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Aligning the External Nature With the Inner Spiritual Aspiration · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  People espousing their philosophy of how to act in the
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  world are often confronted by a disconnect between their
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  statements and their own actions.
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  They frequently tell children, for instance, do as I say, not
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  as I do. If we assume that the person is
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  not simply motivated by pure self-interest and using his
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  words to capture the support of others.
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  Essentially a form of hypocrisy. We sometimes find that the
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  person himself treats his mental adoption of a certain idea,
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  principle or attitude as the reality without reflecting that
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  his outer actions do not correspond with this inner idea.
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  This is then a form of self deception.
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  There is of course another possibility.
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  The individual may adopt certain principles on the mental level
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  and yet recognize that he has not yet succeeded in perfecting
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  his outer expression and action to correspond fully with the
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  inner adopted stance. This individual then recognizes
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  the divergent between inner and outer reality and can work on
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  resolving it. Many people are simply not
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  cognizant of the various different parts of their being
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  and their different ways of responding and acting.
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  This provides a key to the resolution of the divergent.
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  The vital being, for instance, may have a desire or motive that
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  does not completely coincide with the spiritual seekers
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  aspiration, consecration or dedication.
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  Similarly, the mind may interpret the spiritual inward
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  motivation in a way that leads to contrary actions externally,
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  which is one of the causes of the kind of torture, harassment,
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  warfare that has resulted from strongly held religious
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  convictions, for example. As most people are conditioned
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  and educated to believe in the primacy of the external being
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  and the life of the world, they tend to judge matters from that
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  standpoint. In the Bhagwad Gita, Arjuna
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  asked how to identify the liberated man.
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  He asks how does he walk, how does he speak, et cetera.
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  Sri Krishna makes it clear that these outward signs are not the
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  true indication of such an individual.
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  The real identifying characteristic is the inner
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  attitude that underlies the activity, not the form of the
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  activity itself. For the spiritual seeker,
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  however, Sri Aurobindo recommends starting from the
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  inner standpoint and systematically working to bring
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  the external being into alignment with the inner view
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  values and direction, Shriyur Bindu observes.
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  Quote not only in your inward concentration, but in your
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  outward acts and movements. You must take the right
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  attitude. You must learn to act always
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  from within, from your inner being.
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  The outer should be a mere instrument and should not be
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  allowed at all to compel or dictate your speech, thought or
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  action. All should be done quietly from
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  within, working, speaking, reading, writing, as part of the
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  real consciousness, not with the dispersed and unquiet movement
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  of the ordinary consciousness. It is the spirit and the
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  consciousness from which it is done that makes an action yogic.
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  It is not the action itself. End Quote.
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  Reference Srioro Bindu and the Mother looking from within,
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  Chapter 3. Action and Work, page 57.