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The Complete Dedication and Consecration Required by the Integral Yoga · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  The integral yoga is not a hobby or a pastime to be taken up when
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  convenient. It requires an intensity of
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  dedication and focus, and a depth of aspiration and
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  consecration that is both rare and difficult to achieve.
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  An individual needs to be fully immersed in the yoga and its
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  processes in order to obtain the result.
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  First, there is a recognition that the result to be obtained
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  is not personal liberation or salvation.
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  While this may be a step along the way, it is not the goal, so
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  to speak. The objective for the Integral
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  Yoga is nothing less than the bringing down and fixing in the
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  earth nature the consciousness of the Divine to convert earthly
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  life into a divine life. Second, the seeker must be able
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  to identify and systematically root out the normal human
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  wellsprings or impulses to action.
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  The normal desires, ambitions and mental, vital or physical
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  objectives have to be put aside. This is not to say that one is
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  forced to abandon life and action.
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  However, what makes this more difficult is the very fact that
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  the external life itself and the powers of the mind, life, energy
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  and the physical body all need to be transformed and utilized,
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  not suppressed or denied. In the Bhagwad Gita, Sri Krishna
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  advises Arjuna that one cannot tell the man dedicated to the
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  Infinite by outward actions, since the outward actions
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  continue and may look the same to the external eye.
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  Rather, the truth of the spirit is determined by the motivation,
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  the consecration, the aspiration, the dedication that
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  arises from within. Thus the seeker needs to observe
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  the wellsprings of action with a clear vision of the forces at
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  work and the impulses that are moving his mind, life and body.
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  To the extent that he is acting out a desire for some specific
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  external result or an ambition of any sort, or out of the
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  forces of jealousy, envy, anger, hatred, lust or greed, he is
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  clearly not at that point fully immersed in the yogic process
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  and has some work to be done. Distinguishing between the
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  subtle promptings of the ego and the guidance and way shown by
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  the Divine force requires not only self examination, but a
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  dedication to the truth that is unwavering and willing to look
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  in the mirror and recognize what is truly at work in the being.
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  There are many forms of good works in the world.
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  Feeding people, caring for the sick or weak are noble aims and
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  certainly can be encouraged and supported in general.
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  For the yogic practitioner, however, this type of lofty aim
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  of action is not the fulfillment being sought.
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  He may do these things or not. He needs to follow the guidance
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  of the higher divine wisdom and truth to know what his action in
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  the world should be. Glory, fame, recognition,
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  adulation, wealth, or popularity are not the objects to be
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  sought. Dedication to 1's society,
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  religion, country, or any other external form that represents
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  simply an extension of the ego is also not the objective.
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  The fulfillment is inward and distant from any of these highly
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  praised and encouraged activities.
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  Sri Aurobindo notes quote this yoga demands a total dedication
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  of the life to the aspiration for the discovery and embodiment
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  of the Divine truth and to nothing else whatever.
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  To divide your life between the divine and some outward aim and
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  activity that has nothing to do with the search for the truth is
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  inadmissible. The least thing of that kind
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  would make success in the yoga impossible.
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  You must go inside yourself and enter into a complete dedication
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  to the spiritual life. All clinging to mental
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  preferences must fall away from you.
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  All insistence on vital aims and interests and attachments must
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  be put away. All egoistic clinging to family,
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  friends, country must disappear if you want to succeed in yoga.
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  Whatever has to come as outgoing energy or action must proceed
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  from the truth once discovered, and not from the lower mental or
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  vital motives, from the divine will, and not from personal
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  choice or the preferences of the ego.
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  End Quote reference Srioro Vindo Bases of Yoga Chapter 2.
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  Faith, aspiration, and surrender.
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  Age 22.