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The Action of the Three Gunas in Relation to the Assimilation of the Spiritual Force · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  The three gunas qualities of nature are active in all beings,
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  including those who are undertaking an active process of
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  spiritual development. The physical being is very much
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  subject to the action of Thomas generally because of its dense
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  and somewhat inert material characteristics.
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  It thus may fall into a kind of torpor or inertia.
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  This helps create the sense of dryness or dullness the being
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  experiences during assimilation periods for the spiritual force.
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  This quality must eventually be transformed into a peaceful,
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  serene form of quietude that helps maintain the tone of the
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  physical being. For the transformational work
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  taking place behind the scenes, the vital being tends to respond
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  easily to the guna of rajas. In doing so, it may try to prod
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  or force the physical nature to respond artificially.
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  The intrusion of rajasic energy into the process can create
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  imbalances and distort the results.
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  Instead of the needed quietude, there can be volatile efforts to
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  spur something visible. Even if it is not the time for
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  that to occur, A Supwick approach can aid the process by
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  maintaining the faith, the basic quiet aspiration, and the
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  patience needed for the process to work out.
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  In the end, it is the ego personality that has all of
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  these disruptions and issues. With a shift to the witness
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  consciousness and a focus that brings the psychic being to the
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  fore. Many of these concerns can be
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  limited or minimized. Even though the nature may still
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  undergo these reactions, the seeker can remain unaffected and
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  observant as the process continues, Sri Aurobindo writes
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  Quote. The physical consciousness is
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  always in everybody, in its own nature a little inert, and in it
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  a constant. Strong aspiration is not
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  natural, it has to be created. But first there must be an
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  opening, a purification, a fixed quietude, otherwise the physical
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  vital will turn the strong aspiration into over eagerness
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  and impatience, or rather it will try to give it that term.
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  Do not therefore be troubled if the state of the nature seems to
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  you to be too neutral and quiet, not enough aspiration and
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  movement in it. This is a passage necessary for
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  the progress, and the rest will come.
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  End Quote. Reference Shriya Robindo and the
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  Mother Looking from Within, Chapter 4, Ordeals and
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  Difficulties, page 104.