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Spiritual Development Is a Marathon, Not a Sprint · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  A devotee by the name of Satyakama Jabala approached a
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  respected guru in a story related in the Chandogya
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  Upanishad. He asked for teachings so he
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  could achieve realization on the spiritual path.
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  The teacher asked him his name and family background, to which
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  the young seeker replied that he did not know who his father was.
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  The teacher was impressed with the truthfulness of the youth
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  and gave him an opportunity. The story goes that the teacher
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  entrusted some cattle to the boy and told him to take them to the
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  forest and when the herd reached 1000 cattle he should return and
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  would obtain the teachings. The story is variously told as
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  being either 2 or 400 cattle that he started with.
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  Either way, the implication is similar, only that starting with
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  two obviously entails more time and more risk.
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  Let us assume, then, that the number was 400 for purposes of
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  our review. This process involves years of
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  effort. The young individual with no
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  training or background had to learn how to care for, feed,
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  tend and protect the cattle against hunger, disease,
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  accident and predation by wild animals.
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  He had to also live a life of solitude focused on achieving
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  his task. The dedication, perseverance and
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  determination he needed to achieve spiritual realization is
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  obvious. He could not let moods,
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  depression, loneliness, discouragement or fear cause him
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  to give up. All of us are subject to changes
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  of moods, circumstances, and our response to them based on the
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  energy we express the play of the three gunas of nature and
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  their ability to vary our response to circumstances and
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  the circumstances themselves. If we let the three gunas rule
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  us, at some point we will become angry, or we will give up out of
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  frustration, or we will respond out of fear and the process gets
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  broken. If we add to this the incredible
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  difficulty and complexity of attempting to address and change
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  embedded habits and instincts built up throughout the
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  development of animal life on the planet and into the
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  conditioning that we undergo as human beings, we can begin to
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  recognize the difficulty and the elusive nature of obtaining a
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  permanent change in any aspect of our existence.
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  Therefore, the seeker is best served by practising how to
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  separate himself from the changes that take place in the
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  external nature and simply observe from the standpoint of
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  the witness consciousness. Srioro Bindo writes quote.
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  No Sadiq, even if he had the capacity of the ancient Rishis
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  and Tapaswis, or the strength of a Vivekananda, can hope to keep
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  during the early years of his Sadhna A continuous good
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  condition or union with the Divine, or an unbroken call or
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  height of aspiration. It takes a long time to
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  spiritualize the whole nature, and until that is done,
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  variations must come, a constant trust and patience must be
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  cultivated, must be acquired, not the least when things go
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  against, for when they are favorable, trust and patience
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  are easy. The power needed in yoga is the
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  power to go through effort, difficulty, or trouble without
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  getting fatigued, depressed, discouraged, or impatient, and
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  without breaking off the effort or giving up one's aim or
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  resolution. End Quote Reference Shriya
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  Robindo and the Mother Looking from Within, Chapter 5,
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  Attitudes on the Path, pages 136 to 137.