, psychic entity, psychic existence, psychic essence, psyche etc. Similarly for the psychic being he also uses the words: soul personality, soul form, soul individuality, evolving soul, soul in its evolved individualised form, real Man within us, psychic personality etc. These various terms make the difference between the two terms very clear.

"The outer being, left to itself, is not very responsible; it is most often the plaything of the forces of Nature. But the inner or higher being, the deeper consciousness, is the master and builder of our destiny. That is why it is so important to discover this sovereign consciousness and unite with it in order to put an end to all the incoherences of life and all the conflicts of Nature." – The Mother

"...unless one is conscious of one’s soul one does not have true knowledge. Therefore the first effort must be to find the soul within, to unite with it and allow it to govern one’s life." – The Mother

"The soul, the psychic being, is in direct touch with the divine Truth, but it is hidden in man by the mind, the vital being and the physical nature (manas, prana, anna of the Taittiriya Upanishad). One may practise Yoga and get illuminations in the mind and the reason; one may conquer power and luxuriate in all kinds of experiences in the vital; one may establish even surprising physical siddhis; but if the true soul-power behind does not manifest, if the psychic nature does not come into the front, nothing genuine has been done. In this Yoga, the psychic being is that which opens the rest of the nature to the true supramental light and finally to the supreme Ananda." – Sri Aurobindo

"In truth, the only thing that is truly tragic is not to become conscious of one’s soul, the psychic being, and not to be entirely guided by it in one’s life.
To die before having found one’s soul and lived according to its law, that is the true failure." – The Mother