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The Effort of the Spiritual Seeker in Distinguishing the Action of the Divine Force from the Promptings of the Ego · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  A constant concern for spiritual aspirants is to distinguish the
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  divine will from their own ego, personalities, desires, or
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  ambitions. The vital nature has the uncanny
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  ability to convince the mind that what it desires is actually
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  something that can and should be justified, and once the mind
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  adheres to it, the individual spends his time fulfilling the
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  desires of the vital nature while feeling that he is
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  carrying out the divine will. In some cases, this reaches such
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  an extreme state that the individual is able to justify
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  all manner of harm to others as the fulfilment of a divine
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  mission. An individual recounted the case
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  of a man who came to Europe from the East and took on the role of
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  a leader or guide. Young people gathered around him
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  and he began to justify not only taking advantage of all the
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  young women for his sexual appetites, with the excuse that
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  they were being given special spiritual teachings not
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  available to most people. He separated wives from
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  husbands, taking the wife into his intimate circle with the
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  excuse that the wife had a special destiny and the husband
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  was just a distraction to her. He controlled the young men who
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  gathered around him through strict control of their sexual
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  energies and then sending one of his cadre of young women with
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  the promise of sexual favors if they worked, brought money and
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  abided by this man's dictates. He also justified various forms
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  of theft from business people, such as obtaining concrete or
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  trees and then failing to pay for them with the excuse they
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  were just ordinary people who would anyway misuse the money
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  and he was serving a higher purpose.
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  He eventually was caught abusing young children and sent to jail.
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  History teaches us the lessons of wars, pogroms, crusades,
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  oppression, slavery, and other terrors visited on humanity by
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  people who believed they were carrying out the divine will.
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  It is no wonder that sincere seekers question how they can
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  know that they are truly acting under divine guidance rather
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  than through an exacerbated eco demand generated by a feeling of
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  special status in their chosen spiritual or religious path.
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  The seeker has a few ways to understand the process of
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  spiritual growth. First, the spiritual
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  evolutionary movement brings harmony, understanding, and
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  balance. Attempts to aggrandize oneself
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  and take advantage of others is easily distinguished by the
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  sincere seeker. The results of the spiritual
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  force include the advent of peace, wideness, knowledge,
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  harmony, innocence of devotion, and aspiration.
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  Feelings of jealousy, envy, anger, greed, lust clearly are
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  not part of this scenario and to the extent they arise, they give
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  the seeker the opportunity to compare and contrast with the
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  eventual goal of eliminating these disruptive emotions,
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  feelings, thoughts and forces from their being as they work to
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  increase the harmony of their being over a longer period of
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  time. The seeker can compare how he
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  reacted in the past to how he reacts today to circumstances,
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  situations, potential difficulties or provocations.
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  This view through the lens of time and change can aid the
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  seeker in his observation of the direction of the changes that
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  are taking place within him. If he is becoming wider in his
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  conscious awareness, if he is acting with a deeper
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  understanding and the deep sense of oneness and compassion that
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  comes with that, if he is acting to be a benefit to the world,
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  whether through outward signs or simply through his inward
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  responses to situations, then he can use that understanding to
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  continue to Orient himself to the divine process taking place
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  within him. Sriorovindo outlines the
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  conditions when he speaks of calm, peace, equality, faith,
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  aspiration and surrender. Sriorobindo observes quote the
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  conditions for following the Mother's will are to turn to Her
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  for light and truth and strength to aspire that no other force
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  shall influence or lead you to make no demands or conditions in
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  the vital. To keep a quiet mind, ready to
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  receive the truth, but not insisting on its own ideas and
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  formations. Finally, to keep the psychic
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  awake and in front, so that you may be in constant contact and
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  know truly what her will is for the mind.
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  And vital can mistake other impulsions and suggestions for
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  the divine will. But the psychic once awakened
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  makes no mistake. A perfect perfection in working
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  is only possible after super mentalization.
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  But a relative good working is possible on the lower planes if
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  one is in contact with the Divine and careful, vigilant and
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  conscious in mind and vital and body.
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  That is a condition besides which is preparatory and almost
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  indispensable for the supreme liberation.
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  End Quote reference Sri Aurobindo Basis of Yoga Chapter
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  2 Faith, Aspiration Surrender page 34.