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Addressing the Process of Evolutionary Change Within the Embedded and Established Habits of the Past That Pose Obstacles to Progress · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  The mental consciousness tends to look at things with a linear
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  perspective. It expects things to
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  systematically roll out in a continuous, directed stream.
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  It becomes upset and disoriented when what appears to be a
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  settled result gets suddenly disrupted or upset by new
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  circumstances, forces, or events.
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  The processes of nature, however, are far more complex
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  and the levels of being far more interwoven and interactive than
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  even the widest mental view can comprehend.
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  Because of this complexity, no progress in one area can
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  possibly be fully and finally achieved and settled, while
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  impacts from other areas can dilute or modify that progress.
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  Nature therefore takes specific types of change to a certain
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  point where it then becomes necessary to address and modify
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  other areas so there is a comprehensive movement forward
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  making further progress possible.
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  Shrioro Bindo speaks elsewhere of the concept of ascent and
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  integration. The ascent phase is the forward
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  movement in one area or another. The progress then appears to
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  slow down while other parts are brought forward and the changes
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  disseminated into those other parts, dealing with the
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  limitations and issues of those other parts of the being that
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  come up during that process. It can be disconcerting when the
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  seeker finds that suddenly a desire he thought he had
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  overcome or an emotion he thought he had under control
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  arises and overturns that settled notion.
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  But it is not either to be seen as unusual or contradictory to
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  the overall process. For instance, we may gain a
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  realization in the mind, and we may be able to generally
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  exercise our will to act on that basis.
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  When the force that is working hits the vital or the physical
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  nature, however, embedded and locked in, atavistic reactions,
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  cellular memories, etcetera, suddenly appear.
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  This requires the seeker to maintain the calm observational
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  standpoint, understand the process, and exert steady, calm
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  management of what is taking place.
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  When we look more broadly at the evolution of consciousness in
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  the world at large, we see these forces at work on a wide scale.
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  We can observe, for instance, a small segment of humanity that
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  is focused on spirituality, that is developing the mental
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  capacities and finding ways to modify and change the vital and
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  physical reactions. At a certain point, however, it
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  becomes necessary for larger portions of humanity to make
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  some amount of progress in these areas for the next phase of
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  transformation to take hold and thrive.
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  This is what may be called the texturing of the consciousness
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  of humanity. We see this working out as
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  humanity has, over a certain number of centuries, begun to
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  address the issues of slavery, subjection of women, and the
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  very relationship we hold to the environment and the other beings
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  with whom we share the planet. While there is no doubt that
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  large portions of humanity remain embedded in the old ways
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  of seeing and doing things, an ever larger cohort of
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  individuals are becoming sensitive to and responding
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  positively to a new way of seeing and acting on these and
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  other fronts over time. This texturing and broadening of
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  the impact of the progressive force of the evolution of
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  consciousness makes it possible for those who are forerunners in
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  this area to take even further steps to advance.
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  Srioro Bindo writes quote in the play of the Cosmic Forces.
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  The will in the cosmos, as one might say, does not always work.
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  Apparently in favour of a smooth and Direct Line for the work or
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  the sadhna, it often brings in what seemed to be upheavals,
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  sudden turns which break or deflect the line, opposing or
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  upsetting circumstances or perplexing departures from what
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  had been temporarily settled or established.
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  The one thing is to preserve equanimity and make an
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  opportunity and means of progress out of all that happens
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  in the course of the life and the sadhna.
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  There is a higher secret will transcendent behind the play and
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  will of the cosmic forces, a play which is always a mixture
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  of things favourable and things adverse, and it is that will
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  which one must wait upon and have faith in.
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  But you must not expect to be able always to understand its
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  workings. The mind wants this or that to
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  be done, the line once taken to be maintained.
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  But what the mind wants is not at all always what is intended
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  in a larger purpose. One has to follow indeed a fixed
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  central aim in the Sadhna and not deviate from it, but not to
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  build on outward circumstances, conditions, et cetera, as if
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  they were fundamental things. End Quote.
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  Reference. Srioro Bindu and the Mother,
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  Looking from within, Chapter 1. Looking at Life and
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  Circumstances. Pages 7:00 to 8:00.