Actually, the basic terminology is the same except that certain Sanskrit terms have been given in English, whereas certain new terms coined for which there is either no exact correspondence or else the experience behind the term is more complete in Sri Aurobindo’s usage.
Sacchidananda is Existence Consciousness-Force (Chit-tapas and not just Chit) Bliss.
The seven main lokas from Satloka to Prithvi Lokal is the same, but the Maharloka between the higher and lower three worlds is developed to its full experience and significance in the gospel of the Supermind.
The triple Purusha of the Gita is there as the Immanent, Cosmic, and the Transcendent Divine.
The Jivatman is described in its double status as the central being (which stands above nature) and the psychic being (that portion of the Jivatman that enters into the play of Time and Space.
Like the Gita, a distinction is drawn between the lower nature, Prakriti governed by Avidya or Ignorance, and the higher Supernature, Para Prakriti. The five sheaths are the same except that modern interpreters mistake the word Vijnanamaya for the higher intellect. Sri Aurobindo takes it in the original sense of causal or the supramental.
The seven chakras are the same, but Sri Aurobindo and the Mother include two chakras below and three above, making it 12 instead of 7.
It is a vast subject, and it is best to go directly with Sri Aurobindo’s terminologies instead of collating it. However, if you wish to go into details, you could take a look at the diagrams in Records of Yoga (couldn’t attach it here), Secret of the Vedas, Isha Upanishad. Most of the terminologies are there. There is also a book on terminologies in Sri Aurobindo’s writings. You may go through it if you wish.
Affectionately,
Alok Da
Follow-up question:
1. Should we say Sachidananda as Sat-Chit-Shakti-Ananda or Sat-Chit-Tapas-Ananda? I see that the Records of Yoga uses Sat-Chit-Tapas-Ananda, whereas in the Existence Consciousness-Force Bliss translation, Force => Shakti and Tapas in Sanskrit means the Fire (Heat) of Purification. So now what confuses me is – how are Force and Tapas equated?
Tapas is the right word here because the Shakti is contained within. The proper term for Shakti would be Power.
2. Thank you for clarifying Jivatman with its 2 aspects. What confuses me are the terms – Aatman/Self <> Soul mentioned in the Upanishads, so I use them interchangeably.
Atman of the Upanishads is used for the One Universal Self, the Self that is one in all beings. Soul is antaratma or dehi, or angusthmatra purusha or chaitya purusha. However, the general term prevalent for the individual soul is Jivatman, Paraprakriti Jivabhuta. Atman is the Universal Self.
Thanks for the correction, Shakti = Power. However, the use of the word Tapas to me begs another question. In short, that question is: Is Force = Virya?
Viryas refers to spiritual force. In English, the word Power implies something static. Force is power in action or movement. It is in reference to the application.
Sorry to request you to answer this, but as I’m confused and unable to reconcile Tapas mentally. This is because my understanding is conditioned by reading The Brain of India. Kindly see below (and the attached diagram I drew for my understanding of the process steps) and the excerpt pasted from what I read and understood.
Yes, Sri Aurobindo puts it in so many words that Consciousness is one with Force. Force is inherent in Consciousness. But it is there self-contained, or we may say, using the term tapas, self-restrained. That is why Shiva is shown as the Lord of Tapasya who wakes up to action impelled by his Shakti, Parvati. Brahma is Existence, Vishnu is Consciousness, Shiva is Force, and Krishna is Ananda. It is a quaternary and not just a trinity. The trinity itself are the three aspects of the One Reality. In that case, the Ananda principle remains unnamed. In traditional stories, it is often stated that Hari and Hara, Vishnu and Shiva, are one.
Sri Aurobindo reveals:
‘We have, behind, a superconscious existence which has also three constituents, Sat, Chit-Tapas and Ananda.
Sat is essence of our being, pure, infinite and undivided, as opposed to this divisible being which founds itself on the constant changeableness of physical substance. Sat is the divine counterpart of physical substance.
Chit-Tapas is pure energy of Consciousness, free in its rest or its action, sovereign in its will, as opposed to the hampered dynamic energies of Prana which, feeding upon physical substances, are dependent on and limited by their sustenance.4 Tapas is the divine counterpart of this lower nervous or vital energy.
Ananda is Beatitude, the bliss of pure conscious existence and energy, as opposed to the life of the sensations and emotions which are at the mercy of the outward touches of Life and Matter and their positive and negative reactions, joy and grief, pleasure and pain. Ananda is the divine counterpart of the lower emotional and sensational being.’
(Ref. https://incarnateword.in/cwsa/17/brahman-oneness-of-god-and-the-world)
Affectionately,
Alok Da
