• OVERSELF NATURE

     Overself is authentic reality, but not the reality.

    Overself is the inner or true self of man, reflecting the divine being and attributes. The Overself is an emanation from the ultimate reality but is neither a division nor a detached fragment of it. It is a ray shining forth but not the sun itself.(P) 22.3.319

    We found it necessary, in the interests of greater precision and better exposition, to restrict the term "Overself" to represent the ultimate reality of man, and to introduce the term "World-Mind" to represent the ultimate reality of the universe. 22.3.304

    The Overself is the representative of God in man. 22.3.305

    There is some point in each individual being where the human and the divine must join, where man's little consciousness bends low before, or blends subtly with, the Universal Mind which is his ultimate source. It is impossible to describe that intersection in any terms which shall adequately fit it, but it can be named. In philosophy it is the Overself. 22.3.314

    The essence of man is his Overself, which is an emanation from Mind. 22.3.315

    In the normally covered centre of a man's being, covered by his thoughts and feelings and passions as a person, a self, IT IS….   22.3.331

    It is not only the hidden and mysterious source of their own little self but also the unrecognized source of the only moments of real happiness that they ever have. 22.3.195

    The Overself is certainly the Way (within man), the Truth (knowing the Real Being), and the Life (applying this knowledge and practising this way in the midst of ordinary everyday activity). 22.3.187

    The source of wisdom and power, of love and beauty, is within ourselves, but not within our egos. It is within our consciousness…   8.1.2

    Ernest Wood's Yoga Dictionary defines "Overself" as follows: "A term designed by Dr. P. Brunton to indicate that the holy fount of our being and root of our consciousness is still ourselves, is indeed our true self. The Sanskrit equivalent is adhyatma as in Bhagavad Gita, Chapter VII and VIII." To Dr. Wood's learned definition I would like to add Kutastma, what stands above or beyond illusion, and also the Gita's picture of the higher element in man controlling the lesser self. Further I would not leave out Buddha's transcendent atmosphere of goodwill to all beings. 22.3.177

    The subtler mental equipment must be energized and developed before he can use the subtler ideas of philosophy in the higher stages of this quest. First comes the idea of mentalism. Beyond that comes the idea of simultaneity--that he both is and is not a twofold being. 2.4.74

    There is a point where the human meets the divine, where the conscious ego emerges from the all-encompassing Void. That point we call the Overself. 22.3.313

    It is this grandeur of self that is the magnetic pole drawing us to the Good, the Beautiful, the Just, the True, and the Noble. Yet itself is above all these attributes for it is the Attributeless, the Ineffable, and Infinite that human thought cannot grasp. 22.3.178

     

    Overself: Double Nature

    The Overself is truly an eternal image of World‑Mind. There­fore it is written in the Bible that God made man in his own image. The reference here could never have been to the lower aspect of man, the petty creature who frets and fumes his way through life. The phrase fits finely however to the immeasurably higher aspect of this two‑fold species. The fact that people have turned round and denied their person, nay even sacrificed their person, points to the presence within them of something which is dif­ferent from the person, points indeed toward the Overself. Each person therefore has two faces. One is downturned toward the earth but the other is upturned toward World‑Mind. The first is the ‘person’ and the second is the Overself. The Wisdom of the Overself

    Because of the paradoxically dual nature which the Overself possesses, it is very difficult to make clear the concept of the Overself. Human beings are rooted in the ultimate mind through the Overself, which therefore partakes on the one hand of a relationship with a vibratory world and on the other of an existence which is above all relations. A difficulty is probably due to the vagueness or confusion about which standpoint it is to be regarded from. If it is thought of as the human soul, then the vibratory movement is connected with it. If it is thought of as transcending the very notion of humanity, and therefore in its undifferentiated character, the vibratory movement must disappear.(P) 22:3.390

    The mysterious character of the Overself inevitably puzzles the intellect. We may appreciate it better if we accept the paradoxical fact that it unites a duality and that therefore there are two ways of thinking of it, both correct. There is the divine being which is entirely above all temporal concerns, absolute and universal, and there is also the demi-divine being which is in historical relation with the human ego. 22.3.386

    Atma = higher self; Paramatma = Mind; Ishvara = World Mind. Overself--all three generalized (preferred by Hiriyanna). Jiva = individual . . . (Tony's Center) "souls . . . behind the physicomental complex commonly called the individual . . . the eternal consciousness (Atman) as limited by the organism . . . the sense-organ, the manas, and the antahkarana."    (22:3.303)

     

    Overself Still and Active:

    From the ordinary human point of view the Overself is the Ever-Still: yet that is our own conceptualization of it, for the fact is that all the universe's tremendous activity is induced by its presence. 22.3.192

    "How quiet it is!" exclaimed Lao Tzu, in describing the Overself. "Yet it can transform all things."    (22:3.106)

    An ever-active Mind within an ever-still Mind--that is the real truth, not only about God but also about man.    (25:1.9)

    When man shall discover the hidden power within himself which enables him to be conscious and to think, he will discover the holy spirit, the ray of Infinite Mind lighting his little finite mind. 22.3.181

    If we could penetrate to the deeper regions of personality, the deeper layer of consciousness, we would find at the core a state that is utterly paradoxical. For it combines, at one and the same time, the highest degree of dynamic being and the extreme degree of static being. 22.3.182

    Let no one imagine that contact with the Overself is a kind of dreamy reverie or pleasant, fanciful state. It is a vital relationship with a current of peace, power, and goodwill flowing endlessly from the invisible centre to the visible self.(P)    (22:3.206)

    The Overself surrounds the borderline of the ego, its perfection stretching into infinity. 22.3.250

    The cosmic order is divine intelligence expressed, equilibrium sought through contrasts and complementaries, the One Base multiplying itself in countless forms, the Supreme will established according to higher laws. The World-Mind is hidden deep within our individual minds. The World-Idea begets all our knowledge. Whoever seeks aright finds the sacred stillness inside and the sacred activity in the universe.(P)    (26:1.220)

     

    Paradox Of Overself

    • There is a point where the human meets the divine, where the conscious ego emerges from the all-encompassing Void. That point we call the Overself.
    • Overself: “A term designed by Dr. P. Brunton to indicate that the holy fount of our being and root of our consciousness is still ourselves, is indeed our true self.” E. Woods
    • It is that part of the Absolute which is Man.
    • The Overself is an emanation from the ultimate reality but is neither a division nor a detached fragment of it. It is a ray shining forth but not the sun itself.
    • Nothing could be nearer to a man than the Overself for it is the source of his life, mind, and feeling. Nothing could be farther from him, nevertheless, for it eludes all his familiar instruments of experience and awareness.
    • Each person  therefore has two faces. One is downturned toward the earth but the other is upturned toward World‑Mind. The first is the ‘person’ and the second is the Overself. 
    • An ever-active Mind within an ever-still Mind--that is the real truth, not only about God but also about man
    • It combines the highest degree of dynamic being and the extreme degree of static being
    • all the universe's tremendous activity is induced by its presence.
    • Overself is no more distant from him than his own heart and that what he calls "I" is inseparably united with what men call God.
    • It is a consciousness where the "here" is universal and the "now" is everlasting.
    • It is Conscious Silence.
    • The drop of water which, with the countless millions of other drops, makes up the ocean is distinct but not separable from them. It is both different from and yet the same as them. At the base of each man's being stretches the one infinite life alone, but within it his centre of existence rests.
    • What does the coming of Overself consciousness mean to man? It means, first of all, an undivided mind.
    • Everything in our lives happens as if the Overself took a direct interest and arranged its manifestation, and that is the wonder and mystery of the human situation. Only by comparing this situation with that of the dreaming man and his various dream egos can we even get a hint of what its reality is.
    • Although it is aware of the pain and pleasure experienced by the body which it is animating, it does not itself feel them; although detached from physical sensations, it is not ignorant of them. On the other hand, the personal consciousness does feel them because it regards them as states of its own self. Thus the Overself is conscious of our joys and sorrows without itself sharing them.
    • It is nowhere in time and nowhere in space.  It is Here, in this deep beautiful and all-pervading calm, that a man finds his real identity.
    • It is both space and the point in space. It is infinite Spirit and yet it is also the holy presence in everyone's heart.
    • We may appreciate it better if we accept the paradoxical fact that it unites a duality and that therefore there are two ways of thinking of it, both correct. There is the divine being which is entirely above all temporal concerns, absolute and universal, and there is also the demi-divine being which is in historical relation with the human ego.