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Patience, Perseverance and Firm Faith Are Needed Qualities on the Long Road of Yoga · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  The seeker gets glimpses of spiritual opening, experiences
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  of a vastness and a deep silence.
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  When the mind falls utterly still, he may get a vision of
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  forces and powers that act in the world and in himself.
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  He may get the sense that he is crossing a threshold into a
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  space where he no longer exists as a distinct individual, but as
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  a part of something infinitely larger and more complex than his
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  own individuality can encompass. He may experience a power that
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  is entering his being, and he may feel the electricity of that
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  force coursing through his entire being.
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  He may have the experience of entering other worlds or planes
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  of existence, meet beings, and experience powers that operate
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  outside the limitations of the external reality to which he is
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  accustomed. He may get a sudden sense of
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  devotion or consecration or feel a deep aspiration.
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  All of these experiences and many others help the seeker to
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  define his spiritual quest and firm up his faith in the path
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  and his destiny. Whatever experiences the seeker
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  may have along the way, eventually he may come to the
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  realization that chasing after experiences is not the
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  objective, and that in many cases the desire for such
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  experiences is actually contrary to the larger purpose, as that
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  desire actually may tend to reinforce the ego rather than
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  loosen its hold. Eventually the initial
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  experiences and the excitement that comes with them recede and
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  the seeker is left with the real work to be done.
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  Inspiration and vision need to be converted into the work of
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  inner exploration and the rewiring of the being in all its
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  ways of thinking, feeling and responding to circumstances in
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  the mind, in the heart, in the vital being, and in the physical
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  body. The seeker runs into all of the
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  limitations within his being, indeed within human and animal
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  nature as developed thus far in the evolutionary cycle.
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  He also meets with embedded drives and responses as well as
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  cultivated ambitions, desires and needs.
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  When the experiences withdraw, the seeker frequently bemoans
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  the dark night of the soul. This is, however, something of a
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  misnomer. It is the dark night of the ego
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  ambition that has been frustrated by the withdrawal of
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  the vitally attractive visions and experiences, including the
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  sense of closeness to the divine.
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  But it is not a reflection on the soul.
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  If the soul is true, it remains focused on its aspiration,
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  retains its consecration, and works through the temasek
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  rebound that occurs with the frustration of the rajasic
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  desire. The soul understands intuitively
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  and directly that the work goes on and that it will take time.
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  Srioro Bindo encapsulates this sense when he writes in Savitri
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  a legend and a symbol quote. A moment sees the ages toil to
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  express. End Quote.
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  Sri Robindo observes quote. There are always difficulties
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  and a Hanford progress in the early stages and a delay in the
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  opening of the inner doors until the being is ready.
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  If you feel whenever you meditate, the quiescence and the
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  flashes of the inner light, and if the inward urge is growing so
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  strong that the external hold is decreasing and the vital
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  disturbances are losing their force, that is already a great
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  progress. The road of yoga is long, every
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  inch of ground has to be won against much resistance and no
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  quality is more needed by the Sadak than patience and single
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  minded perseverance with a faith that remains firm through all
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  difficulties, delays and apparent failures.
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  End Quote reference Shriya Robindo, Bases of Yoga, Chapter
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  3 in difficulty, page 39.