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Receiving Spiritual Shocks and Trials With Humility Through a Shift of Standpoint Away from the Ego-Consciousness · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  The way we respond to setbacks or difficulties is conditioned
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  by how deeply we are embedded in the ego consciousness.
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  The individual ego judges everything from its own very
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  limited viewpoint. What it interprets as a negative
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  result or as an obstacle may actually be part of the larger
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  process of change that human nature is undergoing.
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  The pressure of the outer circumstances provides the
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  impetus for change. When the psychic being comes
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  forward to actively lead the being, it aligns itself with the
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  divine consciousness and standpoint and thus can accept
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  the situation as an opportunity and as a form of divine grace.
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  Some of the lessons are painful. Some of the lessons are life and
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  death situations. The individual cannot see all
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  the threads that come together to create a certain set of
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  events and thus feel surprised and overwhelmed in many cases by
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  what is happening to them and in their environment.
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  Once the shift of standpoint takes place, it becomes easier
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  to see the wheels of the Universal creation turning and
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  recognize the time, spirit and the necessity of what is
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  occurring for the longer term process that is manifesting and
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  that brings these circumstances to us as a means of our growth
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  and development. Even if one cannot understand
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  the larger framework, the psychic being can act from faith
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  and devotion and accept that the purpose is not the fulfillment
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  of the ego's desires, needs, or wants, but rather the intended
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  development of the divine manifestation through time.
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  Many people relate how their lives and focus change through a
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  traumatic event such as extreme illness, experiences of
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  catastrophic accidents, death of loved ones, failure and
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  disillusionment in the outer life, et cetera.
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  Once the seeker takes up the spiritual practice, the events.
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  1 Experiences are all part of the process of change that needs
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  to occur. Along the way.
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  There are experiences of peace, joy and love.
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  There are also uprisings of all of the long standing patterns of
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  human existence, many of which have been embedded in nature
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  since time immemorial. Thus, the seeker also will
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  eventually come face to face with doubt, despondency,
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  insincerity, desire, vanity, anger, greed, lust, hatred,
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  seeking for power or influence or wealth, opposition and other
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  issues by which he can work on the solutions that are needed to
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  advance the consciousness along its evolutionary path.
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  The great Yogi Milorapa had to undergo tremendous shocks and
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  suffering in his life. First, his patrimony was robbed
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  by his uncle and aunt upon the death of his father, throwing
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  himself, his mother and sister into destitution and essentially
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  turning them into slaves. He then went to learn the
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  practices of black magic to seek revenge.
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  He later returned to the village and brought down a destructive
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  hailstorm. Afterwards, he experienced
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  remorse and realized he had committed a grave sin and
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  determined that he had to seek a guru who could aid him in
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  achieving liberation in one lifetime.
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  His guru put him to years of back breaking construction of
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  stone structures without imparting any teachings to him
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  while others came and received the teachings.
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  Eventually, Milarepa became depressed and suicidal after
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  years of struggle physically, vitally, emotionally and
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  mentally. His guru gave him the teachings
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  and set him on the path of austere meditation, living in
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  caves and surviving on nettles and limited other supplies.
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  At the end, he attained the realization he sought.
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  The path was one of endless tragedy, suffering, pain and
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  blows of various sort. The result was that which His
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  Spirit was guided to seek and achieve, the Mother writes.
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  Quote Shocks and trials always come as a divine grace to show
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  us the points in our being where we fall short and the movements
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  in which we turn our back on our soul by listening to the clamour
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  of our mental being and vital being.
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  If we know how to accept these spiritual blows with due
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  humility, we are sure to cover a great distance at a single
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  bound. End Quote.
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  Reference Sri Orobindo and the Mother looking from within,
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  Chapter 4. Ordeals and Difficulties, page
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  75.