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The Need for a Settled Peace and Silence in the Mind as the First Stage of Yogic Practice · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  The vital nature seeks experiences.
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  These experiences are something special that sets the individual
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  apart. In most cases these experiences
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  come as signposts along the way to motivate the seeker and
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  guide, but the vital ego latches on to them and desires them to
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  repeat as well as have new, ever more meaningful experiences.
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  This sets up a pattern of vital desire and when they do not come
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  potential frustration and doubt. Trioro Bindo does not dismiss
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  the value of spiritual experiences.
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  He does however, make it clear that this is not the first and
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  most essential thing. Spiritual experiences are also
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  not the objective, and many people, once they have set their
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  feet on the path, do not have the kind of headline spiritual
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  experiences that are the object of the vital desire.
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  The yogic practice is intended to shift the consciousness, not
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  to simply collect experiences. The force that brings the
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  experiences and the spiritual development is a powerful force
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  and an unprepared vessel, mind, life, body, complex will tend to
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  spill rather than hold the force.
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  This accentuates the need to strengthen the body, the nervous
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  paths, the vital being and the mind to be able to hold the
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  force and let it do its work. Calm and peace in each aspect to
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  the being are signs that the being is preparing to hold and
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  utilize the new spiritual force as it descends into the being.
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  We tend to be reactive in our mind, our emotions, and our
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  nervous responses. The mind jumps after every
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  sensation, reacts to every provocation and nervous impulse,
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  and has difficulty achieving a stable, quiet attitude that
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  allows it to receive clearly the spiritual impulse.
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  Some people go to the opposite extreme and develop a level of
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  temasic passivity that simply allows whatever comes to take
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  over and move the being. These individuals believe that
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  allowing anything that comes means they are achieving
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  quietude rather than reacting. That is however a concern when
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  the forces that are coming are those of the lower vital nature
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  and those that want to manipulate the individual to
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  their own end. It is therefore essential to
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  recognize the balance needed in achieving both peace and clear
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  insight and discrimination as to what forces are at work, Srioro
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  Bindu observes quote. The first thing to do in the
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  Sadhna is to get a settled peace and silence in the mind.
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  Otherwise you may have experiences but nothing will be
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  permanent. It is in the silent mind that
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  the true consciousness can be built.
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  A quiet mind does not mean that there will be no thoughts or
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  mental movements at all, but that these will be on the
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  surface and you will feel your true being within, separate from
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  them, observing but not carried away, able to watch and judge
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  them and reject all that has to be rejected, and to accept and
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  keep to all that is true consciousness and true
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  experience. Passivity of the mind is good,
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  but take care to be passive only to the truth and to the touch of
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  the Divine Shakti. If you are passive to the
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  suggestions and influence of the lower nature, you will not be
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  able to progress, or else you will expose yourself to adverse
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  forces which may take you far away from the true path of Yoga,
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  the Spire to the Mother. For this settled quietness and
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  calm of the mind and this constant sense of the inner
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  being in you, standing back from the external nature and turn to
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  the light and Truth. The forces that stand in the way
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  of Sadhna are the forces of the lower mental, vital and physical
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  nature. Behind them are adverse forces
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  of the mental, vital and subtle physical worlds.
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  These can be dealt with only after the mind and heart have
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  become one pointed and concentrated in the single
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  aspiration to the divine. End Quote.
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  Reference Sri Aurobindo, Bases of Yoga, Chapter 1, Calm, Peace
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  and Equality, pages 1:00 to 2:00.