This was a puzzling part in the chapter. Some questions that arose in the mind: Is the ‘secret soul’ here referring to the Psychic Being? Is the ‘pleasure in adversity’ and the attraction of soul in ‘whole mingled weft of the thing we call life’ due to the developmental opportunities for the psychic being or the divine enjoying the unfolding? What’s the context of ‘memory and retrospect’? There are mentions of ‘Desire-soul’ and ‘bliss-soul’ in this chapter and thus it is a bit confusing to understand what these are and their difference from ‘secret soul’.
Yes the secret soul is the psychic being.
The pleasure in adversity is not necessarily only for the opportunity of progress it provides but the extreme delight that follows or even runs behind in the course of an extreme adventure. For example people strive for conquering mountains or extreme sports because of the joy that one experiences in the process while passing through danger and difficulty. Similarly the souls takes these extreme situations and the experiences they provide as a ‘strengthening wine.’ That is the spirit in which the kshatriya warrior, the knight, the samurai fight a battle sporting with death and danger. It is an indispensable stage in the soul’s growth.
In memory and retrospect is when we look behind and laugh at an adversity or a danger we have escaped or a difficult situation that has been averted. During the phase it could be very challenging but later on when things have eased out then we often look back at those moments with a smile and a twang of joy for having successfully navigated through the seemingly impossible situation.
Affectionately,
Alok Da
